All Sport Report

The number two ranked tennis player in the world bagged his third Barcelona Open title in a row by beating Argentine Guillermo Canas in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.

This was Nadal’s 72nd straight win on a clay court, he hasn’t lost a match on clay in two years and he hasn’t lost a set since the first match of the French Open final last year to proverbial tennis superman Roger Federer.

Nadal just keeps increasing his own lead in the record books, his most recent win putting him nineteen victories over the number two in consecutive matches on clay (Guillermo Vilas - 53 in 1977).

Canas took the whooping in stride and remarked to AP reporters “At least playing against Nadal at his best will only serve to help me reach a level that I would like to reach with my own game.”

If you’ve never seen Rafael Nadal play on his surface, here’s a bit of action from the ‘07 Monte Carlo Final in which he took down the number one ranked tennis player in the world(Federer):

With his win at Barcelona, he becomes only the fourth player to take home the coveted title three times, and only the second to do it three times in a row. If he could convince to tennis gods to do away with grass and hardcourt, Nadal would take over the ever elusive number one ranking in no time.

Barcelona Open, Rafael Nadal, Gullermo Canas, tennis winning streak

The baseball season is almost twenty games old and right at the moment, there isn’t anyone hotter that the Yankee’s Alex Rodriguez, despite the fact that the Yankees are on a six game losing streak A-Rod is on fire. In my humble opinion, the secong hottest team in baseball is the red hot Philadelphia Phillies - who are riding a streak where they’ve won five of their last six. No surprises there, on another site, I predicted A-Rod to shine as this years AL MVP, and, much like the Phils animated shortstop, I predicted the Phils to run rampant in the east.

The surprise comes at who is the next hottest:

Forty-two year old Barry Bonds has seven homeruns over the course of the Giants first 17 games putting him at 741 for his incredible career, just fourteen away from tying Hank Aarons all-time record.

Bonds has homered three times in his last six games and has led the Giants to eight straight wins, making them the hottest team in the game right now, in either league.

Honestly I thought Barry was through, after missing virtually all of the 2005 season, and managing only 26 home runs last season, which was his lowest total since 1991, I thought maybe he didn’t have anything left in the tank. But if you’ve learned anything from coming to this site, it’s that I can most certainly be wrong. (I predicted the Phoenix Coyotes to make the playoffs for God sakes)

Bonds has been on an offensive tiraid, along with his seven homers, he has 15 RBIs and is batting .346. If Barry’s body can sustain this pace, he’ll have the all-time homerun crown all to himself by the end of May.

Barry Bonds, baseball, Phillies, Giants, A-Rod

Rafael Nadal was the obvious pick to win the Barcelona Open, he has won the last two in a row and he was working on a 67 match unbeaten streak coming into the tournament.

If there was any doubt in anyones minds who the best tennis player is when it comes to the clay court, The second ranked player in the world put it to rest emphatically in the first round of the Barcelona Open.

It took Rafael Nadal just about as long as my lunch break to dismantle his first round opponent, Kristof Vliegen. Nadal extended his clay court win streak to 68 with the 6-1, 6-2 trouncing of his Belgian opponent.

With this victory Nadal one-ups the record he owns in the open era, notables who are behind Nadal at a distance are Guilermo Vilas at 53, and Bjorn Borg at 46 in a row, no active players are even remotely close to Nadal.

Rafael Nadal, Barcelon Open, clay court, tennis, winning streak

After not having fought a professional fight in more than a decade, heavyweight Tommy Morrison is set to step in the ring for the second time in just over two months. Morrison had been suspended indefinitely after having tested positive for HIV in 1996.

Morrison was reportedly tested several times with negative results over the recent months and given license to fight in West Virginia for February 22, it was Morrisons first fight in more than a decade and resulted in another win by way of knockout for “The Duke”

Tommy will fight the second fight of his incredible comeback this weekend in Houston - if he passes the required tests in order to be licensed in the state, which will include a blood test for the presence of HIV. Morrison says that he will have no problem taking and passing any of the required tests and Dickie Cole of the Texas Combative Sports Department reportedly told espn.com that Morrison would be treated the same as any other fighter applying for license.

So if Tommy holds true to his word and passes the required tests, he will face Dale Ortiz in a four round fight at the Grand Plaza Hotel in Houston, and continue what could become the greatest comeback in sports history.

Here’s a brief look at some of the amazing knockouts Tommy delivered before his decade long hiatus from the boxing ring:

Tommy Morrison, the Duke, boxing, comeback, heavyweight champion

“L’Equipe” reported on Monday that follow-up testing on back-up urine samples submitted by last years Tour de France winner were found to have traces of synthetic testosterone.

Seven back-up samples were tested and the lab reported clear evidence of the synthetic hormone.

Landis questions the results, because the lab refused to let his expert be present while the test was being conducted. The lab of Chatenay-Malabry maintains that the original agreement was to have Landis’ expert accompanied by two experts from the USADA and since the USADA experts didn’t show, they weren’t required to let Lands’ expert in.

The lab at Chatenay-Malabry has been accused of false positives in the past and is criticized by a number of professional cyclists, including seven time Tour champion Lance Armstrong.

If the positive results hold up, Landis will face a two year ban from competitive cycling and he will be the first rider in the century plus history of the Tour to be stripped of his crown.

I would think with the strict anti-doping policies strongly maintained in every country where competitive racing takes place, the riders would think twice before using a banned substance. The Tour de France is the biggest cycling event worldwide, it would take a pretty naive and desperate rider to think he could get away with using an illegal substance to win a race of that magnitude.

Maybe if Floyd Landis gets stripped of his Tour de France title, it will make other prospective riders think twice before considering using anything but intense training sessions to try and score a victory.

Floyd Landis, Tour De France, cycling, doping, anti-doping, synthetic hormone, synthetic testosterone

At UFC 69 on Pay Per View, Matt Serra shocked the world with his surprise victory over George “Rush” St. Pierre to take a slice of UFC Gold. If you were one of the hardcore MMA fans who couldn’t believe their eyes at the sight of Serra’s underdog triumph, then your world was turned upside down on Saturday night.

Zuffa put on UFC 70, from Manchester England, and for the first time in UFC history, a major event was televised free here in the States. The show was titled “Nations Collide” and pitted fighters representing different countries and cultures against one another.

There were some big names fighting - England’s own Michael “the Count” Bisping scored a victory to the delight of the fans. Andre “the Pitbull” Arlovski fought to an incredibly boring decision victory over Brazillian jui-jitsu expert Fabricio Werdum.

Four time Oklahoma State Wrestling Champion Matt Grice’s unbeaten streak came to an end when he was submitted by Liverpool native Terry Etim with a guillotine choke in the first round.

I found myself saying “no wonder Zuffa is televising this for free, there aside from the Bisping fight, there hasn’t been anything worth paying for on the card.” Trooper that I am, I hung in there for the last fight. Cro Cop - the most viscious striker of all time in the heavyweight division was going to beat the hell out of poor Gabriel Gonzaga, and that’s why we all tune in to MMA - to see someone get their a$$ kicked right?

The stage was set for Cro Cop to beat down Gonzaga and get his shot at Randy Couture’s UFC Heavyweight Title, most likely at UFC 72 a few months down the road. Since Zuffa signed on Cro Cop, the only question in the fan’s minds was “when is he going to take the heavyweight gold?”

Well it ain’t gonna be anytime soon. Gonzaga knocked Cro Cop out cold with a viscious kick to the head. It was one of the most wicked kicks I’ve seen in a long while. I had a vide on here this morning, but the friendly folks at Youtube saw fit to pull it, rendering my link useless. If you go to youtube and type in UFC 70, or Cro Cop vs. Gonzaga you should have no problem finding it, but let me warn you, it’s pretty nasty.

Needless to say I was glad I hung around until the bitter end. Two UFC events, two major upsets and UFC 71 coming right around the corner. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict Chuck “Iceman” Liddell will lose his Light-Heavyweight belt to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 71, I know the UFC has been billing Liddell as the scariest light-heavy on the planet for a long time now, but with the way the last two main event’s have gone, my money is on “Rampage”

UFC, Cro Cop, Gabriel Gonzaga, Bisping, Zuffa

Unlike my hockey predictions, at least all of the teams I picked to be in the hunt in hoops are still there. Now lets have a look at the brackets and see how it’s gonna go down.

We’ll start with the East:

- Detroit over Orlando in six

- Cleveland sweeps Washington

- Nets over Toronto in seven

- Miami over Chicago in six

Round two:

- Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and the supporting cast of the Nets upset number on Detroit in five

- Heat over the Cavs in six

Eastern Conference Championship:

Just like I predicted in January Miami will be the Conference Champions by walking all over the Nets in five

Now the Confernce that matters:

West Round 1:

- Dallas sweeps Golden State

- Phoenix over the Lakers in five - sorry Kobe, the scoring title don’t mean nothin’ when your playing Steve Nash and the Suns

- Denver surprises San Antonio in seven

- Utah over Houston in six

Round 2:

- The Mavs are just too much for AI and Melo - Dallas takes down Denver in five

- Phoenix takes out the Jazz in six

Western Conference Championship

- In a seven game series that will prove to be ten times more exiting than the finals Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs knock off Steve Nash and the Suns in dramatic fashion at the buzzer in game six.

NBA Finals

Dallas makes Miami look like school kids, turning off the Heat in five to take the crown.

The Championship should really be decided between the Mavs and the Suns, foregoing the inevitable embarassment of the Eastern Conference. Three teams to make the playoffs from the east have records of .500 or worse while the three top teams from the West all have far better winning percentages than the top team in the East.

NBA playoffs, NBA predictions, playoff predictions

Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund

April 16, 2007, will be remembered as one of the darkest days in the history of the Virginia Tech community and the world beyond.

To remember and honor the victims of those tragic events, the university has established the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to aid in the healing process and generate financial support.

The fund will be used to cover expenses including but not limited to:

• Grief counseling
• Memorials
• Communication expenses
• Comfort expenses
• Incidental needs

If you plan to give, please click the link below:

The Philadelphia Phillies have begun the season in a dismal fashion - a 3-9 record with only one win at home. The ace of their pitching staff, Brett Myers, has been shelled in his last two starts; their runners LOB is in double digits nearly every game, they are barely hitting above .200 with runners in scoring position and they have the worst bullpen in baseball.

The only thing the Phillies seem to be fighting for is to keep their head above water, and they are losing that battle.

Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel has been criticized in the media for not cutting loose on his players when they don’t perform up to expectations and for the fact that he’s too nice, too laid back. Well all that came to a head in a press conference after a 8-1 loss to the division rival Mets Tuesday night.

The verbal altercation began during the press conference when Eskin suggested Manuel rip into the players in the clubhouse to shake things up. Charlie responded first by saying that he did throw the occasional clubhouse fit, then by challenging his long time critic to a fit. Fightin’ Charlie asked Eskin to stop by his office, said that he would be waiting for him.

The two later met up in the Phillies clubhouse, where Manuel actually had to be restrained by two of his coaches.

I, for one, would like to see Charlie Manuel beat up on Howard Eskin. I think that would fire up the team more than yelling at them after a pitiful on field performance. A manager that’s willing to fight for his team is someone who get’s respect. plus there could be an added benefit - if Charlie breaks Eskin’s jaw in the fight, Howard will have no choice but to keep his damn mouth shut!

Phillies, Charlie Manuel, Howard Eskin, Phillies manager fight, Philies fight

After a diving attempt to snag a fly ball, then slipping while trying to throw the ball back to the infield, Cubs center fielder Alfonso Soriano suffered a three to four inch strain in his hamstring that will likely have him spending some time on the disabled list.

Soriano, who was the Cubs major off-season aquisition and the reason many people pick Chicago to be competitive in 2007 hasn’t really gotten off to the start that many people had expected. The Cubs signed Soriano to an eight year contract worth more than 130 million dollars, in part because of the monster year he had with the otherwise less than entertaining Washington Nationals last season. In 159 games in ‘06, Alfonso hit .277 with 46 homeruns and 95 RBI in one of the larger, more pitcher friendly stadiums in Major League Baseball, he also managed 41 doubles and 41 stolen bases making him one of the most potent offensive threats in the National League last year.

So far this season, in twelve games with the Cubs, Soriano is batting only .245 with no homeruns and only one RBI. Probably not the numbers the Cubs expected from the player with the biggest paycheck on the roster and now he’s heading to the DL with a bad wheel. That means he’ll likely miss at least ten days, and he probably won’t be nearly as much of a threat on the base paths for a few weeks while he fully recovers from the injury.

There’s a good chance that Soriano will be his old self again - pounding homeruns and stealing bases with the best of them, but right now I’m happy the Phillies didn’t shell out 136 million on him.

Cubs, Alfonso Soriano, free agent signings, baseball injuries

In Stuttgart Germany on Saturday it really looked like David and Goliath. Ruslan Chagaev came in as a challenger to WBA Heavyweight Champion Nikolai Valuev. Chagaev was giving away almost a foot in height and nearly 90 pounds to the seven foot giant.

Chagaev was a heavy underdog, Valuev held a record of 46-0 coming into the fight and in the past he’s used his enormous height and reach advantage to out jab smaller opponents. All the boxing world pretty much assumed that this fight was going to be more of the same, but Chagaev has a history of, not only taking on, but beating bigger opponents. In his amatuer days he was one of the few boxers who managed to beat the 6 foot 5 inch Felix Savon.

Chagaev adopted some unusual training methods in preparation for the fight, including having his trainer stand on a box while sparring to get used to fighting an opponent so much larger.

In the fourth round, the much smaller challenger managed to break inside the champions jab and land several shots. From that moment on Chagaev grew bolder, he continued landing punches and winning rounds, ultimately out-pointing the Russian in a twelve round majority decision.

To the surprise of all, it was a great fight form the opening bell to the final seconds. Neither fighter held anything back in the 12th, knowing that it was going to be close on the scorecards.

Watch some of the action from the toe to toe 11th and 12th rounds as Chagaev out quicks and outwits the much larger champion, earning his slice of the Heavyweight gold in one of the best heavyweight fights of the last year.

The WBC International Super Featherweight Champion Manny Pacquiao wasn’t quite himself in the first five rounds of his bout against his undefeated opponent Jorge Solis.

Manny seemed to be having a lot of trouble adapting to Solis’ unorthodox style, so much so that for a minute I thought the man that I picked as 2006 fighter of the year was going to get handed a defeat.

Until the sixth round that is… at about the halfway point of the sixth Solis caught Manny with and unintentional headbutt that split “Pacman” open over the left eye. Pacquiao decided it was time to turn it into a “slugfest” after the headbutt, he pushed Solis into the corner and uleashed a flurry of brutal punches.

The break between rounds didn’t calm Manny down, he continued to punish Solis through the course of the seventh round and into the eighth. Solis went down twice in the eighth round and stayed down after the second with a little over a minute left in the round.

Pacquiao improved his record to 44-3-2 with thirty-four wins by KO, and Solis unbeaten streak came to an end after 34 fights.

Solis, who must have still been punch drunk after the fight commented that his “wife hits harder than Pacquiao”. I’m supposing that means his wife KO’d him in less than eight rounds?

For all of you that are Pacman fans like myself, here’s a bit of footage of him beating up on some of the best fighters in the world - enjoy:

It’s been thirteen long months since it all began, 395 days of suspected guilt. More than a year of the public suspecting the three young men from the Duke Lacross team of committing the heinus acts of rape, kidnapping and sexual assault.

Now, thankfully, for David Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann the charges have been dropped. My question is, will these three young men ever be able to get out from under the shadow that was cast over them from a years worth of character damaging exposure in the media.

Attorney General Roy Cooper, who took over the case this January, declared the young men innocent on all charges and described the incident as a “tragic rush to accuse and failure to verify allegations” by Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong. Nifong was charged with ethics violations in January that could result in him being disbarred.

The story was national news and sparked heated debates over race issues and the privilege associated with being an upper level athlete.

The unfortunate witch hunt not only marred the reputations of the three young men and Duke University but cost in excess of three million dollars in unnecessary legal fees.

Despite no DNA evidence connecting any of the young men to the accuser, and the fact that the woman in question had a prior, very similar accusation that resulted in no charges being filed. Nifong overlooked the facts present, reportedly withheld lab results and made despariging remarks about the accused to the media, calling them hooligans and proclaiming DNA evidence would have all three men found guilty.

I don’t believe that allegations of rape or sexual assault should ever be taken lightly. A crime of this nature needs the utmost attention of law enforcement officials, but it’s incredibly unfortunate when an overzealous prosecuter uses such a situation in an attempt to make a name for himself.

Duke Lacross, Collin Finnerty, David Evans, Reade Seligmann, Mike Nifong

Football commisioner Roger Goodell has made his announcement regarding the fate of Adam “Pacman” Jones and it looks as if Mr. Jones is going to be having an extended vacation without pay.

Goodell said in his statement that Pacman’s acitivity was not just an embarrassment to himself but to his team and to the league. Goodell also drafted a letter to both Pacman and the Bengals’ Chris Henry, another NFL wayward soul, in which he stated to both that their off-field activities were detrimental to the NFL and that both players failed to live up to the standards expected form NFL players.

Pacman will miss, at least, the entire “07 season and maybe more depending on the outcome of pending charges stemming from the involvement in an incident in Las Vegas. Jones was said to have been partially responsible for an altercation that ending in a multiple shooting outside a nightclub that left one man paralyzed. Las Vegas Police have recommended that both felony and misdimeanor charges be filed against Jones and a resulting conviction could extended the 23 year old cornerback’s suspension.

Pacman Jones stands to lose well over a million dollars and will have to undergo counseling and perform community service as directed by the NFL judicial committee before he can apply for re-instatement to the league after the “07 season has come to a close.

There has yet to be any reaction from Pacman Jones, who is “chilling out” for a few days so he doesn’t say any of the wrong things to the media as a reaction to the suspension. The Titans organization has stated that they are in support of the ruling.

For complete details and some expert reactions to the big news go to espn’s website.

Pacman Jones, Roger Goodell, Chris Henry, NFL suspensions, Titans, Bengals

At thirty seven years of age, Joe Sakic had his best year of producton in terms of offense since the 2000-2001 season. With 100 points by way of 36 goals and 64 assists he led the Avalanche in both categories, so why would he bother retiring?

Joe Sakic could have, very easily, taken a tour of many NHL cities this coming off season, and almost named his price on the free-agent market, after all a good captain is hard to come by and there isn’t a better captain in the League than Joe Sakic. So why did Sakic sign a one year deal with the Avalanche, before even hearing the multitude of offers that would have been made available to him?

In his words, Colorado and the Avalanche are “home”. Sakic was originally drafted by the Quebec Nordiques (the team that later moved and became the Colorado Avalanche) in the first round of the 1987 draft. He played his first game for the team in 1988 and has been an integral part of the organization ever since.

The contracts were Tuesday, just a few days after the regular season ended. The Avalanche failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the 1993-1994 season despite an incredible run over the course of the last 20 games of the season.

In ‘07 Sakic had the best of his twleve all-star game appearances, collecting four assists as the elder statesman on the ice

Sakic led the Avalanche to two Stanley Cup Championships - in the ‘95-’96 season and again in 2000-2001 and he’ll be entering next season poised to move himself up in the record books. Joe currently sits in ninth position on the all-time points list and tied for fourteenth on the all time goals scored list.