To view universalsports.com fully make sure you have Macromedia Flash Player version 7 or higher.
Click here to download.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – This was supposed to be a weekend of celebration for the Alabama track and field program at the Drake Relays, with Tide mens coach Harvey Glance and womens coach Sandy Fowler getting inducted into the meets Hall of Fame.
That changed after dozens of tornadoes swept across the South in recent days, killing about 300 people, chiefly in Alabama.
Now the Tide are competing in Des Moines with heavy hearts, struggling to focus on their events while thinking about those in storm-ravaged Tuscaloosa and beyond.
In this age of advanced medical technology, it’s almost unthinkable that Tiger Woods could become the Bobby Orr of golf: the game’s best, sidelined by bad knees.
That comparison may be a bit of a stretch, but not as bad as one fan’s on Tiger’s own website, who compared Woods to Elvis, saying “Don’t worry about records, all we need is you being fit and come back to (sic) intertain us. ”
OK, so he’s not retiring, and he’s certainly not ready to be entombed in front of his gaudy Jupiter Island, Fla., mansion, but another injury is reason for concern.
Woods announced this week he will not be competing at the Wells Fargo Championship next week because of what his camp is calling a “minor” knee injury.
An all-Portuguese Europa League final looks likely after Radamel Falcao’s four goals gave FC Porto a 5-1 victory over Villarreal as Benfica secured a 2-1 lead over Braga in the first leg of their semifinal on Thursday.
Falcao took his Europa League tally this season to 15 with his latest goal burst, while Freddy Guarin added another for Porto, the newly crowned Portuguese champions.
Villarreal went in front on the stroke of halftime when Ruben “Cani” Garcia scored for the only non-Portuguese side still in the competition.
The first all-Portuguese semifinal in a European competition saw Jardel and Oscar Cardozo clinch Benfica’s win over Braga.
- Toulon mulling over Henson verdict
- Exeter docked points
- Long out for six weeks
- Fletcher named India coach
- Graham confirms Canterbury move
- Peacock return boosts Rhinos
- Coe delighted with ticket demand
- Injury ends Ireland season
- Giggs longevity amazes Ferguson
John Higgins punished an unforgivable series of mistakes by Ronnie O’Sullivan as he came out on top in their Betfred.com World Championship quarter-final.
The Scot had trailed 8-5 during the afternoon session but won eight of the next 10 frames to tie up a 13-10 victory.
In a high proportion of those frames, O’Sullivan led, missed reasonably easy balls and was made to pay by the opponent he regards as the most complete player in the sport.
Certainly Higgins proved himself a better finisher than his fellow three-time former Crucible champion, sealing his victory with a fine break of 79 which began with a fluke.
Higgins goes on to face Mark Williams in a semi-final which gets under way on Thursday evening.
It can’t continue, can it? Rookies, teens and twentysomethings continue to thrive in the pro ranks and, every week, those in the know say this is the tournament where experience will win out.
That’s what they said would happen at the Masters, but PGA Tour rookie Charl Schwartzel came along and blew that theory, and the likes of Tiger and Phil, out of the water.
And, when three of the four sitting major champions — Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen and world No. 1 Martin Kaymer — teed it up in Malaysia last week, it was Matteo Manassero who snuck in his second European Tour victory two days ahead of his 19th birthday.
Already holding the title of the European Tour’s youngest victor after taking the Castello Masters last year, Manassero shot up to No.
Gonzalo Higuain scored a hat trick as Real Madrid followed up its Copa del Rey victory with a 6-3 drubbing of third-place Valencia on Saturday.
Kaka scored twice and Karim Benzema also added to the tally as Madrid returned to Mestalla Stadium three days after hoisting its 18th domestic cup and first trophy in nearly three years with a 1-0 extra-time victory over Barcelona.
Madrid became the first visiting team to score six goals at the Mestalla and maintained pressure on Spanish leader Barcelona, which can restore its eight-point lead over Madrid in the standings with a victory against Osasuna later Saturday.