Sports Weekend: Australia Day Edition

This weekend the Australian Open comes to a crescendo.  The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually over the last fortnight of January in Melbourne, Australia. First held in 1905, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year – the other three being the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. It features men's and women's singles; men's, women's and mixed doubles and junior's championships; as well as wheelchair, legends and exhibition events. Prior to 1988 the tournament had been played on grass courts, but since then two types of hardcourt surfaces have been used at Melbourne Park – green coloured Rebound Ace up to 2007 and, afterwards, blue Plexicushion.  The Australian Open typically has high attendances, rivaling and occasionally exceeding the US Open. The tournament holds the record for the highest attendance at a Grand Slam event. It was the first Grand Slam tournament to feature indoor play during wet weather or extreme heat with its three primary courts, the Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena and the refurbished Margaret Court Arena equipped with retractable roofs.

Today the men's doubles are being contested, with a finals match between Austraian Oliver Marach and Croatian Mate Pavić on  one couple, versus Colombians Robert Farah and Juan Cabal.  The Colombians have not yet lost a single set in this tournament, despite a controversial call in their match against Australians Sam Groth and Lleyton Hewitt,  so they are the couple to beat.  The men's singles finals will be held Sunday, but time differences being what they are, it will still be Saturday in some locales for readers of this space.  In the finals, Swiss Roger Federer will contend with Croatian Marin Čilić.  Roger Federer will be seeking his 20th Grand Slam title in his 30th major final, and has not yet lost a set in this tournament.  This is his seventh appearance in an Australian Open final, setting a new record.   Marin Cilic, has been gathering steam, winning close matches by force rather than by luck, and he'll be looking to win his second Slam.  In his play against Federer he is 1-8, but he did best Rafael Nadal in this tournament. 

The Ashes Series concluding in International Cricket, England and Australia turned toward the one day international matches.  Although performing dismally in the Ashes series, the English have surged in the ODI set of five games, winning 3 so far to Australia's 1.  So, the hosts have no way of coming out victorious in the ODI series, even should they win the Australia Day weekend match this Sunday in Adelaide.  Players representing both nations are looking forward to some much needed rest. 

In PGA Tour Golf, Tiger Woods has qualified for the final rounds of a PGA Tournament for the first time since 2015.  He was on his last hole in Friday’s second round of the Farmers Insurance Open, a tournament he’s won a record seven times. But this time around, in his first tournament on the PGA Tour in a year and just his second in over two  years, the former world number one ranked players in the world  overcame the odds to make the cut.  He begins final round play 10 shots behind of the pace-setting lead of Ryan Palmer.  Play continues today at the Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California overlooking the Pacific Ocean near San Diego.  

Sports Sunday: New Year's Eve Edition

It has been quite the year in Sports, but you'll have to look elsewhere for your retrospectives.  New Year's Eve is chock full of sporting events, but the main focus is on New Year's Day. 

The Ashes series was decided when Australia took the first three of the five Test matches programmed.  Nonetheless, some exciting cricket has continued as England came alive in the fourth test, this one at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, and was only denied a win because of the great batting of Steve Smith, who hit a century for Australia, as they battled England to a draw.  The Australia skipper stonewalled the English bowling attack to remain unconquered on 102 for his third century of the series when the Test was called a draw late on the final day.  Australia only lost two wickets on the fifth day but coasted through after lunch to finish on 263 for four with Mitchell Marsh not out on 29. 

It was just the second drawn Boxing Day Test in 20 years.  Alistair Cook, batting for England had a record breaking 244 to open, but in the final hours, Australia's Smith and Marsh salvaged the draw.  There was a total attendance of 262,616 fans over the five days. There was some criticism of the lifeless state of the Melbourne Cricket Ground drop-in pitch.  The series of Test Matches concludes at the historic Sydney Cricket Grounds, January 4-8. 

In the United States 10 games in the final week of the regular season of the National Football League have playoff implications, but most of those are of teams who playoff possibilities could be altered, if they lose. 

In only one game,  Carolina Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons — do both teams have a real  something at stake. It seems the New York Jets are always playing for glory against the New England Patriots, and seldom finding it.  The Pats are heavily favored in this game, but in Football, as in all things, pride goeth before a fall.  New England has certainly proved this time and again, a great franchise, but one who loves to be in the faces of all the other teams.  They win often, but when they lose, it is always a big loss. 

The Minnesota Vikings will host the Chicago Bears this New Year's Eve.  As the cookies have crumbled the Vikings  no longer have a chance to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, but they can get a first-round bye with a win or a tie. Even if they lose, they still stand a decent chance of a first round bye.  The New Orleans  Saints (11-4) play the (4-11) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  If they win, the NFC South division is theirs, but they can also win it if the Carolina Panthers lose or if both teams tie.   The Carolina Panthers can win the N.F.C. South if they win and the Saints lose. They are favoured over the Falcons but the Falcons are battling for a wild card spot.

A Happy New Year to all of our readers. Thanks for your involvement and participation.   

Sunday Sport: NFL, the Ashes, Futbol

National Football League action is heating up this weekend. With the reduced college schedule, the NFL is able to spread over more days of the weekend, with the current weekend starting on Thursday and lasting until Monday.  Yesterday the Detroit Lions kept their  playoff hopes alive by beating the hapless Chicago Bears 20-10 in a rare Saturday game.  Young quarterback Mitch Trubisky tried to pull out a win, but the team fell short.  24 teams will play in Sunday's 12  big games. 

The Los Angeles Rams, who travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks, have a great possibility of pulling off an upset. Seattle is favored by 1.5 (up from an open of one), but the Rams have been playing well, and could present a challenge.  The San Francisco 49ers are slight favorites over the Tennessee Titans, but they look likely to win.  The 49ers are 3-10, but have been surging late in the season, having won three of their last four, that is, after the arrival of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.  He seems to have inspired the young 49ers.  The Titans, meanwhile, are 8-5 and in the hunt in the AFC South, so they won't roll over easily.  They suffered a tough loss to underdog Arizona last week and have been highly inconsistent on offense.  This season they have also struggled away from home.  Should be an interesting game.  The Steelers and Patriots -- both legitimate Super Bowl contenders, are in the hunt to shore up their strengths, and so their play should be good this weekend.   

In international Cricket, each day makes it seem less likely that England will "bring home the ashes," after this year's tour of Australia and New Zealand.  Today is the fourth day of the third test, and the English appear to be demoralized, living the Ashes experience themselves, one might say.   Australia, beginning the day on Saturday 203-3, scored 346-1 as the failings in the English bowling attack were brutally exposed again by captain Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh.  England now face two days to try and save the match and at least keep the series alive to Melbourne and the fourth Test.  Australia could very well go up 3-0 by the end of this match, preserving the ashes and relegating the tour to just another national visit.  Steve Smith struck his highest Test score on Saturday with an unbeaten 229, and his unbroken partnership of 301 for the fifth wicket with Marsh (181 not out) has turned the game from one where England were still in a good position to one where their best case scenario now is a draw.   Australia is enjoying their best all-round bowling attack for a decade in Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon to call from.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is currently on their tour of India, and will meet the home team today in their third ODI (One Day International) at Visakhapatnam.  After today's action, the tour will conclude with three successive T20 matches, on December 20 and December 22, culminating with the final action of the Tour, on Christmas Eve at Mumbai. 

European Soccer appears to present a ho hum Sunday, with a few exceptions.  Spanish La Liga play presents four games.  League leader Barcelona could really surge in the standings, as challenge Real Madrid, fresh from yesterday's victory in the Club World Cup, has no games in Spain this weekend, and so cannot garner any points.  German Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 both have a few games, but nothing overwhelmingly interesting, at least to this space.  On the surface, the Italian Serie A has many games on Sunday, 7 in total, but seemingly nothing of great interest.  

The most interesting soccer games Sunday in Europe would appear to be in the English Premier League, in which West Bromwich Albion will take on Manchester United, and AFC Bournemouth will contend with Liverpool.  Man U and Liverpool are both near the top of the standings, and West Brom and Bournemouth near the bottom, but these two teams often pull out unexpected wins.  

Sunday Sport: The Ashes, Arsenal, Valencia, Ronaldo and F1

Sunday's Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix provides a unique mix of sports this year, as four-time Formula One world champion, Lewis Hamilton, both competes for another win, and cheers on his down on their luck Association Football team, Arsenal.  Both are well known to readers of this space.  Arsenal fan Lewis Hamilton knows how Premier League club can succeed again, and cheers them on, whilst he, himself,  wants to keep pushing to greater heights. 

This is the first time in many seasons in which Arsenal is absent from the UEFA Champions league, as they placed just below the threshold of the Premier League last year, for the first time since 1996.  They continue to compete in other interleague competitions, and push hard for better success this year.   Arsenal were beaten at Cologne on Thursday night in a Europa League competition, and travel to Burnley today for a game too close to call.  Hamilton has said that he has been an Arsenal fan since he was five years old, and has been disappointed over their fates of late. 

Hamilton has had a good year, winning his fourth title with two races to spare.  He is not retiring to write his memoirs, however, at 32 he states that "  I’m always wanting to move forwards, I’m always wanting to be ahead of the game, I’m always wanting to be two steps further ahead than everyone else that’s also trying to be two steps ahead of the game.”  He added "I’ve now won four championships and I want to win another one.”

Hamilton goes for a fourth win on today in the big race in Abu Dhabi.  His great opponents are those with whom he has contended all year, Dutch phenom Max Vestappen, Italian Sebastian Vettel, Australian Daniel Ricciardo, and Brazilian Felipe Massa.

La Liga competition in Spain has reached a point unforeseen before the season.  League leader is Barcelona, riding the crest of a wave of anti national sentiment, and surging in national competition.  Behind them are Valencia, and at six points behind Valencia, Real Madrid.  The town of Valencia was hit hard by the economic crisis, harder than any other city in Spain.  In recent seasons, they finished 12th in the standings.    Their massive stadium remains unfinished, a relic of better economic times, but this year their team has given Valencianos real hope.  

Valencia have no money but have surged to dizzying new heights, under stable coaching, after several years of coaching chaos.   They play host to league leader Barcelona this weekend.    Barcelona is flush with cash and has just signed Lionel Messi to a new Contract for another three years.  Valencia tends to rely on younger players, some on loan, such as Midfielder Andreas Pereira, 21, on loan from Manchester United.  Messi was rested by Barcelona for last week's Champions League competition against Cologne, rested it is said so that he could be at full strength for this competition.  The young, brash team, has Barcelona scared, apparently.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid, who took on Malaga yesterday, and won 3-2, sits at 10 points behind Barcelona in the standings.  They are playing without the support of their greatest scorers.  Metrosexual model Ronaldo Cristiano, certainly well known to readers of this space,  has only two goals in the last 9 league games, certainly some sort of reverse record.  The boys in lavender must turn around a quick recovery this weekend, and they have their next game on Tuesday against Fuenlabrada, in this year's Copa del Rey competition.  Ronaldo may have taken his eyes off the prize, though, as he has been engaging in secret talks with Paris Saint-Germain, who last year snatched Neymar Junior from the Viking's archrivals Barcelona. Meanwhile, Neymar, who has been engaged in legal battles since his percipitous exit from Barca, may well end up in Madrid.

In international cricket, the Sri Lanka tour of India continues with the 2nd Test at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur.  This test began November 24th and last through the 28th, and at last report was at Stumps,  India leading by 107 runs with 8 wickets remaining in the 1st innings, Sri Lanka 205, India 312/2 (after 98 overs).   Overall, India is considered much stronger, but Sri Lanka is a constant surprise. 

Virat Kohli

In the never to be calm world of Indian Cricket, controversies have erupted lately, and national team captain Virat Kohli has been both supportive of the coach and critical of the schedule.  At the end of this current tour teammates will only have a couple of days before flying from India to South Africa for their test series. Readers of this space will know that these tours can last several weeks to a few months, depending on how many tests and other variations of the game are played.    Kohli has called for a more humane approach to the game, at least in scheduling.  

England has gone to Australia to bring back the Ashes, as the much anticipated tour has officially begun last week.  The 1st Test began at the Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane on American Thanksgiving Day,  November 23, and finishes on the 27th.  At last report, they were at Stumps,  England leading by 7 runs with 8 wickets remaining,  England 302 & 33/2 (16 overs), Australia 328.  Australia is highly favored in the series. 

Saturday Sport: Cowboys, Kohli, Bama, Ashes

The Ashes, now taking place International Cricket. The Ashes, for over 125 years.  The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The Ashes are regarded as being held by the team that most recently won the Test series. If the test series is drawn, the team that currently holds the Ashes retains the trophy. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, The Sporting Times, immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, their first Test win on English soil. The obituary stated that English cricket had died, and "the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia".      The mythical ashes immediately became associated with the 1882–83 series played in Australia, before which the English captain Ivo Bligh had vowed to "regain those ashes". The English media therefore dubbed the tour the quest to regain the Ashes. After England had won two of the three Tests on the tour, a small urn was presented to Bligh by a group of Melbourne women including Florence Morphy, whom Bligh married within a year.  The contents of the urn are reputed to be the ashes of a wooden bail, and were humorously described as "the ashes of Australian cricket".  It is not clear whether that "tiny silver urn" is the same as the small terracotta urn given to the Melbourne Cricket Club by Bligh's widow after his death in 1927.

England continues their tour of Australia and New Zealand, in a run up to this year's Ashes competition, with a  Tour Match which continues today and tomorrow at the Western Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth.  The Ashes officially begins on November 23rd at The Gabba in Brisbane, and will continue in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Adelaide. 

Meanwhile back on the subcontinent, New Zealand continues their tour of India, with a T20 International match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot (also known as Khandheri Cricket Stadium).  New Zealand will need a strong response to salvage their series.  The visitors, formerly number one in T20I need to bulk up their middle order and tighten fielding if they are to avoid losing their first T20I series to India today.  Imagine running into a brick wall again and again and again. It's perhaps T20 cricket's equivalent of dropping three catches, and in addition New Zealand's ground fielding in Delhi featured uncharacteristic fumbles. The cost of such indiscipline was 154 runs, the match and their No.1 ranking. Kane Williamson is not a captain who would give excuses, but deep down this defeat would have stung. The visitors now need a strong response to force the series into the decider in Thiruvananthapuram. Their fate seems not to be completely in their hands, though, India has been playing strong.  The pitch to be used on Saturday looked completely devoid of grass in the middle of a lush green outfield. The track is known to favour batsmen and more runs could be expected for the second T20 too. Rajkot, like Delhi and Kanpur, will continue to provide the teams with pleasant, early winter conditions.  India's standout phenom, Virat Kohli needs 12 runs to surpass Tillakaratne Dilshan's tally of 1889 and become the second-highest scorer in T20Is. Brendon McCullum leads the list with 2140 runs.

In the USA, in NCAA Football, the Louisiana State University Tigers will meet the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, in their annual grudge match this evening in Tuscaloosa.  The Tigers have lost the six straight in the series against Bama, but the number 19 ranked team has been playing well, and could easily overcome the number 2 ranked Crimson Tide. 

Meanwhile the state of Oklahoma will be mesmerized on Saturday, with an evening match-up of the University of Oklahoma Sooners, and the Oklahoma State University Cowboys.  This rivalry is officially designated "Bedlam," whenever the two schools match up.   Both teams have remained high ranked all season, with Oklahoma State currently at 11th and Oklahoma currently at 5th.  The Cowboys and Sooners meet for the 112th time Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium, amid high rankings and high stakes. ESPN is sending its College GameDay crew, the sixth time GameDay has appeared at Bedlam.  The Bedlam tag was first attached to the rivalry for the rowdiness involved in the teams' wrestling duals, between teams and fans. Over the years, Bedlam became a thing in all their meetings, with football eventually escalating to the main attraction.  Oklahoma owns a lopsided edge in the series, 85-19-7, but since the end of the Barry Switzer era, the Cowboys have elevated their program in the Big 12 and nationally, and grown more competitive with the Sooners, if not quite superior.  "It's a rivalry game," said Cowboys quarterback Mason Rudolph. "The fans talk and think about it all year. And we do too, so we are excited about it and get another crack at it. It'll be fun."  "This week, everyone goes to work wearing orange or red," Gundy said. "It's a fun week and it's always more entertaining when both teams are successful and playing well. I think it's a fun time for everybody in the state."