Basketball

Bernardo Velasco

Jacopo Olmo

Dirk Werner Nowitzki

Nick Bateman

Glenn Melis

As we move from one season to another, we move from one sport to another....  There goes basketball!  

Rexswimguy's Speedo Clad with Michael Scanlon

Model: Michael Scanlon

Michael Scanlon is a 29 year old fitness model from Chicago, Illinois.  He is a rugby player who played in college in Miami. He modeled off and on, and even moved to Australia to play Rugby.  He is currently back in Chicago, pursuing an MBA in Finance, while pursuing a modeling career.  

Sport Sunday: Baseball, Bastian and Ελλάς

While, technically, opening day of the 2017 MLB Baseball Season is tomorrow, the first game of the season will be tonight.  The World Champions Chicago Cubs will visit the St. Louis Cardinals' beautiful Busch Stadium for the start of the 2017 season.  Bitter rivals, the two Midwestern teams always put on a good show.  St. Louis always kicks off their season in grand style, with the arrival into the stadium of the team of Clydesdale horses, pulling the Anheuser Busch Beer Wagon, as the organ plays "Here Comes the King."   

The strong team as the season begins include last year's World Series contenders, Champions Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians,  the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox.  Pre season greats often do not persevere through the season, the usually competitive St Louis Cardinals missed the play-offs last year, and their line up seems a bit disheveled for such a well-run franchise.  But bounce-back years for starters Michael Wacha and Adam Wainwright, and a Cy Young-worthy effort by new star Carlos Martinez will have them back in the NL post-season.  So, as the season starts tonight with a renewed Cardinals-Cubs rivalry, we can all look forward to the surprises of the boys of Summer...  

Cycling heats up today with the 2017 Tour of Flanders, one-day cycling classic, the 101st edition of the race.  The Tour of Flanders is the second monument race of the 2017 cycling season and the high point of Flemish Cycling Week. Antwerp, in far northern Belgium, will stage the start of the event for the first time, after 19 starts in Bruges.  The stage winds south to finish at Oudenaarde.  Notable climbs include the Muur van Geraardsbergen.   Eighteen categorized climbs are programmed, of which 12 are cobbled. In addition to the climbs, five sectors of flat cobbled roads are included.  This year 25 teams take part in the race, 18 UCI World Teams who were both invited and obliged, and seven wildcard entries.  Today's total peloton consists of 200 riders.  Over the next few weeks, the great one day classics of April will take place, including Paris-Roubaix.

In Australia, Aussie Rules Football:  The Western Bulldogs beat the Sydney Swans by 23 points in the rematch of the 2016 Grand Final to start the weekend.  The Swans got the jump on the Bulldogs, leading by 23 points at the 18-minute mark of the first term, but the defending Champions showed their mettle by rebounding and eventually getting on top in a brilliant win.  Sydney is now 0-2 after two rounds, while the Bulldogs are 2-0. Today's action pits the Geelong Cats against North Melbourne, Melbourne against Carlton, and Port Adelaide against Fremantle.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup is a cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council, so that Associate Members of the ICC might have a chance to play First Class Cricket matches against teams of similar skill in a competitive environment.   The Cup serves as a part of a cricket development program. The winners of each cup are able to play test matches against the lowest of the highest level until the next ICC Cup competition.  Today's competition features the United Arab Emirates playing Papau New Guinea  at Abu Dhabi.  In other international action today, Pakistan continues their tour of the West Indies with their 4th Twenty20I at Port of Spain. 

Since Association Football fans think that soccer is the ONLY game, and  beautiful,  we could not end this update without a bit of soccer news.  As an update from yesterday's notice,  Bastian Schweinsteiger scored in his Major League Soccer debut for the Chicago Fire, as the burners and the Montreal Impact traded late goals in a 2-2 draw on Saturday.  Less than two weeks after leaving Manchester United and moving to Chicago, Schweinsteiger played all 90 minutes and scored the opening goal with a header following a corner kick in the 17th minute.

In Greek Super League action today, 5 contests will take place, Panionios vs. Atromitos, Kerkyra vs. Iraklis, Panetolikos vs. Asteras Tripoli, PAOK Salonika vs. Larissa FC, and AEK Athens vs. Panathinaikos.  In this last contest, in their last five meetings, Athens has won twice, Panathinaikos once, and they have drawn twice. 

 

 

Sport Saturday: Kohli, Cocks and Clarets

Spain:  From now until May 12th, fans of Spanish football will be able to watch at least one La Liga team play every day. League play in Europe tends to be confined to weekends, but La Liga has switched it up so fans will be satiated every day, every single day. That's 42 days of football in a row, with no time to breathe.  A portion  of those six weeks could very well define the outcome of the season for Real Madrid. In 27 days, they will play nine key games: Among them, La Liga challenges by Atletico de Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, and the face-off with Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals.  The best to them...  Today, in La Liga play, Villarreal takes on Eibar,  Osasuna takes on Atletico de Bilbao, Real Sociedad takes on Leganes, and Málaga will meet Atletico  de Madrid. 

In England:  European struggles aside, Tottenham Hotspur are having another excellent season. Ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Burnley, they are second in the Premier League and assured of a berth in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.  Robbie Brady returns to Burnley after international play last week, having served as captain of the team of the Republic of Ireland, and fans hope this will inspire him.  The Clarets have not played at home for six weeks, and fans could be forgiven for forgetting exactly where the stadium is. Despite not winning any of their past seven matches in all competitions, they have won five of their last six home league games, and runaway Premier League leaders Chelsea are the only team to have stopped them since November.  Burnley have only been beaten by Manchester City and Arsenal at home since a 1-0 defeat to Swansea City on the opening day, with strong form at fortress Turf Moor keeping them afloat.

Injuries also plague the league.  Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits he is frustrated Adam Lallana will miss Saturday's crucial Merseyside duel against archrivals Everton after suffering a thigh injury while representing England last week.  Lallana sustained the problem during England's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania last weekend, but still managed to play the full 90 minutes...  Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho bemoaned the injuries suffered by Phil Jones and Chris Smalling also while on England duty.  He is also weeping crocodile tears at the loss of  seasoned player Bastian Schweinsteiger, who took his contract and moved the MLS' Chicago Fire this week.  It is said that in two seasons at Man U, Mourinho played Bastian only a dozen times...  in. two. seasons... and now he says they could have done so very well together. 

Normally we don't comment on a rather mediocre soccer scene in the USA, but there are more than a few reasons to check in on the Chicago Fire's date with Montreal on Saturday, but the primary one is the possible debut of the same Bastian Schweinsteiger. Massive crowds greeted him upon arrival at Chicago's O'Hare field, and at the following press conference, enthusiasm was so great a reporter gushed that maybe the German star would "help Chicago Fire win the World Cup."  Well, maybe not.    

In the USA:  In the NCAA tournament, Final Four games will take place today, with the winners of each contest playing Saturday for a chance at Monday's national championship game.  South Carolina Gamecocks vs. the Gonzaga Bulldogs promises to be a great game, as Gonzaga will strive to get

back into the finals.  South Carolina is good at forcing turnovers, and the Cocks continue to limit scoring opportunities, generating a significant portion of their offense. This is their first run to the Final Four, a first in school history.  The second game to be contested Saturday, is the battle between the Oregon Ducks and the North Carolina Tar Heels.    Oregon will never leave Glendale without a fight.  They have already proven themselves by beating Rhode Island in a come-from-behind win before it slid by Michigan and stomped Kansas in the NCAA tournament.

In International Cricket, India finally did prevail over Australia in the recent Australia Tour of India, preserving the Cup.  The mood on the field during the fourth test became strident, however.  Indian star Virat Kholi, after the match in Dharamsale, shocked the Cricket World after the match by saying he was no longer a friend of any of the Aussie players.  He tweeted later, saying he "didn't mean it" when they said  he had said he wouldn't be calling the

Australian players his friends "ever again". On Thursday morning he tweeted that he was referring to only a "couple of individuals", and that his comment had been blown out of proportion. Before the four-Test series had begun, Kohli had spoken warmly about his friendships with all of the Australian players, saying: "I'm really good friends with all these guys off the field. I know them really well, but I know where to draw the line of friendship. When you step onto the field, I could be playing against my big brother it wouldn't matter." 

In international action, today, Sri Lanka will host Bangladesh in their third ODI at Colombo, and Pakistan's tour of the West Indies continues with their 3rd Twenty20I at Port of Spain. 

Mid Week Funnies

Hey Hey Whadda ya say? Cubs are gonna win?

It's the most exciting baseball weekend of 2016, with Games 4 and 5 of the World Series on tap!  The Indians are up 2-1 after last night's thrilling 1-0 defensive battle, and you can expect more nail-biting action to come.

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2016 Major League Baseball Post-Season

World Series

(Eastern Time)

Saturday, October 29 - Game 4

8:00 PM: Cleveland Indians @ Chicago Cubs, FOX

Sunday, October 30 - Game 5

8:00 PM: Cleveland Indians @ Chicago Cubs, FOX

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... plus flamboyant fan-favorite of the Cubs, first baseman #44 Anthony Rizzo.  Watch for him tonight.

 

Name: Anthony Rizzo

Date of Birth: August 8, 1989 (Leo)

Hometown: Parkland, Florida, USA

Height/Weight: 6'3"/240 lbs

Team: Chicago Cubs

Position: First Base

Bats/Throws: Left/Left

MLB Debut: June 9, 2011

Cubs Defeat Dodgers to Clinch First Pennant Since 1945!

The friendly confines of Chicago's Wrigley Field, at Clark and Addison on Chicago's north side, saw a historic event in Major League Baseball Saturday night.
  

For the first time in over 70 years the Chicago Cubs clinched the National League Pennant in a convincing 5-0 win over Los Angeles Dodgers.  Yes, that's over seventy years.  

They now have a shot at breaking another streak.  1908 was the last time Chicago's lovable losers won the World Series. Since the club was founded at the 23rd Street Grounds as the Chicago White Stockings in 1876 they have won only two World Series titles, in 1907 and 1908.  The club settled on the Cubs nickname only in 1903, which kicked off their glory years which ran until 1920.   With this win of the National League Pennant, the curse of the Goat might finally be overcome. 


Certainly better correspondents will help prepare us soon for this year's World Series.

Today let us just congratulate all Cubs fans as they celebrate last night's win! 

NHL Heats UP Tonite

by Rexswimguy:  

The NHL Regular Season is now in its final few weeks, so you might want to get up to speed on all that.  And, tonight is a golden opportunity to do just that with a primetime matchup between the Wild and the Blackhawks.

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2015-16 NHL Regular Season

Sunday, March 20

8:30 PM: Minnesota Wild (32-28-11) @ Chicago Blackhawks (42-24-6), NBCSN

full schedule: http://espn.go.com/nhl/schedule

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... plus superstar forward for the Wild, #3 Charlie Coyle.  His team needs to make a big push if they intend to make it into the post-season, so watch for him in action tonight.

Name: Charlie Coyle

Date of Birth: March 2, 1992 (Pisces)

Hometown: Weymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Height/Weight: 6'3"/220 lbs

Team: Minnesota Wild

Position: Forward

Shoots: Right

NHL Debut: February 4, 2013