In the United States, in Men's Tennis, it
will be Dominic Thiem versus Roger Federer in Sunday’s men's final at the BNP
Paribas Masters Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California.
It will be the ninth final here in the desert
for the fourth-seeded Federer, who has won the title five times but lost last
year’s final after squandering three match points against Juan Martín del
Potro. He was to play Rafael Nadal
Saturday in the Semifinal but received a bit of a bye when Nadal withdrew due
to tendonitis. Thiem had dispatched
Milos Raonic 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 6-4, in a match of contrasting styles in which
there was only one break of serve.
Nadal, who leads the lifetime series with
Federer, has already pulled out of the Miami Open, but hopes to compete in
Monte Carlo next month.
In Spain in La Liga, Real Madrid certainly
knows how to call attention to itself, constantly generating interest by sudden
moves. Longtime coach Zinedine Zidane
was forced out 10 months ago, just before Cristiano Ronaldo's departure for
Italy. Now he is back, Zidane that is,
having been rehired in a surprise move on Monday.
Isco and Gareth Bale got Zinedine Zidane's
Real Madrid return off to winning start on Saturday, with the Spanish playmaker
and the Welsh forward on target in 2-0 La Liga win over Celta Vigo that saw
Keylor Vavas preferred in goal to Thibaut Courtois. Isco and Keylor Navas rewarded Real Madrid
manager Zinedine Zidane for naming them in his first Liga team since returning
to the Bernabeu as their goal and clean sheet helped beat Celta Vigo 2-0.
29 year old Gareth Bale had not lost his
place under just fired, interim coach Santiago Solari, who was sacked on Monday
before three-time Champions League-winning manager Zidane was reappointed in a
somewhat unexpected move, but question marks over the Welshman's long-term
future in Madrid persist and he duly answered some of his critics with a
second-half goal to kill off the match.
The eyebrow-raising exclusion from Zidane's
team sheet was goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, with Costa Rican stopper Navas
recalled in his place after spending much of the season on the bench. Zidane
apparently now knows how Grover Cleveland felt.
In NCAA Men's Basketball, literally hundreds
of hours of play has been contested over the last few days. So many conferences have already crowned
their champions. Six games remain today, kicking off with the Ivy League
finals, number one seeded Harvard vs. number two seeded Yale. The Big Ten final between Michigan and Michigan State my provide the most
interest of this afternoon's games. Reportedly
a favorite Harvard cheer: "Repel
them, Retard them, make them relinquish the ball." Take
that, Thurston Howell III
Don't forget that the Aussie Rules Football
season officially kicks of this week.
All forms of media are replete with pre Season predictions, too many for
this space to tease out and present a cohesive synthesis.
What we do know is that on Thursday, at the
Melbourne Cricket Grounds, the Richmond Tigers, who finished last year on top,
will meet the Carlton Blues, who finished at the bottom. There will be an additional match on Friday,
Four on Saturday, and three next Sunday.
More later.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
What we do know is that on Thursday, at the
Melbourne Cricket Grounds, the Richmond Tigers, who finished last year on top,
will meet the Carlton Blues, who finished at the bottom. There will be an additional match on Friday,
Four on Saturday, and three next Sunday.
More later. 
