In
international Cricket, Scotland will meet Zimbabwe today in their 2nd One Day International contest at Edinburgh.
The other day saw the first ever ODI among the two teams, and Zimbabwe,
the powerhouse, was stupefied at their loss to Scotland, normally a mediocre
associate team at best. Scotland had
never before beat a Full Member in 23 attempts, prior to Thursday's
victory.
Less
than two days after that wake-up call, Zimbabwe have a chance to save face and
level the series. Scotland are currently third in the WCL Championship, three
points behind Netherlands. Today,
Scotand will try to repeat their win, assisting them to their first Series win
against a major competitor. Zimbabwe,
always a fierce and professional competitor, will certainly be pushing hard to
avoid a second embarrassing loss. Zimbabwe
batsman Malcolm Waller said "They do
play good shots and we knew we were going to be up against it, especially in
their home conditions, our first game. But we've got to jump around. We've got
to be ready for the next game and make sure that we finish on top." The
day will tell.
In
the USA, in International Golf: The 2017
United States Open Championship, the
117th U.S. Open, continues today at Erin
Hills in Erin, Wisconsin, northwest of Milwaukee. It has
been filled with plenty of off the course action. On Thursday, day of the first round, a blimp
crashed near a place called Holy Hill. It fell to the ground and blew up, just off
the course. The pilot is in
serious condition. The second round
witnessed the death of a spectator at the sixth hole. He was a 94 year old man, and the death was
from natural causes.
Action
has been "bloody" enough on the course. Champ Phil Mikkelson dropped out, just as the
tourney began. His tee time would not
have allowed him to play, and to reach his daughter's graduation. Defending champion and world No. 1 Dustin
Johnson missed the cut at the U.S. Open after second round play, and he will
join several of golf's headliners with a weekend off. He missed the 36-hole cut by three strokes. He missed the cut last weekend too. Also washing out of continuing on to today's
round three were Rory McIlroy and Jason Day, numbers 2 and 3 respectively. For the first time since the Official World
Golf Ranking system began in 1986, the top three players in the world have been
eliminated after 36 holes of a major championship. Johnson is a proud new papa, so he is taking
some time at home until next month's British Open.
In
all, eight of the top 12 players in the world missed the cut, and other major
champions also are out. This column, then, lacks words or predictions
but will watch today's action with some sense of suspense. Two Yanks and two Brits head the leader board
heading into today's third round.
In
the United States: Unified light
heavyweight world titleholder Andre Ward and former titlist Sergey Kovalev (Сергей Александрович Ковалёв) will
meet tonight in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ward
has been irritated and avoiding Kovalev, but they had to meet up face to face
at Friday's weigh in. The crowd was definitely pro Ward, and booed
Kovalev, who is Russian but lives and trains in Los Angeles.
There
has been no love lost between these two. At the weigh in they would not
participate at first in the promotional photographs, preferring instead to hold
a massively long stare. Kovalev finally
turned toward the crowd, and Ward smirked as if he had won something. Their fight series has been somewhat of a
blood feud, so Saturday's action will be just as heated. As always, win or lose, Saturday's fight
represents a massive payout for both athletes.
The USA vs. Russia angle has
excited some fans, but the Norcal vs. Socal battle, Ward is from Oakland,
Kovalev lives in L.A. should excite some Californians.
Ward,
33, of Oakland, California, believes he won the first fight between the two in
this current series. The first was a one point decision. Naturally, he wants to
prove it conclusively and win convincingly.
"I am looking forward to
making a statement in this fight and answering any questions that may be out
there and removing any doubt that may be out there, so I'm excited," said
Ward, the last American man to win an Olympic boxing gold medal, doing so in
2004 in Athens. Kovalev, 34, who fights
out of Los Angeles, was champ for a few years, until that controversial
decision in the first Ward fight.
Kovalev said "For this fight, I definitely had to get in shape,
have different emotions and different motivations." He added "I want
to thank my haters," referring to ardent Ward fans, "They motivate me
to keep going. I want to get my belts, and I'm here for this."
