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April 26, 2005
NFL draft 1 - 15
1. Alex Smith (Utah): Alex Smith took over the starting job three games into his sophomore season vs. Cal in 2003 and wound up completing 65-percent of his passes for 2,247 yards with 15 touchdowns compared to just three interceptions.
2. Ronnie Brown (Auburn): Brown has played second fiddle to Carnell Williams throughout his career at Auburn. In Williams' absence in 2002, Brown started six games and had a breakout season with 1,008 rushing yards on 175 carries.
3. Braylon Edwards (Michigan): Braylon played in just six games as a freshman but had a breakout season as a sophomore in 2002 with 67 receptions for 1,035 yards and 10 touchdowns. He improved on those numbers as a junior in '03 (85-1,138-14), made a surprising decision to return to school for his senior season, and led the Big Ten with 87 receptions for 1,221 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2004.
4. Cedric Benson (Texas): As a senior in 2004, Benson rushed for 1,764 yards and 19 touchdowns on 303 carries. Benson is a workhorse. He has size, power, quickness and enough speed to carry the load as a starting running back in the NFL.
5. Carnel Williams (Auburn): As a junior in 2003, Williams started 10-of-13 games that he played and finished with 1,307 rushing yards and 17 TD's on 241 carries. As a senior in 2004, Williams rushed for 1,236 yards and 12 TD's on 239 carries. He also had 152 receiving yards on 21 catches and returned 22 punts for 251 yards.
6. Adam "Pacman" Jones (West Virginia): Jones' nickname is "Pac-Man". He led West Virginia in tackles with 76 in 2004. He produced three tackles for losses, two sacks, three interceptions and seven passes broken up as a senior. Jones also returned 26 kickoffs for 608 yards for an average of 23.4 yards per return, and also returned 21 punts for 306 yards and a touchdown.
7. Troy Williamson (South Carolina): Williamson finished his junior season in 2004 with 43 receptions for 835 yards and seven touchdowns and led the SEC in yards per reception (19.4). Williamson had impressive production in a run-oriented scheme while at South Carolina.
8. Antrell Rolle (Miami): He had a breakout season as a junior in 2003 when he almost single-handedly held WR Larry Fitzgerald (Cardinals No. 3 pick overall in 2004) to just three receptions for 26 yards. Rolle finished his junior season with 51 tackles, two interceptions and seven passes broken up. He followed it up with a rollercoaster of a senior season in 2004, in which he started all 12 games and finished with one interception.
9. Carlos Rogers (Auburn): His production dipped during his sophomore and junior seasons (2002-'03) but he made huge strides as a senior in 2004, when he started all 13 games and finished with 47 total tackles, two interceptions and eight passes broken up.
10. Mike Williams (USC): Williams, 20, tried and failed to get into the 2004 NFL draft. In two college seasons, Williams had 176 catches for 2,570 yards and 30 touchdowns. The All-America sophomore left USC shortly after the spring semester began.
11. Demarcus Ware (Troy): Ware dominated the lower Division IA collegiate competition his final three seasons at Troy, as he finished his sophomore season with 19.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks, his junior season in 2003 with 16 TFL and six sacks and his senior season in 2004 with 18 TFL and 10 sacks.
12. Shawne Merriman (Maryland): Merriman appeared in 14 games, starting one in 2002. He appeared in 13 games, starting five in 2003. He finally became a fulltime starter for the first time in his collegiate career in 2004 and responded with a breakout season that included 85 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks.
The Texans trade pick No. 13 for Saints Pick No. 16 and next year's 3rd round pick.
13. Jamaal Brown (Oklahoma): Brown has been a fulltime starter and first team All-Big 12 the past three seasons (2002-'04). Brown doesn't have elite size but he keeps getting bigger and stronger. He has excellent feet and good overall athletic ability, which is why he shows the potential to start at the LOT position in the NFL.
14. Thomas Davis (Georgia): Davis redshirted in 2001 and started four games at safety as a redshirt freshman in 2002 before taking over as a fulltime starting OLB for the Bulldogs as a sophomore in 2003. He had a breakout season in 2003 with 138 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and one interception.
15. Derrick Johnson (Texas): He was a fulltime starting outside linebacker for the Longhorns from his sophomore season in 2002 through his senior season in 2004. As a junior in 2003, Johnson led the Longhorns with 129 total tackles, including 29 TFL, two sacks and four INT's. He finished his senior season in 2004 with 130 tackles, 19 TFL, two sacks and one INT.
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April 25, 2005
Summer time!
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April 22, 2005
My Sharapova!
LYRICS TO "MY SHARAPOVA"
Ooh, my little pretty one, pretty one.
When you gonna serve it to me, Sharapova?
Ooh, you make this volley fun, volley fun.
Chalk is flyin' all around, Sharapova!
Never gonna stop.
Lob it up.
Such a stunning joy.
I'm gonna live it up.
Can I be your ball boy?
My, my, my, I yi – Whoo!
Sh-sh-sh-sharapova.
I buy all your posters, hun, posters, hun.
Plastering my bedroom walls, Sharapova!
You'll go down in history, in history.
As a champion unlike Kournikova!
Never gonna stop.
Lob it up.
I'm a big fan
I wanna live it up.
As you win the Grand Slam.
My, my, my, I yi – Whoo!
Sh-sh-sh-sharapova.
Sh-sh-sh-sharapova.
Sh-sh-sh-sharapova.
Sh-sh-sh-sharapova.
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April 21, 2005
Summer is coming!
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Germany's Ratzinger is new pope
Joseph Ratzinger of Germany has been elected the 265th pontiff today by the College of Cardinals. He was announced as tens of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square. He has chosen the name Benedict XVI, the Vatican announced. The announcement came shortly after white smoke rose from the Vatican chimney and bells rang to announce that a new pope had been selected.
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April 20, 2005
We love country music
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April 19, 2005
Pig... Olympics?!
A piglet dives into a pool during a sporting event dubbed as 'Pig Olympics' at Heping Park in Shanghai April 15, 2005. The piglets, which come from a special species in Thailand, competes in several events like running, hurdles, hoop-jumping, diving and swimming. The four-legged athletes start training a month after birth and will continue competing until they reach one-year-old. Chinese characters read 'Dongba Pig Sports Event'.
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New Pope Elected on Second Day of Conclave
VATICAN CITY - White smoke poured from a chimney at the Vatican and bells tolled on Tuesday evening, announcing to the world that a new pope was elected in the first papal conclave of the new millennium.
Crowds in St. Peter's Square chanted: "Viva il Papa!" or "Long live the pope!"
"It's only been 24 hours, surprising how fast he was elected," Vatican Radio said, commenting on how the new pope was chosen on the conclave's second day. It was one of the fastest elections in the past century: Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939 in three ballots on one day, while Pope John Paul II was elected in 1978 in four ballots in one day. John Paul II's successor was elected after either four or five ballots over two days. More pilgrims poured into St. Peter's Square, and the bells kept ringing 10 minutes after the original tolling. Pilgrims said the rosary as they awaited the name of the new pope, and prelates stood on the roof of the Apostolic Palace, watching as the crowd nearly doubled.
The bells rang at 6:04 p.m. (12:04 p.m. EDT) ending confusion over the smoke signal that had risen from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. White smoke is used to announce the election of a new pope, along with the ringing of bells, which was added for this conclave.
The world awaited the formal announcement of the new pope, to be made on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica by Chilean Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estivez. Niels Hendrich, a 40-year-old salesman from Hamburg, Germany, jumped up and down with joy and called his father on a cell phone. "Habemus papam!" he shouted into the phone, using the Latin for: "We have a pope." Antoinette Hastings, from Kent Island, Md., rose from her wheelchair, grasping her hands together and crying. She has artificial knees, making it tough to stand.
"I feel blessed, absolutely blessed," she said. "I just wish the rest of my family were here to experience this with me."
The 265th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church succeeds John Paul II, who died April 2 at age 84 after gaining extraordinary popularity over a 26-year pontificate, history's third-longest papacy. Millions mourned him around the world in a tribute to his charisma. Cardinals had faced a choice over whether to seek an older, skilled administrator who could serve as a "transitional" pope while the church absorbs John Paul's legacy, or a younger dynamic pastor and communicator — perhaps from Latin America or elsewhere in the developing world where the church is growing. While John Paul, a Pole, was elected to challenge the communist system in place in Eastern Europe in 1978, the new pontiff faces new issues: the need for dialogue with Islam, the divisions between the wealthy north and the poor south as well as problems within his own church. These include the priest sex-abuse scandals that have cost the church millions in settlements in the United States and elsewhere; coping with a chronic shortage of priests and nuns in the West; and halting the stream of people leaving a church indifferent to teachings they no longer find relevant. Under John Paul, the church's central authority grew, often to dismay of bishops and rank-and-file Catholics around the world. Even though John Paul appointed all but two of the men who elected the new pope, it was no guarantee that the new man would necessarily be in his mold. Pope John XXIII was 77 when he was elected pope in 1958 and viewed as a transitional figure, but he called the Second Vatican Council that revolutionized the church from within and opened up its dialogue with non-Catholics. The new pope will have to decide whether to keep up the kind of foreign travel that was a hallmark of John Paul's papacy, with his 104 pilgrimages abroad. The new man may be locked into one foreign trip — the mid-August Catholic youth day gathering in Cologne, Germany. John Paul had agreed to visit and organizers have already spent millions of dollars in preparations.
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April 18, 2005
£1m payout, but bookie Fred is still smiling
THIS is the a man who lost a million and smiled. Bookie Fred Done wagered the sum on United finishing higher than Chelsea in The Premiership.
But now, with a seemingly unbridgeable gap between the Reds and the London team, Fred decided to pay out to the man who took up his bet.
The Manchester Evening News reported last year how the Salford bookie, who owns betting chain Bet Fred, threw down a challenge to fellow high-rollers that his team would finish higher than Chelsea.
The even-money bet was eventually taken up by Gibraltar-based Victor Chandler, who also runs a successful bookmaking firm.
Brave
Fred hoped the wager, which he claims is the biggest football bet ever placed, would get his name into the Guinness Book of Records and vowed to give the cash to charity if he won.
Today, he insisted he was happy to honour his wager. He said: "I've been in betting all my life. I like to take and play a good bet. The man was brave enough to take it on. I'm going to go right into his offices with a £1m cheque and hand it over.
"We had no written contract over this. It was just over the phone. I have absolutely no doubt that if I had won the bet, that it would have been honoured by Victor.
"I'm not sorry. I will live to fight another day. It's a lot of money to most people and they are probably thinking I'm crazy. But risk is the nature of my business and sometimes things go against you."
Fortunately, the lifelong United fan is not short of cash. Bet Fred, which he set up with his brother Peter in 1967, has 500 shops throughout Britain and an annual turnover of £600m.
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April 14, 2005
The shot
It was a Masters moment that will forever linger in memory: Tiger Woods' chip shot crawling to the lip of the cup, the ball teetering for what seemed like an eternity, its tiny swoosh slowly rolling up into view before dropping in. For Woods, it was a triumph. For Nike, it was a marketing coup - and a lucky one.
Some 2,750 miles away from the 16th hole at Augusta National, Nike Golf's director of marketing Chris Mike was scrambling for the phone. Nike, he suggested to a colleague, had the makings of its new ad campaign.
Through its nearly decade-long alliance with Woods, Nike has sought to gain ground in the golf equipment and apparel market. The company currently has a 9 percent slice of the golf ball market that's dominated by Titleist and Callaway Golf.
Because Woods hadn't won a major for two years, some believed that the perception of Nike equipment was tarnished, said Paul Swangard, director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. Then came The Shot.
"It really reinforced what Nike has been trying to get across - that they're a leading performance golf brand," Swangard said.
In another stroke of luck for Nike, the very ball that Woods seemed to telekinetically will into the cup - the One Platinum - hits the market next month. It will retail for a pricey $54 a dozen.
Nike first paired itself with Woods back in 1996. He signed a five-year endorsement deal with the company in 2000 for a reported $100 million, and has become such a major part of the company's endorsement stable - one stocked with superstars - that he has a building named after him at Nike's headquarters in Beaverton, a suburb of Portland.
Whether Nike can capitalize on Woods' feat through an ad campaign remains to be seen, however; Nike said it is working with Augusta National, which owns the rights to the footage.
"It was exciting in many different ways. It was exciting because it was a great moment in sports, and we always celebrate great moments in sports," said Nike Golf spokeswoman Joani Komlos. "It was exciting because it was a great moment for a member of the Nike family and it was exciting because it was a great moment for a part of our business that we're very proud of."
Nike seems to have a knack for hooking up with the right athletes at the right time. When Brandi Chastain doffed her jersey after the U.S. Women's soccer team won the World Cup back in 1999, the sports bra splashed across newspapers worldwide was itself stitched with the swoosh.
"The Shangri-La is always unforgettable moments in sports that are linked to your brand," Swangard said. "This was one of those moments."
And certainly, with a stable of athletes that includes Woods, Michael Jordan and Lance Armstrong, Nike has done the right things to make sure it's in the right place, said Jim Andrews, executive editor of the IEG Sponsorship Report, a trade publication.
"Those three have obviously shown that Nike is very, very smart when it comes to sponsorships," he said.
But it remains to be seen whether Nike sells more golf balls - hype doesn't always translate to profits, Andrews said.
"There can be hype built around this kind of thing, but in six months it's anyone's guess whether the numbers will be there," Andrews said.
Komlos said Nike does expect to see great interest in its One Platinum ball after Woods' feat. "We've seen time and time again that it does resonate with the average consumer," she said.
Woods' chip shot instantly became one of the most unforgettable moments in golf. He hit the ball and it caught the slope at just the right place before taking a right angle turn toward the hole. It was still about 25 feet left of the hole when it began rolling slowly toward the pin, the swoosh tumbling over and over for the camera until its pause at the edge of the cup.
"A lot of it is luck, but I hit it pretty good," Woods said. "I hit it right on the spot."
This year, Augusta National allowed commercial time to just three advertisers: SBC Communications, IBM and Exxon Mobile. Only four minutes of commercial time was allowed per hour.
The Masters was aired commercial-free the previous two years after Martha Burk's high-profile protest of Augusta National's male-only member policy. But it is Nike that has arguably gotten the most marketing mileage out of the tournament.
It is estimated that the company already had received more than $1 million in free advertising after the shot was shown the 60th time somewhere on a television news broadcast.
At the Masters, Nike Golf announced that more players used its irons than any other brand at a PGA Tour event - even though it was rumored that the company paid some of the aging former champions to use its sticks. But having the most irons in play allows Nike to run advertisements telling everyone about it. [Forbes]
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NFL schedules are out!
NFL WEEK 1 schedules
Thursday, Sep. 8
Oakland at New England, 9:00 p.m.
Sunday, Sep. 11
Chicago at Washington, 1:00 p.m. Cincinnati at Cleveland, 1:00 p.m.
Denver at Miami, 1:00 p.m. Houston at Buffalo, 1:00 p.m.
New Orleans at Carolina, 1:00 p.m. N.Y. Jets at Kansas City, 1:00 p.m.
Seattle at Jacksonville, 1:00 p.m. Tampa Bay at Minnesota, 1:00 p.m.
Tennessee at Pittsburgh, 1:00 p.m. Arizona at N.Y. Giants, 4:15 p.m.
Dallas at San Diego, 4:15 p.m. Green Bay at Detroit, 4:15 p.m.
St. Louis at San Francisco, 4:15 p.m. Indianapolis at Baltimore, 8:30 p.m.
Monday, Sep. 12
Philadelphia at Atlanta, 9:00 p.m.
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April 13, 2005
Let's take a little time to refocus
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April 12, 2005
Rockies' Piedra Suspended on Drug Policy
Colorado Rockies outfielder Jorge Piedra was suspended 10 days Monday for violating baseball's new policy on performance-enhancing drugs. The suspension begins with the Rockies game at Arizona on Monday night, the commissioner's office said. [yahoo]
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April 11, 2005
WPT on the Travel Channel
The WPT is the league that launched the poker phenomenon when it first aired on the Travel Channel on March 30, 2003, and it continues to lead the way in developing poker as a major international sport. The highest rated show ever on The Travel Channel, the WPT is now seen in over 60 countries worldwide, and its tournaments are held at first class locales and resorts as far ranging as Paris, the Bahamas and Las Vegas. When the WPT rolls into town, players are accorded a hero's welcome and poker fans plan their schedules around the WPT Final Table taping.
"We are thrilled to extend our relationship with The Travel Channel," said Executive Producer and Founder of the WORLD POKER TOUR, Steven Lipscomb. "Their commitment further reinforces the WORLD POKER TOUR as the preeminent brand of poker while maintaining Wednesday night as Poker Night! Together we will continue to build Poker as a mainstream sports sensation.
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April 07, 2005
Who Will Win The 2005 Masters?
Defending champion Phil Mickelson's (5/1) confident, Vijay Singh's (13/2) feeling pretty good about his chances, Mike Weir (28/1) is itching for another big win, and Tiger Woods (4/1) is no stranger to the Masters either. With a stacked leaderboard, Thursday's opening round at Augusta calls for rain, which could change the character of a course set up long and fast by the some of the tournament's best golfers. But it's anybody's guess as to who will wear the Green Jacket this year.
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April 05, 2005
North Carolina Wins NCAA Championship
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April 04, 2005
Last chance to bet on NCAA!
Well it's the finals, and the last chance you have to place a bet on NCAA march madness... for this year!
See the sports betting odds here!
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Pope John Paul II dies
The Vatican has announced the passing of Pope John Paul II, the Polish pontiff who led the Roman Catholic Church for more than a quarter century. Up until his death Saturday night in his Vatican apartment, Pope John Paul was the most traveled pope in history.
"The angels welcome you," Vatican TV said after the announcement came from papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls just less than an hour ago.
"The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. (2:37 p.m. EST) in his private apartment. All the procedures outlined in the apostolic Constitution `Universi Dominici Gregis' that was written by John Paul II on Feb. 22, 1996, have been put in motion," Navarro-Valls said.
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican No. 2 official, led a tearful crowd of 70,000 people in St. Peter's Square in prayers for the pope.
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