all-other-sports
You may not have noticed, but on Monday night, 3000+ fans witnessed a new NCAA men’s tennis champion. The UCLA Bruins were crowned the 2005 champs, Monday at the Mitchell tennis complex at Texas A&M, in a ferocious battle that left opponent, and former champion Baylor dazed and confused.
When Daniel Negreanu’s parents came to Toronto from Romania, they brought dreams for their unborn child. Little did they know, they were providing the free reign for their son to become one of the best poker players in the world.
This high school dropout was born on July 26, 1974 in Toronto, Canada. Once he turned 21 he moved to the mecca of gambling, Las Vegas, where he lives now.
Negreanu won the U.S. Poker title in 1999 and a list of other titles since he turned pro in 1997. At the age of 23, he won the first World Series of Poker event that he had ever entered, Pot Limit Hold `em. Between 1997 and 1999, his 12 major tournament victories were more than any other player.
In the 2004 World Series of Poker, Negreanu won one bracelet and placed in money positions in five other events, claiming ESPN’s Toyota Player of the Year award.
At only 29 years old, Negreanu has six World Series of Poker bracelets, and is the all-time leading money winner on the World Poker Tour Circuit. Negreanu took some time out of his busy schedule to talk to me in an interview in mid May, 2005.
By Sean Quinn
After Michael Jordan retired in 1998, the Chicago Bulls fell apart faster than Michael Jackson’s latest nose. More recently, after Shaquille O’Neal’s departure from Hollywood, the Los Angeles Lakers crumbled like a cupcake in the mammoth claws of Rosie O’Donnell.
Sports teams, professional and collegiate, aren’t built to dominate for long periods of time. When they do, though, it’s often due to one player, and fans relish these dynasties for as long as they can because, like a Jennifer Lopez marriage, they don’t last. That’s why the Yankees are so special. That’s why the run by the UCLA men’s basketball team in the 60s and 70s is so spectacular. Perhaps the most impressive, but unheralded streak is buried beneath the wintry weather and smothering snowfall in upstate New York, where Syracuse’s 22-year run of consecutive lacrosse Final Fours, came to an end earlier this week.
Grand slam tennis is back in Europe for the first time in nearly a year. The French Open, or Roland Garros, as referred to by the locals is the most diverse slam of them all. Clay presents a completely different level of play; some of the best tennis players in the world won’t make it past the first round.
Completely unknown players succeed in France, players like: Gaston Gaudio, last year’s champion, or Fabrice Santoro, a player who dominates on the clay circuit but can’t seem to make the proper conversion to hard-court. It is the players who grew up playing on clay. The true journeymen of professional tennis win at Roland Garros.
Somebody needs to step up.
Somebody needs to wake up and become the leader, to speak the truth, to do the right thing, to expose the wrong.
As USA Cyclocross team member Sarah Kerlin rounds the corner of the course, she sees the “Death Drop,” the steepest portion of the World championships course in Germany. The entire course is covered in snow but the “Death Drop” is covered with ice. The frozen grade was the most extreme obstacle Kerlin had ever faced, but in Cyclocross, the danger is half the fun.
When the race for the roses was all said and done it wasn’t the obvious favorite Bellamy Road, who had previously stomped on competition just about everywhere. Nor was it the feel good story of Afleet Alex, who inspired many with his humble beginnings, and gracious owners. Frankly it wasn’t anybody I had previously picked as my favorite to win it in my last article, but I can assure you, not many can say they did.
It was a virtually unknown horse by the name of Giacomo, who with lowly 50-1 odds, shocked everyone and became the second biggest long shot to win the race in its 131 year history.
It’s derby time, and here are some of my favorite’s in the run for the roses! No doubt I am a huge horse racing fan, and the Kentucky Derby is one of my favorite sporting events of the year.
Is it just me, or did Roy Williams look like a totally different person by finally getting the enormous monkey off of his back. By winning Monday night and claiming his first national title, Williams has now forced all of the sports media to change their personas toward the man. With his most recent accomplishment, Williams is viewed obviously in many people’s minds differently than he was before his victory against Illinois in the national championship game. Now, it is up to people and fans of college basketball to place Roy Williams where they believe he best belongs in the history of college basketball.
The Roush Racing Fords have been a dominant force in the past several years at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jack Roush’s Fords have won five of the past seven races at Vegas coming in to this past weekends race. If you were ever going to bet on a Jack Roush car to win a race the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 would normally be that race, except this weekend was meant for the John Hendricks Chevrolets.