http://asimulation.ru/ ru Sports News - The news web portal, business news, sports news, Entertainment News, articles and expert opinions. DataLife Engine http://asimulation.ru/sport/103-2012-star-the-us-womens-dominance-uchimuras-legacy.html http://asimulation.ru/sport/103-2012-star-the-us-womens-dominance-uchimuras-legacy.html
Turnover among elite female gymnasts is staggering -- the top U.S. all-around finisher at the Olympics or worlds has been different each of the last eight years -- but Wieber has staying power. She's young enough to still be on the rise, and her primary domestic competition is either coming off major injury or too young to compete in London. Wieber also has the personality that lends itself to NBC's prime-time audience, beginning with her adoration of a certain teen singer with a similar sounding last name. Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson and Alicia Sacramone are all bidding for Olympic returns, but Wieber will be the primary gymnastics attraction next summer.

2. The U.S. women are the best in the world, which is ominous. The Americans captured the team title for the third straight time at a world championships the year before an Olympics. That didn't work out so well in 2003 and 2007, as they were bumped to silver at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. But they should be bigger favorites this time around given their utter dominance in Tokyo. The U.S. led after every rotation despite choosing three gymnasts from a pool of five while every other country had a pool of six (Sacramone tore her Achilles in training, and alternate Anna Li was out with an abdominal injury). Only one member of the U.S. quintet had been to a world championship before -- Aly Raisman. Now they're all proven big-meet performers.

Then consider who could be swapped into the lineup next year: Liukin, Johnson, Sacramone, 2005 world champion Chellsie Memmel, 2009 world champion Bridget Sloan and two-time world all-around medalist Rebecca Bross. In 2012, every country will be limited to five gymnasts (down from seven in the 1990s and six in the 2000s), making the competition for spots on the U.S. team every bit as tough as the Olympics themselves. The U.S.' biggest flaw going into the world championships was a lack of depth on uneven bars, which just happens to be a strength for Liukin, Memmel, Sloan and Bross. At this point, Russia looks like the only nation with any hope of keeping the U.S. women from their first Olympic team gold since Atlanta's Magnificent Seven.

3. Kohei Uchimura may become the greatest of all time, but he's not there yet. The Japanese superstar won four medals and steamrolled to his third straight men's all-around title, winning by a whopping 3.1 points, the same margin separating second place and 13th place. No other man or woman has won three straight world titles, and here's the kicker: Uchimura is just 22 years old. The other recent dominant men's gymnasts -- Alexei Nemov, Yang Wei -- didn't hit their Olympic peak until their mid-20s. So he will probably be even better in London.

Uchimura's routines aren't the most difficult, but nobody can match his precision. His closest pursuers don't compete with him -- they are in awe of him. The way he smiles after each breathlessly stuck routine, he, too, may be a little astonished. But to call him the perfect gymnast, or to anoint him as the greatest in history, is premature. By his stratospheric standards, Uchimura at times looked human in Tokyo. He fell on his most pressure-packed routine, high bar in the team finals, which almost allowed the U.S. to overtake Japan for silver. Uchimura then ran out of gas in event finals, spinning off the pommel horse and having a major form break on rings, missing the medals in both.]]> 1 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:53:28 +0400 http://asimulation.ru/sport/102-injuries-cant-ground-kellys-ducks.html http://asimulation.ru/sport/102-injuries-cant-ground-kellys-ducks.html
Oregon lost James to a dislocated elbow in last week's game against Cal, in which he posted his third-straight 200-yard rushing performance. Thomas went down with a leg injury in the third quarter Saturday after competing 13-of-17 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns. The Ducks, now without two players who'd accounted for 74 percent of their total offense on the season, fell behind 24-21 shortly after Thomas exited.

Big whoop.

The Ducks (5-1, 3-0 Pac-12) won going away, 41-27, putting up their usual 536 yards in the process. They scored 17 unanswered points after Thomas jogged to the locker room, the offense quickly adjusting with a new quarterback, redshirt freshman Bryan Bennett, and its defense seeming to grow stronger as the game went on.

"They understand that people getting banged up is part of the game," said Kelly. "We don't talk about injuries, we talk about opportunities for someone else."

Kelly has been doing this for five years now, dating to his days as Oregon's offensive coordinator. The star running back's not available? Oregon goes to the air more, gaining 187 of its 245 yards through the air in the first half. The quarterback goes down? Enter Bennett, a fleet-footed redshirt freshman who ran the triple jump in high school. Executing the read-option like a veteran, Bennett broke off 36- and 18-yard runs on his second full drive of the half.

"He's kind of fast, isn't he?" joked Duck offensive lineman Carson York. "We're really lucky to have a really good backup."

Bennett did this once before. As a sophomore at Crespi High School in Encinco, Calif., he took over as starter after current UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince went down with a knee injury in the first game of the season. Oregon didn't ask him to do too much (he attempted just five passes), but he managed the game well. Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said he made the right read "nearly 100 percent of the time" on those zone-run plays.

"I've been put in this position before," said Bennett. "It taught me that all you can do is stay poised."

Oregon even briefly lost James' backup, Kenjon Barner, for a brief stretch of the third quarter. No worries. The Ducks have explosive true freshman De'Anthony Thomas, who ran for a 16-yard touchdown and a 29-yard gain. And Barner came back in plenty of time to wear down the Devils (5-2, 3-1) in the second half, finishing with 171 yards on 31 carries.]]> 1 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:51:42 +0400 http://asimulation.ru/sport/101-rangers-have-unfinished-business.html http://asimulation.ru/sport/101-rangers-have-unfinished-business.html
"We haven't finished what we set out to do," Ryan said. "We've still got four more games to win."

While they haven't won a World Series in their 51-year history, the Texas Rangers have officially arrived as an American League superpower. For 50 years they were one of the worst organizations in all of professional sports -- until last October, they were the only major league franchise never to have won a playoff series. Now here they are, headed to a second straight Fall Classic after their 15-5 romp over the Detroit Tigers in Game 6 of the ALCS. George W. Bush and Dirk Nowitzki were among the 51,508 in Arlington to watch Texas become the fifth AL team to win back-to-back pennants since the introduction of the LCS in 1969. New York, Boston: step aside.

"They proved in this series that they were the team that should represent the American League in the World Series," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We're a class organization. They are a class organization. And I tip my hat to them."

From the first day of spring training these Rangers were on a mission to prove that their magical 2010 season wasn't a fluke. They went on to win a franchise-record 96 wins during the regular season and, after rolling over the Rays and Tigers in the first two rounds of the postseason, are now only the third AL franchise other than the Yankees over the last 40 years to reach the World Series in consecutive years (the Blue Jays in '92 and '93 and the A's dynasties of the early '70s and late '80s are the others).

It didn't look good for Texas in the early innings of Game 6. Miguel Cabrera got the scoring going in the top of the first, ripping a 96 mph fastball from Derek Holland for a home run over the right-field wall, just beyond the reach of Nelson Cruz. In the top of the second, Jhonny Peralta hit another opposite-field home run to right field.

VERDUCCI: Rangers ride unusual winning formula back to World Series

Then came the fateful bottom of the third. With two men on, Michael Young drilled a slider from Max Scherzer down the left-field line for a two-run double to tie the score. Adrian Beltre then broke a 0-for-13 slump with an RBI single, and the Rangers took a 3-2 lead. After Scherzer walked Cruz to load the bases, Leyland decided he'd seen enough from his starter.]]> 1 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:50:19 +0400 http://asimulation.ru/sport/100-eagles-return-to-normalcy-with-win-over-redskins.html http://asimulation.ru/sport/100-eagles-return-to-normalcy-with-win-over-redskins.html
• Well, well, well, maybe all isn't lost in Philadelphia after all. That was your basic season-saving win for the Eagles at Washington Sunday -- at least for now -- and the 20-13 outcome went a long way toward restoring a bit of order in the NFC East, where all four teams remain bunched within two games of each other top to bottom.

You can't overestimate how much Philadelphia desperately needed that one. For the embattled Eagles, it was the difference between being 1-5 and trailing 4-1 Washington by a fat 3.5 games, or riding into their bye week with a bit of momentum at 2-4, just two games behind the now first-place Giants (4-2).

A loss to the Redskins, which would have been Philadelphia's fifth straight, and the Eagles' downward spiral might never have been broken. The vultures would have continued to circle over Andy Reid's head, and the next two weeks would have been used to write his coaching obituary in the city he has toiled in for 13 years now.

But don't drop that hammer just yet, because Reid and his underachieving Eagles aren't finished. Far from it. Not only did Philadelphia stop the bleeding with its first win since opening day in St. Louis, but also the Eagles might just be about to get healthy again. After the bye comes a three-game home stand, the kind that has the potential to turn a once-lost season all the way around.

Philadelphia will face Dallas (2-3), Chicago (2-3) and Arizona (1-4) in Weeks 8-9-10, with another home game, against New England, looming in Week 12. That's four of their next five games coming at home, and the Eagles can at least enter that stretch coming off their first division win since pulling off that miraculous comeback at New Meadowlands Stadium last December. Take at least three of those four at home and the "Dream Team'' can legitimately fantasize about salvaging the mess-in-the-making that 2011 appeared to be as Week 6 opened.

Maybe all Michael Vick and Co. needed was to play in Washington again, where the Eagles have won 10 out of their past 12 games. Remember, FedEx Field was the site of Vick's tour de force performance a year ago on that Monday night in Week 10 -- when he ascended back to superstar status by accounting for six touchdowns in Philadelphia's jaw-dropping 59-28 win. Vick didn't need to do anything nearly that astounding this time, but he came through with a very solid 18 of 31 passing day, for 237 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also picked up some key yards with his feet, supplementing a strong LeSean McCoy-led Eagles rushing game with 54 yards on seven carries.

Besides Vick, Philadelphia got strong games from several of its glitziest playmakers on offense (McCoy ran for 126 yards and a touchdown; receiver Jeremy Maclin had five catches for 101 yards), and the vilified Eagles defense held Washington to just 287 total yards, 42 yards rushing, 1 of 10 on third downs, and intercepted Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman four times. Free safety Kurt Coleman, just re-inserted in the lineup on Sunday, had three of those picks, leading the defensive charge. That ought to help new Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo sleep a little better for the next two weeks.

So now there's suddenly a little hope in Philly. The Eagles didn't blow a 20-3 halftime lead this time -- like they did two weeks ago at home against the 49ers -- and they didn't sink to new depths with another fourth-quarter meltdown. They won in tough and impressive fashion, and at least for this week started resembling the talented team almost everyone favored to win the NFC East. We should have all seen this one coming against the Redskins, because the Eagles roster is simply too good and too deep to look that bad for weeks on end.

As bad as 2011 has been in Philadelphia, a turnaround was bound to happen sooner or later. The Eagles just hope it came soon enough to matter. A season that appeared to be in peril is not over yet. The Eagles are breathing again, and the race in the NFC East is still a four-team affair.

• What a bizarre and out-of-control post-game scene that was in Detroit, with Lions head coach Jim Schwartz and 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh making Harbaugh and Pete Carroll's little collegiate midfield exchange of a few years back seem almost quaint by comparison.

Settle down, gentlemen. Both of you. Without knowing exactly what Harbaugh said to his fellow intense and tightly-wound head coach as they shook hands, it certainly looked like Schwartz overreacted in the heat of an emotional moment, after a difficult and last-minute defeat. Both Harbaugh and Schwartz have turnaround teams that are going places, and they've done great work in instilling some much-needed fire and dedication into their organizations. But you can go overboard and lose perspective on game days, and that looks to be the case here at first glance. Who knows, maybe Harbaugh asked Schwartz: "What's your deal?''

Somewhat sadly, the postgame coaches' handshake has become a must-see event after NFL games in recent years, and that's not a good development. But something set Schwartz off, and I have a feeling he's going to be lighter in the wallet because of it. Look for the NFL to dip into his paycheck in reaction to his overreaction. As for Harbaugh, Captain Intensity, lighten up on the handshake, Jimbo. When you win, try to act like you've been there before, because you have.

As for the 49ers' upset of the Lions, not the Schwartz being upset at Harbaugh undercard, the Lions finally paid the price for once again trailing at halftime. This was the fourth consecutive game that Detroit faced a deficit at intermission, and you can't get away with that particular routine forever. The Lions beat the Vikings, Cowboys and Bears despite trailing at halftime, but another slow start and being down 12-10 to San Francisco after two quarters contributed to Detroit's first loss of the season.

The Lions are still in great shape at 5-1, but they clearly haven't arrived to the point where they can bank on digging out of a halftime hole each and every week. Detroit was just reminded that it's a 60-minute game, and you've got to play start to finish.

• But give it up for the 49ers, who haven't been 5-1 since 1998, when Steve Young was still throwing passes to Jerry Rice. San Francisco made a ton of mistakes in Detroit -- committing 15 penalties for a whopping 120 yards -- but still found a way to take another huge step in its renaissance season under Harbaugh. The 49ers practiced with 7-foot loudspeakers around their field last week to try to prepare for Ford Field's din, but it really didn't help, because they committed three first-quarter false starts.

One of the real stars of San Francisco's winning effort was running back Frank Gore, who had a remarkable 121 yards after just six carries on Sunday, and finished with a season-best 141 yards and a touchdown on 15 attempts. Gore had a 55-yard run, and another 46-yard gain, setting up his 1-yard scoring run. After a slow start to his season, Gore is looking like one of the NFL's best running backs once again.]]> 1 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:49:23 +0400 http://asimulation.ru/sport/99-two-time-indy-500-champ-wheldon.html http://asimulation.ru/sport/99-two-time-indy-500-champ-wheldon.html
Wheldon, who won the Indy 500 in 2005 and 2011, was driving one of 15 cars involved in a fiery massive crash between Turns 1 and 2. His car went airborne and flew high into the fence before landing upside down on the edge of the wall. Wheldon's helmet hit the wall, causing an "unsurvivable head injury," said IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, who announced Wheldon's death, at 33, just after 6 p.m. ET.

The impact was so severe the roll hoop broke off the top of his car. Wheldon was unconscious when safety workers arrived at the scene of his crash. A yellow tarp was quickly placed over his car to block the others from seeing the damage inside his cockpit.

The red flag was displayed by IndyCar Series officials, stopping the race. The remaining drivers later attended a meeting, where the decision was made to end the race. Approximately 10 minutes after that gathering concluded, they climbed into their cars and formed rows of three on the racetrack for a five-lap tribute to Wheldon. Crew members of every team, along with series officials, lined the edge of pit road as spectators stood politely and applauded on each of the five laps.

"Amazing Grace" and "Danny Boy" were played in a solemn tribute to the likable driver from Emberton, England, who earlier in the day had agreed to a full-time ride with team owner Michael Andretti for the 2012 season, to replace the departing Danica Patrick. Wheldon is survived by his wife, Susie, and two sons, Sebastian, 7, and Oliver, 7 months. They were at the race along with other family members.

As Dario Franchitti pulled into the pit area, his wife, actress Ashley Judd, awaited the driver on pit road. She pulled a floppy sun hat over her eyes to hide some of the tears. When Franchitti climbed out of the car, they hugged. Then Franchitti hugged his father, George, as both men broke down in tears. He then turned back to Judd and they shared a tearful embrace. Franchitti called Wheldon one of his best friends.

The race had been scheduled to be followed by the 2011 Championships Celebration, an awards banquet, on Monday night at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, but IndyCar officials announced late Sunday that the event had been canceled.

A public memorial for Wheldon will be held at a later date.

In a cruel twist of irony, the accident was grimly reminiscent of a championship battle Franchitti was involved in back in 1999. On that day, his best friend, Greg Moore, was killed in virtually the same type of impact in a single-car crash on Lap 10 in the final race of the season. Moore's father, Ric, was at Sunday's race, his first time attending an IndyCar race since his son was killed 12 years ago.

Franchitti finished second in that's year's championship and won this year's over Will Power, but had no reason to celebrate.

"One minute you're joking around during driver intros and then the next moment Dan's gone," Franchitti said. "I told [Dan's 2-year-old son] Sebastien Thursday night at the parade, that I've known his dad since he was your size. Dan was 6 years old when I met him. We lost -- I lost -- everyone in the IZOD IndyCar Series considered Dan a friend. He was just one of those special, special people. I'm trying to hold it together."]]> 1 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:28:18 +0400 http://asimulation.ru/sport/83-murray-battles-past-devvarman.html http://asimulation.ru/sport/83-murray-battles-past-devvarman.html
The fourth seed, a former losing finalist at Flushing Meadows, was tested in the first set which went to a tiebreak, but once secured, he cruised to victory 7-6 6-2 6-3 in two hours 26 minutes.

Murray was broken immediately to trail 2-0 but battled back to force the tiebreaker which he won 7-5.

He made the perfect start to the second set with another break, but conceded it immediately with a double fault on break point.

However, two further breaks saw him in total ascendancy and the pattern continued in the third set as he pulled two breaks clear.

Devvarman hit back to retrieve one as Murray served for the match but was broken again on his own service to concede victory.

Scot Murray admitted after the match he had been apprehensive at the start of another bid to win his first grand slam.]]> 1 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:56:54 +0400 http://asimulation.ru/sport/82-illness-forces-venus-williams-out-of-us-open.html http://asimulation.ru/sport/82-illness-forces-venus-williams-out-of-us-open.html
Williams, who was due to play against Germany's Sabine Lisicki in the second round, has struggled with injury this season.

"I have been recently diagnosed with Sjögren's Syndrome, an autoimmune disease which is an ongoing medical condition that affects my energy level and causes fatigue and joint pain," she said in a statement on usopen.org.

"I enjoyed playing my first match here and wish I could continue but right now I am unable to. I am thankful I finally have a diagnosis and am now focused on getting better and returning to the court soon," she added.

Sister Serena, who thrashed Bojana Jovanovski 6-1 6-1 in her second round match, recently recovered from a freak foot injury suffered in a restaurant and subsequent blood clots in both lungs that she thought might end her playing days.

Meanwhile, number two seed Vera Zvonareva was made to work in her second-round match against Kateryna Bondarenko, dropping a set before winning 7-5 3-6 6-3.]]> 1 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:56:13 +0400 http://asimulation.ru/sport/81-lyon-stars-on-his-test-debut-to-skittle-sri-lanka.html http://asimulation.ru/sport/81-lyon-stars-on-his-test-debut-to-skittle-sri-lanka.html
Off-spinner Lyon, a controversial selection for the tour, took a wicket with his very first ball and ended with 5-34 as Sir Lanka crumbled to 105 all out.

Australia, who scored 273 in their first innings, reached 115-6 after a collapse of their own, but still led by 283 runs on a deteriorating wicket.

16 wickets fell Thursday with Australian all-rounder Shane Watson chipping in with three wickets in 10 balls, while another newcomer Trent Copeland struck in his first over.

But it was Lyon who made the biggest impression, becoming only the 14th bowler in Test history to take a wicket with his first ball as he removed Kumar Sangakkara, caught at slip by Michael Clarke.

Watson played havoc with the Sri Lanka middle order as he removed Thilan Samaraweera, Prasanna Jayawardene and Paranavitana, all trapped leg before wicket to reverse swing.]]> 1 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:55:23 +0400 http://asimulation.ru/sport/80-transfer-deadline-day-the-biggest-moves.html http://asimulation.ru/sport/80-transfer-deadline-day-the-biggest-moves.html
Despite the market opening at the end of May, clubs often wait until the final moment to conclude transfer deals, hoping to buy or sell at the best possible price.

England, as expected, with Arsene Wenger's team leading the way, saw the most money exchange hands, but there was also plenty of activity in the other major leagues in Italy, Spain, Germany and France.

The dream moves of transfer deadline day? Arsenal, thrashed 8-2 by Manchester United at the weekend, strengthened their defense with the signings of left-back Andre Santos from Turkish side Fenerbahce and German international center-half Per Mertesacker from Werder Bremen.

The 28-year-old Santos, who has won 22 caps for Brazil, has cost the London side $10m, whilst Bremen captain Mertesacker, 26, has a wealth of international experience, having played 75 times for his country.

"With this transfer to London a dream has come true, taking another step in my career. I have always considered the English Premier League an intriguing challenge," Mertesacker told the official Bremen website.

Arsenal also strengthened their midfield with the signing of Yossi Benayoun on loan from Chelsea and on the stroke of the deadline at 2300 local time, announced they had landed Everton star Mikel Arteta on a four-year deal.

Santos leaves a Fenerbahce side that have recently been found guilty of match-fixing, resulting in them losing their place in the Champions League.

Lugano told PSG's official website: "I am very happy to arrive in Paris. It is a great joy for me to know that I have arrived at a club with big ambitions. PSG are the most iconic French club and my goal is to help them get as high as possible."

Four players left Arsenal on a busy day for the Emirates club with Nicklas Bendtner the biggest name as he went to Sunderland on a season-long loan.]]> 1 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:54:39 +0400 http://asimulation.ru/sport/79-dougherty-leads-as-mcilroy-and-kaymer-give-chase.html http://asimulation.ru/sport/79-dougherty-leads-as-mcilroy-and-kaymer-give-chase.html
Dougherty, rated one of the most promising golfers on the European Tour, has missed 21 cuts in a row to slip to 791st in the world rankings, but refound his form Thursday with an eight-under 63 in the Swiss Alps.

U.S. Open champion McIlroy and 2010 PGA Champion Kaymer were two shots back after 65s in the morning rounds, sharing second with England's Gary Boyd and Korean Lee Sung.

In a star-studded line-up, world number two and his stablemate and British Open champion Darren Clarke were tied for eighth after 67s. In an unusual twist, the 29-year-old Dougherty was interviewed by his golf presenter wife Diane after his round and admitted he had not been easy to live with during his unexpected slump.]]> 1 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:53:27 +0400