Sports Poets Society

Sicycle  by Simon Crisp Date: February 23, 2014 I’m sure you’ve read all the 2014 preview pieces this year, all telling you pretty much the same thing: The Tour de France is going to be Chris Froome versus Vincenzo Nibali, with a side helping of Mark Cavendish versus Marcel Kittel, the Giro will become an Aussie battle ground with Cadel Evans and Richie Porte trying to unseat Nairo Quintana, and that we are due a resumption of the rivalry between Belgium’s favourite son, Tom Boonen, and the Swiss gladiator Fabian Cancellara. These two men, with their combined seven Paris-Roubaix cobblestones and five Tour of Flanders bicycle trophies, are set to take up the battle once more, we are told, on the hellingen and pave of Northern Europe. Yet the last time the two have truly dueled on the cobbles was in 2011, when neither man triumphed, and the last time both have raced each other at top form was 2010. Even before then, the two haven’t actually featured together in the races that of...

https://www.amazon.it/Football-Portraits-Ritratti-calcio-Agbonlahor-ebook/dp/B01KI1XRO6 Posted on March 4, 2014 «When shall we three meet again. In thunder, lightning, or in rain?»  «Quando noi tre ci rivedremo ancora? Con tuoni, lampi, o pioggia?»  - William Shakespeare, Macbeth, atto primo, scena I  di Christian Giordano (si ringrazia Alec Cordolcini, La rivoluzione del Tulipani) «Jan, Jan, ti cercano in federazione. Rinus Michels ti vuole come terzo portiere per il mondiale».  L’uomo seduto dietro il bancone della tabaccheria, sorride: «Vabbè, vorrà dire che per ammazzare il tempo mi porterò una canna da pesca…».  Non la userà. Jan Jongbloed il mondiale lo giocherà da titolare, finale compresa. E non sarà l’unica. Non solo. A Germania Ovest 1974 sarà anche il portiere meno battuto, tre volte in sette partite: un’autorete di Ruud Krol nel 4-1 alla Bulgaria nel primo turno e, nell’ultimo atto di Monaco, il rigore dell’1-1 di Paul...

March 2, 2015 WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University men's basketball team plays its final BIG EAST Conference road game of the regular season on Tuesday, March 3, visiting famed Hinkle Fieldhouse to play Butler. The game will be shown live on FOX Sports 1 at 7 p.m., with Joe Davis calling the play-by-play and Bob Wenzel serving as the color analyst. The radio call of Rich Chvotkin can be heard locally on Sports Talk AM 570. Georgetown enters the game with an 18-9 overall record and a 10-6 mark in the BIG EAST following an 81-70 loss at St. John's on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. The Hoyas, who have won 8 of their last 12 games, are ranked No. 24 in the latest RPI Ratings and have a strength of schedule tabbed No. 4 in the country. Junior guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central /Oak Hill) was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after averaging 24.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in a pair of games last week for the Hoyas. This is the ...

A Jürgen Klopp devono essere fischiate le orecchie. Giampiero Ventura, l'allenatore che al Torino ha fatto di Immobile il capocannoniere della scorsa Serie A, era andato giù duro. Senza citare direttamente Simeone Inzaghi e, appunto, Klopp, Ventura aveva difeso i suoi ex ragazzi Cerci e Immobile. Al primo aveva imputato la scelta sbagliata in estate, l'Atletico Madrid anziché una squadra che gioca la palla come il Barcellona; col secondo invece era stato più comprensivo. Ci sono giocatori che sanno fare tutto, e quelli sono i grandissimi; altri che sanno fare bene tante cose e altri ancora che magari ne sanno fare solo una ma benissimo. Immobile, evidentemente, rientra nell'ultima categoria. E quella cosa è il gol. meglio sed'attaccante d'area, ma di movimento, che sa colpire negli spazi. Se due indizi fanno una prova, la dimostrazione è arrivata negli ottavi di Coppa di Germania, a Dresda contro la Dinamo, squadra di terza divisione. Pratica risolta dal Borussia Do...

Seniors Kameron Woods, Jackson Aldridge and Alex Barlow Mar 02, 2015 #21 BUTLER (21-8, 11-5 BIG EAST) vs. GEORGETOWN (18-9, 10-6 BIG EAST) When: Tuesday, March 3, 7 p.m. (ET) Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse - Indianapolis, Ind. TV: FOX Sports 1 (Joe Davis, Bob Wenzel) Butler Game Notes RUBBER MATCH:  Butler willl close out the home portion of its 2014-15 schedule when it faces Georgetown for the third time this season on Tuesday, March 3.  The key BIG EAST contest at Hinkle Fieldhouse is slated to tip at 7 p.m. (ET) and will be televised on FOX Sports 1.  Butler and Georgetown split the first 2 meetings this year , with the Bulldogs taking a 64-58 decision at the Battle 4 Atlantis and the Hoyas winning the first conference meeting, 61-59 , on a three-point field goal by freshman Isaac Copeland in the closing seconds.  The Bulldogs, who have won 8 of 10 games since the loss to Georgetown , improved to 21-8 on the season and 11-5 in the BIG EAST wit...

The Butler basketball team might get Andrew Chrabascz back Tuesday night. It won't be a moment too soon. The schedule is turning in a difficult direction. The 21st-ranked Bulldogs , who are in second place in the Big East , host Georgetown Tuesday at Hinkle Fieldhouse before playing at No. 24 Providence on Saturday. Those two teams are tied for third, just one game back. After that, the Bulldogs begin play in the Big East tournament next week . Win both this week's games and they earn a No. 2 seed and an opening game against one of the league's bottom feeders . Lose them both and Butler is probably the fourth seed, likely facing either Xavier or St. John's in its Big East tourney opener . Both are probable NCAA tournament teams .  St. John's would be playing on its quasi-home court at Madison Square Garden . "Obviously, it goes without saying there are no easy nights in the Big East," Butler coach Chris Holtmann said. "But both these teams ...

With the regular season winding down, Butler and Georgetown have most likely done enough to assure themselves of NCAA tournament berths. Still, these Big East foes have plenty to play for as the No. 21 Bulldogs wrap up their home schedule Tuesday night. Butler (21-8, 11-5) climbed one game ahead of the Hoyas (18-9, 10-6) for second place in the conference after the teams posted contrasting results over the weekend. The Bulldogs earned a 67-53 victory at DePaul on Saturday, while Georgetown fell 81-70 against St. Johns at Madison Square Garden. Leading scorer Kellen Dunham led the way with 24 points and Butler outscored the Blue Demons 22-6 at the foul line. The Bulldogs blew an early 10-point lead and trailed by six with 14:35 to go before pulling away. "DePaul was our sole focus. We didn't talk about anything else," coach Chris Holtmann said. "We have not talked about league standings or where we're at or anything beyond that. We'll talk tomorrow abou...

2:00 PM ET, February 28, 2015 Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio Points Rebounds Assists VILL Hillia... 14.7 Ochefu 8.3 Arcidi... 3.6 XAV Bluiett 12.3 Stainb... 6.7 Davis 6.1 Villanova is on the verge of repeating as outright Big East regular-season champions. Wrapping it up as quickly as possible might be tough against an opponent that also has plenty to play for. Xavier already has four wins over Top 25 foes but earning one Saturday over the sixth-ranked Wildcats would certainly be the most meaningful to its NCAA tournament hopes, not to mention a great way to celebrate senior day at the Cintas Center. Villanova (26-2, 13-2) has won nine straight -- the last three by an average of 21.6 points -- to claim a piece of the Big East regular-season crown. The Wildcats won't have to share it if they win one of their final three games or if Butler and Georgetown each lose once, so it seems a foregone conclusion that the outright title is theirs. However, they don...

The Rating Percentage Index (RPI)  is a quantity used to rank sports teams based upon a team's wins and losses and its strength of schedule .  It is one of the sports rating systems by which NCAA basketball , baseball, softball, hockey, soccer, lacrosse, and volleyball teams are ranked.  This system has been in use in college basketball since 1981 to aid in the selecting and seeding of teams appearing in the men's playoffs ( March Madness ), and for the women's tournament since its inception in 1982 .  In its current formulation, the index comprises a team's winning percentage (25%), its opponents' winning percentage (50%), and the winning percentage of those opponents' opponents (25%). The opponents' winning percentage and the winning percentage of those opponents' opponents both comprise the strength of schedule (SOS).  Thus, the SOS accounts for 75% of the RPI calculation and is 2/3 its opponents' winning percentage and 1/3 its op...

di Will Hutton Il Regno Unito sta cominciando a fare più attenzione alla disuguaglianza. Le rivelazioni secondo cui la banca Hsbc aiutava i suoi clienti a evadere le tasse hanno causato l’indignazione generale. Nella società britannica lo sfoggio della disuguaglianza è ormai inaccettabile . Anche la Premier League – la serie A inglese – è finita nell’occhio del ciclone dopo l’asta dei suoi diritti televisivi. Nei prossimi tre anni Sky e Bt pagheranno la bellezza di 6,8 miliardi di euro per il diritto a trasmettere in diretta 200 partite di calcio l’anno. La massima serie del campionato inglese è ormai lo spettacolo sportivo più scandalosamente plutocratico del pianeta. Il football americano è più ricco, ma è anche più equo nella distribuzione degli introiti. I principali club della Premier League fanno compagnia agli oligarchi russi, agli sceicchi del petrolio e agli aristocratici inglesi nella galleria degli esempi più lampanti di ricchezza immeritata. Ora però tut...

Senior Forward Leads The Sixth-Ranked Wildcats Feb. 25, 2015 By SEAN BRENNAN - Special to BIGEAST.com In the latest edition of "Getting to Know," we put the full court press on Villanova's stellar senior Darrun Hilliard. Darrun tells us why being as well known as say, Duke's Jahlil Okafor, is not high on his priority list , how chasing a school record he was unaware of is also not in his crosshairs , about a story he will one day tell his kids and grandkids - but not for a while - and why he may be checking on a particular item is selling in the Villanova Team Store on campus. BIGEAST.com: Last year you shared the BIG EAST's Most Improved Player award with your teammate Daniel Ochefu. Are you a better player this year than you were last year? HILLIARD:  "Yeah for sure. I think that every player has the drive to get better year in and year out. I don't know what I look like on paper but I think that mentally and physically I feel I'm a bette...

March 30, 2010 By BILLY WITZ New York Times A little more than a month before Steve Lavin, with John Wooden as his best man, was to marry the actress Mary Jarou at an exclusive cliffside resort in Laguna Beach in 2007 , several hundred wedding guests received an e-mail message from the couple.  Sorry to inform them, it read, but too many guests had accepted their invitations to the wedding, far more than the resort could accommodate. Instead, the couple announced, they would be heading to Europe to marry.  The couple apologized for any inconvenience and assured guests that they would receive photographs of the wedding.  The story of Lavin’s nuptials should prove instructive for fans of St. John’s, which made its own commitment to Lavin, an ESPN analyst and former U.C.L.A. coach, on Tuesday when he agreed to a six-year contract worth at least $9 million. The Red Storm and its fans are about to be welcomed into Lav’s World, where wedding plans a...