to move up and down
Gregg Popovich wanted some “nasty.” The San Antonio Spurs obliged, and they’ve now tied NBA history.
Not to mention left the Oklahoma City Thunder agonizing about what could have been.
Manu Ginobili scored a playoff-high 26 points and the Spurs won their 19th in a row to tie the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs, beating the Thunder 101-98 in the Western Conference finals opener on Sunday night.
Ryder Hesjedal became the first Canadian to win a Grand Tour when he snatched victory in the 2012 Giro d’Italia on Sunday after faultless riding in the final time trial.
The 31-year-old Garmin rider overturned a 31-second deficit on the last day to leave Spain’s long-time race leader Joaquim Rodriguez in second overall and Belgium’s Thomas De Gendt third.
“I didn’t really think I was going to win until about five kilometres to the finish,” Hesjedal, who was in tears on the final podium, told reporters.
“It’s hard to describe, this is a dream come true, since the first day I pulled on the pink jersey I believed I had a chance in this race.”
Photo: Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters
Awkward. One man decided to show off his rally squirrel during the Cardinals-Phillies game on Thursday. No one was hurt in the incident, except this man’s dignity. Apparently he lost a bet, while security suspects he might have been drinking (REALLY?).
If Rafael Nadal looks inexplicably calm to you considering there are about seven tennis balls heading for his face, relax. It’s not Nadal. It’s a wax figure in a London Park about to be placed in Madame Tussauds’ wax museum. But it does look frighteningly real.
New idea or totally sexist?
The CBC is planning some counter-programming for female non-hockey fans as the Stanley Cup final begins next week, but faced a backlash on Twitter as a slew of posts denounced the idea as sexist.
Viewers can go online to listen to an alternate commentary from Lena Sutherland and Jules Mancuso, who run WhileTheMenWatch.com. They describe their site as a sports talk show for women, “Sex and the City” meets ESPN, with banter “from a woman’s point of view.”
“One afternoon while (our husbands) were both watching the same game on TV Jules and I were on the phone and we started just making comments to each other like, ’Did you see that guy’s hair?’ and ’What’s going on with that coach wearing the suit four sizes too big for him?”’ said Sutherland of their web show’s inspiration.
“And we kind of thought, ’Wow, this is funny, wouldn’t it be great if we could tune into an alternative version of the commentary from a female perspective?’ And that was kind of where we got the idea.”
Not everyone was happy with CBC’s decision.
“Seriously #CBC? While the Men Watch? I’m a serious sports fan and can go toe to toe with any male fan. Thanks for the patronizing insult,” wrote Laurie Kempton.
Uh oh. Olympic contenders have a new 100-metre competitor to fear: The kindergarten student.
Two wrongs don’t make a right: There has been a nasty edge to the playoff series between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers and after more blood in Tuesday’s latest encounter, the Heat’s Dwyane Wade said the physical clashes were getting close to crossing the line.
Wade was left with bleeding above his eye after being struck by Tyler Hansbrough in the second quarter of the Eastern Conference semi-final.
That incident may have motivated a worse foul when Miami’s Udonis Haslem slammed both his arms into the face of Hansbrough in the game’s second flagrant foul.
“I thought I got fouled once and the next thing I know I took a hit,” said Wade, whose 28 points helped Miami to a 115-83 victory to give them a 3-2 lead in the series.
“Obviously my face is not the ball. I thought it was uncalled for. No-one likes to see their own blood, I tried to stay in the game (mentally),” added Wade.
Ice Ice Baby: Edmonton Oil Kings Klarc Wilson brakes in front the net against the London Knights during the second period of their round-robin Memorial Cup ice hockey game. Photo: REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger
By a nose: I’ll Have Another waited a little longer to catch Bodemeister in the stretch this time, and now that he’s done it twice in a row it’s time for a Triple Crown try in the Belmont Stakes.
With a breathtaking closing rush, the smooth-striding colt won the Preakness Stakes by a neck at Pimlico Race Course on a sunny Saturday, a nail-biter of a finish that topped his win two weeks ago in the Kentucky Derby.
The race unfolded the same way as the Derby, with the speedy Bodemeister moving to the lead under Mike Smith, with I’ll Have Another hanging back in fourth in the 11-horse field
Matt Slocum/The Associated Press
British soccer player and London 2012 Olympic Games ambassador David Beckham lights the Olympic torch with a cauldron after arriving at RNAS Culdrose base near Helston in Cornwall, south west England May 18, 2012. The London 2012 Olympic Games run from July 27 to August 12.
Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters
