Cricket World Cup Wrapup - Day 2

A couple of mismatches on day 2 as Group A got underway with Kenya taking on New Zealand and Canada taking on Sri Lanka. Neither Kenya nor Canada are full members of the ICC, and the difference in the quality was obvious on the pitch yesterday.

Kenya batted first in their match against New Zealand and were all out in just 23.5 overs, scoring only 69 runs. New Zealand needed just 8 overs to surpass Kenya's score finishing with 72 runs and having all ten wickets left and an absurd 252 balls remaining. New Zealand's Hamish Bennett was named man of the match after bowling 5 overs and picking up 4 wickets while conceding just 16 runs. Kenya's 69 runs was their lowest total ever in World Cup play, and the 5th lowest overall. Canada scored just 36 runs against Sri Lanka in 2003.

Photo Courtesy: zimbio.com

Canada faired a little bit better against co-host Sri Lanka this time around, but still suffered the 7th worst defeat in World Cup history losing by 210 runs, 332-122. Vice-Captain Mahela Jayawardene had a century for the Sri Lankans with 100 runs in 81 balls and Captain Kumar Sangakkara added 92 runs on 87 balls to lead Sri Lanka to the easy win tying them with New Zealand atop Group A. Jayawardene was named the man of the match as he helped lead Sri Lanka post their 2nd highest score in World Cup play (they put up 398 against Kenya in 1996), and the 19th highest score in World Cup history.

Photo Courtesy: in.reuters.com

Cricket Term of the Day: Maiden

A maiden over is one in which no runs are scored off the bat, an no "wides" or "no balls" are bowled. Considered a good performance for a bowler, maiden overs are tracked on the scorecard for the individual bowlers.

Cricket World Cup Wrapup - Day 1

The Cricket World Cup kicked off today with co-hosts India and Bangladesh facing off against one another. India, coming into the match ranked 2nd in the ICC ODI Championship rankings, did not disappoint scoring 370 runs, the 5th highest total in World Cup history en route to a 370-283 victory of #8 Bangladesh. India got centuries from vice-captain Virender Sehwag (175 in 140 balls) and Virat Kohli (100 in 83 balls) and won comfortably despite a solid offensive performance from Bangladesh. Sehwag and Kohli combined for 22 fours and 7 sixes with Sehwag taking man of the match honors as India started off Group B play in strong fashion. The 175 runs by Sehwag tied for the 4th highest ever in a World Cup match. The record is 188 done on 159 balls by South Africa's Gary Kirsten in 1996 against U.A.E.

India last won the World Cup in 1983, but lost in the 2003 Finals to Australia.

Photo Courtesy: crickblog.com

Cricket Terms of the Day: Century, Four, Six

A Century is when an individual scores 100 runs in a game. 

A Four is a shot that reaches the boundary after hitting the ground (i.e. not on the fly). This shot is worth 4 runs, hence the name. Think ground rule double.

A Six is a shot that passes over or hits the boundary without having bounced or rolled. Think home run. This shot is worth six points. It is the highest scoring shot in cricket.

2011 NBA All Star Game Rookie Challenge

Photo Courtesy: zimbio.com

I love the Rookie Game during all-star weekend. 9 of the league's best rookies pitted against 9 of the best 2nd year players (sophomores) in a high scoring fun-filled exhibition game. Following the 1998-1999 season which saw the 1999 All-Star game canceled, the Rookie Game was revamped from East vs West to the format that it has now. I remember the first rookie-sophomore game back in 2000 at UC-Davis with my dormmates on my buddy Mox's computer/tv and I still remember this play by Jason Williams that had everyone talking:

The Elbow Pass (ignore the music)

 Photo Courtesy: zimbio.com

The game has continued to be popular over the past decade showcasing the talents of stars like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Paul Pierce, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Paul and many others. The sophomores have a sizeable edge in the series winning 8 of the first 11 games. Only 10 players had won the game as both rookies and sophomores: Pau Gasol, Jason Richardson, Tony Parker, Jamaal Tinsley and Andrei Kirilenko in 2002 and 2003, and Elton Brand, Steve Francis, Lamar Odom, Wally Szczerbiak and Andre Miller in 2000 and 2001. With the rookies having won last year, 5 more players had a chance to join that list: Taj Gibson, DeJuan Blair, Stephen Curry, Brandon Jennings and James Harden who made this year's team as an injury replacement for the reigning MVP, Tyreke Evans. It wasn't to be though as for the 2nd year in a row the rookies came out firing knocking off the sophomores 148-140. The rookies 3 former Kentucky Wildcats and two of them really stole the show. DeMarcus Cousins led all scorers with 33 points and had a team high 14 rebounds and John Wall, who would win the MVP, had 12 points and a record 22 assists. Blair had 28 points and 15 rebounds while Harden had a team high 30 off the bench for the sophs in a losing effort.

Check out some of the game's highlights - (the video you want is All-Star Friday's Top 10)

Personally I think plays #7, #3 and #2 were the most memorable, but I'm not the one setting the order.

Speaking of order, here's where the players in this year's Rookie Challenge were drafted:

Rookies

2010 #1 - John Wall - Wizards
2010 #3 - Derrick Favors - Nets
2010 #4 - Wesley Johnson - Wolves
2010 #5 - DeMarcus Cousins - Kings
2010 #7 - Greg Monroe - Pistons
2010 #18 - Eric Bledsoe - Thunder (traded to Clippers)
2010 #39 - Landry Fields - Knicks
2009 #1 - Blake Griffin - Clippers
Undrafted - Gary Neal - Spurs

Sophs

2009 #3 - James Harden - Thunder (injury replacement)
2009 #4 - Tyreke Evans - Kings (injured)
2009 #7 - Stephen Curry - Warriors
2009 #9 - Demar DeRozan - Raptors
2009 #10 - Brandon Jennings - Bucks
2009 #17 - Jrue Holiday - 76ers
2009 #26 - Taj Gibson - Bulls
2009 #37 - DeJuan Blair - Spurs
Undrafted - Wesley Matthews - Jazz (now with Portland)

On a semi-related note, how good is the Spurs scouting department? Neal and Blair in the past two years. Impressive.

Soccer Power Rankings

New set of ESPN's Soccer Power Rankings came out today. Here's the new Top Ten:

 Photo Courtesy:Zimbio.com

#1 Real Madrid - 18-2-3 - Spain (2)
#2 Barcelona - 20-1-2 - Spain (1)
#3 Manchester United - 16-1-9 - England (1)
#4 Arsenal - 16-5-5 - England (2)
#5 Inter Milan - 14-6-5 - Italy (3)
#6 FC Porto - 18-0-2 - Portugal (1)
#7 Borussia Dortmund - 16-2-4 - Germany (1)
#8 Napoli - 15-6-4 - Italy (2)
#9 Tottenham Hotspur - 13-5-8 - England (4)
#10 AC Milan - 15-3-7 - Italy (1)

There's a new number one this week as Arsenal defeated Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 match. Barca's loss allows Real Madrid to slip into the top spot with Barcelona falling to #2. With the win Arsenal makes the biggest jump in the rankings going from #8 to #4. Arsenal wasn't the only English Premier League team making waves in the Champions League this week though as Tottenham Hotspur climbed back into the rankings with a 1-0 win over AC Milan. Liverpool drops out of the Top Ten following their 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic. They didn't help their cause any by drawing 0-0 with Sparta Prague in Europa League play yesterday.

ESPN Power Rankings


Here's the schedule for these teams for next week:

Saturday 2/19

St. Pauli at Borussia Dortmund, League Match, 9:30 AM EST
Crawley Town at Manchester United, FA Cup, 12:45 PM EST
Levante at Real Madrid, League Match, 2 PM EST
Cagliari at Inter Milan, League Match, 2:45 EST

Sunday 2/20 

AC Milan at Chievo Verona, League Match, 9:00 AM EST
Arsenal at Leyton Orient, FA Cup, 11:30 AM EST
Catania at Napoli, League Match, 2:45 PM EST
Athletic Bilbao at Barcelona, League Match, 3 PM EST

Tuesday 2/22

Real Madrid at Lyon, Champions League Round of 16, 2:45 PM EST
Tottenham Hotspur at Blackpool, League Match, 3:00 PM EST

Wednesday 2/23

Sevilla at FC Porto, Europa League, 12:00 PM EST
Stoke City at Arsenal, League Match, 2:45 PM EST
Manchester United at Marseille, Champions League, 2:45 PM EST
Bayern Munich at Inter Milan, Champions League, 2:45 PM EST

Thursday 2/24

Napoli at Villareal, Europa League Match, 3:05 PM EST

Brace Yourselves for the WORLD CUP... of Cricket...

I'm sure many of you have been patiently awaiting this, and it's finally here. Tomorrow will kick off the 10th ICC Cricket World Cup. JACKPOT! Cohosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the 2011 Cup will be comprised of the ICC's 10 full members: Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, England, India, South Africa and West Indies, and 4 associate members: Ireland, Canada, Kenya and the Netherlands. The tournament starts off with two groups of 7 in round robin play. The top 4 teams in each group will then advance to the Knockout stage leading up to the finals in Mumbai on April 2nd. Australia enters the tournament having won the last 3 World Cups most recently defeating Sri Lanka in the 2007 finals. Here's how this year's Groups break down along with first round schedule:

Group A

Australia
Pakistan
New Zealand
Sri Lanka
Zimbabwe
Canada
Kenya

2/20 - Kenya v New Zealand
2/20 - Sri Lanka v Canada
2/21 - Australia v Zimbabwe
2/23 - Kenya v Pakistan
2/25 - Australia v New Zealand
2/26 - Sri Lanka v Pakistan
2/28 - Canada v Zimbabwe
3/1 - Sri Lanka v Kenya
3/3 - Canada v Pakistan
3/4 - New Zealand v Zimbabwe
3/5 - Sri Lanka v Australia
3/7 - Canada v Kenya
3/8 - New Zealand v Pakistan
3/10 - Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe
3/13 - Canada v New Zealand
3/13 - Australia v Kenya
3/14 - Pakistan v Zimbabwe
3/16 - Australia v Canada
3/18 - New Zealand v Sri Lanka
3/19 - Australia v Pakistan
3/20 - Kenya v Zimbabwe

Group B

India
South Africa
England
West Indies
Bangladesh
Ireland
Netherlands

2/19 - Bangladesh v India
2/22 - England v Netherlands
2/24 - South Africa v West Indies
2/25 - Bangladesh v Ireland
2/27 - India v England
2/28 - Netherlands v West Indies
3/2 - England v Ireland
3/3 - Netherlands v South Africa
3/4 - Bangladesh v West Indies
3/6 - England v South Africa
3/6 - India v Ireland
3/9 - India v Netherlands
3/11 - Ireland v West Indies
3/11 - Bangladesh v England
3/12 - India v South Africa
3/14 - Bangladesh v Netherlands
3/15 - Ireland v South Africa
3/17 - England v West Indies
3/18 - Ireland v Netherlands
3/19 - Bangladesh v South Africa
3/20 - India v West Indies

Jim Edmonds Announces Retirement

Photo Courtesy: blogs.riverfronttimes.com

Arguably one of the most exciting centerfielders of our generation is calling it quits. After 17 seasons, Jim Edmonds is hanging up the spikes. He finishes his career a 4-time all-star and 8-time gold glove winner, and he won a World Series ring with the Cardinals in 2006. He hit .284 with 393 homeruns, but Edmonds impact was really beyond the numbers. The guy used to make plays that nobody else would make, and he did it with style. The videos speak for themselves:

Edmonds Highlights

This one's a little painful since I'm an Astros fan, as this play arguably saved Game 7 for St. Louis and paved the way for the Cardinals to the 2004 World Series:

Edmonds robs Ausmus

For the last decade or so, Edmonds has been something of a nemesis of mine. With the exception of the Pirates, he played for every team in the NL Central other than Houston, so the Astros got to see plenty of him every single year. And it always seemed like he killed us. On both sides of the ball too. Before he made that catch in Game 7 of the 2004 NLCS he hit a walkoff homerun off Dan Miceli to win Game 6 in the bottom of the 12th. It seemed like he must've hit .600 or so against the Astros. I'm sure it wasn't that high, but you get the idea, he always seemed to come through when he was needed. The guy really was one of the great ones. I don't know that he'll ever be a Hall of Famer, but he truly left his mark on the game.

Photo Courtesy: flickr.com

Just How Good is Derrick Rose?

To answer this question, I defer to the famous Ellen of Naperville who sums it up like this:

D ROSE is too awesome for words

I will do my best to do him justice. Taking on the 46-9 Spurs, the last team in the NBA to have not reached double digit losses, and still being without the injured Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose took it upon himself to take it to the best team in the Western Conference. Rose scored a career high 42 points, including the Bulls' final ten points of the game and 13 of their last 15. He hit 18 of 28 shots from the floor, added 5 rebounds and 8 assists and turned the ball over just 1 time in 39 minutes. The Spurs just did not have an answer for him. Rose's Bulls now head into the all star break riding a 4 game winning streak and quietly have the 3rd best record in the Eastern Conference, just 2 games behind Boston. And they've been doing it all with Kurt Thomas as their starting center. Just wait until this group gets healthy. You want a pick for a sleeper team to win the East? Look no farther than right here.

Photo Courtesy: www.tsn.ca