October 19, 2011 — ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Taufeeq Umar hit a dogged, unbeaten 109 on Wednesday as Pakistan's top order dominated against Sri Lanka on the second day of the opening cricket Test at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Resuming on 27-0 Pakistan powered past Sri Lanka's below-par first innings total of 197 to reach 259-1 at the close, already ahead by 62 and eyeing a formidable lead. Taufeeq ground out his sixth test century off 259 balls, including seven fours. The 30-year-old left-hander, playing his 33rd test match, cracked eight fours.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter is preparing to deliver long-awaited reforms to try to repair soccer's battered reputation, and he may start by naming the senior officials accused of taking kickbacks in the 1990s.
Blatter will present his plans at a two-day executive committee meeting starting Thursday.
He promised zero tolerance of corruption after winning a fourth and final four-year term in June in an election that was rocked by the worst bribery scandal in the governing body's history.
The Rangers possess the more-imposing attack with five players who hit at least 25 homers, including a white-hot Nelson Cruz, who amounted to a one-man SWAT team against the Tigers in the ALCS. And while Michael Young didn’t hit 25 homers, he batted .338 and led the club with 106 RBIs. Texas can bludgeon opponents. But the Cardinals, and this often seems to get overlooked, had the National League’s best attack. Further, they just toppled two of the game’s better rotations in ousting Philadelphia and Milwaukee. If Matt Holliday is healthy, and he showed encouraging signs against the Brewers, the mid-lineup punch (with Albert Pujols and a rejuvenated Lance Berkman) is impressive. It’s a tough call, but slight…Advantage: Rangers
Defense
Both clubs have some nice defensive players but, on balance, these aren’t two of the game’s air-tight units. Both shortstops (Elvis Andrus and Rafael Furcal) are plus gloves, which is a nice place to start. Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is also among the best at controlling the running game (aided by solid delivery times by St. Louis pitchers). That could be a factor because the Rangers like to run. Advantage: Cardinals
Post Number: 21839 Registered: Jun-06 Nydas posted on Sunday, October 02, 2011 - 01:18 GMT http://thecommoncosmonaut.blogspot.com/2011/07/midsummer-non-classic.html 1. The Midsummer Classic is not classic anymore. It is a pandering to our sense of nostalgia, an attempt by Major League Baseball to bridge the gap between modern America and what America used to be, classic1. Originally, the MLB All-Star Game was an attempt to showcase the very best talent from the American and National Leagues, today this game has turned into a vain attempt at an exhibition game. The MLB has tried, tirelessly at times, to increase the classicness of the game's image. Their marketing strategy is to sell us on what baseball could be, not what baseball is. My father quit watching baseball after the 1994 strike because he became tired of what he called "selfish-arss athletes and greedy-arss bast ard owners" who have ruined the game2. In an attempt to add meaning to an otherwise meaningless game the MLB decided to give home field advantage during the World Series3 to the winner of the Midsummer Non-Classic. This new rule did not add meaning to the game at all, it just made a ridiculous game more ridiculous. I have not heard a single baseball expert claim to like this rule, there isn't a soul on this earth that believes this is a good policy. It reminds me of the foreign policy of "containment", it is arrogant ignorance.
The "classic" era died long before my father stopped watching baseball, the date and time is debatable and I will not attempt to make a judgement on the exact time, but I will tell you it was long before Pete Rose retired as a player. There was a time when the All-Star game was classic, that time has come and gone.
2. The MLB All-Star Game has turned into the Pro-Bowl. The Pro-Bowl is the NFL's attempt imitate, rather poorly, the MLB All-Star Game. What has happened is the complete opposite, the Midsummer Classic imitates the Pro-Bowl. NFL players don't take the Pro Bowl game seriously, but desire to be elected to the game by the fans to boost their prestige. This is similar to students in a high school who desire to be elected class president. They don't want to assume any responsibility for their position, they just want the title and the opportunity to give a speech at the graduation ceremony. It has become a popularity contest and only the divas who make the most noise win.
Disrupting a thread is a 2 way st NN...don't ever forget that!!!!!....all of us here can disrupt yout threads like U do all of ours...
SUWON: Asian football suffered one of its darkest days on Wednesday as a showpiece regional semifinal erupted in violence and a major match-fixing scandal was blamed for a tragic apparent suicide.
In a blow to attempts to boost Asian soccer, the AFC Champions League semifinal between Suwon Bluewings and Qatar's Al Sadd was temporarily halted as both teams traded punches in an ugly all-in brawl.
Look, I like cricket also; but, I will not talk about anything other than satellite tv as this is a satellite tv forum. Respect the forum and others who come here to obtain info in regards to it...
I believe since there is NO satellite TV news for many months now..then we should be allowed to discuss anything in here...this is not a Nazzi camp, and obviously no rules are enforced..so anything goes...and actually any discussions helps the site..
But ppl like Nalin and Subash disrupt every thread regardless of topic...so whatever they do, will come back at them, 10 fold...if they were to stop disrupting every thread, and act like an adult...then the rest of us would have no need to give them back a taste of their own medicine....my NFL and MLB threads are perfect examples of their intent to disrupt all threads..
Liger: I understand your point of view. However, there has been a long standing "invasion" with football and baseball threads. Then there were cricket threads. We tried a compromise with one or two football/baseball threads and one or two cricket threads. Unfortunately people like LK and zulu always want to ruin the cricket threads. With the low level of activity in the Satellite world, it it prudent to continue allowing some sports threads, so that some of the regulars can come and post.
