Lame Thread For Unimportant Sports [JN 8 "The Ocho"]

[Lil Bit Special]

Hello and Welcome.

[JoeC36]

im gonna post about all the stuff i see on Espn 8 "The Ocho" like lawnmower racing, this weekends badmitton tournament, and even possibly my neighbors horse shoe tournament at his party.

[Lil Bit Special]

im gonna post about all the stuff i see on Espn 8 "The Ocho" like lawnmower racing, this weekends badmitton tournament, and even possibly my neighbors horse shoe tournament at his party.

That would be perfect for this thread.

If you can get some pics from the horseshoe tourney that would be awesome!!!!

[The Gun Of Bavaria]

im gonna post about all the stuff i see on Espn 8 "The Ocho" like lawnmower racing, this weekends badmitton tournament, and even possibly my neighbors horse shoe tournament at his party.

DAMN YOU!

The second I saw the thread I was going to post about "The Ocho".

Well played

[Lil Bit Special]

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/62184

Arena Football League acting Commissioner Ed Policy has resigned, throwing more uncertainty into the future of the shuttered league, which is scrambling to complete plans for a relaunch in 2010.

Policy, 38, joined the AFL in 2001 and was named acting commissioner last summer after former Commissioner David Baker resigned.

Policy said he is resigning effective immediately because, if the AFL successfully relaunches, its new centralized structure will call for a chief executive, rather than a commissioner, to run the league. That

[The Gun Of Bavaria]

Pakistan Cricket Board revises World Twenty20 probables

ISLAMABAD — The Pakistan Cricket Board revised the list of 30 probables for World Twenty20 on Tuesday only a day after naming three suspended players from the unauthorized Indian Cricket League.

All-rounder Abdul Razzaq, batsman Imran ****r and fast bowler Rana Naveed - suspended from international duty by the PCB because of their participation in the ICL - were initially named in the list of 30 probables.

However, the Pakistan board has now replaced them with wicketkeeper Zulfiqar Jan, off-spinner Saeed Ajmal and batsman Mohammad Hafeez in the list sent to the International Cricket Council on Tuesday.

"The PCB has sought approval from the ICC on the inclusion of Razzaq, Naveed and ****r in the list of 30," the board said in a statement.

"If the ICC approves the inclusion of ICL players then these ICL players will replace three players (Jan, Ajmal and Hafeez)," it added.

All players competing in the ICL have been suspended by their respective cricket boards and are therefore unable to represent their countries in international matches. The future of ICL players will come up for discussion when the ICC's executive board meets in Dubai later this month.

The provisional 30-man squad will be cut to 15 when the final squad is named next month. England will host the second World Twenty20 tournament in June.

India defeated Pakistan to win the inaugural tournament held in South Africa in 2007.

Pakistan Provisional Squad

Younis Khan (capt.), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hassan, Ahmed Shahzad, Umar Amin, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Aizaz Cheema, Mohammad Aamir, Wahab Riaz, Imran Ali, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Rehman, Yasir Shah, Kamran Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Zulfiqar Jan, Saeed Ajmal.

[Irish Jet]

Pakistan Cricket Board revises World Twenty20 probables

ISLAMABAD

[JoeC36]

Martin unbeaten in Canada Cup

Reigning national and world champion Kevin Martin remained unbeaten Thursday at the Canada Cup of Curling in Yorkton, Sask.

The Edmonton skip pulled out a pair of close wins to improve to 4-0 through seven draws at the Farrell Agencies Arena in the Gallagher Centre.

Martin stole one in the 10th end to edge Mike McEwen 8-7 in the morning draw, sweeping the Winnipegger's heavy draw to the back of the house for the decisive point.

In the nightcap, Martin squandered a 6-3 lead but scored one in the 10th to trim Edmonton's Ted Appelman 7-6.

Martin leads Section A with a 4-0 record, followed by Toronto's Wayne Middaugh at 2-1 and McEwen at 2-2.

Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue of St. John's lost 7-6 to Middaugh and 8-5 to McEwen and sits at 1-3.

Two-time world champion Russ Howard of Moncton, N.B., is winless in three games.

Jeff Stoughton (3-0) has yet to taste defeat in Section B, beating fellow Winnipegger Kerry Burtnyk 8-5.

Three-time champion Randy Ferbey of Edmonton improved to 2-1 with a 6-5 win over Kevin Koe.

Koe, the defending champion out of Edmonton, is 2-2 overall.

Appelman beat Burtnyk 6-4 earlier in the day, meaning both rinks sit 1-3.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/curling/story/2009/03/19/sp-canadacup-roundup.html?ref=rss

[Lil Bit Special]

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3800132

Boston, MA - The Buffalo Bandits withstood an early first quarter Boston surge to defeat the Blazers 15-11 in front of 7,073 fans at the TD Banknorth Garden on Saturday night. After defeating the Toronto Rock 14-13 on Friday night, the Blazers had a chance to clinch a spot in the post-season with win against Buffalo but the Bandits had other thoughts.

The defending NLL Champions overcame a slow start to beat back the first year upstarts from the Hub behind six goals by John Tavares and four scores by Mark Steenhuis. With the win, Buffalo improved to 9-4 and Boston's record fell to 8-6.

Boston jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the first quarter but Buffalo stormed back to take control outscoring the Blazers 5-1 to square the game at 6-6 after one quarter of play and led 9-6 at the half. The Bandits never looked back the rest of the way despite the Blazers mounting a furious counterattack to edge to within one goal (10-9) early in the fourth quarter. However Buffalo answered, outscoring Boston 5-2 the rest of the way for the victory.

Buffalo was paced by forwards John Tavares (six goals and three assists) and Mark Steenhuis (four goals, two assists). Ken Montour stopped 50 of 39 shots for Buffalo.

Boston was led by Gary Bining (three goals, one assist), Brendon Thenhaus (three goals, assist) and Matt Lyons (three goals, one assist). Mike Poulin and Anthony Cosmo shared duties in net for Boston stopping 20 of 35 Buffalo shots.

Blazers Next Home Game Boston vs. Rochester on April 11 at 7:30 PM at TD Banknorth Garden

Ticket Information Tickets to the Boston Blazers next home game against Rochester on Saturday, April 11 at 7:30 PM at the TD Banknorth Garden are available now by logging onto w ww.BlazersLacrosse.com or calling 1-888- BLAZERS. Tickets are also available via Ticketmaster and at the TD Banknorth Garden box office.

[Lil Bit Special]

http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/articles/2009/04/02/sports/5343307.txt

A dozen Western New Yorkers, including Medina's Curtis Foss, are among the 415 bowlers who have entered this week's 66th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open at Brunswick Zone Carolier in North Brunswick, N.J.

The televised finals of the Professional Bowlers Association "major" tournament are scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday on ESPN. The winner will take home $100,000 of the $375,000 prize fund.

The initial qualifying round (18 games) started Tuesday and wraps up tonight. The top 25 percent of the field after the 18 games of qualifying will advance to the nine-game "cashers" qualifying round on Friday morning.

From there, the top 24 bowlers after those nine games will advance to match play Friday night and Saturday to determine the five bowlers who will compete in the TV stepladder finals.

After Tuesday's first six games of qualifying, Foss was in 238th place, with a 1,099 score (a 183 average).

Foss bowled very well in his last PBA event, finishing just 58 pins from qualifying for the field of 64 with a seven-game score of 1,430 (a 204 average) at the GoRVing Match Play Championship in Norwich, Conn.

Other bowlers from this area and their six-game scores are as follows:

Doug Kent, Newark, 1,323, 11th place; Brad Angelo, Lockport, 1,298, 22nd place; Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, 1,239, 51st place; Mike Rose Jr., Rochester, 1,237, 53rd place; Tom Sorce, Blasdell, 1,236, 55th place; Matt Zasowski, Buffalo, 1,235, 56th place; Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, 1,224, 69th place; Joe Ciccone, Buffalo, 1,177, 116th place; Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, 1,173, 126th place; Lindsay Baker, Amherst, 1,162, 141st place; Steve Meyer, Rochester, 1,073, 297th place.

The field also includes Australian two-hander Jason Belmonte, who claimed his first PBA title last week at the Bowling Foundation Long Island Classic, and defending champion Norm Duke.

Belmonte, 25, defeated top-seeded Michael Fagan 215-201 in his PBA Tour singles TV debut. He won $25,000 and earned an exemption to bowl on the PBA Tour next season. He also joined Sweden's Mats Karlsson, Venezuela's Amleto Monacelli and Finland's Mika Koivuniemi as the fourth international player to win a PBA Tour title.

"The PBA Tour is the ultimate bowling competition in the world," said Belmonte. "With all the media attention I have received, it's now time for us to put the foot down on the gas and go 'mainstream.'"

Belmonte developed his unusual style as a toddler growing up in his parents' bowling center in New South Wales, Australia, using bowling balls that were too heavy to throw with one hand. By inserting the middle two fingers of his right hand into the ball, and using his left hand to guide and spin the ball, he is able to generate hooking power very few one-handed players can match.

In the opening match, Ritchie Allen finished with eight strikes in a row to eliminate Robert Smith 258-244. Bill O'Neill overcame an open in the first frame with six strikes on his next seven shots to defeat Allen 237-218.

Belmonte then slipped past O'Neill in the semifinal match 245-236, when O'Neill left a 10-pin after striking on his first ball in the 10th frame.

Fagan earned $13,000 for second place, O'Neill $6,500 for third, Allen $5,500 for fourth and Smith $5,000 for fifth place.

n n n

DETROIT TO HOST EVENTS: Two Professional Bowling Association events -- the PBA Regional Players Championship and the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Trials -- will take place at Thunderbowl in the Detroit suburb of Allen Park, Mich., in late May, the PBA announced.

Leading off the nine-day program will be the PBA Regional Players Championship, one of two major championships for PBA regional and non-exempt players. The May 22-25 tournament offers a $10,000 first prize plus a berth in the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions and an expenses-paid berth in the 2010 Regional Players Invitational where eight exemptions to bowl on the 2010-11 PBA Tour will be awarded.

The Tour Trials will take place from May 27-31. Eight competitors will emerge with exemptions for the 2009-10 PBA Tour. The entire field will bowl nine games per day on each of five different, demanding PBA lane conditioning patterns.

An estimated 150 men and women will compete.

[JoeC36]

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2188Cow Chip Throwing Capital of the World

Beaver, Oklahoma

The town of Beaver should be proud of its undisputed title: Cow Chip Throwing Capital of the World. It is here that the World Championship Cow Chip Throw is held each April.

King Cow Chip™, a leering cartoon of a dried bovine fecal wad wearing a tilted crown, is the town's registered trademark. This "Dried-in-the-Sun King" has brought notoriety -- and prosperity -- to Beaver. But, as with any long, unchallenged reign, the populace has become inured to their own charm. King Cow Chip's royal entourage keeps the claim alive, cranking out commemorative gift boxes of cow chips, entertaining foreign dignitaries, and dragging the beaver trailer around town for parades.

In 1994, Randy Campbell, then mayor of Beaver, was obligated to greet us with open arms, not to mention some gift-boxed cow chips. He assured us he has only tossed a chip once before, yet his mean curve pitch at our Sony Handicam betrayed a suspiciously-practiced skill. He tossed underhand, a Frisbee-flick, bounding off the bumper of a car on the opposite side of the wide, paved main street.

"I think that's my mother-in-law's car," he said.

[Panzer Division Marduk]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/cricket/2009/0406/ireland.html

Ireland see off Canada with ease

Ireland geared up for the Super 8 stage of World Cup qualifying today with another convincing victory over a team who will join them there - Canada.

A six-wicket win over the Canadians at Benoni extended William Porterfield's side's winning run to four matches in the South Africa-based competition.

Porterfield won the toss and chose to field first, with Canada bowled out for 220 in 48 overs.

Ireland's impressive record was in danger when they slipped to 42 for four - with Umar Bhatti taking three of the wickets for Canada.

However, Eoin Morgan, who was today named in England's 30-man squad for this summer's World Twenty20 tournament, and Kevin O'Brien came together and put on an unbroken partnership of 181 runs for the fifth wicket to steer their team to victory.

Morgan's unbeaten 84 came off exactly 100 balls and contained 10 fours and a six, while O'Brien hit an undefeated 89 off 104 deliveries, with nine fours and a six.

[JoeC36]

http://www.croquetamerica.com/news/tournaments/2009MarALagoSinglesInvitational.php

Mar-a-Lago Singles Invitational Won by Bill Cooley

5-7 April 2009

Mar-a-Lago Club, Palm Beach, FL

by John Osborn, Director of Croquet

Celebrating over a decade of great croquet, The Mar-a-Lago Club’s Singles Invitational once again proved to be a complete success. While the three-day event began with windy and threatening weather, by the time the last ball had been struck the temperatures had reached the high eighties. Twenty players competed within two Flights and Block to Single-Elimination Ladder was the format. Matches were timed at one hour and fifteen minutes and double banking was utilized until the Finals.

In the Championship Flight, Bill Cooley (6) went undefeated throughout the event. Bill finished the Block portion of play with an exciting 12-10 victory over Stuart Baker (6) and, in a twist of fate, faced him again in the Semi-Finals. Bill’s 14-13 win was simultaneously mirrored by Jodie (6) Rugart’s 14-13 victory over Tina Theurkauf (8) in the other Semi-Final. The Championship match itself could have gone either way, but playing the last ball in the last rotation, Bill two-balled through wickets four and five to secure the title.

In the First Flight, Guy Brown (10) looked much the best, also going undefeated for the weekend. Guy defeated Robin (11) Sweet with an 21-16 score in one Semi while Gwynneth Selinger (9) fought off (14-12) a late game charge by Lauren Hammond (10) to gain the other birth in the Final. Guy, in control for virtually the entire match, then claimed the Title with an 18-14 score.

As is always the case, The Mar-a-Lago Club offered both two of the most beautiful lawns and one of the greatest settings seen for croquet anywhere. The Club looks forward to next year’s events and hopes that all of our esteemed quests will be able to visit once again. Until then, please find below the Final Order of Finish:

Final Order

Championship Singles

1st Bill Cooley

2nd Jodie Rugart

3rd Stuart Baker

Tina Theurkauf

5th Lou Fusz

Margo Stinson

7th Reine Bitting

Joy Bradford

Joe Knoll

Bob Theurkauf

[The Gun Of Bavaria]

128 is on the outside looking in and stroking it.

[The Gun Of Bavaria]

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/postedsports/archive/2009/04/07/roadmap-through-the-2009-ford-world-men-s-curling-championship.aspx

Roadmap through the 2009 Ford world men's curling championship

Martin quartet intimidating world’s best rinks

By Allen Cameron, Canwest News Service

MONCTON, N.B. — Prime Minister Stephen Harper is supposed to be in town Wednesday to make an announcement with New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham at an early afternoon media conference.

A couple hours later, the PM is scheduled to be in the stands at the Moncton Coliseum at the Ford world men’s curling championship, where, based on the evidence presented to date, he will watch Canada’s Kevin Martin continue to run roughshod through the field.

Two more ticks were added to the Canadian to-do list on Tuesday as Martin, third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert piled on both Ralph Stoeckli of Switzerland, by an 8-3 margin, and Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud, 9-2.

Funny thing is, after running the table at the Tim Hortons Brier last month in Calgary, holding last-rock advantage through the entire round-robin based on a pre-game draw-to-the-button with his opposite number, Martin faced two first ends without hammer on Tuesday.

No matter; a steal of two against Switzerland was followed by a steal of three against Norway, and more compelling evidence that it will take something awfully special to knock the Canadians off-stride.

“The guys are curling well,” said Martin, who isn’t doing so bad himself, considering he was scored at a perfect 100 per cent against Norway (yes, 100). “Marc must have made, oh, I don’t know how many great shots. That’s the way it goes sometimes; Marc is making everything. Just keep it up. We feel good and we’re enjoying ourselves.”

Memo to the Prime Minister’s Office: make sure the boss is in the arena on time Wednesday for the afternoon game against John Shuster of the United States, because it could be over in a hurry.

No disrespect to the Americans, but Canada has been making short work of everyone here, including a Norwegian team that had been playing terrific, unbeaten through four days before a pair of losses on Tuesday.

“He missed more than I would think,” Martin said of Ulsrud. “But we haven’t had those rocks yet, either (red on Sheet D, for all you stats geeks). Scotland lost to the Czechs with them and Norway didn’t make much against us with them. We get to enjoy them against Scotland on Thursday. Let’s talk again after that game.”

Ulsrud, who lost to the Swiss earlier on Tuesday, refused to blame the rocks, but he said the ice conditions caught him by surprise.

“I think it got a little hotter in here, which made the ice a touch more swingy; at least I thought so because I was wrecking on every guard,” said Ulsrud. “But hey, Kevin and the guys seemed to handle it pretty well.

“Hey, we have to pick up our game. Two losses today — if we keep on playing like this, it’s going to get us nowhere.”

And if Canada keeps playing like it is — Martin’s crew has played just 52 of a possible 70 ends and outscored opponents 56-23 — it’s certainly going to get them into the four-team Page playoffs, and no doubt will entertain Prime Minister Harper on his scheduled visit.

“For sure, it’s exciting,” said Martin. “He came and saw us in Hamilton (during the 2007 Tim Hortons Brier), and geez, he knew a lot about curling and the different players. I’m looking forward to it. We had a great talk, actually. He’s a nice guy, and I listen to a lot of his speeches, and I agree with how he thinks. I appreciated meeting him then and I’ll definitely appreciate it (today).”

“He’s a curling fan, and it’s exciting,” added Kennedy. “There’s no better feeling than feeling like you’re making Canada proud. Every win, the fans stand up and cheer, and it just gives you a good feeling, and having him will probably boost that feeling a little more.”

Canada has a game against Finland’s Kalle Kiiskinen Wednesday.

On Thursday, the Canadians wrap up round-robin play against Denmark’s Ulrik Schmidt (4-3) and Scotland’s David Murdoch (4-3) in a rematch of last year’s world championship gold-medal final at Grand Forks, N.D.

[The Gun Of Bavaria]

http://www.earlparkfestival.com/Events/Horseshoe.html

HORSESHOE PITCHERS

WELCOME AT EARL PARK FALL FESTIVAL

A horseshoe tournament will be held during the Earl Park Fall Festival on Labor Day. Qualifications for the tournament will begin at 8:30 AM in the horseshoe pit located on the North side of the Cardinal Roost. Individuals who wish to participate in qualifications must be at least 18 years of age and pay a fee of $1. Thirty-two people will qualify to play in the horseshoe tournament. The fee to play in the tournament is $3 and tournament competition begins at 10:30 AM.

The horseshoe tournament is divided into 4 classes with 8 pitchers per class. An individual

[Lil Bit Special]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090409/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_australian_rules_chicken;_ylt=AgkTzB7DvaKEQ7dsxubZ14LtiBIF

SYDNEY (Reuters)

[The Gun Of Bavaria]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090409/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_australian_rules_chicken;_ylt=AgkTzB7DvaKEQ7dsxubZ14LtiBIF

SYDNEY (Reuters)

[Lil Bit Special]

I wonder if they have an AFL2 in Australia?

[Lil Bit Special]

http://www.arenafootball.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=3726609&DB_OEM_ID=3500

NEW YORK

[Lil Bit Special]

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090429/SPORTS01/904300350

As Iowa Barnstormers wide receiver Kenny Williams hobbled to the sidelines after twisting a foot in practice, coach John Gregory joked, "I'll trade with you."

"Not with your knee, coach," Williams responded.

Right now, Gregory is more banged up than his players. In arena football, coaches can stand on the field to get a better view of the action, and Gregory paid a price for that in an April 18 game at Tulsa.

He sustained a broken leg and a torn knee ligament when he was crushed against the sideline boards after three Tulsa defenders chased down Iowa quarterback Brian Villanueva and sacked him.

"The quarterback got chased my way, and I was looking downfield," Gregory said. "I didn't see it until late. By the time I looked up, they were right on top of me. And it was the short side of the field, as well."

Gregory faces probable knee surgery once the broken leg heals. For now, he cannot put any weight on his left leg and he is confined to a wheelchair. He had to watch Saturday's 33-29 loss against Quad City from a chair behind the sideline boards.

"I think it went all right," he said. "I think I might have been more effective on the field, but we didn't lose because of that."

However, it is a frustrating state for the normally always-in-motion Gregory.

"I'm getting tired of dragging my leg around, but it's OK," he said. "I've been bounced in arena ball, but I've never been hurt. This is the first time."