Jordan Farmar was the man of the night Thursday scoring 24 points to bring the LA Lakers to victory with 106-88 over Miami Heat making this the Lakers 10th straight win. Another game highlight was Kobe Bryant scoring 21 points, to go along with his eight assists and four steals.
This career-high point score for Farmar had him commenting, “It’s funny, I told my Dad today I was going to get it tonight. I’ve just been feeling good, just being really aggressive. I was joking in a sense, but once the game started going and I started knocking down some shots, I felt that I had an opportunity.” Twenty-one year old Farmar, scored 12 of those 24 points in the fourth quarter.
The Lakers are only one game behind tying their own record for longest winning streak since the 2003/2004 NBA season. They are also on top of the Western Conference with 41 wins and 17 losses with the San Antonio Spurs coming in at a close second with 39 wins and 17 losses, who beat out the Dallas Mavericks Thursday with a 97-94 victory.
Tidbit of Info:
The NBA (National Basketball Association) is made up of twenty-nine teams which are divided up into two Conferences - Eastern and Western; which are divided up even further into four divisions, Atlantic, Central, Midwest and Pacific.
Did Roger Clemens lie? U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey received a request from lawmakers today urging the Justice Department to begin a federal investigation against Roger Clemens and potential perjury charges for lying under oath in from of the US Congress about using performance enhancing drugs during his tenure in the MLB.
CA Democrat Henry Waxman and VA republican, Representative Tom Davis wrote, “We believe that his testimony in a sworn deposition on February 5, 2008, and at a hearing on February 13, 2008, that he never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone, warrants further investigation.” Clemens testified to Congress, “Let me be clear, I’ve never taken steroids or HGH.” The bottom-line is that the Democrats and Republicans who heard Roger Clemens’ testimony believe its all a pack of lies.
According to Rusty Hardin, attorney for Clemens, “The committee’s decision is unwarranted and not supported by the facts. Roger will continue to fight these allegations with every ounce of strength he has.” Congress will make its decision by Friday whether or not they’ll ask the Justice Department to investigate Clemens.
Its still unclear whether the 45 year old pitcher will return to professional baseball. However, admist all the buzz in on Capital Hill and the barage of questions from reporters, Clemens still showed up at the MLB Astros camp in Kissimee, Florida where he is said to be entertaining offers of playing. The only thing comment he made was, “Everything’s been said that needs to be said on that,” Clemens finished by saying, “We’re moving forward. It’s baseball time.”
If found guilty, Clemens could potentially spend up to five years in prison, not to mention break the hearts of aspiring young baseball pitchers who have looked up to his talent.
In 2007, $900,000 plus was spent by The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) in their efforts to lobby federal government agencies in relation to the online gambling legislation. The PPA is a nonprofit organization presided over by former New York Senator Alfonse D’Amato and includes an estimated 800,000 poker players and supporters from the US. This group’s primary focus is for the protection of poker players’ rights while maintaining the game’s integrity.
The money expended by the PPA was twofold. The first one towards their lobby efforts for a bill that would have poker not being subjected to the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) that restricts online gambling by making it illegal for financial institutions to process these transactions. These financial institutions can only conduct business pertaining to fantasy sports, lotteries and horseracing. The second is in relation to the regulation of the online gambling industry by legislation.
The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 was signed into law by President Clinton making it a requirement for lobbyists to disclose their financial activities that might sway executive and legislative branches’ decisions over certain issues.
Sorry all you girls and guys out there that there hasn’t been any “new’ professional sports news for two days. I’ve been learning about web affiliations as well as HTML and CSS codes for the backend of this site!
I’ve also been checking out other sites to link to; working up the nerve to soon ask for reciprocal links!
32 year old Tiger Woods is in his prime! Seizing his 15th World Golf Championship, Tiger Woods won today’s Final Match at the WCG Accenture Championship at The Gallery Golf Course at Dove Mountain in Arizona.
Over the entire championship, Woods played 117 holes with 47 birdies and two eagles. In this match play tournament he was always ahead over the last 62 holes. Shooting 14 birdies today had Woods winning this match play tournament early against Stewart Cink, who had no chance of coming back. This makes Woods’ third win at the WCG Accenture Championships.
This victory brings Woods’ total career win to 63, surpassing legendary golfer Arnold Palmer. This win also moves him into fourth place on the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour’s Career List;at the moment, first, second and third place goes to Sam Snead with 82 wins over a career span from 1936-1965, Jack Nicklaus with 73 wins over a career span from 1962-1986 to and Ben Hogan with 64 wins over a career span from 1938-1959.
When asked how he felt to be between Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods had this to say, “It’s a pretty good place, those two are some of the greats that have ever played the game…to be associated with them in the same breath is pretty cool.”
Tidbit of Info:
An Eagle is a shot that is 2 strokes under the par* for the hole. (i.e. - a golfer that records a 3 on a par 5).
*par - number of strokes expected of a golfer to finish a hole.
“I felt like I was in control of the match all day,” commented Tiger Woods on Saturday on his win at the World Golf Championship (WGC) -Accenture Match Play Championship Semi-Final played at the Gallery Golf Club in Marana, Arizona.
He claimed victory in today’s Accenture Championship over Sweden’s Henrik Stenson in a battle that resulted in 12 footer clutch birdie putt for Woods on the 601-yard par five 17th hole and a concession by Stenson at the 18th hole when his third shot spun off the green.
In tomorrow’s 36-hole final against Stewart Cink, Woods’ is looking to clinch his 6th straight tournament win in addition to $1.35 Million dollars. Tomorrow’s win will also bring a sense of accomplishment for Woods who previously won the Accenture Championship in 2003 and 2004, but hasn’t been able to make it out of the third round since then until now.
Tidbits of Info:
A match play golf tourney is a head to head competition played over 18 holes; the player winning the most holes, wins the match. This differs from a standard stroke play tourney where the game is played over four rounds and the golfer with the least amount of shots wins.
“Clutch Birdie Putt” - when a golfer makes one of these, he/she is under pressure to make a one stroke under par for the hole.
Ever since Former Senator George Mitchell released his report detailing rampant drug use in baseball, aptly titled The Mitchell Report last December, recent weeks have brought steroid and human growth hormone strife at the forefront in Major League Baseball (MLB). The Report exposes this stinging little secret in baseball amongst some of the game’s top players. As many are aware, Roger Clemens, pitcher for The New York Yankees (in 2006 several ESPN analysts had named him as the greatest pitcher of all time) is at the center of this Report because of his vehement denials.
Thursday, LA Angels Owner Arte Moreno spoke out about drug use in the MLB at the Angels’ spring training camp at the Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Moreno told reporters, “I think it was really important to get it out. Anytime you’ve got things hanging around in the closet, eventually you’ve got to get hem flushed out.” Although many former Angels’ were mentioned in The Mitchell Report, only one of the Angels’ current players had been mentioned in the report, Gary Matthews, Jr. Moreno, who bought the Angels in 2003, has the position that there needs to be more stringent testing such as blood testing in the future. He commented, “A lot of people spend more time trying to hide the stuff than they do making the stuff right?”
Angel Outfielder Matthews along with former baseball player Jose Canseco allegedly had been on a customer list of Applied Pharmacy Services in Mobile, Alabama; one of several online distributors of steroids and human growth hormones (HGH). The Pharmacy’s owners have been indicted by an Albany County grand jury. In 2004, Gary Matthews, Jr. denied reports that HGH was supposedly sent to a former minor teammate’s address in Mansfield, Texas on behalf of Matthews. At the Angels’ camp, Matthews told reporters he didn’t know why his name was on the list mentioned in The Mitchell Report but is working on finding that out; he sad he was not, “in a position to answer any specific questions.”
Could online poker become legal again in the state of California? California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine is intending to raise that issue in a new study bill aimed at convincing the California Gambling Control Commission (CGCC) and the Department of Justice of just that. This assembly bill titled AB2026 will be introduced on March 20th, 2008. The study bill will acertain the legalities of intrastate online poker and why should it become legal in California. If this bill comes to fruition, The Governor along with Legislature will have control over the operations and that California online poker players will be protected. According to Assemblyman Levine, “Our understanding of the law is that as the player and server (hosting the online game) are in California, it would be legal.” He goes on to add that that is what they are trying to find out.
Since October, 2006 when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed, online gambling in the United States has taken a big hit. Buried in a bill that was created to stop terrorism in the US this act makes many forms of online gambling illegal; online poker being one of them. This act also sparked the debate over whether or not poker is a game of skill or a game of luck and whether or not the game is a form of gambling.
If online poker is legalized in the state of California it could create a nice little power boost for our state’s economy.
Who knew? Okay, so I just found out this morning that Shaq hasn’t been with the LA Lakers for years. Yes, I sort of watched parts of his big debut last night with the Phoenix Suns, but I still had no idea. So, after a conversation with my boyfriend about The Miami Heat and asking him who Shawn Marion was traded for, is when he broke the news to me. I have a lot of catching up to do with NBA basketball!
Although playing with his pinkie injury and webbed taped fingers, Kobe Bryant scored 41 points, hitting 16 out of 25 shots with 2 steals and 2 blocks in the win during last night’s game;compared to Shaquille O’Neill’s 15 points with 9 rebounds and 2 blocks with assists. The Laker’s 130-124 triumph over The Suns in Shaq’s debut game certainly adds fuel to the Shaq versus Kobe debate.
Considering The Phoenix Suns game strategy is all about the offense with agility and speed paired with knowing what the general public is thinking about his ability, Shaq stated in a press conference, “Steve Nash has instructed me to get my Randy Moss on.” The Point Guard for The Suns comment can only be attributed to NFL football player Randy Moss of The Patriots and his recent awe-inspiring single season record of 23 touchdowns.
So it seems I’ve been on hiatus in what seems like forever and I am finally back. Not to rehash old sports news, and as the whole world should know by now, the New England Patriots did not end up winning Super Bowl 2008 afterall; The New York Giants did - and Congrats to them! (Nothing against Patriot fans, just have to give props when due).
I have to make a quick mention that this year was the first time I have ever actually watched an entire Super Bowl! And ya know what, it was actually very exciting to me, even though 99% of the plays were foreign to me, with my boyfriend by my side (who actually took the time to explain things to me in ways I could actually understand) it made it a little easier to watch. Even my Mom who had spent Super Bowl Sunday at a gathering at my sister’s (a loyal Chargers Fan) watched the entire game too.
Now that football season is over, its will be time to report on current sports news like baseball and basketball! Oh and of course a sport for all seasons - Poker!
Jordan Farmar was the man of the night Thursday scoring 24 points to bring the LA Lakers to victory with 106-88 over Miami Heat making this the Lakers 10th straight win. Another game highlight was Kobe Bryant scoring 21 points, to go along with his eight assists and four steals.
