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| Diouf set to make Man United debut • Senegalise striker finally gains work permit• Sir Alex Ferguson enthuses over 22-year-oldMame Biram Diouf is poised to make his Manchester United debut next month after being granted a work permit.Sir Alex Ferguson signed the 22-year-old striker from Molde in the summer before allowing him to return to the Norwegian club on loan.With 16 goals in 29 matches for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's former club this season, Diouf certainly offers Ferguson an option in attack where goals have been hard to come by recently.Diouf is unavailable for the FA Cup third-round tie with Leeds United at Old Trafford on 3 January, but Ferguson feels he has a promising future ahead of him."If you're talking about value then you can look at our young boy Diouf," he said recently. "He's been training with us and is looking very exciting. That's the kind of situation we're good at, finding young players who can develop at the club, and at 22 years of age he's looking very good."Manchester UnitedPremier LeagueSir Alex Fergusonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
NFL Talkboard: week 17 | Paolo Bandini Discuss the best NFL moments of the decade and post your predictions for the last week of the regular season below the lineWelcome to the final NFL Talkboard of the regular season. For those of you who have stumbled upon it for the first time, this is the dedicated place on the Sportblog where people can talk about American football.Every week I have posted my Pick Six and the blog then stays open over the weekend, allowing everyone – myself included – to keep chatting about the games as they happen, and afterwards on Sunday and Monday. Obviously this is now the last week of the regular season, but fear not – the Talkboard will continue throughout the post season, with Pick Six replaced by, you guessed it, Pick the Play-offs!In the meantime, as I have nobody to congratulate on picking all six games correctly last week, I shall simply tip my cap to RobbyBobson, who remains top of the overall standings, which you can find at the bottom of this blog with one week to go. Right then, here are this week's games.Jacksonville Jaguars @ Cleveland BrownsThe Jags were effectively, if still not yet technically, out of the play-offs after taking a pasting from the New England Patriots last week, while the Browns have won three in a row. Cleveland running back Jerome Harrison has rushed for 434 yards over the past two weeks and should, in theory, find plenty of room to run against the Jags' distinctly mediocre rush defence. One team is on the rise and the other on the wane, yet I just cannot bring myself to believe this Cleveland team is capable of four wins on the trot.Jaguars to winPhiladelphia Eagles @ Dallas CowboysDallas have done a pretty good job of silencing the December doubters over the past two weeks – handing the New Orleans Saints their first defeat before brushing aside the Washington Redskins. The Eagles have won six straight, but I think there are flaws there to be exploited.Cowboys to winPittsburgh Steelers @ Miami DolphinsBefore I even get on to who I think will win, here's one prediction I feel confident about for this game: the Dolphins will get behind early, then battle back late to make it close. That's how they've played it in three of their past four games but it hasn't actually worked since the week 13 win over New England. Slow starts have killed this team, as has the injury to running back Ronnie Brown. With Ricky Williams now also carrying a shoulder injury, though he is expected to play, and a play-off berth highly unlikely even if they do win, I can't see them pulling this one out.Steelers to winGreen Bay Packers @ Arizona CardinalsThe Cardinals can actually still clinch the second seed in the NFC should they win and both the Eagles and Vikings lose – not as unlikely as it sounds when you consider how the Vikes have played these past two weeks in defeats to the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears. But something tells me Arizona are going to take their foot off the pedal here, and save themselves for a wild card game that could well be against these same opponents in the same stadium.Packers to winNew England Patriots @ Houston TexansNew England are playing for third or fourth seed in the AFC, while the Texans can still snatch a wildcard spot with a win and a couple of other results going their way. On paper, Houston's motivation seems higher, but in practice they have come up short in pretty much every big game they've played this season.Patriots to winCincinnati Bengals @ New York JetsShould the Bengals lose, they may end up facing the Jets on their own turf in the wildcard round. They won't, though.Bengals to winOverall standingsLast year's winner (yes, that would be me) has finally, and rightly, dropped out of the top 10 after another two out of six performance last week. At the top, meanwhile, it's looking like a two horse race going into week 17 … Full standings are available, as usual, in the comments section of last week's blog.1st RobbyBobson – 60 correct picks2nd TommyCarcetti - 593rd Percinho - 554th skipperD - 545th kennbry - 536th participationworks 517th grafhamboy 508th ECFC 499th donwendyagain, tompll - 48End of decade list timeYou asked for it (well, francaise did anyway), so you've got it. Here are my top picks of the noughties.Team of the decade: New England PatriotsNot a hard call, this one. New England have appeared in four Super Bowls this decade, winning three of them, and along the way became the first team to complete a 16-game regular season undefeated. Only one team has posted a better regular season win-loss record – the Indianapolis Colts, who have won 115 and lost 44, while the Patriots won 112 and lost 47 – but the Colts have also gone 7-7 in the play-offs, while the Pats went 14-3. New England only once failed to post a winning record – in 2000.You could argue the toss about which year's vintage was the finest – even a 16-0 regular season mark isn't enough to convince me that 2007 side would necessarily have beaten the 2004 team who blew apart the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road in the AFC title game before derailing the 15-3 Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. But either way there's only one winner for this award.Game of the decade: New England Patriots 34-38 Indianapolis ColtsThe two greatest quarterbacks of the decade, leading two of the best teams of the decade, in the game that finally gave some balance to their rivalry. Before this meeting Tom Brady had triumphed in both his play-off meetings with Manning, and this one looked to be heading the same way as the Patriots raced to a 21-3 first-half lead. But the Colts battled back to be level before the end of the third quarter and from there it was a constant back-and-forth of punch then counter-punch. Even when the Colts got ahead for the first time with a minute and 17 seconds remaining, you somehow expected the Patriots to come back and win the game but this time Marlin Jackson stepped in front of a pass from Brady, and Manning finally had his first Super Bowl berth.Play of the decade: David Tyree's catch, Super Bowl XLIII've written about this play enough times elsewhere that I'm not sure there's much else to add. Yes, there were other great plays, many of which may have required similar levels of athleticism, co-ordination and determination, but none of them were performed in a context quite like this. Never at any sporting event have I witnessed an entire press box lose control like the reporters around me that day did when Tyree came up with the ball.Comeback of the decade: Miami Dolphins 37-40 New York JetsYeah, I pretty much put this category in just so I could include this game, after deciding the relative blandness of the first three quarters meant it couldn't really qualify as best game. Like many who watched it on TV, I was close to comatose by the time the third quarter ended with the Dolphins up 30-7. At the Meadowlands itself, Jets fans were leaving in their droves. Then the Jets won the fourth quarter, 30-7. Two of their touchdowns arrived in spectacularly improbable fashion - Laveranues Coles snatching what seemed a sure interception out of the hands of cornerback Sam Madison before falling into the end zone, and offensive tackle Jumbo Elliott tumbling onto another pass from Vinny Testaverde to make it 37-37. By the time Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler threw the overtime interception that set up John Hall's winning field goal, the stands were mysteriously full once again.Player of the decade: Jonathan OgdenLook, there is no sensible way to pick a player of the decade. Comparing quarterbacks with runners, receivers and guards would be a deeply futile exercise, let alone sizing them up against ends, linebackers and safeties. A team of the decade might be a more instructive but in the end that sort of work is best left to the people who make a full-time living watching game tape. So Ogden, to my mind the finest offensive tackle of the decade, gets my nod. Because the big men still don't always get the recognition they deserve.Coach of the decade: Ken WhisenhuntSo really this should probably be Bill Belichick, but the Patriots already got their nod above and seriously, Whisenhunt got the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl. I don't think that achievement should be underestimated.This article has been amended since publication.NFLPaolo Bandiniguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Sharapova signs mega £43m Nike deal • Russian nets most lucrative deal ever for a sportswoman• Eight-year contract dwarfs Venus Williams's £28m tie-upNo one can accuse Maria Sharapova of not planning for the future. While Andy Murray has been sporting his new range of Adidas clothing in the build-up to next week's Australian Open – a deal worth up to £15m over five years, including bonuses – Sharapova today signed the most lucrative deal ever for a sportswoman, worth $70m (£43m) to the Russian over eight years.The deal with Nike, revealed by Bloomberg News, surpasses the previous highest one, a $45m contract over five years given to Venus Williams, the five-times Wimbledon champion. It would be a monumental deal at any time but especially so in the present economic climate, when companies are increasingly more reluctant to associate themselves with big sports stars.The recent revelations about the private life of golf's world No1 Tiger Woods have put companies even more on edge. Woods is the first sportsman ever to pass the $1bn mark in career earnings, including endorsements, but Sharapova, who will design a series of tennis dresses as part of the deal, is clearly seen as a safer bet.What makes the deal even more remarkable is that Sharapova will be 30 by the time the contract is up. Given that she won Wimbledon as a 17-year-old and has had more than her fair share of injuries, there has to be a good chance that she will no longer be playing on the tour by then. The Russian had surgery on her right shoulder in October 2008 and only returned to the tour in May of last year.Since then she has climbed back to No14 in the world rankings but faces increased competition at the top after the return from retirement of two Belgian former world No1s, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. Clijsters won the US Open last September in just her third tournament back and Henin returned to the circuit in Brisbane last week, reaching the final before losing to Clijsters.Murray, meanwhile, has decided to play an extra match to improve his chances at Melbourne Park. The Scot, who played four singles matches indoors last week in the Hopman Cup in Perth, will play an exhibition match on Thursday at the Kooyong Classic.Murray had been touted as a potential replacement for the world No1 Roger Federer after he withdrew from the event at the weekend but that spot has gone to Ivan Ljubicic. His opponent has yet to be confirmed but Andy Roddick, the Wimbledon runner-up for a third time last summer, is thought to be keen.Ljubicic joins Novak Djokovic, Robin Soderling, Juan MartÃn del Potro, Fernando Verdasco, Fernando González, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tommy Haas in the eight-man field.Maria SharapovaTennisSimon Cambersguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
PBT readers: Mellon Arena has much potential Once the Pittsburgh Penguins move into the new Consol Energy Center arena next season, they won't have much use for their current home, Mellon Arena — known to hockey old-timers as the Civic Arena. While expectations are that Mellon Arena, the oldest venue in the National Hockey League, will be torn down, we asked readers in an informal poll what they'd do with the building. The results: feeds.bizjournals.com |
Tom Hicks unlikely to plough any of Texas Rangers money into Liverpool Tom Hicks Jr, the Liverpool co-owner, is close to completing the sale of the Texas Rangers baseball team for a fee in excess of $500 million (about $£310 million), but none of the proceeds are expected to be ploughed into the Barclays Premier League club. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |