TOP 100 SPORT SITES
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| Chelsea coast through into round four Chelsea, the holders, brushed aside the feeble challenge of Championship side Watford to coast into the fourth round of the FA Cup. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Scott Podsednik agrees to $1.75M deal with Royals KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Outfielder Scott Podsednik and the Kansas City Royals agreed Friday to a $1.75 million, one-year contract that includes a club option for 2011.... hosted.ap.org |
Hearn to meet BBC to outline vision • Hearn seeks to extend snooker's BBC contract• 'We've got to give punters a day out beyond snooker'Barry Hearn, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's chairman, is to meet the BBC on Wednesday over extending a contractual relationship which has existed since the corporation covered the 1978 world championship.There are certain points Hearn will raise, including 8pm starts and thus late finishes to several finals, unwelcomed by schoolboys hustled off to bed or those who have to get up early for work next day, although he acknowledges that the BBC will have "the last word".The Masters is contracted to remain at Wembley next year but Hearn's view is that it is "too big". Only one fifth of its cavernous arena is utilised for snooker and there is little point in providing more seating because only just over 2,000 spectators, the current capacity, can obtain a meaningful view of the action on the 12ft x 6ft table.For this reason, gate money will always be marginal to snooker's income, which depends mostly on television rights and sponsorship. Neither does Wembley have the warm, welcoming ambience of the now demolished conference centre next door and the absence of a betting kiosk remains a drawback."We've got to give punters a day out beyond sitting watching snooker," said Hearn, who must now grapple with some inherited WPBSA problems, including a budgeted loss of £1.2m – already being reduced – on the year ending 30 June. The game itself will remain unchanged for world ranking tournaments but some varied supporting attractions are on the way, including one with many characteristics of a game show – a one-frame knockout event, each winner to exit down a Walk of Stars, each loser to be accompanied by a Grim Reaper – and a Players Championship which will be played exclusively in clubs.There will be some 20 one-day events, each with a £100 entry fee and a £20,000 prize fund, an idea he is importing from the Professional Darts Council, which he also chairs. The reigning PDC world champion, Phil Taylor, has supplemented his income by £80,000 in a year from such tournaments. It will adopt the draconian pool rule whereby the non-offender is empowered to place the cue ball wherever he likes after any foul. Hearn says he will get the 16-man series play-offs "on television somewhere".SnookerBBCClive Evertonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Andrew Strauss wrecks England selection policy The first time Ricky Ponting took a break from the Australia captaincy he was publicly censured by Steve Waugh, his predecessor. “The Australia captain is the benchmark of resilience and mental toughness,” Waugh said, and ought to be seen to be “almost indestructible”. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Miller makes his fourth US Olympic team Hardly a surprise, Lindsey Vonn and Bode Miller lead a list of U.S. skiers earning spots for the Vancouver Games.... hosted.ap.org |