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| Spurs owner and CEO Peter Holt named top Texan for 2010 Civic and business leader Peter Holt has been named Texan of the Year by the Texas Legislative Conference. bizjournals.com |
Barney Ronay: 2009 was all about the comebacks From legends who should never have gone away to those defying the vicissitudes of time, the comeback has been kingThe sporting year has had a vaguely spectral edge to it, a tendency towards unexpected reanimations and dramatic chain-rattling, plate-flinging visitations by sports people whose careers, it was assumed, had long since passed over to the other side. This has been a year of comebacks, of varying degrees of plausibility. So much so that whatever the reason – unfinished business, or simply the spiralling rewards of just a couple more years hawking about a tarnished greatness – 2009 will be remembered in part for its noises off: the creak of the coffin lid and the scrabbling thrust through the topsoil by the zombie hand of the returning star.This year's comebacks can be ranged into three genres, in descending order of credibility. The first is the comeback by those who should never have gone away in the first place. The most obvious example is Justine Henin, who announced in September that she would be returning to tennis. Henin retired in May 2008 while still the world No1 and at her peak as a spitfire among the rumbling Lancaster Bombers of the women's power game. Henin's initial retreat, aged 25, was brought on by a trying time in her personal life. Her tournament return will be next week's Brisbane International. Only the hardest heart could fail to wish her well.An encouraging example has already been set this year by her fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters, who returned sensationally from two years of maternity leave and shoulder rehab to win the US Open, a feat of world-class coming back that really deserves its own uplifting Hollywood melodrama, perhaps called Grand Slam Mom! and starring a beefed-up Renée Zellweger grunting in a skintight white one-piece.Also coming back was Floyd Mayweather Jr, who proved once again that a boxing retirement is often no more than a particularly dramatic way of having a short rest. Mayweather looked to be in almost embarrassingly florid health while out-pointing Juan Manuel Márquez in May, 21 months after officially giving up.The year ended with Tiger Woods, perhaps the biggest star in the sporting planetarium, entering his own self‑imposed exile. Woods has promised to return in 2010, as soon as he has sifted the fallout from the revelation that golf's most meticulously dedicated man has a similar unswerving hunger for well-groomed American women who look as though they might be employed to sell jewellery on television, or demonstrate expensive items of fitness equipment. As comebacks go, it should be fairly unignorable.A step down from this, a second tier of more mature returnees also appeared this year. These were the mutton-dressed-as-lamb comebacks, the veteran swingers propped up against the jukebox, holding their stomachs in and hoping the overhead lights are kind. In July the 37-year-old Lance Armstrong rode the Tour De France again, finishing in a fairly amazing third place overall after three years away.Michael Schumacher's first attempt to get back in a formula one car as a fill-in for the injured Felipe Massa was defeated only by his insufficiently superhuman 40-year-old neck muscles. In the last few days the German racing legend has finally been unveiled as the new superannuated face of Mercedes GP, fast-forwarding the burgeoning era of the comeback safely into the new year.Below this, on the final rung of returning giants, we have the car-crash comeback, the vaguely frightening Ancient Mariner comeback, the comeback that reeks of a rather sad but still undying defiance of the vicissitudes of time. Marion Jones, disgraced sprinting star of the Sydney Olympics, is considering a comeback aged 34 as a professional basketball player.Jonah Lomu, more hearteningly, did make a comeback at the same age – and after a brief intermediate career as a body-builder – playing at centre for Marseille Vitrolles deep in the French third division. Further down the scale, 5ft 3in Colombian international striker Antony de Avila, nicknamed "The Smurf", was signed by Colombian league club America de Cali of Colombia, 10 years after announcing his retirement. The Smurf is now 46 years old.Perhaps this 12-monthly boom in comeback has something to do with the imminent end of the decade, a kind of fin de siècle mass midlife crisis. Maybe it's the pinch of the recession. Or simply a generational vogue for career breaks and gap years in an industry where pressure has never been more intense.Either way if 2009 tells us anything about comebacks, it's that we're likely to see a lot more of them in the future. And that there is still something strangely compelling about the sight of these people who once appeared only distantly for the grandstands joining, however briefly, the ranks of the mortals; before taking up their magic staff once again and heading back out there into the rarefied plastic theatre of the track and the ring and the stadium.Justine HeninKim ClijstersFloyd MayweatherTiger WoodsLance ArmstrongMichael SchumacherBarney Ronayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Glover barely keeps his lead at SBS KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) -- Even with a three-shot lead at Kapalua going into the weekend, U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover figured it would be tight. Surely, a few players in this winners-only field would post a low score, and a few guys wouldn't.... hosted.ap.org |
Julien Dupuy's 24-week ban for gouging reduced by one week Julien Dupuy, the Stade Francais scrum-half, has had his appeal against a 24-week suspension for gouging reduced by just seven days, effectively ending his season. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Henin survives battle of the Belgians • Henin beats compatriot Yanina Wickmayer 7-6, 1-6, 6-3• No2 seed Dinara Safina withdraws after injuring backJustine Henin continued her impressive return from retirement with a three-set win over Yanina Wickmayer to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. The 27-year-old Henin is less than a month into her return after ending her 20-month absence from the game but is in sight of an eighth grand slam title after defeating her fellow Belgian 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 6-3.The wildcard entry again had to call on her battling qualities as Wickmayer, the world No16, raced through the second set to take the match into a decider. Henin steadied, however, and produced some memorable winners to see off Wickmayer's challenge."It wasn't easy. She played a great match," Henin said. "She was very aggressive and took her chances. Physically, it was not easy for me. I missed two years so that's why I love being on the court now. It's a great feeling to be back. Everything is going so well."In the final fourth-round match of the day, the second seed Dinara Safina retired due to injury to hand her fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko a passage into the quarter-finals. Last year's finalist was trailing Kirilenko 5-4 and 30-40 on serve when she called an end to the match with what appeared to be a back complaint.Safina walked gingerly to the umpire's chair immediately after playing a forehand from the back of the court and ended the contest without calling for a medical timeout. The walkover win for Kirilenko, who turns 23 tomorrow, means that she progresses to the last eight of a grand slam for the first time in her career.The world No58 has beaten two Russian seeds so far at Melbourne Park, after upsetting the 2008 winner Maria Sharapova in the opening round.Safina had started the match well and took an early break to surge into a 3-1 lead. The world No2, however, started to show signs of a problem as the set wore on before Kirilenko levelled at 4-4. Kirilenko then held serve to go ahead before Safina decided she could not go on. Kirilenko will play China's Zheng Jie in the quarter-finals.Another Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova, refused to blame scheduling for her exit in the fourth round at the hands of her compatriot Nadia Petrova. Kuznetsova, the third seed, did not finish her third round match until around 2am local time yesterday, only to find herself back on court less than 36 hours later, losing 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.The French Open champion has questioned the logic of holding late-night matches in Melbourne, and as she faced Petrova in the baking afternoon sun, she must have been cursing that decision even more. Kuznetsova slept little on Saturday and also had to play a doubles match later in the day, but after her defeat she admitted that tricky scheduling is merely part and parcel of tournaments."I have to go to bed at four in the morning. Next day, of course, I wake up early because I'm used to wake up at nine," said Kuznetsova. "I sleep only a few hours. I play a three set match of doubles. Then today they put me second."It changes things. But to play good and try to win grand slams, you have to be able to perform and to pass through difficult moments like this. Definitely it was not the best schedule for me, but it's not an excuse at all. I had all the chances to win today, I just didn't use it."For Petrova, the match was merely a continuation of her giant-killing run at this year's tournament. Fresh from destroying Kim Clijsters 6-0, 6-1 in the third round, she romped to victory – albeit in three sets this time – to seal a quarter-final against Henin.Meanwhile China's Zheng eased into the quarter-finals after a 7-6, 6-4 victory against Alona Bondarenko. The win added to China's impressive showing this year, and also justified Zheng's decision to break away from her country's regimented sports system a year ago."Last year was the first year I've gone it alone. There were many things I didn't understand or know about and things weren't easy," said Zheng. "I think in my second year, I'm adapting to a lot."Zheng, along with three of China's top women players, Li Na, Peng Shuai and Yan Zi, was granted the option of leaving the system at the end of 2008 in a watershed decision by the national tennis administration. Leaving the regime, which most of China's top athletes are still tied to, meant keeping a lot more of her earnings."I think Australia is lucky for me because I won the first grand slam doubles title here," she said, referring to her 2006 title when she was partnered with partnered with Yan. "But I think we can go further because you can see Li Na in the fourth round. I hope both of us Chinese players can be in the semi-finals."Australian OpenTennisJacob Steinbergguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |