| ACC sports coming to iPhone The ACC and Raycom Sports have launched an application for iPhone and iPod Touch devices for the first time that will carry select conference football and basketball games live, as well as unique content throughout the school year. feeds.bizjournals.com |
France reach Davis Cup final • Llodra and Clement clinch win with doubles victory• Llodra and Monfils had singles wins to set up 3-0 scoreMichael Llodra and Arnaud ClĂ©ment's expertise in the doubles was too much for Argentina's Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos when France clinched a 3-0 win in Lyon to power into the Davis Cup final.France, who got off to a winning start on Friday with singles victories by Llodra and GaĂ«l Monfils, will face either Serbia away or Czech Republic at home in the December final.Although they were without their injured No1, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Guy Forget's team, who beat holders Spain in the previous round, went on the attack in all their three matches, backed by a loud Palais des Sports crowd."I am very proud, they're all here together, the seven of them, those who played and those who also contributed to this victory," the captain, Forget, said in a courtside interview as Monfils, substitute Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet, Tsonga and Julien Benneteau congratulated the day's winners."There is still a great tie to be played," Forget said.Clement and Llodra, pairing up in the men's team event for the first time since 2008, quickly found their marks, bagging the opening set with a spectacular point at the net. The pair, who won the 2007 Wimbledon title together, raced to a 2-0, 40-0 lead in the second but let their opponents back into the match. In the end, though, Llodra was too strong at the net, Clement too precise on his service returns, for them to be really threatened and they pocketed the second set with a decisive break in the 12th game.Schwank and Zeballos continued to struggle at the net in the third and found themselves trailing 5-2. Dozens of Argentina fans stood up and yelled their support to try to inspire a fightback and they held serve to reach 5-3.However, the respite was short and a Llodra service winner clinched a deserved victory for the home side after two hours 29 minutes."This is fabulous. I am, with my mates, in the Davis Cup final, now with my mate Arnaud, I'm so happy," said Llodra as many of the 6,000 fans waved French flags in the same arena where France won the Davis Cup final back in 1991. "We're like good wine, we get better with age."The 32-year-old ClĂ©ment was grateful to get the chance to play a part in the team's victory. "I know I'm also here because others were injured. I now want everybody to be fit for the final so that Guy [Forget] can pick the best ones," he said.Argentina's captain, Tito Vázquez, did not expect the match to turn out the way it did. "I could not imagine the score would be that harsh, although I knew the French were strong," he said. "Things would have been different if we had been at 1-1 Friday night."Monfils, a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner over David Nalbandian on Friday, is due to play Juan Monaco in the reverse singles today when Llodra, who beat Monaco 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, is due to play Nalbandian.Davis CupTennisguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Tour winner Contador blames 'food contamination' for positive drug test Three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador blamed contaminated steak Thursday for his positive doping test, vowing to clear his name ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Moss Keane obituary Irish rugby great who helped popularise the sport in his countryMoss Keane, who has died of bowel cancer aged 62, became one of Ireland's most successful and popular rugby union players, even though he did not take up the sport until he was in his early 20s. Less than four years after first picking up a rugby ball, he was playing for Ireland in Paris in 1974, the first of 51 caps in an 11-season international career. An imposing second row, he was never dropped by his country.Keane, who was born in Currow, County Kerry, played Gaelic football at school in Killarney and at university. He represented Kerry at under-21 level as a full-back and captained University College Cork. In those days, the sport's governing body, the Gaelic Athletic Association, banned its players from involvement with "foreign" sports, which included rugby union.So when Keane was invited by a fellow student to appear in an inter-faculty match in 1970, he did so under a pseudonym, Moss Fenton. It was only when the ban was lifted the following year that he played rugby regularly. "When the ban went, I could play any game I wanted," Keane recalled in 2005. "I was asked by the rugby crowd. I had seen the game on television and reckoned you did not need to be a rocket scientist to be a second row."Keane's rise was remarkable. In his second full season as a senior player, he appeared for Munster in a 3-3 draw against New Zealand and made his debut for Ireland the following year. His international career coincided with the national side's revival. Ireland won their first Five Nations title for 25 years in 1974, and in 1982 clinched the Triple Crown for the first time since 1949.The sport enjoyed a new popularity. Rugby had been seen by many in Ireland as not only an exclusive, middle-class sport, brought to the country by English public schoolboys in the 1850s, but un-Irish. Keane, a farmer's son from the heart of the nation, helped change that perception."Moss almost single-handedly brought rugby to a whole new audience," said the former Ireland international Tony Ward, a team-mate of Keane's when Munster defeated the All Blacks 12-0 at Thomond Park in 1978, the only time an Irish team has defeated New Zealand. "He made it become a game of the people. He spread the sport far and wide and the Irish Rugby Football Union should be eternally grateful to him."Keane, who was known for his foot-pumping bursts with ball in hand, played hard and enjoyed the camaraderie off the field that rugby was then renowned for. The Irish Examiner reporter Barry Coughlan remembered interviewing Keane the night before Ireland's match against Scotland in 1982 when the elusive Triple Crown was at stake."I turned up to find all of the Irish pack enjoying a few pints in the snug of the pub and Moss conducting the interview in front of them without breaking stride on the drink," he said. "I managed to file my copy and when I asked Moss after the match how he could drink a few pints and play in a big game the following day, his reply came in the form of a question: 'What do you think the Scots were up to? They were in a pub around the corner.'"Keane toured New Zealand with the 1977 Lions, playing in the first Test despite having been concussed four days earlier. He had revealed his renowned wit earlier on the tour when asked for his comments after a game. "The first half was even," he said. "The second half was even worse."The former England and Lions hooker Peter Wheeler recalled being invited to stay with Keane in Kerry. "I flew in to Dublin and then caught a train," he said. "Moss was going to meet me at the station, but was not there. It was late at night and I managed to find his house. A woman answered the door and when I asked if Moss Keane lived there, she replied: 'Yes. Bring him in.'"Keane gained a degree in dairy science, then a master's, and moved to Dublin in 1973 after securing a post with the ministry of agriculture. He played for Lansdowne until his retirement in 1985, often turning out for the club the day after playing for Ireland. His autobiography, Rucks, Mauls and Gaelic Football (2005), was a bestseller. He was diagnosed with cancer two years ago."He was one of Irish rugby's greats, a player without peer," said the journalist and rugby historian Edmund van Esbeck. Keane is survived by his wife, Anne, and his daughters, Sarah and Anne Marie.• Maurice Ignatius "Moss" Keane, rugby player, born 27 July 1948; died 5 October 2010Ireland rugby union teamRugby unionMunsterNew Zealand rugby union teamPaul Reesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Wigan's Darrell Goulding to make England debut against New Zealand • Goulding replaces Ryan Hall in opening match of series• Wigan winger was surprise selection in 24-man squadDarrell Goulding, the Wigan winger who was not even in the club's starting side at the beginning of the last domestic season, makes his England debut in the opening match of the Four Nations series against New Zealand at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday. Australia play Papua New Guinea on Sunday.The 22-year-old, who was a surprise selection in the coach Steve McNamara's 24-man squad, gets his chance in place of the Leeds winger Ryan Hall, who has failed to shake off a hamstring injury sustained in training.Goulding only got his chance at Wigan when Cameron Phelps picked up an injury in the second match and he went on to keep his place after discovering the best form of his life. A prolific scoring run brought him 29 tries from 24 Super League appearances, including one in his side's 20-10 Grand Final win over St Helens three weeks ago. "Someone got an injury which was unfortunate for them but it gave me a chance," he recalled. "It was a great thrill to win the Grand Final and this tops off a good year."Goulding was not included in McNamara's 37-strong squad for a mid-season get-together but his call-up completes a remarkable upturn in fortunes for a player who spent three months on loan to Salford last year. "It was probably what I needed at the time, to be playing Super League every week," he said. "I got some game time and the chance to build my confidence back a bit. Obviously it worked out for the best."McNamara has made two other changes to the side that drew 18-18 with New Zealand Maori last Saturday, both in the front row, where he accommodates the new captain, James Graham, and the experienced Wigan prop Stuart Fielden. Graham, who was rested for the warm-up match, takes over both the playing position and the captaincy from the injured Adrian Morley while Fielden is rewarded for a return to form with his first cap for four years.Fielden sat out the Maori game after arriving four days after the rest of the squad in order to attend the birth of his first child. "It was very tough watching the game on Saturday," he said. Fielden takes over from Darrell Griffin, who gets a place on the bench at the expense of his Huddersfield team-mate Eorl Crabtree.England: Widdop (Melbourne); Goulding (Wigan), Shenton (Castleford), Atkins (Warrington), Briscoe (Hull); Brown (Huddersfield), Tomkins; Fielden (both Wigan), Roby, Graham (both St Helens, capt), Ellis (Wests Tigers), Burgess (South Sydney), O'Loughlin (Wigan). Subs (from): Robinson, Griffin (both Huddersfield), Westwood (Warrington), Tomkins (Wigan).England rugby league teamFour NationsRugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |