Armchair Weekend in Review (July 7-9, 2006)

by user JB82

The biggest sports weekend of the month gave us a lot to talk about. So on to the discussions.

World Cup Final

There were many storylines to the 2006 FIFA World Cup final between France and Italy. First, Les Bleus were riding high with a group of mostly unheralded players, though they were lead by Thierry Henry. Second, this was the last match for Zinedine Zidane. Third, the Italians were also in the final, looking to give a soccer (football)-mad country something to sturut their stuff about in the face of a potentially devestating scandal in their top division.
When all was said and done, the final came down to a penalty shootout, which Italy won thanks to the foot of Fabio Grosso. Penalty shootouts, while thrilling, sort of cheapen the knockout matches IMO. But then again, it was a cheap shot (i.e., headbutt) by Zizou that sent his career to a disgraceful end.

Wimbledon Final: Federer, Mauresmo Bring Home the Bacon

*Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer won the French Open men's championship, all but ensuring that the Nadal-Federer feud has become this generation's Borg-McEnroe. On the women's side, Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne won over Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. –AWIR, 6.9-11.06

The same weekend the World Cup began, another big-time tournament in a different sport next door to Germany was wrapping up. Roger Federer saw his streak of 27 Grand Slam wins come to an end while the winner, Rafael Nadal, saw his winning steak extended to 62. A month later, at Wimbledon, the two met again, but this time, Federer had Nadal's number. The Swiss defeated the Spaniard 6-0, 7-6(5), 6(2)-7, 6-3, further edifying my claim that this rivalry is shaping up to become Generation Y's tennis rivalry. It seemed eerily coincidental that Nadal suffered defeat the same day his favorite soccer player got sent off in the World Cup final.

The day before, Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo defeated Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a rematch of the Australian Open final where the latter gifted the title by sicking out of the match.
- For those of you looking for American champions at Wimbledon, you'll be glad to know that Bob and Mike Bryan won the Gentleman's Singles 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 over the pairing of Frenchman Fabrice Santoro and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic.
- Not too many people now this but there are also Boys and Girls brackets in these major events. In the Boys' Doubles division: Kellen Damico and Nathaniel Schnugg were the winners 7(9)-6(7) over Slovenians Martin Klizan and Andrei Martin.

MLB: Last Weekend Before the All-Star Break

The New York Yankees have had trouble polishing off teams since they swept the Kansas City Royals in the home-opening series this season. Further edification came on Sunday, when the Yanks gave necomer Kris Wright a 5-0 cushion, only to have it become a 6-5 loss. Just think, Yanks fans, the night before, Chien-Ming Wang went 8 1/3 innings and Kyle Farnsworth managed to save Mariano Rivera from coming in and closing it out. On Friday, Jaret Wright gave up only one run in a 4-1 win.

Meanwhile, at Shea Stadium, the New York Mets and Florida Marlins got together and the weekend provided some late 4th of July fireworks:
- In the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday, both teams got in a bit of a beanball war. The final straw came when Mets pitcher Duaner Sanchez plunked Miguel Cabrera. While no fists flew, the incident was enough to clear both benches. Cabrera was later ejected, but the Marlins won 3-2.
- The nightcap provided a lot of Met M-80s, as the Mets lit up Ricky Nolasco en route to a 17-3 win.
- On Sunday, the Fish provided fireworks of their own, but amongst themselves. After the fifth inning, Cabrera and pitcher Scott Olsen got into a rhubarb. Both sides soon called a truce. The Mets would win the game 7-6 on a home run by David Wright.

In the longest game in the majors this season, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox battled for 19 innings. All ended on an RBI single by Tadahito Iguchi and the ChiSox won 6-5.

Minnesota Twins pitcher Johan Santana has been near dominant this season, so it should come as a rarity that he lose. The Texas Rangers provided the L, 5-2.

Odds & Sods: It's BAAAAACK!

WILLIAMS WATCH: A light night for Ricky Williams, as he only got nine carries for 6 yards. He also played receiver, as he caught two passes for 12 yards. The Toronto Argonauts also lost the game, 24-17, to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Jeff Gordon got his second win in three races overall (not to mention his first ever at Chicagoland Speedway) by spinning out Matt Kenseth to win the USG Sheetrock 400.
Good news for Cleveland Cavaliers fans: Lebron James is staying put, signing a 5-year extension paying him upwards of 80 million USD. Just think, that's almost twice as less than the gross for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest!
In the Tour de France, the maillot jaune changed bodies twice, from Belgian Tom Boonen to Ukrainian Serhiy Honchar (Sergei Gonchar, NOT the hockey player). The Points honors remain with Australian Robbie McEwen, while Frenchman Jérôme Pineau and German Marcus Fothen retain top spot in King of the Mountains and Young Riders' Classification respectively.

And finally: An Important Announcement

The week before the US Memorial Day Weekend, I announced that the AWIR would take that weekend off. Well, I announce three weeks in advance that the AWIR will be off the weekend of July 28-30. Thanks for your concern and interest.

Until next week, let's all be good sports.