Month: May 2009 (Page 6 of 61)

      Manchester United fan drives minibus into Barcelona supporters, killing four people

      May 29, 2009 /

      A Manchester United football fan drove a minibus into a crowd of Barcelona supporters, killing four people after United lost in the European Champions League Final on Wednesday. Ten other people were reported wounded in the incident.

      A police spokeswoman told Reuters news agency: “The driver passed the crowd, then made a U-turn and ran into them.”

      He is now in police custody. Both teams have a large fan base in Nigeria.

      “The man confessed to doing it on purpose,” police spokeswoman Rita Inoma Abbey told the BBC.

      “He now says he doesn’t know why he did it, but it was an intentional act.”

      Football fans across Africa closely follow the European leagues, which recruit some of the continent’s best players.

      Earlier this month, a Kenyan Arsenal fan hanged himself after his team’s defeat in Champions League semi-final second leg by Manchester United.

      I can’t emphasize this point enough: IT’S JUST A GAME. If you can’t handle your team losing to the point that you deem it necessary to take innocent lives because they root for a rival, then you shouldn’t follow sports – end of story.

      Soccer

      Former QB great Tarkenton says Favre’s actions ‘despicable’

      May 29, 2009 /

      Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton apparently isn’t a huge Brett Favre fan these days.

      Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton, appearing on 790 The Zone in Atlanta, said “it’s all about” Favre when discussing the subject and also had some interesting comments about NFL owners in general. Tarkenton, a resident of the Atlanta area, didn’t need any encouragement to go after Favre and was especially critical of how the future Hall of Fame QB has treated the Packers after playing 16 seasons in Green Bay.

      “I think it’s despicable. What he put the Packers through last year was not good,” said Tarkenton, who played for the Vikings from 1961-66 and again from 1972-78. ”Here’s an organization that was loyal to him for 17, 18 years, provided stability of organization, provided players. It just wasn’t about Brett Favre. In this day and time, we have glorified the Brett Favre’s of the world so much, they think it’s about them. He goes to New York and bombs. He’s 39 years old. How would you like Ray Nitschke in his last year [playing for] the Vikings, or I retire, and go play for the Packers? I kind of hope it happens, so he can fail.”

      Favre did the retirement dance with Green Bay for multiple years and then ultimately got upset with the team when they decided to finally commit to Aaron Rodgers (after giving Brett at least two chances to return) last offseason. Then he wanted to be traded, so the Packers obliged. Then he retired after one year with the Jets, but now wants to play for the Vikings to burn Green Bay GM Ted Thompson. And for what?

      Favre should have played in Green Bay until his arm fell off. He would have been a hero not only in Green Bay, but he would have been one of the biggest sports figures to have ever played. Instead, fans are tired of hearing about him and even a Hall of Famer is calling his actions ‘despicable.’ It’s sad in a lot of ways, because we’re talking about one of the best quarterbacks of all time, yet he has set himself up to be criticized with the way he’s acted the past couple of years.

      NFL

      Zambrano suspended six games for tirade

      May 29, 2009 /

      Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano will be suspended six games after he bumped umpire Mark Carlson and then went on to throw a temper tantrum on the field and in the dugout in a game against the Pirates on Wednesday.

      Zambrano’s agent, Barry Praver, said the penalty, which included a $3,000 fine, a source told ESPNChicago.com, will not be appealed. The suspension began Thursday night and barring rainouts Zambrano will be eligible to pitch next Thursday at Atlanta.

      The Cubs ace threw a baseball into left field, slammed his glove against the dugout fence, and used a bat to smash a Gatorade dispenser in the Cubs’ dugout after he was ejected Wednesday with Chicago leading 2-1 in the seventh inning of a 5-2 victory Pittsburgh.

      “I apologize for that. Like I said, I should have more control of myself in that situation,” Zambrano said after the game. “I just wanted to get out of that inning and win the ballgame. I didn’t say a bad word. I should have gone to the clubhouse and keep watching the game. I apologize for throwing the ball and the other things.”

      Six games seems a little extreme, but I like the fact that Big Z won’t appeal. What for? It’s like when you get a speeding ticket on the highway; yeah it sucks, but you got caught, so take your punishment and move on.

      My question is, if Zambrano got a six game suspension for bumping an umpire, then why didn’t the ump that “forcibly guided” Tigers’ outfielder Magglio Ordonez out of the batter’s box during a game against the Twins a couple weeks ago not get punished? Zambrano gets six games for slightly bumping an umpire but an umpire who puts his hands on a player gets to skate with just an apology? This certainly isn’t worth a full on debate, but isn’t that a little ridiculous? Hey, if umpires don’t want to be touched, then they shouldn’t be touching players either.

      MLB

      Hurdle to be fired? Some Rockies believe so.

      May 29, 2009 /

      According to a report by the Colorado Springs Gazette, several Rockies players believe that manager Clint Hurdle will get the axe soon.

      Via Rotoworld.com:

      “Following another dismal showing Wednesday in an 8-6 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field, several Rockies players privately speculated that today’s off day could mark the end of Hurdle’s seven-plus-year tenure as manager,” read’s The Gazette’s report. The Rox are off to an 18-28 start and attendance numbers have plummeted. We’ll be on watch.

      It’s amazing how quickly things can change in sports. Just two seasons ago, Hurdle led the Rockies to their best finish ever in the club’s 15-year history by winning the last 14 of 15 regular season contests to force a one-game tie-breaker with the Padres for the right to win the NL Wild Card.

      Colorado beat San Diego and the Rockies marched right into a World Series appearance for the first time in club history. The Red Sox eventually swept them right out of the Fall Classic but still, it was quite the magical season for Hurdle and the Rockies.

      And now Hurdle could be on his way out just two seasons later. Amazing.

      MLB

      Backs against the wall, Cavs win Game 5

      May 28, 2009 /

      Facing elimination, the Cleveland Cavaliers did what they needed to do tonight by winning Game 5, 112-102. It wasn’t always pretty, but a quick start put the Magic in the hole and a brilliant fourth quarter from LeBron James put Orlando away. He posted 37 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists, and was directly responsible (either by making the bucket or the assist) for 32 straight points spanning from the late third quarter to the late fourth.

      The Cavs started out the game on fire, scoring 26 points in the first six minutes, while holding the Magic to just eight points during the same time frame. To put that lead into perspective, at that point the Cavs were on pace to win the game by a score of 208-64. Wow.

      But the Magic are nothing if not resilient, and a terrific second quarter trimmed the lead to one at halftime. It looked like the Magic would once again take the game down to the wire, but Lebron’s wonderful performance in the fourth quarter gave control back to the Cavs.

      Mo Williams’ fine play in the first half (18 points) allowed LeBron to conserve his energy somewhat for the stretch run. He broke out of his shooting slump, hitting 6 of 9 three pointers and finishing with 24 points. The Cavs also enjoyed some good play from Zydrunas Ilgauskas (6-8, 16 points), Delonte West (6-13, 13 points) and Daniel Gibson (3-5, 11 points). The Cavs shot 50% from the field and 50% from long range.

      What’s scary for the Cavs is that it took this kind of performance from LeBron and most of his supporting cast and the game was still close late in the fourth quarter. Dwight Howard (24 points) and Hedo Turkoglu (29 points) played well, but Rashard Lewis (15 points) and Rafer Alston (3 points) combined to shoot just 5 of 23 from the field.

      With the win, the pressure is back on the Magic. Nobody really expects the Cavs to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the series (that’s not to say it can’t be done), but with a potential Game 7 back in Cleveland, the Magic will definitely want to wrap things up in Orlando.

      Game 6 is Saturday at 5:30 PM ET.

      NBA, NBA Finals

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑