Brazilians want Ronaldinho back in national team
Ronaldinho's remarkable return to form has quickly made the headlines in Brazil, and fans across the football-crazy country are already calling for the star's return to the national team. After struggling last year with AC Milan, Ronaldinho has put together a string of good performances that are reminiscent of when he won two FIFA world player of the year awards in 2004 and '05. The performances are even making Brazilian fans forget Ronaldinho's disappointing showing at the 2006 World Cup in Germany when the team was eliminated by eventual runners-up France in the quarter-finals. His name is back on the sports pages across Brazil and fans and commentators can't stop talking about the reinvigorated Ronaldinho.
"Brazil is not Brazil without Ronaldinho, especially the way he is playing right now," said 21-year-old Thiago Lima, a transportation company worker. "We need him back in the national team. We need him back to play in the World Cup." A recent survey by the O Globo newspaper said 73 per cent of Brazilians want Ronaldinho to play in the national team again. Several past players in Brazil also have been displaying their support for Ronaldinho and even former Argentina great Diego Maradona is on board. "I watch Milan play and all I see is Ronaldinho," Maradona told Brazilian media. "He is one of the best I've seen play and I hope he will be at the World Cup."
The calls for his return increased significantly after he scored three goals in AC Milan's 4-0 win over Siena in the Italian league last weekend, taking his tally to nine. He has already surpassed his total of eight goals scored in the entire tournament last season. 'Ronaldinho revives his golden years' said a headline at the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper following the hat-trick against Siena. 'Show for Dunga', Globo-Esporte.com added. Brazil coach Dunga is the only one who really matters if Ronaldinho wants to make it to the World Cup in South Africa later this year. Dunga openly criticised Ronaldinho and other Brazilian players who decided to skip the 2007 Copa America to take vacation time and said he would not be calling up players who were not interested in being with the national team.
But the coach has also made it clear that he is a fan of Ronaldinho's football and that his return to the national team depends on Ronaldinho alone. Dunga actually hinted recently that he was hoping Ronaldinho would regain his form quickly so he could have a chance to summon the star in time for the World Cup."The doors are not closed for him," Dunga said last month. "We all know that Ronaldinho can make a difference when he is playing with joy." The playmaker, named the Foot-baller of the Decade by World Soccer magazine last year, has said it would be a dream to play in his third World Cup with Brazil.
Dunga will have his first opportunity to get Ronaldinho back in the national team on February 9 when he will announce Brazil's squad for the friendly against Ireland in London on March 2. The 29-year-old Ronaldinho will have about 20 matches with AC Milan to try to make his case before Dunga announces the final World Cup squad in May. Ronaldinho hasn't been selected by Dunga since the beginning of 2009. He is fighting for a position mainly with midfielders Julio Baptista, Elano and Ramires, who have been constantly summoned by Dunga recently.
If Dunga decides not to call up Ronaldinho in the coming matches, he is likely to face the same kind of pressure that made former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari an unpopular figure before the 2002 World Cup when he declined to draft Romario even though the striker's standout play sparked a national campaign to put him on the squad. Ronaldinho, who led Barcelona to the Champions League title in 2006, thanks his revamped performances in part to AC Milan coach Leonardo, the Brazilian who has given the player a lot more space since he took over the team last year. "I have a good rapport with the coach," Ronaldinho said. "It's helping me with my form as I can speak to Leonardo about anything and when I go on the field, I feel the coach's trust."
Berlin glory, Cricket Chaos
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):Astonishing achievements in athletics once again shot the Caribbean to inter-national prominence but a bitter, divisive cricket dispute between the region's major stakeholders marred the year and propelled the sport to the brink of collapse.Not even the intervention of respected former diplomat Sir Shridath Ramphal could broker a solution to the bruising impasse which saw the region's leading stars refusing to play and forcing the West Indies Cricket Board to pick a second-string team for two international assignments.With neither the WICB nor the West Indies Players' Association budging and regional cricket virtually on its knees, it took phenomenal Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt to lighten the depressing mood in the region and restore some pride to the sporting fraternity.
For the second successive year, the easy-going Bolt stunned the world with mind-boggling world record times as he convincingly strode to the capture of the 100 metres and 200 metres events at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin in August. Coming on the heels of similar success at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Bolt crowned himself perhaps the greatest sprinter of all time and distinguished himself as having no equal in contemporary athletics.The awesome 23-year-old from Trelawny in northern Jamaica also became widely regarded as the world's No. 1 in all sports, period.
That label was reinforced when he was named in June as the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, an accolade golf legend Tiger Woods, multiple Olympic swimming gold medallist Michael Phelps of the USA, Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal, Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, and Britain's Formula One driving champion Lewis Hamilton were also eligible for.Coming off his astounding achievements at the Beijing Olympics, Bolt ignited the World Championships in Berlin with performances that bettered his already stunning times at the Olympiad the previous year.
Records
He lowered the 100-metre world record to 9.58 seconds, and also chopped more than a 10th of a second off the 200-metre mark by clocking 19.19 seconds.He also helped Jamaica win the men's sprint relay title, repeating the triple gold he had secured a year earlier in Beijing while inspiring a tremendous 13-medal haul, with seven gold, for the Jamaicans.Only the USA won more medals than the reggae outfit as they danced to an all-time best seven gold, four silver and two bronze. Shelly-Ann Fraser and Melaine Walker also reproduced the fine victories they had in Beijing in the 100 and 400-metre hurdles, respectively, and Jamaica's other gold medals in Berlin came from the veteran Brigitte Foster-Hylton (100 hurdles) and the women's sprint relay.
An eighth gold medal for the region in Berlin was celebrated by the vastly improved Ryan Brathwaite, who clocked a new CARICOM record 13.14 seconds in the 110-metre hurdles and stung the American pair of Terrence Trammell and David Payne in a stirring finish to win historic gold for Barbados. A mere 100th of a second separated all three athletes and after nervous moments when the photo-finish camera decided the outcome, it became official that Brathwaite was the first Barbadian to win a global senior track and field title. In major news from off the track, Bolt was accorded Jamaica's fourth highest national honour, the Order of Jamaica, and retired Bahamian Pauline Davis-Thompson had her Sydney Olympics 200-metre medal officially upgraded to gold arising out of the disqualification of drug-disgraced American Marion Jones.
'Next Usain Bolt'
Among the juniors, the IAAF labelled Grenadian Kirani James "the next Usain Bolt" after the 16-year-old delivered a majestic sprint double success at the IAAF World Youth Championship in Italy in July. James ran a brilliant championship record 45.24 to win the 400 metres. Jamaica continued to govern the CARIFTA Games, striding in April to a 25th consecutive medal-topping display in St Lucia, although it was James emerging as the individual star performer. He won the Austin Sealy Award as the most outstanding performer after his superb 45.45 seconds in the Under-20 400 metres shattered Bolt's previous mark of 46.35.
There was no such cause for jubilation in West Indies cricket, in a topsy-turvy year which saw the full-strength regional team recapture the Wisden Trophy in March after a nine-year drought, only to surrender it two months later following a spineless whitewash in a return series in England. The contracts dispute erupted virtually without warning in July as West Indies prepared to take on Bangladesh in two Tests and three one-day internationals in the Caribbean, following a 2-1 loss to India in a four-match one-day home series. Players affiliated with WIPA, upset their contractual demands were being repeatedly overlooked by the WICB, took the unequivocal decision to withdraw their services, sparking a rancorous three-month period when West Indies cricket experienced perhaps its most shameful hour.
Notice of the pending industrial action was served when players refused to attend the official ticket launch for the 2010 Twenty20 World Cup in St Lucia, a function attended by the visiting Indian team, and when the squad failed to arrive in St Vincent for the first Test starting just days later, the WICB was facing a full-scale strike. While a war of words erupted between the WICB and WIPA, selectors worked feverishly behind the scenes to find a replacement squad to contest the first Test at Arnos Vale, now only three days away.
NBA finds nothing funny in Arenas probe
At the end of a lost road trip, aboard the Washington Wizards’ charter flying from Phoenix to Washington, D.C., Gilbert Arenas(notes) and Javaris Crittenton(notes) were two teammates playing Bourré, one of the most popular card games among NBA players. The game goes back to the 1980s and resembles something between Spades and Euchre. The pots rise rapidly and millions of NBA dollars have been won and lost on Bourré tables across North America.As the league’s most disappointed and fractured team watched a late night turn to early morning, a forgettable card game would end up with unforgettable consequences. All around Arenas, this had been a season of tension and turmoil, and now these Wizards couldn’t get close out a card game without drama. Arenas and Crittenton had contributed to much of the pot, and eventually the franchise’s $111 million man infuriated the young player with sarcastic taunts and teasing.
Arenas loves to needle, tweak, and still no one’s sure the reasoning for his refusal to pay a debt that sources say reached into the tens of thousands of dollars. Nevertheless, Agent Zero’s declaration delivered Crittenton into a rage: The payment plan was this: zero money down, zero money later. Sources say Crittenton suggested Arenas could catch a beating for such belligerence, but “Gil could tell he was pushing Javaris’ buttons,” and that was too joyful for him to relent. Arenas is older, wittier and savvier than Crittenton. What would happen when the players returned for practice two days later on Dec. 21 is still a matter of some uncertainty. Whatever witnesses were in the locker room, including Arenas and Crittenton, have told friends and associates on the outside conflicting stories.
Some sources have described a practical joke gone awry, some have detailed a far darker, more frightening picture. Here is the story that Crittenton and Arenas plan to tell police on Monday, sources said: When the Wizards returned to practice, Arenas unlocked three unloaded guns out of a strong box in his locker and laid them on a locker-room chair and instructed Crittenton to choose one. The Washington Post reported Crittenton had playfully threatened to shoot Arenas in his knee on the plane, and that offering him a gun to deliver the deed was a way of trying to diffuse the tension. Only Crittenton, feeling belittled and bullied, tossed one of the guns to the floor in anger and the tone between the two players escalated again. One NBA executive, briefed on the investigation, said Saturday, “The law is going to start trying to isolate them. Once the entire interrogation starts, you have to wonder if the stories will start changing.”
The New York Post reported in its Friday edition the two players drew weapons against each other. Sources say league attorneys discussed with NBA staff the possibility of Arenas brandishing a weapon in a threatening manner, but league officials hadn’t dug deep enough to be sure, and ultimately are waiting for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and D.C. police to conclude their investigation and make a decision on whether to bring charges. Arenas has denied drawing his weapon on Crittenton and those who know him – even some with no apparent agenda to back him – have done so. Dan Fegan is one of the league’s most influential player agents, but Arenas severed ties with him prior to negotiating his extension with the Wizards and a $30 million Adidas shoe deal.“Gilbert Arenas did not point a gun at anyone,” Fegan said Saturday. “I don’t believe it. That’s 100 percent inconsistent with the person that I’ve known. Gilbert is a born practical joker, and maybe this is a joke gone wrong … but there’s no way he pointed a gun at a teammate.”
No one’s laughing among Wizards management, where jobs are on the line. And, assuredly, no one’s laughing in the league office, where NBA commissioner David Stern is livid and forever sensitive to the public’s profiling of his league as too gangster, too incapable of policing itself. Stern understands guns are an issue in his league, and some team executives will tell you they estimate 30 to 40 percent of their players probably bring guns into the locker room just like Arenas did with the Wizards. Not only has Arenas denied he pointed the unloaded gun, he denies he was gambling. Still, sources insist Arenas is a relentless high-stakes gambler, that he loves the action of it. One league source told Yahoo! Sports he approximated Arenas had lost as much as $70,000 to $80,000 in an evening betting on PlayStation games against a friend of former teammate Donnell Taylor.“The guy went out the next day, bought a real nice car in cash the next day and still had money left over. Gil gave him his money.”
As for Crittenton, his agent, Mark Bartelstein, insisted his client never had a gun, and had done nothing to rise to the level of punishment. “I’m confident my client hasn’t done anything wrong,” Bartelstein said. “The fact will bear that out. It’s unfortunate that rumors get going and inaccuracies come out before the facts are known, but all we can do is wait for the investigation to conclude.… Javaris will be exonerated of any wrong doing.”It’s clear Arenas will try use to his charm and clownish antics as the cornerstone of his defense. Whatever legal issues could arise with the strict gun laws in D.C., there’s still the matter of Stern’s punishment. This story has engulfed the league, and several league office and team sources believe Stern will be harsh in his judgment no matter what the legal system decides to do. This could be a suspension that extends over months, possibly the rest of the season.
In a lot of ways, Arenas’ return to the Wizards from microfracture knee surgery this season had been tumbling toward this bottom. He returned angry, isolated and unsure about his ability to be his old self. For a short time, Arenas tried to fit back into the lineup with prominent teammates Antawn Jamison(notes) and Caron Butler(notes). Arenas barely talked to coach Flip Saunders in training camp. Sources say his trainer, Tim Grover, spent time in Richmond, Va., for training camp and became, in the words of one team witness, “a buffer” between the coach and star. After the team broke camp and returned to Washington, Arenas became increasingly belligerent and defiant of Saunders. Witnesses insist he began to purposely disrupt practices. Privately, Wizards executives were conceding to friends, “We’ve lost control of this thing.”
Arenas has long had issues with authority. His relationship with past coach Eddie Jordan deteriorated over time. In fact, sources say Jordan often felt undermined by general manager Ernie Grunfeld when it came to Arenas. Jordan pushed Arenas to defend, to be a complete player, and never felt he got the backing he needed when Arenas grumbled to upper management. All that, and when Jordan needed a contract extension, it was Arenas who still lobbied management on Jordan’s behalf to get it done. Arenas has always been a contradiction, perfectly brilliant and perfectly maddening. Now, he’s mostly a problem the Wizards don’t know how to make go away, even if they wish they could.
Arenas’ contract was untradeable before this incident and now it’s an albatross of historic proportion. The best chance for getting out of the contract could be criminal charges and a conviction, but all that is so murky now. The Wizards could void the contract and relieve themselves of the 4½ years and $90 million-plus left on it. Adidas is monitoring the case, too, and it must understand Agent Zero doesn’t sell shoes the way he did two years ago. For now, the company is waiting to see what goes down in D.C. before it makes a decision on its deal with him and on their future together.
Arenas is trying to laugh his way out of something that isn’t funny and isn’t a joke to his franchise, to the NBA. Maybe Agent Zero tried to get one too many laughs, but whatever happened, however he tries to spin it now, the consequences promise to be immense for him. He has a story for law enforcement on Monday, and maybe it’s the truth and they’ll believe it. Eventually, he’s going to New York for a most unforgiving judge and jury in Olympic Tower, for David Stern, and it will be a good, long time before Gilbert Arenas is back in the NBA.
Bravo lifts Bushrangers to second win
MELBOURNE, Australia (CMC):Effervescent West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo snatched three wickets and then played a cameo to lift Victoria Bushrangers to a handsome six-wicket victory over New South Wales Blues with two balls to spare in the Twenty20 Big Bash yesterday.The right-arm medium pacer grabbed three for 32 as the Blues, winning the toss and batting, reached a competitive 178 for six off their allotted 20 overs at the MCG. Bravo then smote an unbeaten 18 from eight balls to ignite a late innings acceleration and fire Victoria to 179 for four and to their second successive win in the tourmament. Openers Brad Hodge and Matthew Wade gave the Bushrangers a lively start when they posted 69 off just 43 balls.
Wade carved out 41 from 24 balls with four fours and two sixes while Hodge got 40 from 36 balls with three fours before both batsmen, along with captain Cameron White (14), all fell quickly as Victoria stumbled to 105 for three in the 14th over.David Hussey then brought the game to life with a 16-ball 38 decorated with two fours and three sixes and added 48 from 24 balls for the fourth wicket with Andrew McDonald who hit a measured, unbeaten 21 from 16 balls. When out-of-favour West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Smith removed Hussey to an amazing catch by Steve Smith leaping high on the long-off boundary, Victoria still required a tricky 26 from 15 balls.
Bravo managed just one run from his first three balls but blasted the fourth straight overhead for six and then hammered the next ball through point for four.In the next over, he heaved Smith over midwicket for his second six and then scored the winning run with a single into the on-side. Earlier, Bravo broke a promising opening stand of 60 from 32 balls between Phil Jacques (33) and David Warner (40), the latter of whom he removed to a catch at the wicket with his second ball. He then prised out Usman Khawaja for 13 to trigger a collapse that saw four wickets fall for 47 runs off 43 balls, as the Blues struggled. But Dwayne Smith came to the party, scoring a typically aggressive 25 from 15 balls with two fours and a six, while sharing 45 for the sixth wicket with namesake Steve Smith who finished unbeaten on 35 from 26 balls.
Center Field Sports
Ronaldinho
SupremeVibz Radio is your number one Radio Station.
We surpass the competition.
"Consistently Setting The Trends"
Gilbert Arenas
Dwayne Bravo
Bolt and Gayle
