shay given / Shay Given set for Man City exit

shay given / Shay Given set for Man City exit






Shay Given looks set to be on his way out of Eastlands after being left on the bench for the Premier League opener with Tottenham Hotspur.

Joe Hart was picked ahead of the Ireland international, which is likely to result in Given leaving Manchester City before the August transfer window closes.

Given made his feelings clear during the week about playing second fiddle at Man City and stated that he would be looking to leave the club if he was not picked to face Spurs in the season opener.

The Ireland number one's comments would have put many clubs on high alert ahead of City's clash with Spurs with Arsenal and Celtic among clubs said to be tracking Given's situation.

usain bolt / Gay pulls upset of Bolt in 100 at Stockholm

usain bolt / Gay pulls upset of Bolt in 100 at Stockholm

STOCKHOLM -- From Beijing to Berlin, it seemed that Usain Bolt and his long, turbocharged strides were more than a match for anyone over 100 meters. But Tyson Gay upset the defending world and Olympic champion in a race between the two fastest runners in history.

Gay beat the Jamaican at the DN Galan meet in 9.84 seconds, competing at the same stadium in Stockholm where Bolt last lost a race two years ago.

The American seemed to be in complete control against the world record-holder. The pair raced side by side as Gay, looking comfortable, drew away. Bolt was straining to keep up and finished second in 9.97.

SWIMMING

Stanford freshman in U.S. final

Andie Taylor, an incoming Stanford freshman, reached her second main final in as many days, finishing sixth in the 200-meter butterfly, while Stanford's Kelsey Ditto put herself into today's 800 freestyle final on the penultimate day of the national swimming championships in Irvine.

Taylor secured the last spot in the final by swimming 2:10.87 in the preliminary round, then finished in 2:11.72 in the nightcap for sixth place.

Taylor, the nation's third-rated recruit by CollegeSwimming.com, has reached three finals this week. Along with today's 200 butterfly, the Seattle native was seventh in Thursday's 400 individual medley and 11th in Tuesday's 400 freestyle.


Stanford grad Julia Smit goes for a title in the 100 free today. She has the fourth-best qualifying time.


Natalie Coughlin continues her comeback today by competing in the women's 100-meter freestyle.


Ryan Lochte beat Michael Phelps for the first time in a long-course medley at a major meet, winning the men's 200 individual medley. Lochte touched in 1 minute, 54.84 seconds, with Phelps second in 1:55.94. Their times were the two fastest in the world this year, while Lochte's time was fifth-quickest ever.


Cal's Nathan Adrian won the men's 100 freestyle with the world's second-fastest time -- 48.41 seconds.

PRO BASKETBALL

Tolliver mocks James with spoof

MINNEAPOLIS -- With the world waiting, Anthony Tolliver has finally announced his decision.

Tolliver said he has passed on returning to the Golden State Warriors and chosen to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves in a short video posted on YouTube that mocks superstar LeBron James' much-maligned "The Decision" special on ESPN last month.

Tolliver, a relatively unknown forward with 65 career games in the NBA, spent the last few days deciding between offers from the Timberwolves and the Warriors.

In a video entitled "The Decision: Part Deux!!" Tolliver spoofs all the attention given to James, who announced "I will be taking my talents to South Beach" in a one-hour television show on ESPN in July. The special broke hearts in Cleveland, disappointed fans in Chicago and New York, and brought heavy criticism on James and the network for the way it was handled.

Tolliver averaged 11.7 points and 7.0 rebounds for the Warriors and Portland last season.


Knicks: Even after losing all those games and an embarrassing sexual harassment lawsuit, Isiah Thomas has a place with the New York Knicks. Thomas was rehired Friday by the team as a consultant, two years after he was fired as its coach and president.


Celtics: Newly signed center Shaquille O'Neal asked his Twitter followers to come up with a new nickname suitable to his new city. In a variety of online polls, "The Big Shamrock" and "The Big Leprechaun" are leading the way along with "The Green Monster." Also receiving votes: "The Jolly Green Giant," "The Shamroq," "Red Auershaq," "Shaqachusetts" and "Tip-in O'Neal."


Signings: The Charlotte Bobcats signed undrafted rookie Sherron Collins to a two-year, non-guaranteed deal. ... The Oklahoma City Thunder signed rookie center Cole Aldrich, the No. 11 overall pick in the draft, to a two-year contract.

PRO BASEBALL

A's delay return of closer Bailey

OAKLAND -- The Oakland A's Andrew Bailey was eligible to come off the disabled list Friday, but that didn't happen. So it remains to be seen when the closer might be reinstated to the active roster. Bailey was placed on the disabled list July 30, retroactive to July 21, with an intercostal strain on his right side. He had a bullpen pitching session Wednesday that was supposed to be a prelude to his activation, but he had next-day soreness that prompted the A's to delay his return.


The A's had better news on outfielder Conor Jackson, who finally will see some action today in an Arizona Rookie League game. Jackson has been on the disabled list with a hamstring pull since July 5 and has played in just 14 games since being acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 14.


Tigers: Owner Mike Ilitch says manager Jim Leyland and general manager Dave Dombrowski will return next season. T The Tigers are 5-18 since the All-Star break.


Rays: First baseman Carlos Pena was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 1, because of a slightly torn ligament.


Rays manager Joe Maddon says baseball should give "strong consideration" to changing ground rules at Tropicana Field if Tampa Bay reaches the playoffs. The Rays fell out of a first-place tie in the AL East on Thursday by losing 8-6 to Minnesota, a game decided when Jason Kubel's two-out pop clanked off a catwalk and fell behind the pitcher's mound for a go-ahead single in the ninth inning.

National League roundup


Diamondbacks 2, Padres 1: Dan Hudson pitched into the eighth inning in his second start with Arizona to outduel Jon Garland in Phoenix, and Adam LaRoche hit his 18th homer.


Nationals 6, Dodgers 3: Adam Dunn hit a pair of three-run homers off Clayton Kershaw, tying a career high for RBIs, and the Washington Nationals beat the host Los Angeles Dodgers.


Cardinals 7, Marlins 0: Adam Wainwright pitched a two-hitter for his 16th victory, and Albert Pujols homered as St. Louis beat reeling Florida in Miami. Wainwright (16-6) struck out seven and walked three in his fifth complete game and second shutout this season.


Phillies 7, Mets 5: Carlos Ruiz singled in the go-ahead run during a six-run eighth inning in host Philadelphia's fifth straight win.


Rockies 6, Pirates 3: Sunnyvale native Troy Tulowitzki hit a tiebreaking RBI single with two outs in the seventh, and Colorado snapped a seven-game road losing streak. Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez both had three hits for the Rockies.


Reds 3, Cubs 0: Bronson Arroyo allowed five hits over seven innings, and Cincinnati moved 14 games over .500 (62-48) for the first time in 11 years with the shutout win in Chicago. Ryan Hanigan's two-run homer in the second inning got the Reds rolling.


Brewers 6, Astros 5: Prince Fielder hit a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning, capping Milwaukee's four-run rally for a wild victory over Houston.

American League roundup


Indians 7, Twins 6: Matt LaPorta homered leading off the bottom of the ninth inning to give Cleveland the victory after Minnesota had tied it in the top half on a two-run single by Alexei Casilla off closer Chris Perez.


Orioles 2, White Sox 1: Adam Jones singled in the winning run with two outs in the 10th inning, and host Baltimore extended its unbeaten run under new manager Buck Showalter to 4-0.


Red Sox 6, Yankees 3: Catcher Francisco Cervilli dropped a routine infield pop-up, leading to three unearned runs that helped boost Clay Buchholz and Boston to victory in the opener a four-game series in New York.


Angels 4, Tigers 2: Jered Weaver allowed three hits over seven innings to best Justin Verlander, Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer and tossed a bag of baseballs onto the field after being ejected.


Blue Jays 2, Rays 1: Lyle Overbay doubled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, and host Toronto handed Tampa Bay it third straight loss.


Mariners 7, Royals 1: Chone Figgins drove in three runs, and Ryan Langerhans had three hits, including a homer, to help host Seattle beat Kansas City's Zack Greinke for the first time.

PRO TENNIS

No U.S. men at top for first time

Thanks to players such as Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, then Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, and, lately, Andy Roddick, there always has been at least one man from the United States in tennis' top 10 since the computer rankings began in 1973. That streak will end next week. With Roddick sliding from No. 9 to no better than No. 12 when the new rankings are issued Monday, the ATP said, it will be the first time zero U.S. men are among the top 10.


Knee pain forced Venus Williams to withdraw from next week's Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati.


Stanford grads Bob and Mike Bryan lost in the second round of doubles at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington. Less than a week after winning their record 62nd ATP doubles title, the twins fell 7-6 (6), 7-5 to Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi.


Flavia Pennetta reached the semifinals of the Mercury Insurance Open with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Samantha Stosur in Carlsbad. Pennetta's win over No. 2 Stosur means all three of the top seeds have been ousted.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Tide rolls to top of coaches poll

Defending national champion Alabama is No. 1 atop the USA Today preseason coaches' poll.

Boise State will begin the season ranked No. 5. The Broncos, like Alabama, finished last season 14-0.

The Crimson Tide got 55 of 59 possible first place votes. The other four went to Ohio State, which is No. 2 in the newspaper's ranking. Florida is third, followed by Texas.

Stanford is not ranked. The Cardinal received 41 votes, good for 32nd. Oregon (11) and Oregon State (22) are the only Pac-10 teams ranked, though Utah, which joins the league next year, is ranked 24th.

PRO GOLF

Mickelson takes aim at No. 1

Phil Mickelson is closing in on No. 1. The first step is to make up a one-shot deficit against Retief Goosen, the 36-hole leader at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. Looking more inevitable is Mickelson finally supplanting Tiger Woods atop the world ranking.

Goosen turned bogey into birdie by chipping in from 25 yards off the green at No. 4, sending him on his way to a 4-under 66 that gave him a one-shot lead over Mickelson (68) and Justin Leonard (66) going into the weekend at Firestone Country Club.

Goosen was at 7-under 133 as he tries to win his first World Golf Championship tournament.

Even as Goosen led another assault on par in soft conditions, Woods continued to look as ordinary as ever. The seven-time champion at Firestone hit only three fairways and stumbled to a 2-over 72 that put him 13 shots out of the lead and five players removed from last place.

Woods had no intention of speaking to reporters, instead walking to his car and driving away.


Alex Cejka shot a 4-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead in the Turning Stone Resort Championship in Verona, N.Y. Chris Tidland (69) and Rory Sabbatini (70) shared second at 9-under 135. Wind gusts reached 30 mph throughout the day.


Tommy Armour III shot a 9-under 63 and had a one-stroke lead over Mark Calcavecchia and David Frost at the Champions Tour's 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn.


MISCELLANY

Elsewhere


Stanford women's basketball players Nnemkadi Ogwumike and Kayla Pedersen were among 25 players named to watch list for the Wade Trophy, which is given to the nation's top player. They are the Pac-10's only representatives on the list.


San Jose-raised AJ Allmendinger, 28, signed a multiyear contract extension with Richard Petty Motorsports.


A person familiar with the 2011 NASCAR schedule said that the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., will get a second race next year


Athletic gear maker Nike and the bicycle maker (Trek Bicycle Corp.) that sponsors Lance Armstrong's RadioShack team are cooperating with federal authorities investigating the seven-time Tour de France champion and others.


The Minnesota Wild signed center John Madden on a one-year, $1 million contract. Madden, 37, had 10 goals and 13 assists for Chicago last season.


Edmonton signed former NHL goalie Martin Gerber to a one-year deal. Gerber, 35, played with Altant Moscow of the Continental Hockey League last season.


New York Red Bulls midfielders Luke Sassano (ankle) and Brian Nielsen (knee) had season-ending surgeries. Also, the Red Bulls put Mexican national team captain Rafael Marquez on their roster.


The AVP Tour postponed the San Francisco event scheduled for AT&T Park on Aug. 15-16 so it can have more time to get its finances in order. The event is now scheduled for Little Marina Green Park on Sept. 11-12.

love and basketball / sanaa lathan, omar epps, lisa edelstein, vivica fox, are we there yet

Why I love God's Team among others....  By   Keegan Ferguson

Look, I know you avid readers have long been looking for more than just the tip of the iceferg (me), clamoring for days, flooding my inbox, and begging in the streets with one simple question – how do I explain my seemingly random love for some teams and seething hatred for others?  (All of this last bit is fabricated, I have only one reader, my girlfriend.  Maybe two readers since my dad humors me reading all this before telling me to “get a job”)  One man in particular, a fan from suckstown otherwise known as , yells at me for the teams I root for.  So once and for all, I want to lay down why I like certain teams.  If you want to challenge my fanhood after reading this we’ll have to rochambo.

Teams that I root for in all situations

The Hoya Basketball team

You might ask why I exclude the football team and here’s why.  I watched them get their faces tap danced on by Yale in their home stadium that was smaller than the stadium I shone on in junior high.  And by shone I mean I threw wobbly passes and fanned at ball carriers regularly. 

Look I go to and thus am obligated to love their basketball team.  I love JTIII’s shiny bald head, I love that we beat both teams that played in the national championship game last year.  I love that we run the offense which has been giving white guy’s a chance to win basketball games in the Big Dance for ages.  (This just in, we don’t have any white guys)

I love that in the line at our cafeteria my Freshman year Roy Hibbert told me that his mother’s chicken wings were better than the wings I was waiting for.  I love Roy Hibbert.  I will always be a die hard basketfall fan as a result of my attendance to that historic university.  PS suck it .

The Cowboys

I grew in from the age of ten on, but my allegiance to God’s ’s team  began far before that.  My pops, who will be henceforth be called The Dude because of his striking resemblance to Jeff Bridges, grew up overseas in the 70s.  He had two choices, love the Steelers or Cowboys as they were the only team that made the news.  As he foresaw that one franchise would have a quarterback implicated in multiple sexual assaults and did not want to associate himself with that kind of misogyny, he wisely chose the Cowboys.  Thus, from birth I was told to love the ‘Boys.  The thirteen year playoff drought during my formative years has imbued my with a healthy level of skepticism for the Cowboys.  I am only enough to remember them defeating the Steelers in ’96 and then have watched them sink into mediocrity.  I reached the mountain too early, before I could really understand or savor.  It was like having a chance with the most beautiful woman in the world, and then for 13 years, having your gonads put in a George Foreman Grille.  And yet, despite my charbroiled gonads, I remain a diehard and dedicated fan.

The Wolverines

My mother’s family is from and they have funny Midwestern accents.  They also loathe Notre Dame (which is ironic bc we’re Irish) and literally have family get togethers every year to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game.  My mother and I, estranged from them as we are down in , are forced to watch the game in solitude.  We play a pirated copy of the theme song and eat wings (Note to : my mother’s wings are also better than our cafeterias) and watch our beloved Mayes’n’ Blue get dominated once again by the Buckeyes.  I generally call my grandpa (really the only time I call my grandpa because he hates talking on the phone) to discuss the team’s prospects each year.  My love for goes deep and the first prayer I can ever remember offering up begged the Lord to let hit a field goal against Texas A&M.  God did not answer my prayer.  Anyway, my other did not feel strongly about the Lions but did feel strongly about , conversely my father didn’t give two hoots about the Jayhawks football team.  Thus I ended up a fan of and .

I don’t really have any other dominate allegiances to any sports team.  I support Purdue (lived in for six years), the Colts for the same reasons, whatever team Lebron plays for (although our relationship is lukewarm right now after the team I kindly asked him not to go to.  I always knew there was something going on between he and DWade, him hiding his texts, coming home late with that distinctive Miami + DWade smell on his jacket) the Chicago WhiteSox, and the Detroit Redwings.

Teams that I hate (with a deep abiding passion)

All Teams from

I have come of age in an era where teams have been very good -the Sox have won two championships, the Patriots three, the Celtics one.  I don’t have any recollection of as being a town tortured by the Sox inability to get over the hump.  Thus, I hate listening to them still cry about how they hate the Yankee’s and how the Yankee’s have a huge pay roll.  Shut up about that, your payroll is also huge, you can’t say clam chowder correctly (or the name of your own city), I did like Goodwill Hunting, and I don’t like that Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen are clearly aliens.  I do like Ray actually. 

I don’t really hate the Sox that much but I really hate their fans.  I hate that having a hat is now trendy and they have pink hats.  You are no longer a tortured franchise.  The Royals or the Cubs, or my little league 0-20 Marlins are tortured franchises.  A few weeks ago after a Nats game where they played the Mets, my buddy almost got into a fight with some Boston Fans.  They were wearing their hats to the game and in the metro afterward and my friend, emboldened by a few adult beverages decided to call them out.  “Wow, didn’t think an team would be playing in an NL park.  Ya,  you heard, it’s crazy that Baaasssttan is playing here tonight.”  Long story short, my buddy and I were cowed by his Venezualan girlfriend and the altercation never got under way but I think we would taken those chowder fed, stupid hat wearing Bostonians.

The Patriots

I like watching exciting football and for the first half of the 90’s the Patriots were the absolute antithesis of that.  They played defense and eeked by late in games.  They were undeniably good at what they did.  But I hated watching it and my hatred had hardened by the time Satan decided to start playing Madden with them during the ’07 season only to abandon them at the pearly gates (Super Bowl).  I (respected) depised Bill Belichick and  his constant listing of Tom Brady as injured.  I hated the fact that teams didn’t seem to realize that if Mike Vrabel was in at the goalline, he was going to catch a touchdown pass.  I hated that they beat the Ram’s in the Super Bowl.  I loved that gun slinging Rams team.  My hatred obviously peaked when I learned that the Pats had cheated.  I don’t care if the advantage they gained was negligible, the principle of the matter bothered me and only served to reinforce my hatred.  That ’07 season I was forced to resort to baseless character assassination, however, to explain my hatred.  They were fun to watch, Brady was amazing, but I still hated them.  Thus I began to insinuate that the Patriots lacked family values as their leader, Brady, had abandoned his infant child for the hottest woman in the world (who would do such a thing).  But enough on that. I hate the Patriots, I plan to devote an entire other column to why I like and dislike certain players. 

The Celtics

I have a harder time justifying my hatred for the Celtic’s because, over the last several years, they have played good basketball.  However, as an ardent supporter of Lebron, I am obligated to hate his nemesis.  As a side note, I hate just how boring ’s is during press conferences.

They are easily ’s biggest rival.  Every year we get revved up to watch this storied rivalry.  I did not hate before I went to but quickly learned the folly of my ways.  is a terrible place sponsored by a terrible color (it only looks cool on the Dutch national soccer team).  Seriously, do you know anyone who says “like omg, orange is my favorite color”? No, you don’t.  Also, it’s winter twelve months out of the year there.  It’s always winter there but never Christmas, just like in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.  I hate watching home games on television.  Like Duke, they force the camera to be placed at an odd angle which hurts my viewing experience. I hate when my viewing experience is tampered with.   Furthermore, Donovan McNabb’s Chunky Campbell’s soup eating ass went there, and play(ed) for the most unholy of NFL franchises.

The Eagles

They are a natural rival of the Dallas Cowboys and I absolutely loathe them.  I hate that they have stifled the Cowboys throughout the 2000’s. I’m really unhappy with their recent acquisition of young offensive (use both meanings) talent in DaSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Brent Celek, Kevin Kolb and LaSean McCoy.  LaIceFerg (me) especially hates DaSean Jackson’s attempt at a goatee.  He is clearly a villain based on his little villain goatee (The entire Celtics team also has villain facial hair).  A villain beard has two easily discernible qualities.  It is facial hair that is not neatly kempt or trimmed and generally comes to a point somewhere below the chin (see: KG, DaSean Jackson, Ben Roethlisberger)

The Notre Dame Football Team

My hatred for Notre Dame goes well beyond their natural rivalry with the Wolverines.  Yes, I do find them despicable because of this, but more importantly, I hate that Notre Dame has decided that it is above conference play.  I understand that they have a lucrative television contract with NBC that incentivizes this behavior.  However, their assumption that they will ever be relevant again outside of a major power conference is ridiculous.  Playing Navy, Army, , Air Force, and whatever other cupcakes they throw on the schedule every year does not make them a powerhouse.  Sure, they play some competition from the Big Ten and perennial cheaters USC, but they are not ever going to win a title unless they join a conference and I cannot stand their continued arrogance.  The glory days are over Irish fans, and Rudy Rudiger turned out to be a questionably gay hobbit. 

 

afrojack, america s funniest home videos, dorita orbegoso bañandose, dpstream, justin bieber / Dew Tour brings world’s best to Boston / world’s best to Boston / Boston

afrojack, america s funniest home videos, dorita orbegoso bañandose, dpstream, justin bieber

Dew Tour brings world’s best to Boston / world’s best to Boston / Boston

At a quarter to three on June 26, hundreds of people ran through the doors of Boston’s TD Garden and rushed up the escalator stairs to the balcony of the stadium to watch the first of five stops on the 2010 Dew Tour and IFC Skateboarding World Championships. General admission ticket holders were not guaranteed seating and therefore contributed to the dog-eat-dog situation. Why choose to risk your life in the mob? Because tickets were only $15 (cheap when compared to the $100 action zone tickets), they were perfect for the moderate fan as well as the monetarily-challenged college student.

The general admission ticket seats (assuming you quickly and successfully tackled everyone in front of you and hopped over 10 rows of seats to get to the front row) gave a perfect view of both competitions held at the first stop of the Dew Tour: Skateboard Vert and Skateboard Park.

Women’s Skateboard Vert

The afternoon began with the women’s skateboard vert competition final. Seven women competed in one jam session where each skater got four 30-second runs. Each skater’s two best scores were tabulated to get an overall final score. Gaby Ponce, an 18-year old from New Jersey, started off the group with a clean run including a kickflip indy, gay twist, and lez twist. Franziska Stolz, however, had a shaky start, failing to land back on her board after doing a trick and falling early in her run. Both Julie Kindstrand and Nora Vasconcellos, the 17-year old hometown favorite from Pembroke, MA, skated clean runs, but their tricks were less difficult, only doing a series of backside airs and frontside grinds. They did not get as much height off each half-pipe wall. Despite tearing her ACL a few months ago, Mimi Knoop took the stage next, landing a trick called the eggplant according to an article on the Alli Network. Lyn-z Adams Hawkins, last year’s Dew Tour Champion and obvious crowd favorite, skated last. Despite pulling of a difficult flip trick, she had difficulty landing tricks throughout her run and failed to retain her title and settled for third. Ponce took first, leading by nearly three points over Knoop who took home second.

Men’s Skateboard Vert

The men’s skateboard vert event was the obvious highlight of the entire afternoon even with an injured Shaun White, who is arguably a skateboarding legend because of his multiple X Games and Olympic snowboarding victories. Before the event started, all of the lights in the stadium were turned down, and a series of lighting and special effects were turned on. One at a time, spotlights shot down onto the skateboarders as they were introduced. The noise level of the crowd increased at least tenfold in comparison to the women’s event that had ended just 15 minutes earlier.

The men’s event was split into two semifinal heats of five skaters each. The overall top five skaters moved onto the final to compete for the gold. Bucky Lasek of the US and four Brazilians: Sandro Dias, Pedro Barros, Marcelo Bastos, and Ronaldo Gomez competed in the first heat of the men’s semifinals. Lasek, last year’s Dew Tour champion, had trouble starting from the very beginning, falling on his first trick. Both Barros and Bastos led the heat in the first round. While most of the skaters relied on 540 spins and its variations, 14-year old Barros wowed the crowd by landing the first and only 720 in the first heat prompting the commentators to call him a “spinning machine.” However, by the third round, Dias had clearly stood out with his technical tricks and height off the sides of the half-pipe. In the fourth round, Barros edged out Bastos with a solid score of 43.25, landing both him and Dias in the finals scoring 85.13 and 85.63, respectively. Shockingly, Lasek was unable to stick his tricks and failed to qualify for the finals, losing the opportunity to defend his title.

Starting in the second heat was Boston native and skateboarding veteran Andy Macdonald, nicknamed “Mr. Consistency” for having qualified for 24 previous finals. He lived up to his name as he hit four clean runs in a row with scores of around 40. Pierre-Luc Gagnon, nicknamed “PLG,” came not far behind, with two strong runs with scores also over 40. Adam Taylor had trouble holding onto his board and landing tricks until he pulled off two clean runs, both nearly over 40, in his last two runs. In the end, consistency won out and Macdonald came out in first in his heat, with PLG and Taylor in following; all three qualified for the finals.
In the final jam session, PLG came out on fire with back-to-back tricks and 720s, leading with a 91.26 by his third run. An ESPN blog post raved about PLG’s switch heel frontside air 360, saying that it was a highlight of the event. Luis Gil ’13, a spectator and skateboarder of 4 years, said, “Besides the last one, he had some of the smoothest landings I’ve ever seen. He was a bit ambitious [with the last one].” In response, Dias brought the crowd to their feet with an alley cat over the 15-foot gap. However, that wasn’t enough and PLG beat out Dias by less than two points. Macdonald finished in third, two points behind.

Women’s Skateboard Park

Twelve women competed in the women’s skateboard park event. It was easy to predict which skaters would be successful in the competition based on their warm-up sessions and practices, which occurred throughout the day and during the vert competitions. Leticia Bufoni, the 17-year old from Brazil, was out on the course for a majority of the afternoon and never missed a chance to skate across the course in the short transition period between runs. Not surprisingly, she led by more than 10 points at 81.50 in the first semifinal heat. She consistently landed jumps across the gaps that other competitors did not even attempt and difficult tricks on the grind rail. Two Japanese competitors, Chihiro Uchida and Miho Kazama, were not seen often out on the course during open practice sessions and came out very conservatively during the competition. They had trouble landing simple kick flips and heel flips. With two and a half minutes left in the jam session of heat 1, Elizabeth Nitu, a 16-year old from California, injured herself after missing an Ollie combination onto a table. She was able to walk off the course after several attempts and with the help of two medics.

Heat 2 of the women’s skateboarding park semifinals included Vanessa Torres, last year’s champion, and veterans Lacey Baker and Alexis Sablone. In a surprising turn of events, Vanessa Torres, the defending champion, did not qualify for the finals after failing to land most of her tricks. Instead, Candy Jacobs, Lacey Baker, and Alexis Sablone all pulled off difficult tricks to move onto the finals.
During the final, Leticia Bufoni dominated once again, pulling trick after trick and effectively using the guard rails. According to an article on Alli, she pulled off a crooked grind on a picnic table, 180 ollie on the big stairs, back Smith grind on the rail, nose blunt side, and overcrook, giving her a 9 point lead and winning score of 86.00. Lacey Baker, who finished second was credited by Adam Salo, an ESPN blogger for pulling off the best trick of the women’s skateboard park competition: a nollie inward heel off the wedge ramp. Alexis Sablone, who landed flips over the big stairs and a variety of grind rail tricks, came in at 3rd.

Men’s Skateboard Park

The skaters in the men’s skateboard park were clearly anxious to get onto the course. They all hit their warm-up session the instant that the last woman skateboard park competitor finished skating. It was easy to see who the crowd favorites were (especially among the females). Ryan Sheckler, the 3-time champion of the Dew Tour and star of his own MTV show from years 2007-2008, Life of Ryan, and Chaz Ortiz, a 16-year old phenom from Chicago, received many words of adoration and marriage proposals from the crowd as they walked onto the course to warm up.

Heat 1 of the men’s skateboard park semifinal did not start on time since the skaters were so reluctant to stop warming up. It took several announcements that the competition was about to begin for every skater to clear the course for the first competitor, Sierra Fellers, who set the bar high for the heat. The next two competitors, Danilo do Rosario and Rodolfo Ramos, were unable to quite reach the level of Fellers, however, the bar Fellers set was clearly struck down when Ryan Sheckler and Greg Lutzka started their runs. Sheckler showed major control of his board that continued through the rest of the afternoon with a textbook-perfect switch kick. He scored ten points higher than Fellers. However, Lutzka threw down a nearly perfect run with a score of 86.10 and took over the top spot. The heat ended with Ramos snapping the deck of his board from the impact of a trick landing.

There was a brief intermission while skaters in the second heat warmed up. Afterwards, the course was cleared, and Mike Decenzo started off the second heat. Despite predictions from another professional skater who was not competing in this competition that he might come out at the top of the pack in the heat, he was unable to land many of his tricks. Eli Reed, a hometown favorite, came out next with a series of switches and ollies to manuals. Aside from the cheers from the audience for his strong performance, he also received additional cheers for wearing a Celtics jersey. During the heat 2 jam session, where each skater took turns performing a single trick on the course, Reed took a tumble and landed stomach first onto the grind rail, giving him a gash on his stomach. Despite the injury, he qualified and continued to compete in the final jam session. Jereme Rogers, the “it’s not a comeback” skater and fellow Bostonion, skated next, followed by Bastien Salabanzi, who had a nearly perfect run that included a double flip backside that showed perfect board control. Paul Rodriguez skated next with a very clean run; however, it was not enough to take a spot in the finals. Last but definitely not least was Chaz Ortiz, who received the most cheering from the crowd. In warm-up, did not miss a single trick while adding in halfcaps and guard rail tricks, landing him a score of 86.20, one-tenth of a point above the leader, Lutzka, going into the final jam session.

Coming into the final, the top three skaters, Ortiz, Lutzka, and Sheckler, were less than 1.5 points apart. Ortiz started out the session with more difficult tricks in combination such as a Ollie to manual to tail slide across a table. However, he failed to land tricks as consistently as he had previously done in the semifinals. His disappointment at the end of the jam session was evident as he walked off with his hands on his head in frustration. Next, Lutzka came out big with lots of energy and received applause for his 180 to a backslide and switch 270 noseblunt down a rail. Sheckler, however, was the crowd favorite and landed many big jumps across the gap, backslide combinations on the grind rail, and a difficult kick flip backflip.

Reed, had tough acts to follow. He responded by a series of Ollies to manuals and grind rail tricks. His switch Ollie to switch manual on the picnic table was a highlight, according to Salo. Fellers stepped up his performance from the semifinals with larger flips over the stairs and a frontside noseblunt on the grind rail, but he was not able to catch up to claim a spot in the top three. Salabanzi’s jam session runs, including a series of flips on grind rails and flips over the gap, were the talk of the stadium, however his prior low scores held him back in the final standings. In the end, Chaz Ortiz was unable to keep his spot at number one, and Lutzka took first place. Sheckler followed in second, and Ortiz in third.

Conclusion

The Dew Tour is headed off to Chicago, Illinois for their next stop featuring BMX. The skateboarders will continue competing in Portland, Oregon in August, followed by Salt Lake City, Utah in September. The battle for the Dew Cup Tour Championship will commence in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 17 when the combined totals of all five competitions will be tabulated and the Dew Cup champion will be crowned.

white sox 2010 schedule

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
1 vs OAK 1:05 PM WGN MLB.TV	2	3 @ DET 12:05 PM WGN MLB.TV MAKEUP OF 5/17 PPD @ DET 6:05 PM WCIU / MLBN MLB.TV Day/Night DH	4 @ DET 6:05 PM CSN / ESPN MLB.TV	5 @ DET 12:05 PM WGN MLB.TV	6 @ BAL 6:05 PM CSN MLB.TV	7 @ BAL 6:05 PM WGN MLB.TV
8 @ BAL 12:35 PM CSN MLB.TV	9 @ BAL 6:05 PM CSN MLB.TV	10 vs MIN 7:10 PM CSN MLB.TV	11 vs MIN 7:10 PM WGN MLB.TV	12 vs MIN 7:10 PM CSN MLB.TV	13 vs DET 7:10 PM WCIU MLB.TV	14 vs DET 6:05 PM WGN MLB.TV
15 vs DET 1:05 PM CSN MLB.TV	16	17 @ MIN 7:10 PM WCIU MLB.TV	18 @ MIN 7:10 PM CSN MLB.TV	19 @ MIN 7:10 PM CSN MLB.TV	20 @ KC 7:10 PM CSN MLB.TV	21 @ KC 6:10 PM WGN MLB.TV
22 @ KC 1:10 PM CSN MLB.TV	23	24 vs BAL 7:10 PM CSN MLB.TV	25 vs BAL 7:10 PM WCIU MLB.TV	26 vs BAL 7:10 PM CSN MLB.TV	27 vs NYY 7:10 PM CSN MLB.TV	28 vs NYY 6:05 PM WGN MLB.TV
29 vs NYY 1:05 PM CSN MLB.TV	30 @ CLE 6:05 PM WGN MLB.TV	31 @ CLE 6:05 PM CSN MLB.TV