PGA Tour – Tiger Woods announces he will miss the British Open

by Stephen Lars on Jul.06, 2011, under Golf, Sports News

A few months ago, while playing at Augusta National, Tiger Woods hit an awkward shot along the 17th Fairway. It was the last time he played this season. Little after the incident there was a report in his website stating the Woods had suffered a minor injury and had irritated his left knee and his left Achilles tendon. It didn’t seem like that much of a deal at that point, but sure enough, it was just the kind of news that some fans were waiting for. This injury was some sort of omen. Since the incident with the driving his SUV into a tree back in 2009, Tiger Woods hasn’t been the player, the star, that many of us fall for.

We knew his personal life was a mess once and the guy who apparently had it all and always kept his cool no matter the circumstances was falling apart. In a matter of months he was facing a multimillion dollar divorce, losing the custody of his children, losing millions in advertisements and endorsements, losing the top spot in the PGA Tour and quite frankly, for a moment there it seemed as if he was losing his game as well.

Woods announced Tuesday he will skip this month’s British Open. To be quite honest here, this decision is of little surprise to anyone in golf. He hasn’t played since he withdrew during the first round of the Players Championship in early May. What is hard to believe is that for the first time in a while he is sitting out two major championships. The thing here is that he always used to define his year and his career based on his performance on these tournaments. And if we look at it from a straightforward point of view, he might as well just give up coming back this year.

On his website, Tiger Woods gave out the following statement:

NCAA – NCAA Selection Committee Announces its 68-team draw

It’s always a mess, and it has always been controversial. Every year, the NCAA Selection Committee has to decide who makes it into the NCAA Tournament and who has to conform itself with playing for the NIT and for other minor college basketball postseason tournaments. The funny thing is that as of press time, and perhaps for the next couple of years, it will still be evident that the Committee has yet to come up with a systematic and less biased approach for choosing which teams make it, and which teams don’t.

There are three more teams in this year’s edition of March Madness. That should had made things a bit easier for the Selection Committee (SC from now on), but as soon as the list of the 68 teams was posted on Sunday, it was evident that once again, it seemed as if they had messed it up. As per usual, the Big East would take again most of the spots in the opening bracket. And yet for a record-breaking figure, this edition will have 11 teams from the Big East, including Pittsburgh, who has been given the No.1 seed in the Southeast despite not winning a single game in the conference tourney.

The Ohio State Buckeyes which finished the season with a 32-2 record coming from the Big Ten were picked as the top seed overall. The Kansas Jayhawks with a 32-2 season and a brilliant performance at the Big 12 was seeded second. The defending champions, the Duke Blue Devils squeezed by another Big East team to clinch the third seed while Notre Dame was the fourth and final top seed. Led by one of the country’s best guards, Nolan Smith, the Blue Devils (30-4) not only defeated their conference archrival, the UNC Tar Heels for the ACC postseason tournament, they are also trying to become the first team since Florida in 2006-07 to repeat as national champions.

Now, let’s take a look at the controversial teams that either managed to get invited to the big dance, or that somehow were left out without much of a logical explanation. Unless, of course, you consider that the argument

Ronaldo announces his official retirement

Soccer is a demanding sport. Sure, it doesn’t require the endurance of a cyclist undergoing the 20 day plus Le Tour de France, nor does it has such a demanding schedule as a professional basketball player who has to travel and play 3-4 times a week. And yes, it certainly is not as brutal of a team sport as rugby or American Football. But no other sport can match the expectation, the fan based euphoria placed on teams and players to succeed at all cost.

Under these circumstances even the most athletically gifted bodies have to give into the pressure, and eventually the body just breaks and asks for rest. And that is why Ronaldo, one of the finest strikers the game has seen has officially announced his retirement from professional football.

After 18 years as a professional Ronaldo put an end to a magnificent career in which he not only won two World Cups with the Brazilian national team but also flourished in the most important team in Europe. The 34-year-old striker had deserved many recognitions including the FIFA World Player of the Year prize which he won three times and also, he holds the record for most goals scored on World Cup tournaments at an yet unmatched 15.

Ronaldo began his professional career in Brazil with Cruzeiro when he was just 16 years old. He moved to the PSV Eindhoven in 1993 where he became the Dutch team’s best scorer, which was enough to end him a transfer to Barcelona in 1996.

Once on Spanish ground, Ronaldo became somewhat of an idol for the Catalan club where he scored 34 goals in 37 matches in the Spanish Liga, been a fundamental part of Barcelona winning the Copa del Rey tournament. The following year he would sign a deal with Inter Milan with whom the Brazilian star help Inter clinch the 1998 UEFA Cup.

Ronaldo played for Inter until the 2002 season when he was transferred to Real Madrid, where he was part of the squad that won the Spanish Liga in 2003 and 2007. He then joined AC Milan, but his stay with the Italian team was cut short due to his third knee injury.

With the Brazilian team Ronaldo was part of the team that won the USA 1994 World Cup, although he never played as he was just a teenager. In 2002 in the South Korea- Japan World Cup, Ronaldo was back at its highest level and helped the team win the World Cup after scoring two goals in the final game against Germany. That year he won his third player of the year award, after the ones he received in 1996 and 1997.

Ronaldo helped Brazil win the 1997 and 1999 Copa America as well as the 1997 Confederations Cup. He won a bronze medal with the Brazilian national team in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Ronaldo scored 67 goals in 104 games wearing the Brazilian national jersey.

Ronaldo moved to Corinthians in Brazil to finish off his career. A string of injuries during the past two years kept him from performing at a high level and he was not been taken kindly by part of the fans. Regardless of his less then ideal ending, Ronaldo has had an amazing career. His ability to comeback from three near career ending knee injuries is quite a reflection of his combative nature. He will be kindly remembered by many fans around the world.