Aug 18

Midweek Myriad: PanPac swimming, Diamond League finals

By Beau Dure mma, olympic sports, soccer, track and field No Comments »

Yes, I’m spending some time away from the computer this week. Coincidentally, I’m pondering a remake of SportsMyriad.com. The experimental phase should be at an end soon; the question is what follows.

This is an unusually busy midweek for Myriad sports — CONCACAF Champions League group stage games, UEFA Champions League playoffs featuring teams you might be able to find on a map, plus the culmination of some swimming and track and field seasons.

Track and field: The Weltklasse Zurich meet wraps up roughly half of the Diamond League events. The shot putters got an early start. The rest of the meet is Thursday on Universal Sports online. Events to watch: men’s long jump (Dwight Phillips leads but hasn’t clinched), women’s 400 (Allyson Felix, who has clinched 200, leads here as well) and women’s long jump (Brittney Reese has narrow lead) . You’ll also see victory laps for Jeremy Wariner (men’s 400), David Oliver (men’s 110 hurdles) and Carmelita Jeter (women’s 100). The most curious event is the men’s 200, where runaway leader Walter Dix has withdrawn, leaving Wallace Spearmon a chance to clean up.

Swimming: The Pan Pacific Championships — mostly USA, Australia, Japan, Canada and South Korea, but with a handful of people from non-Pacific places like South Africa — are on Universal Sports and Swim Network.

Soccer: Seeing Joe Public FC play at home in Trinidad carries a reminder of a sad incident in international youth soccer. The stadium is named for Marvin Lee, a Trinidad & Tobago Under-20 player who was paralyzed in a collision during a game and died a couple of years later. The player with whom he collided — Landon Donovan.

MMA: Sorry for the lack of advance warning, but you’ll want to get to a TV now to see WEC on Versus. Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez are in the main event.

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Aug 13

Friday Myriad: EPL madness

By Beau Dure mma, olympic sports, soccer, track and field, tv 4 Comments »

Catch up on your EPL previews now. Check out the whole team-by-team series at The Guardian.

MLS, meanwhile, has Donovan vs. Henry. Sign up to do player ratings.

We also have an interesting grab bag of events from a pretty big gymnastics competition to a USA Basketball friendly.

FRIDAY

2 p.m.: Track and field, Diamond League, London Grand Prix. Check the preview and hope the stream works. Universal Sports online

3 p.m.: Soccer, Bayern Munich-Real Madrid. Interesting friendly. ESPN / ESPN Deportes / ESPN3

11 p.m.: MMA, Strikeforce Challengers. The main event is veteran Joe Riggs vs. Louis Taylor, and Randy Couture’s son, Ryan, makes his debut. But most eyes are on the women’s tournament, featuring Miesha Tate and Carina Damm. Showtime (delayed to 11 p.m. PT on West Coast)

SATURDAY

7:30 a.m.: Soccer, Tottenham-Manchester City. Online only? ESPN3

9:30 a.m.: Track and field, Diamond League, London Grand Prix, Day 2. Universal Sports online

10 a.m.: Soccer, Aston Villa-West Ham. Your first EPL game of the year on FSC should feature at least one American (Brad Friedel) and a lot of chatter about a possible American coach (Bob Bradley). FSC

12:30 p.m.: Soccer, Chelsea-West Brom. Your first Big Four game of the year on U.S. TV. FSC

3 p.m.: Tennis, ATP Rogers Cup (Montreal) semifinals. ESPN2

4 p.m.: Action Sports, Dew Tour. NBC

4 p.m.: Soccer, Philadelphia-Colorado. TeleFutura

5:30 p.m.: Soccer, New York-Los Angeles, including a 30-minute pregame to hype all the Designated Players. FSC

7 p.m.: Tennis, ATP Rogers Cup (Montreal) semifinals. ESPN2

8 p.m.: Gymnastics, Visa Championships. NBC

SUNDAY

11 a.m.: Soccer, Liverpool-Arsenal. Your first really, really big game of the EPL season. FSC

1 p.m.: Basketball, USA-France. ESPN2

3 p.m.: Tennis, ATP Rogers Cup (Montreal) final. ESPN2

4 p.m.: Action Sports, Dew Tour. NBC

6 p.m.: Soccer, WPS, Boston-Sky Blue. FSC

MORE MYRIAD

  • Full soccer listings at Soccer America: MLS, EPL, Mexico, elsewhere in Europe and Latin America.
  • Selected weekend listings at USA TODAY
  • ESPN3: Soccer, tennis, Aussie rules and a bunch of different forms of baseball, from Little to Mexican.
  • Tennis Channel: WTA Cincinnati.
  • Universal Sports: More gymnastics, track and field, triathlon, FIVB beach volleyball.
  • More Olympic sports: The Youth Olympic Games open for the first time Saturday in Singapore. Women’s volleyball has World Grand Prix action with occasional streaming.
Aug 11

Diamond League: The pen-penultimate meet

By Beau Dure track and field No Comments »

As with many track and field competitions, the Diamond League is coming to a conclusion that should be exciting but is a little odd.

Each event is contested seven times during the spring and summer. The finals in each event are split between the last two meets in Zurich and Brussels. In those meets, the points are doubled — 8 points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third.

This weekend’s meet in London is two days (Friday/Saturday, hopefully on a working Universal Sports stream), and it has the penultimate gathering for each event. Except, for some reason, five — men’s 200, men’s 800, men’s 5,000, women’s 100 and women’s pole vault.

The full standings in PDF form are here under the link “Actual Standings.” The events to watch, admittedly from a provincial U.S. point of view:

MEN

100: The marquee sprint has been disappointing because of the injury wave among the Big Three of Usain Bolt (JAM), Tyson Gay (USA) and Asafa Powell (JAM). Bolt only ran twice, beating Powell in Paris and losing to Gay in Stockholm, before shutting things down for the season. Powell leads the Diamond Race with 10 points, winning two races, but he sat out in Stockholm. Powell, Richard Thompson (TRI, 7 pts) and Gay (4) are all scheduled to start. They’ll run two heats, so several more Americans are in the current field of 16.

400: Jeremy Wariner (USA, 16) is 4-for-4 and can clinch the Diamond title by beating Jermaine Gonzales (JAM, 8), who won in Wariner’s absence in Monaco.

110 hurdles: David Oliver (USA, 16) has dominated the event with four wins and should make his season title official here. Ryan Wilson (USA, 6) is second. Dayron Robles (CUB, 4) won in Oliver’s absence in Rome but will miss this one.

400 hurdles: Bershawn Jackson (USA, 16) has three wins and has twice finished second to Kerron Clement (USA, 10). Clement is out, so Jackson almost has this one sewn up.

Long jump: Dwight Phillips (USA, 12) has had a good season-long duel with Fabrice Lapierre (AUS, 11). Irving Saladino (PAN, 7) also is in the mix and upset Phillips in Eugene.

Shot put: Christian Cantwell (USA, 20) is the only male athlete with a perfect record. He has clinched the season title ahead of Dylan Armstrong (CAN, 6).

Javelin: Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR, 18) won the first four of the season but finally dropped one to Tero Pitkamaki (FIN, 8), leaving a mathematical chance that the Finn could catch him.

WOMEN

200: Allyson Felix (USA, 10) took control of the event with two straight wins after a loss to Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM, 4). She’ll virtually clinch it here.

400: Felix (USA, 8) has two wins here as well, sharing the lead with Amantle Montsho (BOT). They’re both entered in London along with Shericka Williams (JAM, 5), Debbie Dunn (USA, 5) and everyone else.

800: Alysia Johnson (USA, 8) has won the last two events to take the lead from Janeth Jepkosgei (KEN, 7). This is wide-open — 10 runners have points.

100 hurdles: Lolo Jones (USA, 13) is looking to bounce back from an upset loss in Stockholm. She leads Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (CAN, 10) and Sally Pearson (AUS, 4), who finished 2-1 in Stockholm.

400 hurdles: Lashinda Demus (USA, 12) won the first three, then stumbled in Monaco and isn’t entered here. Kaliese Spencer (JAM, 12) is.

High jump: Blanka Vlasic (CRO, 20) has edged Chaunte Howard-Lowe (USA, 10) in all five meets so far. Vlasic has all but clinched the title, but their competitions have been entertaining.

Long jump: Brittney Reese (USA, 10) won in Lausanne and Paris ahead of Naide Gomes (POR, 7) before both lost in Stockholm to Darya Klishina (RUS, 5).

Javelin: An American contender in a women’s throwing event? Kara Patterson (USA, 8) trails Barbora Spotakova (CZE, 12).

Other events:

Continue reading »

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Aug 06

Diamond League: Gay, Pearson upset Bolt, Jones

By Beau Dure track and field 3 Comments »

The introductions were fantastic, sounding every bit like a UFC fight. But the odds favoring Usain Bolt against Tyson Gay at the DN Galan, a Diamond League meet Friday in Stockholm, were even greater than Anderson Silva’s odds against Chael Sonnen.

The delays were annoying. It took two tries just to get everyone set. But then it was a clean start, with Gay getting out slightly ahead of Bolt.

And he stayed there. Win and meet record 9.84 for Gay, just 0.02 off Bolt’s world lead.

Neither guy has been fully healthy this season, so there’s only so much we can read into this. It was a convincing margin — Gay at 9.84, Bolt at 9.97.

Asafa Powell was unable to run but maintained his Diamond League lead in absentia.

Other highlights included the typical impressive runs from Bershawn Jackson and Allyson Felix, along with an upset in the women’s 100 hurdles and a personal best from a U.S. distance contender. Full rundown (the Universal Sports broadcast had a technical hitch at the beginning, so I missed a couple of events):

Continue reading »

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Aug 06

Friday Myriad: Bolt vs. Gay, Silva vs. Sonnen, DPs vs. DPs …

By Beau Dure mma, olympic sports, rugby, soccer, track and field, tv No Comments »

If you’re not a fan of American soccer leagues, this isn’t much of a weekend, though some European leagues (France, Netherlands, English Championship) kick off.

FRIDAY

2 p.m.: Track and field, Diamond League, Stockholm. Bolt vs. Gay. Great stuff. Universal Sports online

SATURDAY

3:35 a.m.: Rugby, Tri-Nations Cup, New Zealand vs. Australia. Travis’ preview will run in an hour or so. RugbyZone.com

3 p.m.: Harness racing, Hambletonian. We don’t cover much horse racing, but this is seriously the most interesting non-league item on USA TODAY’s listings. NBC

7 p.m.: Soccer, PDL championship. As with the W-League, this game is way too early because the players all need to scramble back to college. FSC

10 p.m.: Mixed martial arts, UFC 117, Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen, Roy Nelson-Junior dos Santos, Jon Fitch-Thiago Alves. Good card. Previews at USA TODAY. Pay-per-view

SUNDAY

10 a.m.: Soccer, Community Shield, Chelsea-Manchester United. I tease Eurosnobs, sure, but of course I’m thrilled to see resumption of play in England. FSC

6 p.m.: Soccer, MLS, Dallas-Philadelphia. If you’re a Philly fan, stick around for the next game on FSC

8 p.m.: Soccer, WPS, Philadelphia-Boston. Alternately, you might have made the trip out to West Chester. Yeah, it’s a haul, but isn’t West Chester beautiful? FSC

9 p.m.: Soccer, MLS, Chicago-New York. Counting something like five Designated Players who might be on the field at the same time, which would be a record. Let’s see — Ljungberg, Castillo, Henry, Angel, Marquez. Might not all be ready, though. We had Beckham-cam a couple of years ago when he was on the bench and thinking about coming in — will we see Marquez-cam? ESPN2

MORE MYRIAD

  • Full soccer listings at Soccer America: MLS, international friendlies, France, Mexico, Brazil.
  • Selected weekend listings at USA TODAY
  • ESPN3: Lots of tennis and lacrosse, plus Australian Rules football, Dutch soccer and the odd friendly.
  • Tennis Channel: Live and delayed coverage of ATP Washington, WTA San Diego.
  • Universal Sports: Volleyball, beach volleyball, USA Swimming.
  • More Olympic sports: Shooting World Championships continue (live TV).
Jul 14

Paralympic poker player cashing in

By Beau Dure poker, track and field No Comments »

No, poker hasn’t been added to the Olympics or Paralympics. But a Paralympic veteran is having some success in the World Series of Poker’s Main Event.

Marlon Shirley, two-time gold medalist at 100 meters and a man with an inspiring story of overcoming multiple adversities, is still in the Main Event and is now guaranteed to make at least $41,967 off his $10,000 buy-in.

Shirley is Tweeting under the apropos handle ibtrackin, and he shared the news when UFC announcer Bruce Buffer was ousted on a really unlucky hand. Buffer was full of good cheer as he departed. The $27,519 prize didn’t hurt, but Buffer is a perpetually friendly person.

The Main Event is down to 313 players from the original 7,319 and still includes multiple Mizrachi family members.

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Jul 12

Monday Myriad: No soccer withdrawal here

By Beau Dure basketball, chess, cycling, olympic sports, poker, rugby, soccer, track and field No Comments »

Sixteen years ago, I felt a few pangs of withdrawal. I had been able to watch maybe half of the World Cup games on my little TV in my little living room in my little apartment. After that dreary final … nothing. No MLS. No regular European broadcasts. No women’s soccer.

Sunday, an hour after bidding farewell to the group of friends who came over to drink Dutch and (blech) Spanish beer while we gorged ourselves on food and watched a final that was a little less dreary, I went back into our HDTV room downstairs and flipped to Fox Soccer Channel. WPS — Washington Freedom vs. FC Gold Pride. And while the officiating was just as atrocious as the worst of what we saw from South Africa, I could rest assured that I was still watching soccer. As I’ve said elsewhere, U.S. soccer fans have been enabled. We can watch all weekend. And all week. Sorry, Tim Dahlberg, but we don’t need your permission.

And because we’re sports geeks who watch and comment on every competition shy of the foosball games downstairs (for the record, I was able to play an actual game against someone tall enough to see the table for once, and I won twice by a 10-2 count), we have much else to follow as well.

Women’s soccer: USA’s revenge over Ghana! The USA start play Tuesday in the U-20 Women’s World Cup, and it’ll be an upset to end all upsets if Ghana duplicates its 2006 and 2010 2-1 men’s victories. Dive all you want. Not going to happen.

Cycling: Lance Armstrong is now fourth in the Tour de France … on his own team. We can see if Team Radio Shack regroups to give Levi Leipheimer a push for the final podium, but more realistically, we’re looking at a Cadel Evans-Andy Schleck-Alberto Contador shootout.

Olympics (winter and summer): We’ve seen speedskaters take up cycling. Bobsledders recruit from football and track. So can skeleton veteran Katie Uhlaender make it back to the Olympics in weightlifting?

Volleyball: The U.S. men made a nice run at the World League final six, beating Russia in the first match of two in the final weekend. But the pool leaders came back for a 3-1 win in the finale, and the USA didn’t qualify as the “lucky loser” second-place team.

Basketball: Gold medal for USA U-17 men.

Track and field: Tyson Gay beat Asafa Powell in the highlight of the Diamond League’s stop in England.

Rowing: USA women’s eight still a powerhouse.

Poker: We’re down to 2,557 players in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Exiting gracefully on Day 2B were poker legend Doyle Brunson, baseball great Orel Hershiser, Seinfeld‘s Jason Alexander, Phil Ivey and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson.

Some of the names we’ll be watching on Day 3 (which is really Day 7, but they have four Day 1s and two Day 2s to accommodate the crowd):

- Bruce Buffer, UFC cage announcer
- Hank Azaria, Apu and many, many other Simpsons voices
- Johnny Chan, two-time Main Event winner
- Chris Moneymaker, 2003 surprise winner who helped start the poker boom
- Joe Cada, defending champion
- Daniel Negreanu, top poker pro and lively Twitter personality
- Allen Cunningham, like Negreanu a former WSOP Player of the Year
- Frank Kassela, sure to be this year’s Player of the Year
- Jennifer Harman, top poker pro
- Phil “Unabomber” Laak, one of the better nicknames among poker pros
- Vanessa Rousso, Duke grad like me but obviously much smarter
- Jack Ury, age 97
- Gabe Kaplan, Mr. Kotter

Sunday was a rest day at the WSOP, but they’ll be back on the Tour de France’s rest day Monday. Strange how that works.

Rugby: New Zealand sent what some in the U.S. media might call “a message,” dominating South Africa 32-12 in a Tri Nations matchup ahead of next year’s World Cup in New Zealand.

Cricket: Bangladesh beat England for the first time ever in a one-day international. Carrie Dunn captured some of the late drama.

Jul 09

Friday Myriad: Up all night for Aussie Rules, MMA, Le Tour

By Beau Dure chess, cycling, olympic sports, poker, soccer, tennis, track and field, tv No Comments »

No, I didn’t forget. Today was a last-ditch effort to get some progress on two nagging free-lance assignments.

Which reminds me — if you or someone you know is a male caregiver for a spouse or loved one who has breast cancer AND you’ve done the Komen 3-day walk, could you please, please get in touch with me?

On to the weekend (all times ET):

SATURDAY

12:01 a.m.: Australian football, Geelong-Hawthorn. Nice to see this sport making a comeback on U.S. airwaves. Still have no idea how anyone has the stamina to run for two hours while being pummeled every time the ball is nearby. ESPN2

3 a.m.: MMA, Dream 15, lightweight title fight, Shinya Aoki-Tatsuya Kawajiri. Also in action: Gegard Mousasi, Melvin Manhoef, Gesias Cavalcante. If you can’t watch live, check recaps from my colleague Sergio Non. HDNet

7:30 a.m.: Tour de France, Stage 7. To the mountains we go! Well, sort of. Just a couple of category-2 climbs today. The Alpine stages this year aren’t quite as torturous as usual, with most of the massive climbs coming in the Pyrenees in the third week. Versus

8 a.m.: Davis-Cup, quarterfinals, France-Spain, doubles. France leads 2-0. They’re playing without Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but Spain is playing without someone named Nadal. Gael Monfils outlasted David Ferrer in a five-setter Friday. Tennis Channel

Noon: MLS, Toronto-Colorado. In case you need a warm-up for the big one. Some of CONCACAF’s best attacking talent is on display in this one, even if one of the defenses tends to play with what Bob Dylan called “a little too much force.” Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com

2:30 p.m.: World Cup third-place game, Uruguay-Germany. These games are often entertaining. Near the end of a World Cup that has brought some excellent games but quite a few dreary efforts, can that be so bad? ABC/Univision

3:30 p.m.: Women’s basketball, WNBA All-Stars vs. U.S. National Team. Really? You couldn’t have waited another hour, when the Cup final would likely be over? ESPN

6 p.m.: MLS, Philadelphia-San Jose. The Earthquakes could be interesting this season. Fox Soccer Channel

7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.: MLS, the rest of the Saturday games (four), with the New York-D.C. United rivalry among the highlights. Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com

SUNDAY

7 a.m.: Davis-Cup, quarterfinals, France-Spain, singles. Tennis Channel

7:30 a.m.: Tour de France, Stage 8. Two category-1 climbs, including one at the finish. That’s more like it. Will we see the virtual end of Lance Armstrong’s career here? Versus

2:30 p.m.: World Cup, final, Netherlands-Spain. I picked Spain over Brazil in the final, and I’m sticking with the team that never loses possession of the ball. ABC/Univision

6 p.m.: WPS, Gold Pride-Washington. Wonder how the Freedom will adjust after practicing all week in 100-degree temperatures. I went out to practice today, and the artificial turf field felt like a frying pan. FSC

10:30 p.m.: MLS, Seattle-Dallas. I don’t usually list all the Direct Kick games, but if you’re going into withdrawal just six hours after the end of the Cup, here you go. Direct Kick/MLSSoccer.com

MORE MYRIAD

  • World Series of Poker: Main Event runs all weekend.
  • Full soccer listings at Soccer America.
  • Selected weekend listings at USA TODAY
  • ESPN3: Australian Rules football, CFL, NBA Summer League and lacrosse.
  • Tennis Channel: A few re-runs and the France-Spain Davis Cup match.
  • Universal Sports: Beach volleyball (FIVB Grand Slam), track and field (Diamond League, British Grand Prix) live online, delayed on TV. Swimming (Grand Prix season finale, Los Angeles) online-only. In beach volleyball, the top U.S. teams were upset in pool play, which doesn’t happen often, but still advanced.
  • More Olympic sports: Why is no one Webcasting the last weekend of World League volleyball pool play? U.S. men hosting Russia in Wichita. Wait a few weeks, and you can watch (see PDF).
  • Rugby: Tri-Nations (Southern Hemisphere) gets underway this weekend, just in case South African sports attention can be diverted for a moment.

HEADLINES

Chess/poker: Chessboxing just seems strange, but chesspoker has possibilities. Jennifer Shahade takes us through a matchup.

Soccer: 3rd Degree is basically the grandfather of independent MLS sites, so it’s nice to see Buzz Carrick take the operation into ESPNDallas.com. Could also bode well for ESPN’s MLS Draft coverage? Maybe?

Jul 08

Un-Bolted wrap from Diamond League, other Oly sports

By Beau Dure olympic sports, track and field No Comments »

Yes, Usain Bolt is fast, and 9.82 is borderline superhuman, tying the world lead in his first race back from an Achilles injury. But if you want to know what’s going on in the Diamond League, you’ll need to look elsewhere — the 100 meters was a non-Diamond race tacked onto the program so they could bring Bolt in.

The rest of the Athletissima meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, had seven more world-leading performances and six U.S. wins. The quick look:

MEN

- 400: Jeremy Wariner (USA) posted a world-leading 44.57, just holding off countryman LeJerald Betters (44.70). He’s 3-for-3 in Diamond League.

- 400 hurdles: Bershawn Jackson (USA) didn’t match his world-leading 47.32 but won handily in second-fastest time of the year, 47.62. Angelo Taylor (USA) was second at 47.96. Jackson also claimed the Diamond lead ahead of Kerron Clement (USA).

- 200: Walter Dix (USA), 19.86, tied his own mark for fourth in the world this year. He has won the last three Diamond League races.

- 1,500: Not a Diamond League race, but another world lead: Nicholas Kemboi (KEN), 3:31.52

- 3,000 steeplechase: Brimin Kipruto (KEN), 8:01.62, world lead and nearly five seconds off meet record. This is one of the Diamond League disciplines with some suspense in the standings — Paul Koech (KEN) finished third and still leads Kipruto in the standings.

WOMEN

- 100: Carmelita Jeter (USA) won in 10.99, not a world lead, to build a five-point lead in the Diamond points. The event is reeling from the news that Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser tested positive for a painkiller. The explanation for the test: She went to the dentist, then had to fly, and she forgot to declare it. The explanation for why a drug that fails to enhance performance or mask anything is on the prohibited list: …. well, we’ll have to ask. But the situation is a crisis! At least, that’s what the Telegraph says.

- 400: Debbie Dunn (USA), 49.81, second this year only to her 49.64 in USA Championships.

- 1,500: Gelete Burka (ETH), world-leading 3:59.28, then national record-setter Ibtissam Lakhouad (MAR, 3:59.45) and personal best-setter Nancy Langat (KEN, 4:00.13). Funny thing is that Langat, the Olympic champion, had been dominating the season.

- 3,000: Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN), 8:34.58, world lead and meet record.

- Long jump: Brittney Reese (USA), the world champion, fourth in the world at 6.94 meters/22-9.25.

- Triple jump: Yargelis Savigne (CUB), 14.99 meters, world lead and far ahead of the rest.

- High jump: Ivan Ukhov (RUS) ties world lead at 2.33 meters. World champion Yaroslav Rybakov (also RUS) tied Ukhov but lost on more misses.

**

In other Olympic sports news:

- Figure skating: Johnny Weir is taking the season off to reinvent his skating and promote his single, fashion line and book. But he’ll be back for Sochi.

- Swimming: The Grand Prix finale is in this week in Los Angeles. Betting on Chloe Sutton to take season honors.

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Jul 05

Monday Myriad: Want U.S. world titles? We’ve got ‘em

By Beau Dure chess, cycling, olympic sports, poker, soccer, tennis, track and field, tv No Comments »

Even with an extra day, the weekend was overstuffed:

Soccer: No disrespect to Uruguay and the Netherlands, but isn’t the Germany-Spain matchup as good as it gets? The most explosive team in the Cup against a team that has spent the last three and a half years as the Harlem Globetrotters of world soccer?

Closer to home, MLS had terrific goals in the Seattle-Los Angeles matchup, and Conor Casey is playing like he’s still auditioning for the national team. Or like he thinks he’s Marta.

Tennis: Serena and Nadal winning Wimbledon isn’t the surprise. The surprise is that Roger Federer has fallen all the way to No. 3.

Track and field: David Oliver set an American record in the 110 hurdles at the Prefontaine Classic, which also saw Walter Dix outrun Tyson Gay down the stretch in the 200. Field events were less kind to Americans — Dwight Phillips finished second in the long jump and pulled up with some sort of strain, and Jenn Suhr no-heighted in the pole vault.

Softball: Not all of the games were easy, but the USA trounced Japan 7-0 in five innings in the World Championship final.

Water polo: Soccer isn’t the only sport settled with a penalty shootout. The U.S. women tied Australia 7-7 in the World League final and won the shootout. Brenda Villa was named top player; Betsey Armstrong was top goalkeeper.

Gymnastics: Bronze for U.S. men at Japan Cup, featuring mostly A-teamers.

Cycling: The Tour de France is underway, which means it’s time for one of the funniest annual reading activities — the Tour de Schmalz. If you prefer drama to comedy, read the Wall Street Journal‘s harrowing story on Floyd Landis’ doping allegations.

Poker: The Main Event is underway, even as two other events are still going … and going … and going …

The Tournament of Champions is over, at least, with Huck Seed outlasting Howard Lederer.

Volleyball: The U.S. men got two wins in Egypt, leaving themselves in contention to make the World League’s six-team final tournament. All they have to do is beat pool-leading Russia twice July 9-10 in Wichita.

Beach volleyball: Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers remained unbeatable, winning the FIVB event in Norway. Yes, Norway. What? They have beaches.

MMA: All hail Brock Lesnar.

Chess: Yes, they exhumed Bobby Fischer.

And a couple of random reads of interest …

Cricket: Did you know about Staten Island’s cricket history?

Soccer: One of the best reads about South Africa since the Cup started — meet Santos, “The People’s Team.” (Not in the Communist sense.)

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