NHL schedules hearing on hit by Coyotes’ Klesla (Yahoo! Sports)
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) The NHL has scheduled a hearing with Phoenix defenseman Rostislav Klesla regarding his hit on Nashville forward Matt Halischuk in the Coyotes’ 1-0 playoff victory on Friday night. The hearing will conducted by telephone on Sunday afternoon. Replays showed that Klesla appeared to grab the back of Halischuk’s jersey before slamming him into the boards. Nashville coach Barry Trotz called it ”a dangerous hit.” Halischuk left the game for a short time but returned. Klesla received a two-minute penalty for boarding. The Coyotes lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 with Game 5 Monday night in Arizona.
Nadal unhappy with blue clay in Madrid, blames ATP (Yahoo! Sports)
MADRID (AP) Rafael Nadal has been unhappy with the Madrid Open since it moved on the schedule from the hard-court season, and now he’s blaming the ATP for the introduction of a blue-clay surface. The six-time French Open champion was troubled when he practiced on the court for the first time Thursday. He described it as soft and slippery and criticized the placement of advertising boards at either end as too low and the same color as the surface. A longtime critic of this event’s organizers, Nadal is upset the ATP allowed the change in the middle of the clay season. ”My thoughts haven’t changed on the concept and organization of this tournament,” Nadal said Friday. ”My criticism is not directed at the tournament but at the ATP, which should never have allowed such a change at a tournament of this scale.” In an email to The Associated Press, the ATP said tournament organizers completed all the necessary testing for its approval. ”The ATP granted this permission for one year with the understanding that it will be reviewed following the event, of course taking into account feedback from players,” the ATP said in the statement. ”We believe it is a good thing that our tournaments are trying to be innovative.” Nadal hasn’t been a big fan of the tournament since its schedule move in 2009, unhappy that the high altitude and thin air of spring in Madrid negates the strengths of his game and helps his rivals. The second-ranked Spaniard is 33-2 in career clay-court finals but 1-2 in Madrid. ”This is a clay-court event that is least like a clay-court event. There is always a chance of playing worse here,” Nadal said. ”I only speak my mind for the good of the tour and the players, so that we have a clay tournament with few problems.” Nadal lost last year’s final to Novak Djokovic, who was in the midst of a 43-match winning run. He finally beat the top-ranked Serb in a championship match after seven straight losses, capturing his eighth Monte Carlo Masters title on April 22. He followed it with a win at the Barcelona Open a week later. ”It’s practically unrepeatable and impossible for what he did last year to happen again,” Nadal said of Djokovic. ”It’s been two positive weeks and things are on the right path. I’m happy with how I am playing.” — AP Sports Writer Howard Fendrich in Washington contributed to this report.
Payment picks stats for February
Written by Betting-RSS admin on 27 February 2012. A dull weekend keeps the profit at 48 units and the yield at 26% for February. Only 3 days left of this month. Here are the stats:February 201230 WON / 0 VOID / 20LOST Staked 184 / Returned 232.54 Yield 26.38% / ROI 126.38Total P/L 48,54Spreadsheet It is always better to subscribe when there is a new month coming because you can count your stats and compare them without problem to the official stats of the website which reset on the 1st of each month.Still 5 places available to complete the list. You can read all about the prices and what you will receive HERE.If you have any questions please send an e-mail to admin@betting-rss.com
Dancing Driver faces uncertain future in Green Bay (Yahoo! Sports)
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy both enjoy watching veteran wide receiver Donald Driver compete on ”Dancing With the Stars.” There is no guarantee he’ll be on the roster by the time training camp rolls around. Driver is the leading receiver in franchise history with 735 catches for 10,060 yards. But he turned 37 in February, and said after the Packers’ playoff loss to the New York Giants that he wasn’t sure if the team would bring him back for the final year of his contract. Asked about Driver’s future Saturday, Thompson stopped short of guaranteeing that Driver’s spot was secure. ”I would never speculate on something like that,” Thompson said. ”He’s dancing right now. Doing good, too.” McCarthy said there was ”no reason to speculate on that.” However, McCarthy did say he and his family are having fun watching Driver’s dancing. ”Of course,” McCarthy said. ”I didn’t realize it was such a tough thing for a man that they (watch) ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ And if I’m not at home, we have to DVR it and watch it as a family. We’re rooting him on and voting eight times like you’re supposed to. He’s doing a great job; keeping in shape, that’s for sure. Not that that was ever an issue with Donald. It’s a great experience for him and his family.” The Packers already have made tough decisions on two veteran players in the past week, releasing safety Nick Collins and left tackle Chad Clifton. Clifton is coming off an injury-filled 2011 season, and the team was concerned about Collins’ ability to return from a season-ending neck injury. ”That is something you never get used to,” McCarthy said. ”That was a hard week starting with Chad on Monday and Nick, both with medical situations that led to that decision.” McCarthy said Collins’ decision was particularly personal. ”Ted Thompson and I sat down and the final question gets asked: if Nick was your son, would you let him play?” McCarthy said. ”So that’s why we made the decision we did.”
