@francoisscimeca @wrytercup No worries Francois. Projet d’hiver c’est de reconstruire mon swing, then hopefully qualify for the Wryter Cup..
The Lineman: Week Seven NFL Picks
That was more like it, a very solid 5-1 effort in Week 6 after a very tough month of average results.
Could we be perfect in lucky Week 7? Feels good.
Record: 19-17. Last week 5-1
Pick of the Week: 5-1
PICK OF THE WEEK
Green Bay Packers (6-0) at Minnesota Vikings (1-5)
@wrytercup Bien joué Hervé et Arnie. Decu de ne pas avoir pu assister au combat. Guinness in the Wryter Cup to celebrate?
Une semaine francaise alors. Encore des felicitations. Sortie prevue ce soir en t-shirt limegreen APG. Bisous, Rosbif Tom @wrytercup
Both teams got the Euro 2012 playoff draw they wanted
By Philip O’Connor in Stockholm
It wasn’t just Irish eyes that were smiling when the Euro 2012 playoff draw was made in Polish city of Krakow – some of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) delegation appeared to be laughing out loud when they were drawn to face Estonia, with the winner heading to next year’s finals.
But despite the protestations of coach Tarmo Ruutli, Ireland probably represents the best possible draw for the Estonians, given that the other alternatives were Portugal, Croatia or the Czech Republic.
“I don’t think the Republic of Ireland were the easiest of our potential opponents,” Ruutli said in a statement after the draw. “All the teams at this stage are strong and they proved it during the group stage. However, I won’t deny the fact that we wanted to face Ireland more than the others.”
Former Ireland captain Kenny Cunningham didn’t mince his words, telling RTE TV that “everyone would have been leaning towards Estonia. They are the weakest of the teams we could have faced.”
But Ireland’s problem may be that, despite a plethora of players playing in the English Premiership, they don’t tend to do well against “weak” teams.
They struggled to beat lowly Andorra in their two qualifiers, and suffered the ignominy of conceding a goal to them at home.
Euro 2012 playoffs renew recent rivalries
The Euro 2012 two-legged playoffs should offer plenty of action and eight entertaining matches, with the last four berths in next year’s finals up for grabs.
While Ireland will start as strong favourites against Estonia, the other three ties appear set to be nerve-jangling affairs in which two former Yugoslav repubics will be eager to avenge painful defeats against their respective opponents, while another is aiming to make history in only their second tournament as an independent nation.
Revenge will be the only thing on Croatia’s mind when they clash with Turkey, who knocked them out in an epic Euro 2008 quarter-final. Having taken the lead in the final minute of extra time to go 1-0 up, Croatia were almost already celebrating when Turkey equalised with the last kick of the game and then won the penalty shootout to send their fans in Vienna into raptures, leaving Croatian coach Slaven Bilic and his players shattered.
The defeat had far-reaching consequences for Croatia, as they struggled throughout their 2010 World Cup campaign and failed to reach the finals, while Bilic repeatedly came under fire from the media after tepid performances from a team which had clearly not recovered from the shell-shocking loss to the Turks.
They showed precious little improvement in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, as a 2-0 defeat by Greece which consigned them to the playoffs exposed chinks in the armour of a squad expected to qualify for next year’s finals as the group winners.
But Croatian fans, several of whom had told me they were so busy celebrating Ivan Klasnic’s goal in Vienna against Turkey they missed Semih Senturk’s deft equaliser, will forget the ordeals they have endured over the past three years if the team lay their gosts to rest in what promises to be a cracking tie, with the return leg in Croatia’s capital Zagreb.
The Lineman: Week Five NFL picks
OK, it is not exactly the big week I was looking for but 3-3 at least has the Lineman heading back in the right direction. But catch a look at the Pick of the Week 3-1 (soon to be 4-1).
Good tipping to all.
Record: 12-12. Last week 3-3
Pick of the Week: 3-1
PICK OF THE WEEK
San Diego Chargers (3-1) at Denver Broncos (1-3)
Sweaty marathon man Isner runs out of puff
NEW YORK (Reuters) – John Isner showed he has more than just a booming serve during his quarter-final loss to Andy Murray but found the Briton’s gritty play too hard to shake on a baking hot day at Flushing Meadows on Friday.
Isner fought back from two sets down and was poised to take the match the distance before his big serve and usual tiebreak form deserted him and he fell to fourth-seeded Murray in the fourth set decider.
“I would have liked my chances in a fifth set today had it gone that way, but it wasn’t to be. He was the better player today. He deserved it,” the 28th-sedded Isner, who won 13 of 14 tiebreakers in U.S. Open play, told reporters.
“It’s been a good run for me, but I’m still disappointed right now. I’m not satisfied,” added the world number 22 following his promising outing at the year’s final major which proved a little more expensive than Isner first thought.
During his fourth round defeat of Gilles Simon the American used more than 10 shirts as he was sweating so much and needed to buy more. But in hotter conditions and faced with Murray he displayed the kind of fitness levels from his 11-hour record match at last year’s Wimbledon.
“Yeah, I’m a sweater,” he sighed.
Isner has a long way to go to catch the game’s leading lights but the 26-year-old is confident he can close the gap.
Tennis-Sweaty marathon man Isner runs out of puff
NEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) – American John Isner showed he has more than just a booming serve during his quarter-final loss to Andy Murray but found the Briton’s gritty play too hard to shake on a baking hot day at Flushing Meadows on Friday.
Isner fought back from two sets down and was poised to take the match the distance before his big serve and usual tiebreak form deserted him and he fell to fourth-seeded Murray in the fourth set decider. [ID:nN1E788166]
“I would have liked my chances in a fifth set today had it gone that way, but it wasn’t to be. He was the better player today. He deserved it,” the 28th-sedded Isner, who won 13 of 14 tiebreakers in U.S. Open play, told reporters.
“It’s been a good run for me, but I’m still disappointed right now. I’m not satisfied,” added the world number 22 following his promising outing at the year’s final major which proved a little more expensive than Isner first thought.
During his fourth round defeat of Gilles Simon the American used more than 10 shirts as he was sweating so much and needed to buy more. But in hotter conditions and faced with Murray he displayed the kind of fitness levels from his 11-hour record match at last year’s Wimbledon.
“Yeah, I’m a sweater,” he sighed.
Isner has a long way to go to catch the game’s leading lights but the 26-year-old is confident he can close the gap.
Gritty returners face master blasters in semis
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Holder Rafa Nadal and fourth seed Andy Murray will need to be razor sharp to win their U.S. Open quarter-final matches against big-serving 2003 champion Andy Roddick and fellow American blaster John Isner Friday.
Not only will underdogs Roddick and Isner have the crowd on their side but their serves will test all of Nadal and Murray’s high-quality returns as the Spaniard seeks to retain the trophy and the Briton tries to land his first grand slam title.
All of Roddick’s three victories against Nadal in their nine meetings have come on hard courts, including a second-round U.S. Open clash in 2004, with the Spaniard paying tribute to his last eight opponent’s longevity.
“He’s having one of the best careers, being in the top players for, I don’t know, 11 years, 10 years, nine years. That’s a lot. That’s amazing. So I have big respect for Andy,” 10-time grand slam winner Nadal told reporters Thursday.
Roddick knows he will have to reproduce the form he showed in the last 16 Thursday against fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer on a jam-packed outside court.
“I’m gonna have to play pretty aggressively now, similar to what I did today. He’s (Nadal’s) one of the greatest ever, so I’m gonna have to have a repeat at least,” the 21st seed said.
The towering Isner, renowned for beating Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in a fifth set epic at last year’s Wimbledon in a match that lasted over 11 hours, will need to stock up on shirts for his semi-final against the super-fit Murray.
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