UFC 84 - Ill Will

The fight game can get very personal and the war of words between UFC Lightweight Champion “THE PRODIGY” BJ PENN and former champ SEAN “THE MUSCLE SHARK” SHERK has taken personal to a whole new level. The talking stops and the real competition begins as these two men step into the Octagon to determine the undisputed king of the 155-lb. division.

Plus, the controversial “HUNTINGTON BEACH BAD BOY” TITO ORTIZ faces undefeated Karate master LYOTO “THE DRAGON” MACHIDA.

UFC 84 - Silva Training Hard for Jardine

Wanderlei Silva says he knows the importance of his UFC 84 fight against Keith Jardine on May 24 after losing his last three bouts.

Silva and Jardine meet at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in a much-anticipated light-heavyweight clash.

Both men enter the bout off the back of fights against the legendary Chuck Liddell, although they enjoyed differing fortunes against the “Iceman”.

Silva, the 31-year-old Brazilian, is looking to get his career back on track after dropping a decision to Liddell in their epic, fight-of-the-year clash at UFC 79 in late December.

Meanwhile, Jardine will be fighting for the first time in eight months after his shock split-decision win over Liddell at UFC 76 in September.

While Silva is looking to get back on track after losing his last three fights (one in UFC, two in the final days of PRIDE), Jardine is hoping that a victory will help his continuing claims for a shot at the light-heavyweight title held by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

Picks for UFC 84:

Main Event Pick:

Penn (Win by KO)

Undercard Picks:

Silva (Win by TKO)

Ortiz (Win KO)

MacDonald (Win KO)

Check out these links to the best sites around:

http://www.titoortiz.com/

http://www.ufc.com/

http://www.maxfighting.com

http://www.sherdog.com/

Big Brown is the clear favorite for the Preakness Stakes on May 17th.

Big Brown now faces an all-too-quick two-week turnaround to the 1 3/16-mile Preakness.

The arduous 1 1/2-mile “Test of a Champion” that is the Belmont Stakes follows on June 7 at New York’s Belmont Park.

Kentucky-bred Big Brown, his skin glistening in the morning sun, looked as if he was ready to get it on again as he was bathed outside Barn 22 on Sunday. But it was too soon for him to tell his alert handlers much of anything about his readiness for the middle leg of the Triple Crown.

Dutrow, recognizing the history that appears to be well within reach, does not intend to give him a workout before the Preakness. He wants to do everything possible to minimize the Triple Crown grind of three races in five weeks.

“Light training,” Dutrow said of his immediate plans. “I don’t see any reason to put pressure on him.

“I know we have the best horse. I know that.”

Jockey Kent Desormeaux proclaimed Big Brown as the best horse he’s ever ridden for his combination of speed and intelligence. It is a huge statement since he was aboard Derby champions Real Quiet (1998) and Fusaichi Pegasus (2000).

“He’s got the ability to have multiple gears,” Desormeaux said. “I mean, this is only what Derby winners can do. They can move you into a position, and then cruise, and then take you to another position and then cruise again. That’s what he does.

“What is the gear like? Every time I ask him, it’s like leaving the starting gate again.”

The most impressive aspect of Big Brown’s triumph was his willingness to bide his time in sixth place through much of the backstretch run before unleashing an overwhelming move.

“I just left him alone and let him canter until I needed him,” Desormeaux said. “I showed him the stick and — whoosh! — he puts me in a new position.”

He may just place them in Triple Crown history. See our Preakness Stakes page for details.

The 2008 Kentucky Derby will have a full field, meaning 20 3-year-old horses will enter the starting gate May 3 at Churchill Downs.

So many of them should not bother this year. At this point, it is extremely difficult to imagine any horse other than Pyro, Big Brown or Colonel John winning the 134th Derby.

Pyro, who will have his final prep in the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland, and Florida Derby winner Big Brown are generally considered the top two 3-year-olds in the country, but Colonel John also deserves mention and could upset both of them in 25 days.

Although he has yet to prove himself on conventional dirt, Colonel John was very professional in his best win, in the Santa Anita Derby. Being a son of two time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Tiznow, he also should have no trouble with the Derby distance of 1 ¼ miles.

Colonel John was the only winner of a Derby prep on Saturday who is a legitimate contender in Louisville.

The Wood Memorial at Aqueduct was an ugly affair. Tale of Ekati prevailed despite a turtle-like final eighth of a mile. Rest assured, the last furlong of the Kentucky Derby won’t take more than 14 seconds to complete.

As for War Pass, the Derby is the last place he should compete in three weeks from Saturday. If the 2-year-old champion of 2007 couldn’t win the Wood after being hounded early through some quick fractions by a hopeless longshot, how is he going to take the heat of Big Brown at Churchill Downs and keep going? War Pass is a one-dimensional speed horse who needs everything in his favor, and that is not a trip he is going to get on the first Saturday of next month. If he does start, a 16th or 17th place finish - or worse — is in his future.

All the Illinois Derby showed, which was won by front-running longshot Recapturetheglory, is that Atoned, Denis of Cork and Z Humor aren’t legitimate Derby threats. Recapturetheglory, whose only win before Saturday came against maidens, will never get an easier trip. All he will be in the Derby is another pace casualty.

Of all the stakes races run around the country Saturday, no winner was more impressive than Zenyatta in the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

The massive daughter of Street Cry blew away a field that included Ginger Punch, the 2007 older filly/mare champion, for her fourth win in as many starts for owners Jerry and Ann Moss and trainer John Shirreffs.

It would be exciting to see Zenyatta take on males in the coming months because there is no handicap horse in California that could touch her. Her presence would spice up the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup, which will be run June 28 at Hollywood Park.

For more Kentucky Derby News see our dedicated 2008 Kentucky Derby page.

Tiger Woods arrived at Augusta on Monday with fellow American Steve Stricker saying the four-time Masters champion will be unstoppable if he is on form. The world number one launches his bid for a fifth green jacket and a 14th major title on Thursday having triumphed in nine of his last 11 starts.

“Obviously he’s the favourite coming in here,” world number four Stricker told reporters after practice on Monday.

“I mean, the course, and his play, the way he’s played this year, there’s no question he’s the odds-on favourite to win here.”

Woods has been virtually unstoppable this year, winning his first four tournaments before finishing fifth at last month’s WGC-CA Championship in Miami.

“How many has he won here already, four? That shows you something right there. You realise that he’s the guy to beat,” the PGA Tour’s 2006 and 2007 comeback player of the year added.

“If he plays well, no one is going to beat him. I’ve seen him enough lately that if he’s on his game, he’s impossible to beat.”

“He can’t have any slip-ups. It’s just tough to win a golf tournament and there’s so many good players that he’s going to have to play well to do it.”

With talk of a calendar grand slam abounding, Stricker said that a lot of intangibles will have to go right if Woods is to become the first to achieve golf’s greatest accomplishment.

“There’s a lot of factors that go into winning a golf tournament,” said Striker. “He (Woods) knows that, too?

“Especially going over to the British Open; you could get on the wrong side of a draw over there and be 10 shots back in a hurry.

“You’ve got to have some good breaks, and you have to play well, and hopefully, someone else doesn’t just tear it up that week, too, which is always a possibility.”

Click here for more golf news. 

Here is the list of PGA Masters Invitees Robert Allenby (Australia)(14,16,18)
Stephen Ames (Canada)(5,17,18)
Stuart Appleby (Australia)(10,17,18)
Woody Austin (13,14,15,16,17,18)
Aaron Baddeley (Australia)(14,16,17,18)
# Brian Bateman (15)
Jonathan Byrd (15,16)
Angel Cabrera (Argentina)(2,17,18)
Mark Calcavecchia (14,16,17,18)
Michael Campbell (New Zealand)(2)
Paul Casey (England)(10,17,18)
K. J. Choi (Korea)(14,15,16,17,18)
# Daniel Chopra (15)
Stewart Cink (14,16,17,18)
Tim Clark (South Africa)(10,14,16,17,18)
Fred Couples (1)
Ben Crenshaw (1)
Ben Curtis (3)
Luke Donald (England)(10,14,17,18)
# Nick Dougherty (England)(11,17)
Ernie Els (South Africa)(12,13,14,15,16,17,18)
Niclas Fasth (Sweden)(11,17,18)
Steve Flesch (14)
Raymond Floyd (1)
Jim Furyk (2,10,11,14,15,16,17,18)
Sergio Garcia (Spain)(12,14,16,17,18)
Retief Goosen (South Africa)(2,10,17,18)
# Richard Green (Australia)(12,17)
Todd Hamilton (3)
# Anders Hansen (Denmark)(17)
# Soren Hansen (Denmark)(17,18)
Padraig Harrington (Ireland)(3,10,14,16,17,18)
# J. B. Holmes (15)
Charles Howell III (14,16,17,18)
Trevor Immelman (South Africa)(17,18)
Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain)(17,18)
Zach Johnson (1,14,15,16,17,18)
Robert Karlsson (Sweden)(17,18)
Shingo Katayama (Japan)(17)
# Martin Kaymer (Germany)(18)
Jerry Kelly (10,11)
* Trip Kuehne (9)
Bernhard Langer (Germany)(1)
Justin Leonard (18)
Peter Lonard (Australia)(18)
Steve Lowery (15)
Sandy Lyle (Scotland)(1)
Hunter Mahan (14,15,16,17,18)
# Prayad Marksaeng (Thailand)
Shaun Micheel (4)
Phil Mickelson (1,4,5,14,15,16,17,18)
Larry Mize (1)
Arron Oberholser (13,17,18)
Geoff Ogilvy (Australia)(2,14,16,15,17,18)
Sean O’Hair (15,18)
Nick O’Hern (Australia)(17,18)
Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain)(1)
Mark O’Meara (1)
Gary Player (South Africa)(1)
Ian Poulter (England)(10,17,18)
John Rollins (14,16)
# Andres Romero (Argentina)(12,15,17,18)
Justin Rose (England)(10,14,16,17,18)
Rory Sabbatini (South Africa)(10,14,15,16,17,18)
Adam Scott (Australia)(14,16,17,18)
# John Senden (Australia)(13,18)
Jeev Milkha Singh (India)
Vijay Singh (Fiji)(1,4,10,14,16,17,18)
# Heath Slocum (14,16)
Brandt Snedeker (14,15,16,17,18)
Craig Stadler (1)
Henrik Stenson (Sweden)(17,18)
# Richard Sterne (South Africa)(17,18)
Steve Stricker (14,15,16,17,18)
Toru Taniguchi (Japan)(17,18)
Vaughn Taylor (10)
#* Michael Thompson (6-B)
David Toms (10,11,17)
D.J. Trahan (15)
Scott Verplank (11,14,15,16,17,18)
Camilo Villegas (Colombia)(16)
# Nick Watney (15)
# Bubba Watson (11)
Tom Watson (1)
#* Drew Weaver (7)
# Boo Weekley (14,15,16,17,18)
Mike Weir (Canada)(1,17,18)
# Liang Wen-Chong (China)
Lee Westwood (England)(17,18)
Brett Wetterich (14,16,17)
Tiger Woods (1,3,4,10,11,14,15,16,17,18)
Ian Woosnam (Wales)(1)
Fuzzy Zoeller (1)

Past champions not playing: Tommy Aaron, Severiano Ballesteros, Jack Burke Jr., Billy Casper, Charles Coody, Nick Faldo, Doug Ford, Bob Goalby, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer.

#- Denotes first Masters
*- Denotes Amateur

Number after each name indicates the basis of qualification. The Masters Committee, at its discretion, also invites international players not otherwise qualified.

1. Masters Tournament Champions(Lifetime)
2. US Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after 5 years)
3. British Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after 5 years)
4. PGA Champions (Honorary, non-competing after 5 years)
5. Winners of The Players Championship (3 years)
6. Current US Amateur Champion (6-A) (Honorary, non-competing after 1 year) and the runner-up (6-B) to the current US Amateur Champion
7. Current British Amateur Champion (Honorary, non-competing after 1 year)
8. Current US Amateur Public Links Champion
9. Current US Mid-Amateur Champion
10. The first 16 players, including ties, in the 2007 Masters Tournament
11. The first 8 players, including ties, in the 2007 US Open Championship
12. The first 4 players, including ties, in the 2007 British Open Championship
13. The first 4 players, including ties, in the 2007 PGA Championship
14. The 30 leaders on the Final Official PGA Tour Money List for 2007
15. Winners of PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship, from previous Masters to current Masters
16. Those qualifying for the season-ending 2007 Tour Championship
17. The 50 leaders on the Final Official World Golf Ranking for 2007
18. The 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the 2008 Masters Tournament.

Opening Day of the 2008-09 MLB Baseball Season is here, first with a pair of Boston-Oakland games in Japan, then with Ryan Zimmerman’s unbelievable walk-off homer to beat Atlanta in the first regular-season game at Nationals Park in Washington, and now with 14 Major League Baseball games today, including the last opener at Yankee Stadium.

There will be pageantry and patriotism galore, bunting on the walls, personal and municipal traditions to follow, and companies everywhere fielding calls from employees who can’t make it to work because of the dreaded Opening Day Sickness.

See our Baseball page for MLB News, Info andGame Schedule. Click here.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, March Madness, is suddenly here. Office-workers all over the US are getting their bracket picks ready, employing tactics like getting their cousin’s “secret” predictions, or picking team names out of a hat.

But picking a march madness bracket is serious work, so SportsCityLine presents - “Ten Things You Need to Know Before Picking an NCAA bracket” (more…)

Well spring is in the air, and that means the return of March Madness College Basketball Playoff action! This Saturday is already shaping up to be a doozy, including a huge game between Duke and NC. The full schedule is below. Stay tuned to SportsCityLine for all your NCAA Basketball news and bracket picks.

NFL Pro Bowl 2008 - Sunday, Feb. 10
Aloha Stadium, Honolulu
AFC vs. NFC

The 2008 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl, the NFL Pro Bowl in 2008 will be played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 10, 2008. The game will be televised in the United States by FOX.

The starting rosters for the game were released on December 18, 2007, with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady starting for the AFC (Brady has since pulled out after the Super Bowl loss to the NY Giants) and the Green Bay Packers’ Brett Favre for the NFC. Notable Pro Bowl selections include the late Sean Taylor. The Dallas Cowboys had a record thirteen players named to the Pro Bowl roster, while five teams, including all four members of the NFC South, had no players named, until Jeff Garcia was chosen as a replacement for Brett Favre. The AFC will be coached by Norv Turner and the San Diego Chargers staff, while Mike McCarthy and the staff of the Green Bay Packers will coach the NFC. Three Washington Redskins players (Chris Cooley, Chris Samuels and Ethan Albright) will wear #21 in memory of Taylor, their deceased teammate. On February 4, 2008, Brady, Patriots receiver Randy Moss (Moss has also pulled out after the Super Bowl loss to the NY Giants), Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, and Chargers defensive lineman Jamal Williams decided to pull out of the 2008 Pro Bowl. Brady will be replaced by Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson, Moss will be replaced by Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chad Johnson, Gates will be replaced by Browns tight end Kellen Winslow, and Williams will be replaced by Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Casey Hampton.

See our Pro Bowl page for news, tickets, odds & lines and general information.

Sports City Line 2008 Pro Bowl Special

MELBOURNE - Second seed Rafael Nadal survived an early test of his Australian Open credentials, battling to a 7-6 7-5 6-1 win over Viktor Troicki, a Serbian qualifier in his first grand slam appearance.

Showing no signs of nerves, world number 126 Troicki forced a set point at 6-5 in the first set and led 4-2 in the second before Nadal finally wore him down to clinch victory in two hours, 35 minutes.

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“He played very, very aggressively,” Nadal said in a courtside interview.

“Today I was struggling at some times in the match. I couldn’t get the rhythm in the beginning but in the third set I think I played a bit better.”

In the cool evening conditions, Nadal missed the chance to serve out for the first set at 5-4 and then had to save a set point in the 12th game, before winning the tiebreak 7-3.

Troicki then broke in the third game of the second set on his way to a 4-2 lead but Nadal leveled at 4-4 and after pinching the set, he eased through the third to win a match that finished in the early hours of Tuesday.

See more tennis news here: Tennis News