From Rediff.com
Salgaocar take full points from NFL opener
by Our Correspondent
December 12, 2001
Former champions Salgaocar, Goa, began their campaign in the sixth edition of the National Football League with a solitary goal victory over FC Kochin at the Nehru stadium in Fatorda, Goa, on Wednesday.
The all-important goal for the 1998-99 champions, who finished sixth out of 12 teams in the last edition of the tournament, was scored by Nigerian striker Glador O'Zaire, in the 47th minute.
O'Zaire latched on to a Bello Rasaq pass from the left flank and placed between the feet of Kochin goalkeeper Ali Abubakar.
Salgoacar could have won by a bigger margin had they made good even half of the chances that came their way, particularly in the second session.
The runners-up of the Goa professional league started off with some quick passing and pressuried the Kochin goal in the initial stages. In the 10th minute their hardworking striker Alvito D'Cunha was well-placed to score but his powerful shot sailed over the bar.
The Kerala team came by their best chance in the 31st minute, but Josiah Seton's shot lacked the power to beat Salgaocar 'keeper Kalyan Chowbey.
Salgaocar had another chance to score in the 35th minute when Eugene Gray sent a pass to O'Zaire, but the last-named shot inches off the upright.
Three minutes before the breather, Kochin were reduced to ten men when defender Martin Mathew was given marching orders by referee S Suresh from Tamil Nadu after being shown his second yellow card for rough play.
In the second session, Salgaocar brought in veteran Bruno for Majeko Bolaji, which lent more thrust to their attack. But despite holding the whiphand after they forged ahead in the 47th minute they failed to score again.
In the 49th minute, Salgoacar could have consolidated their lead, but Zaire's shot from the top of the box went over the bar. Then, in the 63rd minute, Coutinho's power-packed shot off a pass from Eugene Grey, was well saved by the Kocin keeper.
Coutinho had another attempt in the 70th minute but Abubaker fisted it over.
Davenport withdraws from Australian Open
January 8, 2002
World number one Lindsay Davenport of the United States has withdrawn from next week's Australian Open, tournament officials said on Tuesday.
Davenport, Australian Open champion in 2000, pulled out because of a recurring knee injury she suffered last November.
Australian Open tournament director Paul McNamee said it was a bitter blow for Davenport to have to withdraw from the first grand slam event of the year.
"It must be really disappointing for Lindsay to begin her 2002 season this way particularly due to her history of success here at the Australian Open," McNamee said.
Karpov acknowledges Anand as champion
by The Rediff Team
January 11, 2001
So now it is official -- Vishwanathan Anand is the 15th champion of the chess world.
Though he won the title in Teheran in December 2000, there was a shadow cast on his claim, with Anatoly Karpov going in for arbitration.
For those who came in late, a quick backgrounder -- FIDE handed the world title over to Karpov when Kasparov rebelled and formed his own Professional Chess Association. At that point, the format was that the various contenders would play a qualifying round, with the winner meeting Karpov in the final.
Following widespread criticism, FIDE changed the format last year. As per the new format, all contenders for the title had to take part in the league phase of the championship. The two players who came out on top would then face off for the title.
Karpov repudiated this format, demanding that he be seeded straight into the quarterfinal stage, at the least. When FIDE turned down his request, Karpov refused to play.
Once Anand was crowned world champion, Karpov went in for arbitration to press his own claims. A three man panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, chaired by Jan Paulsson, heard the two parties on January 9.
At the end of the proceedings, the following decisions were arrived at:
1) Both FIDE and Karpov acknowledged the FIDE decision as pertains to the new format for the world championship. Further, FIDE's decision to change the World Championship cycle from a two-year affair to an annual one was accepted by Karpov.
2) Karpov formally stated that he had no objection to FIDE conferring the world title to Vishwanathan Anand.
3) Karpov undertook to cease all criticism of FIDE's world championship cycle in any forum. In return, FIDE promised to stop its own stringent criticism of Karpov.
4) FIDE offered, and Karpov accepted, the sum of US $50,000 to compensate the latter for financial losses arising out of not having played the championship cycle over the last two years.
With this, FIDE's new format for the world championship becomes official, and unchallenged. The following are the details:
By January 1 of each year, FIDE will announce its list of the 32 best chess players in the world. This list will be based on their performance during the previous World Chess Championship, and will be led by the current champion. In 2001, the transitional year for the new format, the best 32 chess players will be determined according to their rating.
This group of 32 will form the Championship League in world chess.
During the year, FIDE will organise a series of Grand Prix qualifying tournaments, to be climaxed by the Grand Prix final.
The Grand Prix qualifiers will be a series of events on a monthly basis. This series will comprise existing tournaments plus new ones to be organised by FIDE. Players taking part in the Grand Prix will earn points based on performance.
The 14 players with the most points will be invited to the Grand Prix final. Two others players will be added to this list, as nominees of the President.
The 16 players will compete for the FIDE Grand Prix final in a knock out system for the cash prize. The winner will be named world champion for the year, and will be awarded the Golden Chess Board.
New time controls will be in place at all FIDE events. As per these controls, each player gets 75 minutes for the first 40 moves, with an incremental time of 30 seconds per move in the first session. He will get 15 minutes in total for the rest of the game, with an incremental time of 30 seconds per move.
Further, FIDE will each year organise National Championships and 4 Continental Championships, which overall will determine the 117 candidates for the World Chess Championship, to whom will be added 3 President nominees and 8 best chess players selected from the Internet.
In order to determine the winners from the Net, all who intend to participate are invited to play on the official FIDE site. Each participant will receive a base rating of 1600. The knockout format will result in the selection of 128 players, who will then play another knockout tournament on the Net, to select the final 8. These 8 players will participate in the next World Chess Championship.
The World Chess Championship will start every year on the 25th of November. All 128 players participating will have to play all the rounds, and the final prize will be in the region of US $3 million.
There will be a three week break after the semifinals. The finals, between the two surviving players, will be fought over eight games.
FIDE's list of 32 players, which flags off the start of the world championship cycle, is as follows (Please note that the players are listed as per rank, and all ranks are based on their performance in the FIDE championship cycle last year, and in selected tournaments that, from here on, will form part of the FIDE Grand Prix):
Vishwanathan Anand, Alexei Shirov, Gary Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Michael Adams, Peter Leko, Alexander Morozevich, Vaselin Topalov, Boris Gelfand, Evgeny Bareev, Loek Van Wely, Peter Svidler, Mikhail Gurevich, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Alexander Khalifman, Ilia Smirin, Alexei Dreev, Viktor Bologan, Anatoly Karpov, Ruslan Ponomariov, Kiril Georgiev, Judit Polgar, Nigel Short, Vladislav Tkachiev, Jiangchuan Ye, Zurab Azmaiparashvili, Alexander Grischuk, Sergei Movsesian, Ivan Sokolov, Michal Krasenkow, and Joel Lautier,
Twin World Cup challenge for Germany
January 8, 2002
Germany coach Rudi Voeller expects his team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals this year while playing an attractive brand of attacking football.
"I want to combine success with attractiveness," Voeller told soccer daily Kicker on Monday.
"That means combining a successful result with an enjoyable experience for the spectators.
"I must be realistic and see our immediate goal as the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup for the time being."
Voeller, 41, was appointed on a caretaker basis in the wake of Germany's shock first round exit from Euro 2000.
But he was given the job on a permanent basis after coach-elect Christoph Daum was discarded after testing positive for cocaine, and Voeller now has a contract taking him through to the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.
Voeller, who won the World Cup as a player with Germany in 1990, said he was more annoyed by his country's 0-0 qualifying draw against Finland in October last year than their embarrassing 5-1 home defeat to England a month earlier.
"Against the Finns we were much too fearful and passive, particularly in the first half," he said, adding that he wanted to promote a more attacking style of play.
"What I expect from a national player is quite simple -- that he looks for the one-on-one situation and takes risks."
Voeller said he would be watching Germany's first World Cup group opponents Saudi Arabia when they play Brazil next month and would also travel to the African Nations Cup to watch Cameroon, who Germany also face in Group E.
The World Cup finals begin in South Korea and Japan on May 31.
Hingis starts new season with a win
January 8, 2002
Former world number one Martina Hingis opened her 2002 campaign in clinical fashion on Tuesday, thrashing American doubles specialist Lisa Raymond 6-1 6-1 in the second round of the Sydney International.
Playing her first competitive match since undergoing ankle surgery in October, the 21-year-old Swiss dusted off the cobwebs to claim victory in just 46 minutes.
"It's a great start to the new season, especially because I haven't played for so long," said Hingis, who won the Sydney tournament in 1997 and again last year.
"I felt a little nervous out there and didn't really know what to expect.
"But it's always nice to come back to a place where you have had success in the past. It gives you a little extra kick."
While Hingis hardly missed a beat in her match, Belgium's Wimbledon finalist Justine Henin had to overcome a jittery start to defeat Barbara Schett 7-6 6-3 in their first round encounter.
Henin, beaten by Venus Williams in last weekend's Australian women's hardcourt final, committed 38 unforced errors and struggled to find her range on serve before eventually sealing victory after 82 minutes.
The French enjoyed a mixed start at Sydney's Olympic tennis centre with Sandrine Testud and Julien Boutter both winning easily but Fabrice Santoro losing to Karol Kucera.
Seventh seed Testud breezed through to the second round with a 6-0 6-2 win over Slovenia's Tina Pisnik while Boutter upset men's sixth seed, Swede Thomas Johansson, 7-6 7-5.
Santoro lost 6-4 1-6 6-3 to Kucera while Rainer Schuettler beat his fellow German Nicolas Kiefer 6-2 6-2 and Czech Bohdan Ulihrach defeated Nicolas Lapentti 6-3 6-1.
Lot of hard work ahead: Dhillon
December 16, 2001
After winning the Champions Challenge tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, the Indian hockey team has set its sights on next year's World Cup, though captain Baljit Singh Dhillon says a lot of hard work still needs to be done.
Expressing satisfaction with the team's performance in Malaysia, which will also host the World Cup in in February - March 2002, Dhillon said the team needs to work harder on many areas, especially mid-field so that no chances are missed.
"We missed a lot of chances in this tournament. We should have won the final by at least five or six goals," Dhillon said, on arrival in Delhi from Kuala Lumpur, on Sunday, along with seven of his team mates.
However, Dhillon was very satisfied with the result.
"We succeeded in our game plan and played good hockey. We had a very good rate of penalty-corner conversions; that obviously worked to our advantage," Dhillon said.
He said the combination of senior and junior players had been beneficial to the team as youth and experience complemented each other well. Now, the aim is to continue the good performance in the World Cup and Asian Games next year apart from the Champions Trophy for which India qualified by virtue of having won in Kuala Lumpur, he said.
Argentina score first win
December 9, 2001
Early favourites, Argentina, collected their first three points in a hard-fought 2-1 win over Japan in the Champions Challenge hockey tournament at the National hockey stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. They are now back in contention for the sole Champions Trophy berth.
In the only match of the day, the Argentines had to deal with a hardworking Japanese side, which took control in the early stages of play.
Both teams came into this match-up, after losing their opening matches. The South Americans, the surprise winners of the World Cup qualifier in Edinburgh last July, had lost 3-2 to South Africa, while Japan went down 1-0 to Malaysia.
Japan applied the pressure in the opening stages of play, and their persistence paid off in the 13th minute when Kenichi Katayama collected the ball at the top of the semi circle and fired past goalkeeper Pablo Moreira.
The goal roused the Argentines from their 'siesta'. They found their rhythm and went on the offensive. The Japanese, in particular, goalkeeper Jun Takahashi, kept them at bay until the 22nd minute when Argentina earned their second penalty corner.
Just as he did in the first penalty-corner, Takahashi palmed the flick, but this time Santiago Capurro pounced on the loose ball and got the equaliser.
Now, the Argentines were on a roll and sent the Japanese into a defensive mode. It was the same story after the breather and the Argentines went 2-1 up, four minutes into the second half.
Capurro got his second goal. He collected the ball from a free hit and easily put it past Takahashi. Argentina went in search of more goals, but the Japanese held firm.
Monday's matches: Argentina vs Belgium, South Africa vs Japan, India vs Malaysia..
From Cricinfo.com
2001: Australian cricket's year in review
by John Polack
31 December 2001
Chronicles of any successful year would normally be expected to begin on a triumphant note.
Yet, in 2001, Australian cricket's defining event was its saddest.
The death of Sir Donald Bradman didn't just represent the passing of the world's greatest-ever player. It was also as though a stake had been driven through the heart of the nation.
Bradman's influence, some 53 years beyond the time of his last Test match, still towered over the game. He was Australia's finest cricketer; one of its greatest administrators; and a man whose legend will remain undiminished.
As word of his death spread in the early hours of 26 February, television and radio stations suspended existing broadcasts; writers in magazines and papers commandeered acres of newsprint; and conversations across the country readily turned to the extent to which Bradman had defined what it means to be Australian.
The country's psyche was affected for days, its mood utterly transformed.
The scale of the reaction was unprecedented. Though it wasn't the only event in Australian cricket this year without historical lead.
It was in early March that the national team's production of a 16th consecutive Test victory ensured that it had established a record unlikely to be equalled in a hurry.
As it arrived - at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai - the win looked like proving seminal for other reasons too. It had been 31 years since the country's last series triumph in India and there were few feats or countries that Steve Waugh's team had left to conquer by then.
But it wasn't just at home that normality was being re-defined.
As Waugh enforced a follow-on in Kolkata that seemed set to consign India to series defeat, it triggered a remarkable reversal that only two men appeared to have foreseen. VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, sensing a last chance to defend the 'last frontier', dramatically destroyed the dream that the Australians might never be beaten again.
Albeit that Laxman needed to produce India's highest individual Test score and that they needed to forge the small matter of a 374-run partnership between them to show that it was possible.
Not even a Matthew Hayden double century - in the midst of a record-breaking haul of runs by an Australian during a calendar year - could retrieve the situation in the Third Test in Chennai. Instead, it was Harbhajan Singh's progression to a haul of 32 wickets in three matches that decisively shaped the contest's fate. The Australians were denied in a tension-laced finish.
They were greeted with the consolation of having played in one of the sport's greatest series, and the knowledge that the gap between victor and vanquished had been narrow. Yet there lingered a sense of opportunities lost. Waugh was so moved that he later canvassed the idea of playing into his forties to head to India again.
As deflating as such events may have been, though, they were also isolated. Because Australian cricket, in the main, indulged in another astonishingly successful 12 months as a whole.
It was in July that Australia was crowned as Test cricket's world champion team. Bestowed on the side by the International Cricket Council on the basis of its compelling form over the preceding five years, the legitimacy of the mantle was confirmed by a crushing 5-0 clean sweep of West Indies at the start of 2001; a 4-1 thumping of England in another lopsided Ashes series in the middle of the year; and another uncomplicated triumph over nearest challenger South Africa at the end.
So routine had the players' winning habit become that even draws were seen as outcomes worth avoiding. The team's spirit of enterprise was such that its only Ashes loss arrived as acting captain Adam Gilchrist responded to poor weather in Leeds, eschewed a safety-first option, and risked defeat in the name of keeping a 5-0 series outcome a possibility. Waugh tried the tactic again in a rain-ravaged match against New Zealand in Brisbane, though this time even more boldly in that he did so at the start of a series and armed with an even smaller lead.
It was doubtless this appreciation of the game's broader interests, and the appealing sense of brinkmanship he allied to it, that played a role in helping Waugh land the Allan Border Medal - Australian cricket's greatest individual accolade - in February. The ever-alacritous Colin Miller's acceptance of the Test Player of the Year award was another reward for a player of adventurous spirit. Darren Lehmann's continued anointment as State Player of the Year made it a trifecta.
Lehmann's 12 months were also punctuated by his nomination - alongside Tasmania's Shaun Young - as Mercantile Mutual Cup Player of the Season, and the considerable achievement of becoming the first-foreign born player not only to captain Yorkshire but also to help it to a first-class title. Not to mention his feat in becoming the most prolific run scorer in the 110-year history of interstate first-class cricket in Australia.
His domination individually was mirrored by Queensland collectively as the Bulls secured a maiden set of back-to-back first-class titles. Their win over Victoria in the Final did not come without controversy. Yet there remain few signs that the other states are close to rivalling Queensland cricket's level of professionalism.
Following an eight-year drought, the return of coach Steve Rixon and a match-winning century from the redoubtable Michael Bevan guaranteed that it was New South Wales that claimed the Mercantile Mutual Cup title. The Blues' win marked the end of an innovative limited-overs season, during which a brace of rule changes and an expanded program of matches had been introduced. Further modifications followed later in the year with a competition name-change and the offer of a one million dollar prize to batsmen - the first of its kind in world cricket.
Though it wasn't the year's only sign (in more ways than one) of the extent of cricket's financial growth in Australia in recent times.
As a new Memorandum of Understanding between the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and the Australian Cricketers' Association was signed in May, it became obvious that the country was even moving close to producing its first millionaire player. What was also clear in the document was evidence of a sharp rise in overall Australian cricket revenue during recent summers. Though the departures of the Board's CEO, Malcolm Speed, and its Chairman, Denis Rogers, will raise new challenges for successors James Sutherland and Bob Merriman, the pattern of growth appears under no imminent threat.
In women's cricket, the national team rebounded from a heartbreaking defeat in the World Cup Final late in 2000 to re-assert its status as an international powerhouse. Karen Rolton carved a niche in the record books by registering the highest score in women's Test history with an innings of 209 at Headingley in July. Just for good measure, this came only one match after Michelle Goszko had equalled the old mark of 204. Legendary fast bowler Charmaine Mason's retirement offered a sad note, but there were few other negatives as an Ashes clean sweep was complemented by five straight victories over England and Ireland in the respective series of one-day internationals that followed.
It was also a tumultuous year for the country's younger players. Following Rod Marsh's shock departure as head of the Australian Cricket Academy in July to accept the equivalent post in England, the ACB commissioned an intensive review of its means of training and educating aspiring cricketers. By December it was ready to act upon the review's findings, unveiling a series of initiatives aimed at revamping the 13-year-old Academy system and introducing a more comprehensive network of development programs.
Precisely how such measures affect the ways in which Australia's cricketers of the future are identified and developed remains to be seen.
How ever the process occurs, though, it is inevitable that such players - and administrators - confront a daunting task. For they will be hard pressed to replicate the standard that applies to virtually all aspects of the game right now.
Its greatest practitioner has gone and a pair of its most respected administrators too. Yet, at the end of 2001, Australian cricket remains in rudely good health.
From Yahoo.com
Mayor: No new stadiums this year
by TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Associated Press Writer
January 7, 2002
NEW YORK (AP) -- A plan for publicly funded ballparks for the Yankees and Mets hit a snag Monday when Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city won't build stadiums this year because of its budget crisis.
``At the moment, everybody understands -- given the lack of housing, given the lack of school space, given the deficit in the operating budget -- it is just not practical this year to go and to build new stadiums,'' Bloomberg said.
Three days before he left office last month, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani signed tentative agreements with the teams to build two new $800 million stadiums, with the city paying half of that cost.
Bloomberg had expressed skepticism about the deals, given the city's projected $4 billion deficits for each of the next three years, but Monday's comments were his most explicit so far.
The mayor did say, however, that he would honor a provision of the Giuliani agreement that requires the city to pay each team $5 million a year for the next five years for design and other planning costs.
Giuliani did not return calls for comment.
The teams, which had a close working relationship with Giuliani, were surprised by Bloomberg's announcement.
Nevertheless, Yankees spokesman Howard Rubenstein expressed guarded optimism.
``The Yankees will work closely with the mayor and they're sensitive to the city's needs just as he is,'' said Rubenstein. ``The Yankees require a great deal of planning before they can execute a final deal.''
Rubenstein pointed out that the arrangement negotiated by the Giuliani administration did not require the city to begin making interest payments on the bonds to finance the stadium for several years.
``No city payments were to be made for five years,'' he said. ``Mayor Bloomberg has acknowledged that planning money has been set aside, so the project is going forward with care.''
Mets senior vice president Dave Howard said the team understands Bloomberg's decision on the stadiums.
``We will await further direction from the mayor and we'll be ready to resume the discussions when he deems it appropriate,'' Howard said.
Bloomberg did leave some hope that new ballparks will eventually be built, and said the city will continue to work with the teams.
``Down the road if the economy improves, I'd like to see great stadiums like everybody else,'' said Bloomberg.
The agreement negotiated by Giuliani provides that the city will issue $1.6 billion in tax exempt construction bonds to pay for building costs of the retractable roof stadiums. The teams and the city would split the $50 million a year debt service.
In addition, the teams would reimburse the city for half of the principal cost of the ballparks -- $400 million apiece spread over many years. They also would sign 35-year leases with no escape clauses.
When Giuliani announced the tentative deal Dec. 28, the outgoing mayor confidently said he had no doubt that Bloomberg would sign off as well.
``I can't imagine he won't support it,'' said Giuliani.
The Yankees' lease with the city expires after the 2002 season.
Five Questions: No team dominant in college hoops
By Mike DeCourcy - The Sporting News
Jan 7, 2002
Questions to ponder following the first weekend of conference play:
1. What are we to make of the weekend's carnage?
The first thing that has to be acknowledged is that no team in college basketball is great right now. Oh, Kansas can go ahead and enjoy its No. 1 ranking. The Jayhawks earned it as much as anyone else. But before any KU fans e-mail and scream their outrage, they should remember that less than a week ago Valparaiso had them in a game with two minutes left. At Allen Fieldhouse.
There still are teams with the potential to be great, but Kentucky needs better game management from the point, Florida has to defend as well in the half court as it does when pressing, Duke must fix the holes in its defense and Illinois is searching for consistency at nearly every position. As for the Jayhawks, they haven't shown they can handle speed on the perimeter -- even though they're playing a three-guard offense.
The other thing that should be remembered is there aren't many teams that have used up their chances. At 3-6, Wisconsin was given up for dead. Now, the Badgers are 8-7 with quality wins over Marquette and Illinois. The NCAA Tournament is not beyond them -- nor many others in major conferences.
2. How many of the weekend's results truly were "upsets?"
That word sure gets abused, doesn't it?
In fact, it's too early in the season to definitively establish what is and is not an upset in conference play. Was Pittsburgh's win at Boston College an upset? It was significant for the Panthers because it came on the road, but both schools' pre-conference schedules didn't tell enough about either team to establish their relative strength.
Texas' win at Oklahoma State was impressive, but hardly an upset. The Longhorns regularly have played well at Gallagher-Iba. The losses for Iowa, Illinois, Michigan State, Kentucky and Miami all came on the road against teams that have been inconsistent but have potential.
Perhaps the truest of upsets came in the ACC, where Virginia lost to NC State and Duke fell at Florida State. The Cavaliers and Blue Devils entered the weekend with a combined 21-0 record and were playing in circumstances where they rarely were challenged. The Cavs hadn't lost at home to NC State in more than a decade. Duke hadn't lost to an ACC opponent other than Maryland, Virginia or North Carolina in more than four years and hadn't lost to Florida State since 1994-95. In conference play, that's about as close to an upset as you get.
3. What secrets did Florida State's victory over Duke reveal about the best ways to beat the Blue Devils?
First, the Seminoles proved it can be done. There still were believers in a "run-the-table" scenario for the Devils even though they were pushed to the finish by teams as disparate as Seton Hall and Kentucky. For members of the ACC, the sight of Florida State celebrating at the end of that game had to provide confidence that the scene can be repeated on their campuses.
Like Seton Hall, Florida State was eager to run against Duke. The Seminoles pushed the ball when they got a clean rebound or turnover. They weren't especially efficient on the break, but they got some easy baskets and set a tone for the game. They also put pressure on the Devils' guards to defend on the run. Even with all the blowouts Duke has enjoyed -- 10 of the 12 wins were by double-figure margins -- Jason Williams and Chris Duhon are averaging better than 33 minutes. It doesn't hurt to contribute what you can to their fatigue.
The Seminoles were effective running the pick-and-roll, especially when they could involve Duke's Carlos Boozer as a defender. He is too content to be a spectator on that play.
It also helps to be lucky. Duke shot 7-of-19 from the foul line. Excepting Williams, the Devils were 7-of-25 on 3s -- most of those being open shots. They're not going to miss like that often.
4. Is Uche Okafor finished at Missouri?
Not just yet. Okafor, a 6-11 center from Nigeria by way of Russia, Canada and the College of Southern Idaho, has an eligibility appeal hearing Tuesday that the Tigers are hopeful will revive his career. Earlier, an eligibility committee ruled that Okafor intended to become a professional when he signed a contract with a team in Russia.
Okafor maintains he intended to gain entry to the United States to play college basketball and he was promised signing in Russia would help him achieve that goal. It's a similar argument to that presented by Muhammad Lasege, who played last year for Louisville on a court injunction after the NCAA made a similar ruling in his case.
Although the NCAA went to great lengths to prevent Lasege from playing, including a protracted battle in the Kentucky courts the organization eventually won, Okafor's case for eligibility is even stronger. Like Lasege, Okafor maintains he did not receive compensation beyond living expenses. Okafor, however, never played for the team that signed him. And he also will demonstrate he tried to enter the U.S. before he went to Russia but was denied entry. Okafor might yet find his way onto the court for the Tigers, but only if justice is done.
5. Should the Texas Longhorns face any repercussions for Saturday's incident at Oklahoma State?
Nothing other than heightened respect for a team that could defeat the Cowboys on their home court.
What transpired Saturday in the closing seconds of the Longhorns' victory was a disgrace, but only as it regarded the behavior of the fan who attacked UT point guard T.J. Ford. Sitting in lower rows that close to the court carries with it the hazard -- some would say the potential thrill -- of dealing with a player whose zeal to make a play carries him beyond the boundaries of the court. The fan in question either did not consider his responsibility or simply ignored it when Ford came across the baseline.
The pregnancy of the fan's spouse was made an issue in media coverage, but it presented no justification for the fan's behavior. Why? Look at the videotape of the incident. After the woman is knocked down, Ford is shown reaching to check if she is OK. The fan never takes his eyes off Ford and soon instigates the fracas.
Several Longhorns came to Ford's defense and some engaged in behavior that, if contained to the court and the game's participants, would merit suspensions -- including guard Freddie Williams' decision to leave the bench and become involved. However, with recent crowd behavior incidents in Cleveland and New Orleans, players witnessing a teammate being struck cannot be expected to dismiss his plight.