Monthly Archives: March 2014

CONCACAF Champions League, Soccer

LA Galaxy Failed to Advance in Mexico Last Night, Can Sporting KC Or The San Jose Earthquakes Break The Curse Tonight?

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Previous CONCACAF Champions League Coverage

The LA Galaxy didn’t need a win last night in Mexico but they needed to play well. Going down 3-0 inside of the first 25 minutes doesn’t qualify. A brutal start to the game that saw mistakes all around dug a hole too deep for the Galaxy to find their way out of and their hopes of advancing in the CONCACAF Champions League came to an end. They did manage to score a goal to start the second half to get within a goal of advancing but a Tijuana goal with eight minutes left proved to be decisive. The Galaxy did fight back for one more but never could get the tie back on level terms and ending up falling 4-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate.

Tonight our attention turns to the San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting KC. The Earthquakes are taking on Toluca and are heavy underdogs to advance in Mexico. Toluca was 4-0 in the group stage and sit second in Liga MX so far this spring. The Earthquakes have a lot of work to do after only drawing 1-1 at home. They have to score in Mexico tonight to have any chance and can’t afford to lose. With a win seeming hard to fathom the path for the Earthquakes is likely a scoring draw that leads to penalties (1-1 tie) or perhaps scoring twice and winning in regulation in a draw. It will take a herculean effort tonight in Mexico but perhaps the Earthquakes are the ones to do it.

Sporting KC has a much easier path against Cruz Azul, but the opponent may be even harder. Cruz Azul was also 4-0 in the group stage and they lead Liga MX right now. Still Sporting knows they can get a result as they did in Kansas City last week, though Mexico is another story. A draw would be enough for Sporting KC and they could even advance on a one-goal loss if they score.

The Galaxy showed several things last night in their loss at Tijuana. They showed how important it is to come out of the gate strong and not give up early goals. Sporting KC has the advantage heading into this game so they can play from the lead as long as they keep the clean sheet. Secondly we saw how big an away goal is. The Galaxy were AWFUL in the first half but their goal to start the second half instantly transformed the game and they were one bounce going the right way from advancing. If Sporting KC can score tonight Cruz Azul will need three to move on and that might be asking a lot.

Both games are on Fox Sports 2 (FS2) back-to-back so it should be an exciting night of USA vs. Mexico soccer.

My predictions: San Jose 0-2 Toluca … Sporting KC 1-2 Cruz Azul

Schedule:

  • March 19th
    • 8 PM ET – San Jose Earthquakes @ Toluca (Mexico) – Fox Sports 2
    • 10 PM ET – Sporting KC @ Cruz Azul (Mexico) – Fox Sports 2
ATP Tour, Tennis, WTA Tour

Seven Americans Including Madison Keys and Alison Riske In Sony Open First Round Today

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Previous Sony Open Coverage 

The Sony Open kicks into high gear today as qualifying is over and the singles draws start in full force. Two Americans did play in the first round yesterday with Varvara Lepchenko getting a win 7-5, 6-1 over Yanina Wickmayer and Bethanie Mattek-Sands seeing her tournament end quickly after a 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 loss to Elina Svitoina, a tough opening round draw for Mattek-Sands.

Womens Singles - 3-19-14

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Four of the seven Americans (Madison Keys, Alison Riske, Vania King, and Victoria Duval) are taking on qualifiers and are the higher ranked player in their matchup. Coco Vandeweghe, who emerged from qualifying for the US, takes on Marina Erakovic and is the underdog. That leaves two other matchups that are worth highlighting. Lauren Davis, who had such a great BNP Paribas Open before coming down with food poisoning in the round of 16, takes on Shuai Zhang. Zhang is one of the best unseeded players in the field so this is a tough first round matchup for Davis. Hopefully Davis can continue her strong form from Indian Wells and have another strong week. The other interesting matchup is Christina McHale and Jie Zheng. Both are ranked in the mid-50s so that has all the look of a really good battle.

Schedule:

  • March 19th – 11 AM-11 PM ET – Tennis Channel
    • Women’s First Round
      • 11 AM ET – Lauren Davis vs. Shuai Zhang – Court 1 – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
      • 11 AM ET – Vania King vs. Estrella Cabeza Candela – First ever meeting
      • Approx 1 PM ET – Victoria Duval vs. Kiki Bertens – Bertens leads 1-0 all-time
      • Approx 3 PM ET – Coco Vandeweghe vs. Marina Erakovic – First ever meeting
      • Approx 3 PM ET – Christina McHale vs. Jie Zheng – Stadium – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
      • Approx 7 PM ET – Alison Riske vs. Nadiya Kichenok – Court 1 – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
      • Approx 9:30 PM ET – Madison Keys vs. Anett Kontaveit – Stadium – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
Curling, World Championships

The Melting Pot: Tough Couple Days Has US in Trouble at World Women’s Curling Championship

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Remember when the US was 3-0? It was only 48 hours ago but things have changed a lot since then. A tough Monday saw the US lose 8-5 to Sweden and 9-3 to Canada (two teams that are both now 6-1).

Then on Tuesday the US started off with Russia and a good close match. The US took a 4-3 lead after stealing one in the sixth end and after a Russian deuce evened it at 5-5 in the eighth. Russia did take the lead 6-5 but the US was in position in the tenth end with the hammer to either win the match or send it to an extra end. Instead they allowed Russia to steal another deuce to grab the 8-5 win. Russia is now 5-2 after seven matches.

To end the day the US took on Switzerland and fell behind 6-0 after a disastrous first four ends. The Swiss never held the hammer but scored two in ends one and four and singles in between. The US rebounded to close to 7-6 going into the final end but couldn’t complete the comeback. The Swiss are the third team to sit at 6-1, it was a brutal stretch in the schedule and the US couldn’t get a win in there.

So now the US sits in seventh at 3-4 with four matches left. Only the top four advance to the playoffs so the US would need to catch all of those teams currently two games ahead. Looking at the US schedule remaining it’s probably doable to go 4-0. The Czech Republic and Latvia, tomorrow’s opponents, are both 1-6 while the US faces Scotland (2-5) and Korea (5-2) on the final day.

The question is whether those there 5-2 teams will lose a couple games the rest of the way. Korea obviously still faces the US and also has Canada still to come. China and Russia still face each other with China also facing Canada and Sweden. Russia also faces Switzerland. If the 6-1 teams (Canada, Sweden, Switzerland) all win their matchups against the 5-2 teams and the US wins out the only other result the US would need is China defeating Russia. It’s certainly not the wildest scenario to see the US in a tiebreaker.

But it won’t happen unless the US plays better tomorrow against the Czech Republic and Latvia. All they can do is do their part and hope for some results in other matches that go their way.

Schedule:

  • March 19th
    • 8:30 AM ET – USA vs. Czech Republic
    • 6:30 PM ET – USA vs. Latvia
CONCACAF Champions League, Soccer

LA Galaxy Will Try to Be First MLS Team To Advance In Mexico In CONCACAF Champions League

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It’s been a tough task for MLS teams heading to Mexico trying to move on in the CONCACAF Champions League. Never before has a team gone to Mexico and gotten the result to advance. We have seen an American team get a result on home soil to advance (Seattle over UANL last year) but the holy grail is still going to Mexico in the second leg and doing enough to move on.

Tonight the LA Galaxy get a chance to end that when they make the short trek down the coast to Tijuana. The Galaxy hold a 1-0 lead on aggregate so they don’t even need to win tonight, a draw would be enough. The Galaxy will be surely looking for an early away goal which would mean that Tijuana needs three to advance.

Last year the Galaxy advanced to the semifinals but were beaten 2-1 in Los Angeles before losing 1-0 at Monterrey. Next year they will not be taking part, so the pressure is on to try and advance further this year.

MLSSoccer.com has a preview of the game. It should be an exciting one and the great news is that it’s on Fox Sports 2 (FS2) at 10 PM ET.

Prediction: A 1-1 tie that sees Los Angeles advance.

ATP Tour, Tennis, WTA Tour

Sony Open Tennis: Nine American Men and Three American Women Start Qualifying Today

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Qualifying kicks off in the Sony Open today with 12 Americans taking part. Four of the US men are seeded (#13 Jack Sock, #16 Tim Smyczek, #17 Denis Kudla, #18 Michael Russell) while the other five will start by taking on seeded teams. Those five are Wayne Odesnik, Deiton Baughman, Alex Kuznetsov, Rhyne Williams, and Steve Johnson. Johnson takes on fellow American Michael Russell in the first round of qualifying.

On the women’s side none of the women are seeded. Melanie Oudin, Shelby Rogers, and Coco Vandeweghe are the ones set to take part. Some nice young names with real potential that hopefully can find there way into the draw.

Things kick off at 10 AM ET. The order of play can be found on the Sony Open website.

Curling, Short Track Speed Skating, Short Track World Championships, The Melting Pot, World Championships

The Melting Pot: J.R. Celski Wins Men’s 3000m, Jessica Smith Second in Women’s 3000m at Short Track Speed Skating World Championships

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Short Track Speed Skating World Championships – Montreal, Canada

The Short Track Speed Skating wrapped up with the World Championships finishing on Sunday. In the women’s 1000m Emily Scott got knocked out in the heats finishing third but Jessica Smith advanced to the quarterfinals before finishing fourth in her heat and being eliminated.

In the men’s 1000m both Chris Creveling and J.R. Celski advanced from the heats and the quarterfinals without any issues but ran into problems in the semifinals. Celski finished third and Creveling finished fourth after a fall and both were eliminated.

In the women’s 3000m superfinal Jessica Smith was very strong and finished second about 0.8 seconds back and and as the only one within a second of the winner. In the men’s 3000m superfinal J.R. Celski did her one better by winning by over two seconds.

It was a strong World Championships for the US who did much better than in Sochi.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • Women’s 1000m
      • 11:52 AM ET – Heats
        • Jessica Smith
        • Emily Scott
      • 1:19 PM ET – Quarterfinals
      • 2:03 PM ET – Semifinals
      • 2:34 PM ET – Final
    • Men’s 1000m
      • 12:21 PM ET – Heats
        • J.R. Celski
        • Chris Creveling
      • 1:33 PM ET – Quarterfinals
      • 2:11 PM ET – Semifinals
      • 2:41 PM ET – Final
    • Women’s 3000m
      • 3:03 PM ET – Superfinal
    • Men’s 3000m
      • 3:13 PM ET – Superfinal

World Women’s Curling Championships – St. John’s, Canada

The US went 2-0 on Sunday at the World Women’s Curling Championship knocking off Germany 6-5 by scoring three in the fourth end and two in the eighth end to grab a 6-2 lead that they hung on to win. In their second match of the day they dominated Denmark 13-2 by scoring twos in the opening two ends (both times without the hammer), and a five in the fourth end with the hammer. When they scored a four in the sixth end with the hammer Denmark conceded with four ends left and down 11.

The US is now one of two teams to get to 3-0 (along with Switzerland). They have a real good shot at advancing from Round Robin play if they can keep this up. Things get a little tougher and more telling on Monday when they take on Sweden and Canada who are both 2-1.

Schedule:

  • March 17th
    • 8:30 AM ET – USA vs. Sweden
    • 6:30 PM ET – USA vs. Canada
Curling, Short Track Speed Skating, Short Track World Championships, The Melting Pot, World Championships

The Melting Pot: J.R. Celski Wins Silver in 500m at Short Track Speed Skating World Championships

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Short Track Speed Skating World Championships – Montreal, Canada

Action at the Short Track Speed Skating World Championships moved to the shortest distance, 500m, on Saturday. The event didn’t last long for Emily Scott who was knocked out in the preliminary round after finishing third in her heat. Jessica Smith was able to advance through the preliminaries and then survived the heats by being one of the four fastest third place finishers. Her run ended in the quarterfinals however after a third place finish.

In the men’s 500m J.R. Celski and Chris Creveling survived the preliminaries and heats just fine, though Creveling needed to be advanced in the heats after being obstructed and finishing fourth. Creveling would advance no further than the quarterfinals while Celski made it all the way to the final. In the final Celski wound up second to grab silver. It’s no Olympic medal, but a silver at the World Championships is still a big deal and a great result for Celski.

Celski and Creveling teamed up with Eduardo Alvarez and Kyle Carr in the men’s 5000m relay. The US got eliminated in the semifinals after finishing third in a tight race behind the Koreans and Dutch.

Things wrap up on Sunday with the 1000m races. Once again Emily Scott and Jessica Smith are the US women and Chris Creveling and J.R. Celski the US men. There is also a 3000m race, but it’s just a superfinal with no heats. With the small field size for that event I’m not sure anyone will be competing for the US, but if anyone is my gut tells me Celski.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • Women’s 1000m
      • 11:52 AM ET – Heats
        • Jessica Smith
        • Emily Scott
      • 1:19 PM ET – Quarterfinals
      • 2:03 PM ET – Semifinals
      • 2:34 PM ET – Final
    • Men’s 1000m
      • 12:21 PM ET – Heats
        • J.R. Celski
        • Chris Creveling
      • 1:33 PM ET – Quarterfinals
      • 2:11 PM ET – Semifinals
      • 2:41 PM ET – Final
    • Women’s 3000m
      • 3:03 PM ET – Superfinal
    • Men’s 3000m
      • 3:13 PM ET – Superfinal

World Women’s Curling Championships – St. John’s, Canada

The US Opened the World Women’s Curling Championship with a big 12-5 win over China on Saturday. The US struck for two in both the first and third ends with the hammer to open up a 4-2 lead early. The big moment came though in the sixth end when the US stole three to go up 8-3. The US scored another three with the hammer in the ninth end to give us the final margin of 12-5 as the tenth end wasn’t necessary.

The win makes the US one of four teams still undefeated after day one (though three other teams played twice and went 1-1). On Sunday the US faces Germany and Denmark. Both of those teams went 0-1 on the first year so the US should definitely be confident they can get off to a good start which is probably also necessary if they want to think about advancing from the round robin.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 1:30 PM ET – USA vs. Germany
    • 6:30 PM ET – USA vs. Denmark
Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup, FIS Cross-Country World Cup, FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup, Freestyle Skiing, ISU World Cup, Paralympics, Sochi 2014, Speed Skating, The Melting Pot

The Melting Pot: Gold for the US in Ice Sledge Hockey at the Paralympics, Strong Results at Speed Skating World Cup Finals

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2014 Winter Paralympics – Sochi, Russia

In the men’s giant slalom on Saturday Mark Bathum took a DNF on the first run of the visually impaired division while Jonathan Lujan was a DNF in the standing division as was Scott Meyer in the sitting division while Stephen Lawler did not start the event. James Stanton was a did not start on the second run in the standing division. Christopher Devlin-Young did not finish the second sitting run.

As for those who completed two runs, Ralph Green was 16th, Joel Hunt 24th, and Tyler Carter 27th in the standing division. In the sitting division Heath Calhoun notched a top-ten finish for the US as he was sixth. Jasmin Bambur was 17th as well for the US in the sitting division.

In cross-country’s 4×2.5km mixed relay the US team of Tatyana McFadden and Jacob Adicoff (they both went twice) finished sixth, 1:31.1 off the lead. The US also had a team in the 4×2.5km open relay. Augusto Jose Perez, Omar Bermejo, Bryan Price, and Kevin Burton finished ninth, 5:35.5 behind the winners.

Finally, and most excitedly, the US ice sledge hockey team won the gold medal with a 1-0 win over Russia. The US avenged an earlier 2-0 loss to Russia in the group stage as Joshua Sweeney had the only goal and Steve Cash made six saves for the US.

The Paralympics will wrap up tomorrow. The US has seven athletes in the women’s giant slalom event as well as ten men in the men’s 10km free cross-country skiing and four athletes in the women’s 5km free cross-country skiing event.

NBCSN will have live coverage of the women’s giant slalom from 4:30-6:30 AM ET.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 1:30 AM ET – Women’s Alpine Skiing – Giant Slalom – Run 1 – Visually Impaired
      • Lindsay Ball
      • Staci Mannella
    • 1:55 AM ET – Women’s Alpine Skiing – Giant Slalom – Run 1 – Standing
      • Stephanie Jallen
      • Melanie Schwartz
      • Allison Jones
    • 2 AM ET – Men’s Cross-Country Skiing – 10km Free – Standing
      • John Oman
      • Omar Bermejo
    • 2:20 AM ET – Men’s Cross-Country Skiing – 10km Free – Visually Impaired
      • Kevin Burton
      • Jacob Adicoff
    • 2:35 AM ET – Women’s Alpine Skiing – Giant Slalom – Run 1 – Sitting
      • Alana Nichols
      • Laurie Stephens
    • 4:30 AM ET – Women’s Cross-Country Skiing – 5km Free – Sitting
      • Beth Requist
      • Monica Bascio
      • Tatyana McFadden
      • Oksana Masters
    • 4:45 AM ET – Men’s Cross-Country Skiing – 10km Free – Sitting
      • Travis Dodson
      • Aaron Pike
      • Jeremy Wagner
      • Andrew Soule
      • Sean Halsted
      • Daniel Cnossen
    • 5 AM ET – Women’s Alpine Skiing – Giant Slalom – Run 2 – Visually Impaired
    • 5:15 AM ET – Women’s Alpine Skiing – Giant Slalom – Run 2 – Standing
    • 5:45 AM ET – Women’s Alpine Skiing – Giant Slalom – Run 2 – Sitting

Speed Skating World Cup Final – Heerenveen, Netherlands

The US continued to have success at the Speed Skating World Cup Final on Saturday. Starting things off Shani Davis finished fifth in the men’s 1500m with Brian Hansen in seventh. Both were within 0.6 seconds of the winner and 0.3 seconds of the bronze. It was a disappointing fifth though for Davis who would have won the season title with a second place finish but instead ends up third in the season standings. Hansen placed fifth for the season.

Heather Richardson placed second in the women’s 500m, 0.12 seconds back, with Brittany Bowe back in 10th. There is one last women’s 500m race tomorrow and Richardson has the co-most points on the season standings. If she can better Olga Fatkulina of Russia’s result tomorrow she’ll win the season title. Fatkulina won today’s event.

In the men’s 500m Mitchell Whitmore was 11th and Tucker Fredricks was 13th. Fredricks is still sixth in the season standings but needs a good finish tomorrow in the final men’s 500m of the season to lock down a top finish.

Finally in the men’s team pursuit the US team of Brian Hansen, Patrick Meek, Mitchell Whitmore finished fourth and were 11.54 seconds behind the winners (Netherlands) and 6.46 seconds behind Norway. The US finished second in the season long standings behind the Netherlands.

Things wrap up on Sunday with the second race in both the men’s and women’s 500m as well as the women’s 1000m event with both Bowe and Richardson. Richardson leads the season standings by 70 points over Bowe so a good result will give her the season title and the US could easily go 1-2 for the year.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 8:30 AM ET – Women’s 500m Division A (Race 2 of 2)
      • Brittany Bowe
      • Heather Richardson
    • 11 AM ET – Women’s 1000m Division A
      • Brittany Bowe
      • Heather Richardson
    • 11:49 AM ET – Men’s 500m Division A (Race 2 of 2)
      • Mitchell Whitmore
      • Tucker Fredricks

Freestyle Skiing World Cup – Moguls – Voss-Myrkdalen, Norway

The start list is in for the dual moguls event tomorrow in Voss-Myrkdalen, Norway. Six women will represent the US with Eliza Outtrim (6th), Heather McPhie (5th), Hannah Kearney (2nd) and Sophia Schwartz (9th) all in the top ten of the World Cup standings. On the men’s side there are seven US competitors and Bradley Wilson (5th) and Patrick Deneen (3rd) currently sit in the top ten.

There is another dual moguls event next week in La Plagne, France so there are still a lot of points up for grabs in the season standings.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 3:15 AM ET – Women’s Dual Moguls Qualifying
      • Ali Kariotis
      • Heather McPhie
      • Hannah Kearney
      • Keaton McCargo
      • Eliza Outtrim
      • Sophia Schwartz
    • 4:45 AM ET – Men’s Dual Moguls Qualifying
      • Patrick Deneen
      • Troy Murphy
      • Jeremy Cota
      • Joseph Discoe
      • Bryon Wilson
      • Bradley Wilson
      • Dylan Walczyk
    • 7 AM ET – Women’s Dual Moguls Round of 16
    • 7:12 AM ET – Men’s Dual Moguls Round of 16
    • 7:24 AM ET – Women’s Dual Moguls Quarterfinals
    • 7:32 AM ET – Men’s Dual Moguls Quarterfinals
    • 7:40 AM ET – Women’s Dual Moguls Semifinals
    • 7:48 AM ET – Men’s Dual Moguls Semifinals
    • 7:59 AM ET – Women’s Dual Moguls Finals
    • 8:07 AM ET – Men’s Dual Moguls Finals

Alpine Skiing World Cup – Lenzerheide, Switzerland

The start lists have been released for the final Alpine Skiing World Cup events of the year. The men wrap up with the slalom and Ted Ligety, Bode Miller, and Tim Jitloff will represent the US. The women will wrap up with the giant slalom and the only one in the event for the US is Mikaela Shiffrin. The US has been so strong this week and it’d be great to see a medal on the final day. Unfortunately the top skiers for the US in these events were doing their better event on Saturday so there’s less chance of medals here. Still both Ligety and Shiffrin are in great form and are good enough to medal on Sunday to wrap up the year.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 4 AM ET – Men’s Slalom Run 1
      • Ted Ligety
      • Bode Miller
      • Tim Jitloff
    • 5 AM ET – Women’s Giant Slalom Run 1
      • Mikaela Shiffrin
    • 6:30 AM ET – Men’s Slalom Run 2
    • 7:30 AM ET – Women’s Giant Slalom Run 2

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup Finals – Falun, Sweden

The start lists are finally in as well for the final Cross-Country Skiing World Cup event of the season. Kikkan Randall will be the first American across the start line. She’s 14th to start and 2:54 behind the leader. Elizabeth Stephen starts 18th, 3:13 back, with Sadie Bjornsen right behind her in 19th at the same time. Jessica Diggins, Ida Sargent, Sophie Caldwell, and Caitlin Gregg are also in the event but start at least four minutes back.

On the men’s side Noah Hoffman will start 21st, 4:19 back, with Reese Hanneman starting 38th, 9:56 back, and Andrew Newell starting 39th, 10:15 back.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 8:30 AM ET – Women’s 10 km Free Pursuit
      • Kikkan Randall
      • Sophie Caldwell
      • Sadie Bjornsen
      • Ida Sargent
      • Jessica Diggins
      • Elizabeth Stephen
      • Caitlin Gregg
    • 11 AM ET – Men’s 15km Free Pursuit
      • Andrew Newell
      • Reese Hanneman
      • Noah Hoffman
Basketball, Biathlon, Biathlon World Cup, FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup, FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, Freestyle Skiing, Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping, The Melting Pot, World Championships

The Melting Pot: Lowell Bailey 3rd at Biathlon World Cup in Sprint Event, Jessica Jerome 8th at Ski Jumping World Cup

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Biathlon World Cup – Kontiolahti, Finland

The Biathlon World Cup held some great results for the US on Saturday. Lowell Bailey was the main noisemaker as he was perfect in shooting in the men’s 10km sprint and finished with the bronze! He was only a second back of grabbing the silver. Tim Burke was also strong as he finished 19th, 1:10 back, while Leif Nordgren was 27th, 1:23 back. All three will now be in the men’s 12.5 km pursuit on Sunday with a real chance for another medal as they will all be starting near the front.

In the women’s 7.5km sprint Susan Dunklee was 21 spots better than on Thursday as she finished eighth, within 36 seconds of the winner and 24 seconds of the bronze. Hannah Dreissigacker was 41st with Sara Studebaker in 58th and Annelies Cook in 76th. Dunklee, Dreissigacker, and Studebaker will all be in the women’s 10km pursuit on Sunday with Dunklee in good position to challenge for a medal.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 4:45 AM ET – Men’s 12.5km Pursuit
      • Lowell Bailey
      • Tim Burke
      • Leif Nordgren
    • 6:15 AM ET – Women’s 10km Pursuit
      • Hannah Dreissigacker
      • Susan Dunklee
      • Annelies Cook
      • Sara Studebaker

Nordic Combined World Cup – Falun, Sweden

The final team event of the season was supposed to be held at the Nordic Combined World Cup today but plans changed and instead of the team event the individual event was held today with the team event pushed until Sunday. It was no matter for Taylor Fletcher and Bryan Fletcher as they both knew they would be in action today either way. Taylor Fletcher had the better day of the two with a 24th best jump leaving him 54 seconds back and then a 12th best cross-country time that gave him an 11th place finish for the day, one minute behind the winner. Bryan Fletcher was 44th in the ski jumping and a 17th best cross-country time meant he finished 28th overall.

The team event tomorrow will feature both Taylor and Bryan along with Nick Hendrickson and Brett Denney representing the US.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 7 AM ET – Team Ski Jumping Round
      • Taylor Fletcher
      • Brett Denney
      • Nick Hendrickson
      • Bryan Fletcher
    • 11:45 AM ET – Team 4x5km Cross-Country Round

Freestyle Skiing World Cup – Ski Cross – Are, Sweden

The first of two ski cross events to wrap up the year were held on Saturday. John Teller and Joe Swensson were competing for the US with both advancing from qualifying. Teller kept up the momentum by winning his 1/8 final while Swensson finished last in his heat and was eliminated. Teller won his quarterfinal as well but finished last in the semifinals to end up in the small final. A second place finish in the small final gave him a final finish of sixth place.

The two will try to improve on their Saturday results when the second event is held on Sunday to wrap up the season.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 7 AM ET – Men’s Ski Cross Qualifying
      • John Teller
      • Joe Swensson
    • 9:20 AM ET – Men’s Ski Cross Round of 32
    • 9:52 AM ET – Men’s Ski Cross Quarterfinals
    • 10:12 AM ET – Men’s Ski Cross Semifinals
    • 10:29 AM ET – Men’s Ski Cross Final

2014 FIBA World Championship for Women Draw – Turkey

The draw was held today for this year’s FIBA World Championship for Women. The tournament will be held from September 27th through the 5th of October in Turkey. The US was drawn into Group D with Serbia, China, and Angola. The US is currently ranked #1 in the world with China 8th, Angola 20th and Serbia 29th. The US won the event in 2010 with only Australia coming within single digits of the US in nine games played. Serbia and Angola were not part of the event in 2010 with China going 0-3 in the group stage before two wins placed them 13th.

The US will start things off with China on September 27th with Serbia to follow the next day and Angola on the 30th. The top team in the group gets a bye into the quarterfinals while the next two teams will be in the first elimination round. The US is on the same side of the bracket with Australia and assuming both won their groups and quarterfinal games they would meet in the semifinals on October 4th.

Schedule:

  • September 27th – USA vs. China – Group D – TBD
  • September 28th – USA vs. Serbia – Group D – TBD
  • September 30th – USA vs. Angola – Group D – TBD

Women’s Ski Jumping World Cup – Falun, Sweden

Jessica Jerome is the only one representing the US this weekend at the Women’s Ski Jumping World Cup and she had a strong day on Saturday. Jerome had a 7th best first jump score of 100.8 and followed it up with a 12th best second jump score of 100.7 as she totaled 201.5 to finish eighth in the overall standings. She’ll compete again on Sunday in what will be the second to last event of the year.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 5 AM ET – First Round/Final Round (Separate Event)
      • Jessica Jerome
ATP Tour, Tennis

John Isner to Face Novak Djokovic on Saturday in BNP Paribas Open Semifinal

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Previous BNP Paribas Open Coverage

Men’s Singles

Mens Singles - 3-15-14

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#12 John Isner had a tight matchup with #20 Ernests Gulbis on Friday with both sets played going to tiebreakers. Isner got the edge in the tiebreakers winning them 7-4 and 7-3 to advance to Saturday’s semifinals. His opponent on Saturday is some guy named Novak Djokovic. It’s an exciting matchup for Isner. Djokovic leads 4-2 all-time and won two of the three matchups last year.

Men’s Doubles

Mens Doubles - 3-15-14

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We know who the opponent will be for #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan in the final: #2 Alexander Peya/Bruno Soare. The matchup of the two best doubles teams in the world will surely be a treat for the fans. The Bryans have won six of seven matchups between the two teams, all in the last year.

Broadcasting Information:

ESPNNews has the broadcast of the BNP Paribas Open today with the Isner match being carried. It appears the doubles final will not be live on TV anywhere but ESPN3.com MAY have coverage.

Schedule:

  • March 15th – ESPNNews and ESPN3.com – 3-7 PM ET
    • Men’s Semifinals
      • Approx. 5 PM ET – #12 John Isner vs. #2 Novak Djokovic  – Djokovic leads 4-2 all time
    • Men’s Doubles Final
      • Approx. 9 PM ET – #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan vs. #2 Alexander Peya/Bruno Soare – Bryan/Bryan lead 6-1 all-time