How the mighty are fallen

Gob · Post by **Gob** » Tue Feb 02, 2016 10:27 pm

Australia have slipped to eighth in the latest ICC Twenty20 world rankings, after the 3-0 series whitewash against India.

Only minnows Afghanistan, Scotland, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Zimbabwe and Ireland rank below Australia, only a month away from the World Twenty20 in India.

TWENTY20
1 India 120
2 West Indies 118
3 Sri Lanka 118
4 England 117
5 New Zealand 116
6 South Africa 115
7 Pakistan 113
8 Australia 110
9 Afghanistan 80
10 Scotland 66
11 Bangladesh 64
12 Hong Kong 62
13 Netherlands 61
14 Zimbabwe 54
15 Ireland 42

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Tue Feb 02, 2016 10:53 pm

MajGenl.Meade · Post by **MajGenl.Meade** » Wed Feb 03, 2016 2:19 am

Two sad posts in a row... what is the world coming to?

England #4 eh? Not Wales? Not Cornwall?

Good job because those two would be above Orstrilia

oldr_n_wsr · Post by **oldr_n_wsr** » Wed Feb 03, 2016 7:02 pm

Party school rankings?
least likely to succeed rankings?
Countries with the least amount of teeth rankings?

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Wed Feb 03, 2016 8:17 pm

Here's something else in the "sports no one else ALMOST no one else gives a crap about" department —
Cyclist busted at world championships; faces sanctions for "technological doping".

In other words, hiding a little electric motor within the frame tubing of the bicycle.

Well, at least this will give the UCI something to take their collective mind off of Lance Armstrong for a while.....

-"BB"-

Gob · Post by **Gob** » Wed Feb 03, 2016 8:27 pm

It continues, could Smith's aura as the "golden boy" be starting to tarnish?

Australia's turbo-charged Eden Park meltdown has brutally highlighted the difficulties Steve Smith's men will face in New Zealand this month as they aim to regain the No.1 Test ranking.

Shaun Marsh is again in the firing line, in danger of losing his place to Usman Khawaja, after again nicking off cheaply with Smith forecasting changes for the must-win second game in Wellington.

The 159-run capitulation to a rampant Black Caps outfit on Wednesday may have come in the 50-over arena but it inspired little confidence for success in the upcoming Test series.

The heavy loss has put the one-day world champion's run of seven consecutive series victories in grave danger and again shone the spotlight on Australia's weakness against the swinging ball.
Smith disputed claims the ball was swinging, which means he is either in denial about Australia's problems or casts the collapse in an even darker light

Video on page

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/aus ... z3z8eIqBUp
k

MajGenl.Meade · Post by **MajGenl.Meade** » Wed Feb 03, 2016 10:11 pm

Still, good news from Mangaung Oval as England beat the SAffers by 39 on Duckworth-Lewis. Rain! After months of baking heat, drought and Angus Buchan on Naval Hill leading prayers for rain.... rain in Bloemfontein.

Here's the rest of the week (and they say there's no God....)

Thursday Sunny 89°56°
Friday Sunny 90°60°
Saturday Mostly Sunny 94°63°
Sunday Sunny 95°62°
Monday Mostly Sunny 93°62°

dales · Post by **dales** » Wed Feb 03, 2016 10:45 pm

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Wed Feb 03, 2016 11:05 pm

Some good real sports news...

Spring training is just a couple of weeks away!

Players for all 30 teams report to their respective spring training camps in February on the dates listed below.

http://www.springtrainingconnection.com ... dates.html

dales · Post by **dales** » Wed Feb 03, 2016 11:08 pm

2016 an even year - the dynasty continues

rubato · Post by **rubato** » Wed Feb 03, 2016 11:38 pm

Gob wrote:
Australia have slipped to eighth in the latest ICC Twenty20 world rankings, after the 3-0 series whitewash against India.

Only minnows Afghanistan, Scotland, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Zimbabwe and Ireland rank below Australia, only a month away from the World Twenty20 in India.

TWENTY20
1 India 120
2 West Indies 118
3 Sri Lanka 118
4 England 117
5 New Zealand 116
6 South Africa 115
7 Pakistan 113
8 Australia 110
9 Afghanistan 80
10 Scotland 66
11 Bangladesh 64
12 Hong Kong 62
13 Netherlands 61
14 Zimbabwe 54
15 Ireland 42

Based on points per population West Indies and New Zealand are cleaning the floor with the rest of them.

yrs,
rubato

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Thu Feb 04, 2016 6:19 am

Bicycle Bill wrote:... Well, at least this will give the UCI something to take their collective mind off of Lance Armstrong for a while...

For a while... how about forever? It's almost "Lance who?" at this point. Rest assured, his ego is so big he'll find some second rate bicycle race to wheedle his way back into the public eye.

Recumbent races maybe?

I think that might be him in the lead.

kmccune · Post by **kmccune** » Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:08 am

At least ,he hasnt had a gender crises yet .

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:01 pm

kmccune wrote:At least ,he hasnt had a gender crises yet .

That's true, but with only one testicle remaining he's much closer to it than most men.

I don't wish the "false profit" any ill will. He just needs to fade away.

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Thu Feb 04, 2016 7:16 pm

Say what you want about him, he did have a pretty good run there. Celebrity status; his name on the lips of people who hadn't even seen a bicycle since their teen-aged years; awards up the ying-yang and back; and gracing the covers of magazines such as Outside, Sports Illustrated, Velo-News, and Maxim. AND he was getting to bang Sheryl Crow (not like I'm a big fan of hers or anything, but she's good-looking enough that I sure wouldn't put her out of my bed). Anyone else here able to make that claim?

Not to mention that he created the LIVESTRONG Foundation, which has the capability of doing good long after Lance and his scandal have been relegated to the dustheap of history. Greg LeMond, on the other hand, merely went into the bicycle and restaurant businesses.

-"BB"-

MajGenl.Meade · Post by **MajGenl.Meade** » Thu Feb 04, 2016 7:20 pm

Bicycle Bill wrote: Anyone else here able to make that claim?

I can categorically deny that I ever "banged" Cheryl Crow - what an odd question to ask

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Thu Feb 04, 2016 7:23 pm

Lance Armstrong

Otherwise known as, "The Tom Brady Of Pro Cycling"...

MajGenl.Meade · Post by **MajGenl.Meade** » Thu Feb 04, 2016 7:26 pm

Well, he did let the side down a bit, eh?

Gob · Post by **Gob** » Thu Feb 04, 2016 8:22 pm

rubato wrote:

Based on points per population West Indies and New Zealand are cleaning the floor with the rest of them.

yrs,
rubato

Which couldn't be more meaningless if tried.

Long Run · Post by **Long Run** » Fri Feb 05, 2016 1:49 am

And in a surprising development related to the worst kept secret in sports history, the air is let out of another Chinese miracle :

Letter Reveals Forced State-Sponsored Doping in China's 'Ma Army'

In the most recent series of drug-related news in track and field, “state-sponsored doping” has been revealed in a letter from World record-holder Wang Junxia of China.

In a letter that was written 19 years ago, two years after Junxia set two world records in the 3K and the 10K, she wrote about how the women on the Chinese team tried to “avoid the state-run doping regime by quietly throwing away pills that were forced on them,” according to a report from South China Morning News.

The letter chronicles Junxia and her fellow athletes’ experience of having their coach Ma Junren personally inject drugs into his athletes, who were collectively known as “Ma’s army.”

Junren’s group of middle distance and distance athletes set a number of world records in the 1990s. The coach is known for his unusual training regime, which included making athletes drink turtle blood and powdered seahorses.

The letter was signed by nine teammates and sent to journalist Zhao Yu 19 years ago, but it went unpublished until Tencent Sports posted it today. The Chinese news outlet reached out to the International Association of Athletics Federations which is reportedly investigating Junxia’s allegations.

“For many years, [he] forced us to take a large dose of illegal drugs. It was true,” said the team members in the letter.

“Our feelings are sorry and complex when exposing his (Ma’s) deeds. We are also worried that we would harm our country’s fame and reduce the worth of the gold medals we have worked very hard to get,” the letter continued.

Junxia became World Champion in the 10K at the 1993 Championships, and later won Olympic gold in the 5K at the 1996 Games. She also captured a silver medal in the 10K at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

Junxia’s world records in the 3K and 10K were run at the National Games of China in 1993. Over the course of five days, Junxia broke three world records — the 1500m was run on Sept. 11, the 3K was run on Sept. 13, and the 10K was run on Sept. 8. Her 1500m performance at the meet would have broken the then-world record, but her opponent Qu Yunxia beat her in 3:50.46, which stood until Genzebe Dibaba broke the record this year.

Junxia’s preliminary performances at the meet also raised eyebrows as she ran 4:01.55 in the preliminaries of the 1500m on Sept. 9, 3:51.92 in the final on Sept. 11, 8:12.19 in the preliminary of the 3K on Sept. 12, and a world record 8:06.11 in the final of the 3K on Sept. 13. She accomplished these results just two days after running a world record of 29:31 in the 10K on Sept. 8. Her 10K performance broke the previous world record by 42 seconds.

“The IAAF’s first action must be to verify that the letter is genuine,” said IAAF spokesperson Chris Turner. “In this respect, the IAAF has asked the Chinese Athletics Association to assist it in that process.”

According to the World Anti-Doping Agency regulations, Junxia's admission could result in disqualification from meets, ineligibility, and financial sanctions.

http://www.flotrack.org/article/39441-l ... -s-ma-army

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