RUGBY UNION
World Cup excites Kiwis
A recent survey conducted by condom company Durex, who might have a vested interest in the outcome, said two-thirds of New Zealanders expected to have more sex during the World Cup. Before the tournament, an advertising campaign on behalf of a telecoms firm urging fans to “abstain from the game” was withdrawn after a public backlash. According to the Durex survey, 67 percent said they expected to have more sex than usual during the World Cup, a figure rising to 96 percent were the All Blacks to win the World Cup for the first time since 1987. “It’s hard not to get caught up in the exhilaration and emotion of the tournament,” Durex’s Adonis Souloglou said. “Obviously we want Kiwis to get the most out of it — whether they are at the game or in the bedroom.”
RUGBY UNION
Give it a rest, dad: Trimble
Ireland wing Andrew Trimble was full of praise for the huge number of traveling fans he said had created a “buzz” around the team in New Zealand, but said he wished his father would tone it down a bit. Trimble, speaking ahead of Ireland’s quarter-final against Wales, said of the Irish support: “It’s pretty special and unique to anything I’ve experienced before. We feed off that a little bit.” However, the 26-year-old, whose parents are in New Zealand for the tournament, said the boisterous backing was a little too close to home after Ireland’s 36-6 win over Italy last weekend saw them into the last eight. “My dad was singing songs in the team room after the game and the boys were giving him a hard time, getting him up, and I was doing everything I could to keep him in his seat,” he said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.”
FOOTBALL
Song pulled over Hitler talk
Sports broadcaster ESPN is pulling its signature song from Monday night NFL broadcasts after US country music singer Hank Williams Jr compared US President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler. Williams was speaking to Fox News in an interview on Monday morning before the broadcast of the NFL game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Williams, of Shreveport, Louisiana, said of Obama’s golf outing with House Speaker John Boehner: “It’d be like Hitler playing golf with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.” Williams’ country song Are You Ready For Some Football? has been used by ESPN to market its traditional Monday night NFL games. Asked to be more specific, Williams told Fox: “They’re the enemy,” adding that by “they,” he meant Obama and US Vice President Joe Biden. Williams said in the past he follows politics and has expressed an interest in running for the US Senate as a Republican Party candidate.
BASKETBALL
Kirilenko to return to Russia
Former NBA All Star Andrei Kirilenko has signed a three-year deal to return to Russian champions CSKA Moscow after a 10-year absence. The 30-year-old Russian became a free agent after his contract with the Utah Jazz expired at the end of last season. National Basketball Association team owners and locked-out players failed to reach agreement after a second straight day of labor talks on Saturday. The regular season is scheduled to begin on Nov. 1, but without progress in talks, games could be postponed or canceled. “Andrei is a special player not only for CSKA, but for the whole of Russian basketball,” CSKA president Andrei Vatutin said on the club’s Web site.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
RSS