Softball: Many gather to honor former Mater Dei pitcher Brianne Matthews, An estimated 1,500 people gathered Friday at the Huntington Beach Sports Complex for Brianne Matthews’ memorial service.

Before the service began, hundreds of people waited in line to hug family members of the star softball pitcher for Santa Ana Mater Dei. And high school softball and club teams huddled together, fully clad in their uniforms, consoling one other as they shed tears.

Matthews committed suicide at her Anaheim apartment on Feb. 25. The 16-year-old sophomore had a 4.0 grade-point average and had committed to play at the University of Arizona.

Her coaches and friends recalled her athletic and academic success, her infectious smile and her effervescent laugh.

“Her softball talent was obvious, but her personality was what was most remarkable about her,” said Orange County Batbuster Coach Gary Haning. “My memory of Bri will be of those of a rainbow, a shooting star, a sunrise. It’s not diminished by its brevity; you only wish it could still go on.”

Haning stressed to everyone in attendance that in times of pain and sadness there are always people to talk to and people who care.

“Keep this in mind when you don’t think you can go on,” Haning said. “Look at all of the people here whose life she touched — and this is just a small percentage.”

Bill Jackson, who coached Matthews when she was 11 to 14 on Firecrackers 93, said that he knew Matthews was remarkable the instant he met her. After all, she promised him that she’d throw the ball 65 mph when she turned 12, and she kept her word.

“She was the hardest-working athlete I’ve ever seen,” Jackson said.

Jackson said that he refuses to discuss why Matthews took her life, and encouraged others to follow his example.

“By discussing why, we’re implying that there’s a reason that could be good enough. There isn’t. Bri died of a broken heart. I believe she made a horrible decision in a moment of weakness,” Jackson said.

A Mater Dei softball teammate, Alyssa Yglesias, said the first thing that she noticed about Matthews was her wide smile and loving nature.

Yglesias admitted that she’s not an affectionate person, but said that changed after Matthews chased her around the school and gave her hugs.

“I like affection now,” Yglesias said.

The Mater Dei softball team is devoting this season to their departed teammate.

“Bri is our 10th man,” said Mater Dei pitcher Miranda Tamayo. “Although there’s only nine players on the field, she’s our 10th player on the field with us.”

Matthews’ catcher on the Orange County Batbusters, Shannon Bustillos, choked back tears as she spoke about her close friend.

“A bond between a pitcher and a catcher is like none other,” Bustillos said.

The two girls used to meet every Wednesday to practice, and Matthews would always want to warm up before the warm-up and practice after practice. Source and More

Shaun Tait devastated Pakistan to help his side to sweep one-off Twenty20 International at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Tait’s quickest delivery is understood to be the fastest recorded in Australia and the third-fastest of all time, as only Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar have bowled quicker.

The visitors ended their awful tour losing all matches of their tour as Australia sees off Pakistan by 2 runs in the only T20I – a contest which was thrilled a full house at the MCG with the record crowd of 60,054 – the biggest of the season.

Pakistan after winning the toss opted to bat first to restrict the opponent at 127 with Umar Gul took three for 20 with Shoaib Malik snapping two wickets with the cost of 31 runs. The tourist were outstanding in the field – a rare exhibit by the visitors who however has lost each and every match on their awful tour.

Australia bounced back strongly to recover from 5-78 to post 128 all out as only Micheal Clarke (32), David Warner (24) and David Hussey (40 not out) reached double figures. Pakistan never really let the hosts dominat as some tight bowling from Gul (3-20) and Malik (2-31) and rare sharp fielding, which included three run-outs wipe through Aussies line-up.

But Aussies were bounce back with the ball, as besides Tait, Dirk Nannes, Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson all bowled timely all important maidens and Nannes conceded just two runs in the penultimate over to dent Pakistan. Watson finished with 2-24 and debutant legspinner Steven Smith took 2-34.

Gul (10) was the only Pakistan batsman to reach double figures behind the Akmal brothers as both Kamran (64 off 33 balls) and Umar (21 off 25 balls) helped the side to surpass 100 mark but with timely departure of both blasters, Aussies curb back Pakistan two runs short to secure a sizzling victory.

Aussies skipper Clarke said he had to keep attacking if Australia were to win and paid tribute to his bowlers’ efforts. “We got there. It was an amazing performance with the ball and in the field as well. The guys did really well,” he said. “The Wild Thing (Tait), it’s great to have him back in the team and bowling like that. He led from the front and Taity got the results tonight, but I also thought Dirky, Mitchell and Watto and young Steve Smith on debut did a fanstatic job under a lot of pressure tonight.”

Tait said he was keen to one day surpass Akhtar’s record mark of 161.3 km/h. “There’s only certain moments when you’re bowling in your career when you’ve got a chnace to do it,” he said. “I was saying to the boys before you’ve probably got only two balls in a game – tonight it was my third ball – and I had a crack the next ball after that just to have a go, but after that it’s hard to get up to that pace.” Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik said the defeat was another missed opportunity by his team.”

Continued here:
Australia devastates Pakistan by two runs

KATHMANDU: Blast in Nepal, 3 Dead, Three people were killed and two others injured on Monday when a bomb suspected by police to be a left-over from Nepal’s civil war went off in the southwest of the country, officials said.

“Three people of a same family died on the spot and two were seriously injured,” police officer Prabin Adhikari, told media from Chitwan district, 80 kilometres (50 miles) southwest of Kathmandu.

The blast occurred while the family was working on the field at the back of their house on Monday morning, according to police.

“We suspect the bomb must have been left unattended on the field during the armed conflict,” Adhikari said.

Rebel Maoists waged a 10-year war against the government until a peace deal was struck in 2006.

Many unexploded bombs litter the country, left in villages and jungles during the conflict, which claimed the lives of more than 16,000 people.

Monday Night Football live, This week, Monday Night Football gives us one of the best matchups of the season as the undefeated New Orleans Saints welcome Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to the Superdome. There’s sure to be a ton of offense, some fantastic quarterback play, and Jon Gruden loving absolutely everything that happens. As always, we’ll be taking part in our live chat, so please stop by and join us for the festivities that will be kicking off at 8:30 PM ET.

Saints Vs Patriots 2009, The Saints vs. Patriots 2009 game is of interest to people around the country. The Saints vs. Patriots game is this week’s Monday Night Football game on ESPN, and pits two great teams against each other in a battle two supremely good NFL cities. New Orleans is new to this stage, and could earn a lot of respect around the country if they are able to win against the New England Patriots. This is the Monday Night Football game that fans have been waiting weeks to see, and now that the day is upon us, it’s anyone’s guess how this game is going to turn out.

The Saints vs. Patriots is a good game on two different fronts, including their overall records and their prolific offensive statistics so far in 2009. When the two teams take the field on Monday night, it is going to be a shoot-out between Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Both of these QB’s want to walk away with the win, but more importantly the victory could set up the winning team to be in prime position for a first round bye in the 2009 NFL Playoffs. Right now the Saints are the top seed in the NFC, but Minnesota is only one game behind them. In the AFC Indianapolis leads things, but several other teams are already 8-3, meaning that New England needs this win to keep pace.

So far in 2009, the New Orleans Saints are 10-0 and the New England Patriots are sitting at 7-3. New England lost a close game to Indianapolis earlier in the season that they could have won, but other than that, this is the toughest game for both teams on the 2009 NFL schedule. New England would like nothing more than to end the winning streak that the Saints have going, and the Saints want to prove that they belong among the elite teams in the NFL by taking one from one of the best teams in the NFL this decade. This game could prove to be a passing of the torch if Drew Brees can put up some great numbers.

With two great offenses taking the field on Monday, this game could come down to which team can make the key defensive stops. Both offenses are going to put up the points, and that will make it very important for someone on defense to take a step forward and make some big plays. The kick-off for the New England vs. New Orleans Monday night game is at 5:30 P.M. PST, and this is a game that is going to interest football fans from Spokane, Washington all the way to Miami, Florida because it is geared up to be some great television.

JOHANNESBURG: England captain Andrew Strauss elected to field after winning the toss against Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy here on Friday.

Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 55 runs in their opening match of the four-team group, while England are playing their first game. New Zealand are the other side in the group.

The top two sides advance to the semi-finals.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Thilina Kandamby

England: Andrew Strauss (captain), James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Joe Denly, Eoin Morgan, Graham Onions, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK) and Billy Bowden (NZ, TV umpire: Tony Hill (NZ)
Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND).