INDIAN WELLS: Defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-6 (4) to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in his first tournament since returning from a six-week injury layoff.

Nadal used every inch of the court in beating Berdych for the sixth consecutive time. He mixed topspin with power off the forehand side, slipped in drop shots, and painted the corners with smashes.

Nadal won the final three points of the tiebreaker that ended with Berdych netting a backhand. The Spaniard leaped for joy, trading the snarl he wore through most of the match for a smile.

Nadal was hampered by knee injuries last summer that continued into the Australian Open in January, when he was forced to retire in the quarterfinals.

Jelena Jankovic rallied from a 2-4 second-set deficit to beat Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 6-4 and reach the women’s semifinals.

Jankovic won the final four games of the match, twice breaking Kleybanova, to extend her best showing of the year. Jankovic made the semifinals at Indian Wells in 2008, and went on to finish the year ranked No. 1 in the world.

In the semifinals, Jankovic will play Australian Samantha Stosur, a 6-3, 7-6 (9) winner over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain.

Their match ended awkwardly when Stosur challenged Sanchez’s serve that had been called good. Sanchez thought Stosur was questioning the Aussie’s return, and believed her challenge request wasn’t made in time.

“She thought maybe it was a first serve or she got confused about something, but I wanted to challenge the serve and the serve was out, so it’s a second serve,” Stosur said. “It’s a little bit more big a deal because it was match point.”

Sanchez was also confused about the score in the tiebreaker.

Stosur has yet to drop a set in four matches, and is projected to crack the top 10 for the first time in the WTA Tour rankings.

No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who also hasn’t dropped a set, will meet in the other semifinal.

Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia gave himself an early birthday present by defeating Juan Monaco of Argentina 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, setting up a semifinal against Nadal. Ljubicic turns 31 on Friday.

March Madness Schedule, 2010 NCAA March Madness began with the highly anticipated Selection Sunday official picks on March 14 when college basketball team match-ups were announced at 6 pm ET on CBS and ESPN — followed by the opening round games on March 16.

The national championship will now be determined during a month-long battle of skill, determination, and dazzling performances by top competing college teams leading up to the final four games played April 3 – 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

2010 March Madness Venues

Opening Round: March 16
UD Arena, Dayton, OH

First and Second Rounds: Thursday and Saturday, March 18 and 20
New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA
Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence, RI
HP Pavilion, San Jose, CA
Spokane Memorial Arena, Spokane, WA

First and Second Rounds: Friday and Sunday, March 19 and 21
HSBC Arena, Buffalo
Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, FL
Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
Ford Center, Oklahoma City, OK

Regionals: Thursday and Saturday, March 25 and 27
East: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY
West: Energy Solutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT

Regionals: Friday and Sunday, March 26 and 28
Midwest: Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO
South: Reliant Stadium, Houston TX

Final Four: Saturday and Monday, April 3 and 5
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN

March Madness Trivia & Fun Facts

The phrase “March Madness” was coined by Henry V. Porter in 1939 to describe an Illinois high school basketball tourney. Brent Musburger first used it during NCAA coverage in 1982 causing a legal battle almost as insane as the playoffs.

But everyone finally worked things out and the madness was official. There isn’t a good record of who first called the playoffs “The Big Dance”, but it does describe the action.

The 6 schools who have the winningest history in NCAA Division I Men’s basketball are:

Illinois Lottery St Patrick s Day, Illinois Raffle – St. Patrick’s Day Millionaire Raffle – Overview:
The Illinois Lottery’s Millionaire Raffle offers the best odds of all their games to win a million dollars.

Only 500,000 tickets are sold in sequential order throughout the state. Each lottery ticket gets a unique number at the time it is printed until all 500,000 are sold.

Four ticket holders will win a million dollars. 505 other cash prizes will also be awarded.

The most recent game began on February 18, 2009.
Illinois Raffle – St. Patrick’s Day Millionaire Raffle – Drawing Date:
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Illinois Raffle – St. Patrick’s Day Millionaire Raffle – Ticket Price:
Tickets are $20 each.
Illinois Raffle – St. Patrick’s Day Millionaire Raffle – Prizes and Odds:
The Illinois Lottery will award 509 prizes, which means you have a 1 in 982 chance of winning. The following awards will be made:

* Four – $1,000,000 prizes

* Five – $100,000 prizes

* Five Hundred – $1000 prizes

Illinois Raffle – St. Patrick’s Day Millionaire Raffle – Winning Numbers:
Did you win the jackpot? After the drawing, you can check here to see if you’re a winner.
Illinois Raffle – St. Patrick’s Day Millionaire Raffle – Where to Buy:
Illinois Lottery tickets are sold just about everywhere, it seems, in the state. Check a gas station or convenience store near you.
Illinois Raffle – St. Patrick’s Day Millionaire Raffle – The Fine Print:

Acc Tournament 2010 Results, The Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament is moving full speed ahead as we approach NCAA selection Sunday.  There’s just four teams remaining among the ACC tournament right now, with Duke the odds on favorite.  Let’s take a look at the current ACC Tournament 2010 results heading into the final rounds.

Four games were held Friday to determine the final four teams for the Semifinals of the ACC tourney.  In one game, Duke defeated Virginia 57-46.  Duke remains the team to beat as they are amongst the top ranked teams in the nation and the #1 seed in the tournament.  Duke also has the distinction of being the only top seed to survive the quarterfinals.

Miami (Fla) pulled off the upset of the #4 seed, Virginia Tech with a 70-65 victory.  Miami’s prize will be a game against the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils on Saturday.

In other action, Georgia Tech beat the #2 seed Maryland Terapins by a count of 69-64, and NC State defeated Florida State 58-52.  G-Tech and NC State will meet in the other semifinals game on Saturday.  If you’re keeping count, the #2, 3 and 4 seeds were all upset on Friday, making for an interesting mix of teams heading into the next round.

The winners of Saturday’s two semifinal games will meet in Sunday’s ACC Tournament finals to determine this year’s champion.  What will the final ACC Tournament results 2010 be?  Will Duke reign supreme again or will another team pull off the big upset?

Rodney Stuckey Seizure Video, Youtube Video, Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey had a seizure in the last moments of the 3 quarter between Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers. The apparent seizure occurred when Stuckey put on the player’s bench during a time-out. While on the bench, so Stuckey what the Free Press Sports reported that a violent attack. Seizure took place in the Piston’s guard tried to speak with Pistons strength coach Arnie Kander. But during the interview, Stuckey fell over and fell into the arms of coach.

NEW DELHI INDIA: With their hopes of a semi-final place receding fast, Pakistan need to force a big win as they take on the weakest Pool B side South Africa in the Hockey World Cup at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium today.

Like their sub-continental cousins India, Pakistan first have to win both their remaining games to keep alive their chances, which would also depend on the results of other games in the pool.

Having conceded 22 goals without earning a single point in their three games, South Africa have turned out to be the favourite whipping boys in the tournament and provide a good opportunity to Pakistan to find their bearings after the 2-5 defeat against England in an exciting game Thursday.

England now top the pool with nine points, having won all their matches, followed by while Australia and Spain with six each. Pakistan and India are on three points.

For Pakistan, the road ahead would be anything but smooth, as what looks like a relatively easy game against the African team would be followed by the match against strong title contenders, Australia, who have been on a song after the shock defeat by England in the opener.

For Pakistan, forward Shakeel Abbasi has sparkled in the Cup, and would have to take an extra load today to ensure an emphatic victory for the four-time winners. They lost to India 1-4 in the opener before getting past Spain 2-1, and then went down to the in-form England.

Scotty Lago Girl Kissing Medal, It’s all fun and games… until someone get’s kicked out of the Olympics for something stupid…

Bronze medalist snowboarder Scotty Lago has officially packed his bags and left the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. Why? Because he took a couple of pictures of a girl kissing his bronze medal while partying (pictured right). The photo was released by TMZ, generating a lot of buzz around the athlete. Shortly after receiving word of the racy photos, sources say that the Olympic Committee said it was either ‘get out of Dodge… or we’ll make you get out.’

Lago made formal apologies to the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, and made the decision on his own to head back to the states.

U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association President and CEO Bill Marolt said in an e-mail yesterday, “Scotty Lago is a great athlete, but with that comes a responsibility of proper conduct, and his involvement in this situation is not acceptable.” I understand that they want to keep everything prestigious, but I think they are being a little ridiculous. It seems like they are really trying to make him the scapegoat, to make an example out of him to all of the other young athletes that compete in the games. Marolt goes on to say, “Scotty realizes his conduct was inappropriate. He has formally apologized and also made a decision to leave Vancouver today.”

Morgan half-century guide England to victory

An unbeaten partnership of 112-run between Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen helped England to secure a comfortable victory against Pakistan in the first Twenty20 International at Dubai Sports City.

Chasing 130, England made a sloppy start losing three early wickets for only 18 runs but Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan rescued the team and steer theside to home with nine balls to spare. Morgan smashed 67 runs from 51 deliveries with seven fours and two bulky sixes while Pietersen supported him with run-a-ball 43 as England piled down the target with nine balls to spare.

Seamers Yasir Arafat and Abddul Razzaq took one wicket a piece removing both the English openers, Joe Denly (1) and Jonathan Trott (4) while captain Collingwood was run out for nought while taking a share double.

Earlier Pakistan after winning the toss decided to bat first to post a 129 runs as captain Shoaib Malik top scored with 33 off 26 balls, followed by Fawad Alam (23) and Abdul Razzaq (22). For England, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan claimed two wickets each.

Read more from the original source:
Morgan Half-Century Guide England To Victory

England 130/3
Pakistan 129/8
England beat Pakistan by seven wickets.
Pakistan was beaten in the first T-20 game against England being played in Dubai. Pakistan were overwhelmed by an unbeaten 112-run partnership between Kevin Pietersen (43) and Eoin Morgan (67).
Pakistan bated first but they faltered from the start of their innings, with Imran Nazir (2), Imran Farhat (14), Khalid Latif (4), Umar Akmal (13). After the six Powerplay overs, Pakistan had limped along to 25 for 2, their slowest start in any Twenty20 match. Shoiab Malik (33), Abdul Razzak (22) and Fawad Alam (23) steered Pakistan to 129 for the loss of eight wickets.
England made poor start to the run chase, slumping to 18 for 3 in 4.2 overs before Pietersen and Morgan turned the tide to impressive effect. Eoin Morgan was declared the man of the match for his unbeaten performance.

Noelle Pikus-Pace (born December 8, 1982 in Orem, Utah) is an American skeleton racer who has competed since 2000. She won three medals at the FIBT World Championships with a gold (Women’s skeleton: 2007) and two silvers (Women’s skeleton: 2005, Mixed bobsleigh-skeleton team event: 2007).

After winning the silver medal in the women’s skeleton event at the 2005 FIBT World Championships in Calgary, Pikus-Pace emerged as one of the favorites to medal at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Turin. That would change on October 19, 2005 at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Calgary when she broke her right leg after she and her teammates were hit by a four-man bobsleigh that failed to brake after the finish line. The bobsleigh ejected out of the end of the track and hit Pikus-Pace and teammate Lea Ann Parsley, narrowly missing three other teammates. Pikus-Pace underwent surgery to repair her broken leg, including an insertion of a titanium rod in her right leg. She would return to competition seven weeks later at Igls, Austria, finishing 20th. She would chronicle her comeback from the 2005 freak accident which prevented her participation at Turin. This story was first told in the critically acclaimed documentary 114 Days: The Race to Save a Dream. The US Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation would petition both the FIBT and the IOC to include Pikus-Pace in the women’s skeleton competition, but to no avail. The only American representative would be Katie Uhlaender in women’s skeleton, and she would finish sixth in the event.

Pikus-Pace announced in an October 3, 2007 Associated Press report that she would take the 2007-08 Skeleton World Cup off due to being six months pregnant. Her child, a girl, would be due in January 2008. This was also announced on FIBT’s website on October 5, 2007. On January 19, 2008, Noelle and her husband Janson welcomed their daughter Lacee Lynne Pace. She weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Pikus-Pace won the women’s Skeleton World Cup overall title in 2004-5.

She finished fifth in the 2008-09 Skeleton World Cup season opener in Winterberg on November 28, 2008.

It was announced on 17 January 2010 that Pikus-Pace had qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics. She is competing in the 2010 Games with a sled designed by her husband after her two other sleds had been damaged, including one where her leg was broken in October 2005 during a practice run in Calgary. Her second sled was damaged during transport to the FIBT World Championships 2009 in Lake Placid, New York. Pace’s husband, a project manager at NuQuest, a metal fabrication company in Salt Lake City, Utah, designed a skelton sled in accordance to FIBT regulations to help her out.