PGA Tour

The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the main professional men's golf tours in the United States and North America, including most of the events on the tournament also known as the PGA Tour. It is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, a suburb of Jacksonville. Its name is officially rendered in all-capital letters as "PGA TOUR."

The PGA Tour became a separate entity in 1968, when it branched off from the Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America). It was intended to be an organization for tournament golfers, as opposed to club professionals, who are the primary focus of the PGA of America. It adopted the name "PGA Tour" in 1975. The PGA Tour organization runs 43 of the week-to-week professional golf events associated with the tournament known as the PGA Tour, including The Players Championship, hosted at the TPC at Sawgrass, the FedEx Cup, and the biennial Presidents Cup. It also runs the Champions Tour, for golfers age 50 and older, and the Nationwide Tour, a developmental tournament. The remaining events on the PGA Tour are run by different organizations, as are the U.S. based LPGA Tour for women and the other men's and women's professional tours around the world.

Due to the multiplicity of names, there is often confusion as to what the PGA Tour organization does and does not run. Of the events in the PGA Tour schedule, it does not run any of the four major championships (the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the PGA Championship), or the Ryder Cup. The PGA of America, not the PGA Tour, runs the PGA Championship, the Senior PGA Championship, and co-organizes the Ryder Cup with the PGA European Tour. Additionally, the PGA Tour is not involved with the women's golf tours in the U.S., which are mostly controlled by the LPGA. The PGA Tour is also not the governing body for the game of golf in the United States; this, instead, is the role of the United States Golf Association (USGA), which organizes the U.S. Open. What the PGA Tour does organize are the remaining 43 (in 2009) week-to-week events, including The Players Championship and the FedEx Cup events, as well as the biennial Presidents Cup. It also runs the main tournaments in two other championships, the Champions Tour and the Nationwide Tour.

The PGA Tour operates the following three tours, all of which are primarily contested in the U.S.:

PGA Tour, the top tour

Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. possession of Puerto Rico host one event each year. Note, however, that the events in Mexico and Puerto Rico are "alternate" events held opposite one of the World Golf Championships tournaments and therefore have weaker fields than a regular tour event. In addition, one of the four annual major championships is held in the U.K.

Champions Tour, for golfers age 50 and over

As of 2011, regular tournaments are held in Canada and South Korea, and one of the senior majors is held in the U.K.

Nationwide Tour, a developmental tour

As of 2011, Canada, Colombia, and Mexico host one tournament each.

The PGA Tour also conducts an annual Qualifying Tournament (known colloquially as Q-School), a six-round tournament held each fall; the top 25 finishers, including ties, receive privileges to play on the following year's PGA Tour. Remaining finishers in the top 75, plus ties, receive full privileges on the Nationwide Tour.

The top 25 money-winners on the Nationwide Tour also receive privileges on the following year's PGA Tour. A golfer who wins three events on that tour in a calendar year earns a "performance promotion" (informally a "battlefield promotion") which garners PGA Tour privileges for the remainder of the year plus the following full season.

At the end of each year, the top 125 money-winners on the PGA Tour receive a tour card for the following season, which gives them exemption from qualifying for most of the next year's tournaments. However at some events, known as invitationals, exemptions apply only to the previous year's top 70 players. Players who are ranked between 126–150 receive a conditional tour card, which gives them priority for places that are not taken up by players with full cards. Those players can also improve their status by going to the tour's qualifying school tournament, where those players can go straight to the final stage.

Winning a PGA Tour event provides a tour card for a minimum of two years, with an extra year added for each additional win with a maximum of five years. Winning a World Golf Championships event or The Tour Championship provides a three-year exemption. Winners of the major championships and The Players Championship earn a five-year exemption. Other types of exemptions include lifetime exemptions for players with twenty wins on the tour; one-time, one year exemptions for players in the top fifty on the career money earnings list who are not otherwise exempt; two-time, one year exemptions for players in the top twenty-five on the career money list; and medical exemptions for players who have been injured, which give them an opportunity to regain their tour card after a period out of the tour.

Similar to other major league sports, there is no rule limiting PGA Tour players to "men only." In 2003, Annika Sörenstam and Suzy Whaley played in PGA Tour events, and Michelle Wie did so in each year from 2004 through 2008. None of these three made the cut, although Wie missed by only one stroke in 2004.

There is also a PGA European Tour, which is separate from either the PGA Tour or the PGA of America; this organization runs a tour, mostly in Europe but with events throughout the world outside of North America, that is second only to the PGA Tour in worldwide prestige. There are several other regional tours around the world. However, the PGA Tour, European Tour, and many of the regional tours co-sponsor the World Golf Championships. These, along with the major championships, usually count toward the official money lists of each tour as well as the Official World Golf Rankings.

The PGA Tour places a strong emphasis on charity fundraising, usually on behalf of local charities in cities where events are staged. With the exception of a few older events, PGA Tour rules require all Tour events to be non-profit; the Tour itself is also a non-profit company. In 2005, it started a campaign to push its all-time fundraising tally past one billion dollars ("Drive to a Billion"), and it reached that mark one week before the end of the season. However, monies raised for charities derive from the tournaments' positive revenues (if any), and not any actual monetary donation from the PGA Tour, whose purse monies and expenses are guaranteed. The number of charities which receive benefits from PGA Tour, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour events is estimated at over 2,000. In 2009, the total raised for charity was some $108 million.

The 2011 season includes 45 official money events in 41 weeks, including four alternate events played the same week as a higher status tournament. The other three events are:

1. The biennial Presidents Cup, matching teams of golfers representing the USA and other nations outside Europe.
2. The CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia, an event to be held in Malaysia; in 2011, it will end on October 30. The field will be limited to 40 players—the top 25 available players in the final FedEx Cup standings, the top 10 available Asian players, and five sponsor's exemptions, with at least one place reserved for a Malaysian player. Although it will not be an official money event, it will be the tour's first sanctioned event in Southeast Asia.
3. The HSBC Champions, held the week after the Malaysia tournament. Despite its elevation to World Golf Championships status in 2009, it is not an official money event, although it is also sanctioned by the PGA Tour. Starting in 2010, if the event is won by a PGA Tour member, it will count as an official win and carry the three year exemption of the other WGCs.

Most members of the tour play between 20 and 30 tournaments in the season. The geography of the tour is determined by the weather. It starts in Hawaii in January and spends most of its first two months in California and Arizona during what is known as the "West Coast Swing," and then moves to the American Southeast for the "Southern Swing." Each swing culminates in a significant tour event. In April, tour events begin to drift north. The summer months are spent mainly in the Northeast and the Midwest, and in the fall (autumn) the tour heads south again.

In most of the regular events on tour, the field is either 132, 144 or 156 players, depending on time of year (and available daylight hours). All players making the cut earn money for the tournament with the winner usually receiving 18% of the total purse.

In 2008, the PGA Tour Policy Board approved a change in the number of players that will make the cut. The cut will continue to be low 70 professionals and ties, unless that results in a post-cut field of more than 78 players. Under that circumstance, the cut score will be selected to make a field as close to 70 players as possible without exceeding 78. Players who are cut in such circumstances but who have placed 70th or better will get credit for making the cut and will earn official money and FedEx Cup points. This policy affected two of the first three events with cuts, the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Buick Invitational. In late February, the Policy Board announced a revised cut policy, effective beginning with the Honda Classic. The new policy calls for 36-hole cut to the low 70 professionals and ties and, if that cut results in more than 78 players, a second 54-hole cut to the low 70 professionals and ties.

Event categories

Majors: The four leading annual events in world golf are the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, The (British) Open Championship, and the PGA Championship. These events each automatically receive 100 OWGR points.

World Golf Championships (WGC): A set of events co-sanctioned by the International Federation of PGA Tours which attract the leading golfers from all over the world, including those who are not members of the PGA Tour. Note that the HSBC Champions was made a WGC event in the middle of the 2009 season. Because it takes place after The Tour Championship, it does not count as an official money event or an official win, but the winner is invited to the following season's edition of the winners-only Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Beginning in 2010, if the winner is a PGA Tour member, the victory will count as an official win and the winner will receive a three-year Tour exemption (as with other WGC winners).

Unique: Two tournaments rate as unique, for different reasons:

The Hyundai Tournament of Champions, the first tournament of the season, has a field consisting of winners from the previous season's competition only. This results in a field much smaller than any other tournament except for The Tour Championship, with no cut after 36 holes of play.

The Players Championship is the only event, apart from the majors and the World Golf Championships, which attracts entries from almost all of the world's elite golfers. Official recognition is given to its unique position in the sport by the Official World Golf Rankings. Like a major tournament, it is allocated a fixed number of OWGR points (80), albeit 20% less than for a major. (The number of points allocated to "regular" events is dependent on the rankings of the players who enter each year, and is only determined once the entry list is finalized.) For purposes of the FedEx Cup standings, The Players has had an identical point allocation to that of the majors since the Cup was instituted in 2007. In North America, some people would like to make the tournament an official major with a ranking equal to the current majors in the OWGR. However there is little support for this in the rest of the world, and any revision to the points system for the world rankings would require a global consensus.

Playoff event: The last four tournaments of the FedEx Cup have fields based on the FedEx Cup rankings. The top 125 players on the points list are entered in the Barclays Classic. Each week after that fields are cut: Deutsche Bank Championship to the top 100 players; BMW Championship to 70 players; The Tour Championship to 30 players.

The Ryder Cup, contested in even-numbered years between teams from Europe and the United States.

Team: A United States team of 12 elite players competes in the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup in alternate years. The Ryder Cup, pitting a team of U.S. golfers against a European team, is arguably the highest profile event in golf, outranking the majors. The Presidents Cup, which matches a team of U.S. golfers against an international team of golfers not eligible for the Ryder Cup, is less well established, but is still the main event of the week when it is played. There is no prize money in these events, so they are irrelevant to the money list, but an immense amount of pride rides on the results.

Regular: Routine weekly tour events. The "regular" events vary somewhat in status, but this is fairly subjective and not usually based on the size of the purse. Some of the factors which can determine the status of a tournament are:

Its position in the schedule, which influences the number of leading players that choose to enter.

Its age and the distinction of its past champions.

The repute of the course on which it is played.

Any associations with "legends of golf." Six events in particular have such associations:

The HP Byron Nelson Championship, named after Byron Nelson, was until 2007 the only current event named after a PGA Tour golfer.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational, formerly the Bay Hill Invitational, closely identified with Arnold Palmer and played at a resort he owns.

The Northern Trust Open and Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, both identified with Ben Hogan, although the Colonial is more closely identified with him since he won that tournament five times.

The Memorial Tournament, founded by Jack Nicklaus, played on a course he designed, and annually honoring a selected "legend."

The AT&T National, while not hosted by a "legend," was able to gather a strong field because it was hosted by "future-legend" Tiger Woods.

Invitational: These events are similar to the regular ones, but have a slightly smaller (around 100–120 players), selective field. The top 70 on the previous year's money list can automatically take part in invitationals, as well as past champions of the event. There is an increased amount of sponsor's exemptions as well, and some invitationals allow the defending champion to invite one or several amateurs to compete. Invitational tournaments include the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Verizon Heritage, the Memorial Tournament and the AT&T National. The tournaments usually do have an association with a golf legend, or in the case of the Verizon Heritage, a famous course.

Alternate: Events which are played in the same week as a higher status tournament and therefore have weakened fields and reduced prize money. They are often considered an opportunity for players on the bubble (near or below 125th or 150th) in the money list to move up more easily or to attempt an easier two-year exemption for winning a tournament. Because of their weaker fields, these events usually receive the minimum amount of points reserved for PGA Tour events (24 points).

Fall Series: After the final playoff event of the FedEx Cup season (The Tour Championship), the season concludes with this series of events, usually passed on by the higher-status players. This provides an opportunity for players low on the Money List to increase their season's earnings enough to rank in the "magic" 125 and thus secure their "card" for the following season without having to re-qualify through Q-School.

There are also a number of events which are recognized by the PGA Tour, but which do not count towards the official money list. Most of these take place in the off season (November and December). This slate of unofficial, often made-for-TV events (which includes the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge, the Franklin Templeton Shootout, the Skins Game, etc.) is referred to as the "Challenge Season" or more disapprovingly as the "Silly Season."

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NCAA

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States. Its headquarters is in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In August 1973, the current three-division setup of Division I, Division II, and Division III was adopted by the NCAA membership in a special convention. Under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships. Generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I football was further divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978. Subsequently the term "Division I-AAA" was briefly added to delineate Division I schools which do not field a football program at all, but that term is no longer officially used by the NCAA. In 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were respectively renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

The NCAA, at first named the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS), was established on March 31, 1906, to set rules for amateur athletic sports in the United States. When then-president Theodore Roosevelt's own son, Ted, broke his nose playing rugby at Harvard, Roosevelt became aware of the growing number of serious injuries and deaths occurring in collegiate rugby football. He brought the presidents of five major institutions, Army (West Point), Navy (Annapolis), Harvard, Princeton, and Yale to several meetings at the White House in October 1905 to discuss steps to make college athletics safer. The IAAUS was created as an outcome of those meetings and became the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1910.

Until the 1980s, the association did not offer women's athletics. Instead an organization named the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) governed women's collegiate sports in the United States. By 1982, however, all divisions of the NCAA offered national championship events for women's athletics and most members of the AIAW joined the NCAA.

In 2009, Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada became the NCAA's first non-US member institution.

The NCAA's legislative structure is broken down into cabinets and committees, consisting of various representatives of its member schools. These may be broken down further into sub-committees. Legislation is then passed on to the Management Council, which oversees all the cabinets and committees, and also includes representatives from the schools, such as athletic directors and faculty advisors. Management Council legislation goes on to the Board of Directors, which consists of school presidents, for final approval.

The NCAA staff itself provides support, acting as guides, liaison, research and public and media relations. Former Indiana University president Myles Brand was the most recent head of the NCAA. In the wake of his death, executives with the organization will oversee day-to-day operations until the Executive Committee names Brand's successor.

Sports sanctioned by the NCAA include basketball, baseball (men), softball (women), football (men), cross country, field hockey (women), bowling (women), golf, fencing (coeducational), lacrosse, soccer, gymnastics, rowing (women only), volleyball, ice hockey, water polo, rifle (coeducational), tennis, skiing (coeducational), track and field, swimming and diving, and wrestling (men).

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Adidas

Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, golf company (including Ashworth), and Rockport. Besides sports footwear, the company also produces other products such as bags, shirts, watches, eyewear and other sports and clothing-related goods. The company is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second biggest sportswear manufacturer in the world, after its American rival Nike.

Adidas was founded in 1948 by Adolf "Adi" Dassler, following the split of Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik between him and his older brother, Rudolf. Rudolf later established Puma, which was the early rival of Adidas. Registered in 1949, Adidas is currently based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, along with Puma.

The company's clothing and shoe designs typically feature three parallel bars, and the same motif is incorporated into Adidas's current official logo. The "Three Stripes" were bought from the Finnish sport company Karhu Sports in 1951. The company revenue for 2009 was listed at €10.38 billion and the 2008 figure at €10.80 billion.

Adolf "Adi" Dassler started to produce his own sports shoes in his mother's wash kitchen in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, after his return from World War I. On July 1, 1924, his brother Rudolf "Rudi" Dassler joined the business which became Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) and prospered. The pair started the venture in their mother's laundry,[6]:5 but at the time, electricity supplies in the town were unreliable, and the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment.

By the 1936 Summer Olympics, Adi Dassler drove from Bavaria on one of the world's first motorways to the Olympic village with a suitcase full of spikes and persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use them, the first sponsorship for an African American. Following Owens's haul of four gold medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the world's most famous sportsmen. Letters from around the world landed on the brothers' desks, and the trainers of other national teams were all interested in their shoes. Business boomed and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II.

Late in World War II, the shoe factory shifted to production of the Panzerschreck anti-tank weapon.

After a period of trouble following the death of Adolf Dassler's son Horst Dassler in 1987, the company was bought in 1989 by French industrialist Bernard Tapie, for ₣1.6 billion (now €243.918 million), which Tapie borrowed. Tapie was at the time a famous specialist of rescuing bankrupt companies, an expertise on which he built his fortune.

Tapie decided to move production offshore to Asia. He also hired Madonna for promotion. He sent, from Christchurch, New Zealand, a shoe sales representative to Germany and met Adolf Dassler's descendants (Amelia Randall Dassler and Bella Beck Dassler) and was sent back with a few items to promote the company there.

In 1992, unable to pay the loan interest, Tapie mandated the Crédit Lyonnais bank to sell Adidas, and the bank subsequently converted the outstanding debt owed into equity of the enterprise, which was unusual as per the prevalent French banking practice. Apparently, the state-owned bank had tried to get Tapie out of dire financial straits as a personal favour to Tapie, reportedly because Tapie was Minister of Urban Affairs (ministre de la Ville) in the French government at the time.

In February 1993, Crédit Lyonnais sold Adidas to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, a friend of Bernard Tapie for a much higher amount of money than what Tapie owed, 4.485 billion (€683.514 million) francs rather than 2.85 billion (€434.479 million). Tapie later sued the bank, because he felt "spoiled" by the indirect sale.

Robert Louis-Dreyfus became the new CEO of the company. He was also the president of Olympique de Marseille, a team Tapie had owned until 1993.

Tapie filed for personal bankruptcy in 1994. He was the object of several lawsuits, notably related to match fixing at the football club. During 1997, he served 6 months of an 18-month prison sentence in La Santé prison in Paris. In 2005, French courts awarded Tapie a €135 million compensation (about 886 million francs).

Adidas currently manufactures several running shoes, including the adiStar Control 5, the adiStar Ride (the replacement for the adiStar Cushion 6), the Supernova Sequence (the replacement for the Supernova Control 10), and the Supernova Cushion 7 (which will soon be replaced by the Supernova Glide), among others. In addition, their performance apparel is widely used by runners. Adidas also uses kangaroo leather to make their more expensive shoes.

One of the main focuses of Adidas is football kit and associated equipment. Adidas remain a major company in the supply of team kits for international football teams.

Adidas also makes referee kits that are used in international competition and by many countries and leagues in the world. The company has been an innovator in the area of footwear for the sport with notable examples including development of the Copa Mundial moulded boot used for matches on firm dry pitches for almost forty years. The studded equivalent was named World Cup follow in celebration of the 1978 tournament won by Argentina, one of the nations it supplied at the time. Some of the most famous football teams are currently sponsored by Adidas.

Adidas became renowned for advancing the Predator boot design developed by ex-Liverpool and Australian international player Craig Johnston. This design featured a ribbed rubber structure for the upper leather of the shoe, used to accent the movement of the ball when struck; highly skilled players claimed they were able to curve the flight of the ball more easily when wearing this new contoured design. The Predator also features the Craig Johnston-invented Traxion sole.

FIFA, the world governing body of football, commissioned specially designed footballs for use in its own World Cup tournaments to favour more attacking play. The balls supplied for the 2006 World Cup, the Teamgeist, were particular noteworthy for their ability to travel further than previous types when struck, leading to longer range goal strikes that were intended to increase the number of goals scored. Goalkeepers were believed to be less comfortable with the design, claiming it would move significantly and unpredictably in flight.

Adidas also introduced another new ball for the 2010 World Cup. The Jabulani ball was designed and developed by Loughborugh University in conjunction with Chelsea FC. It received much criticism from players, managers and pundits for being too hard to control. The lighter and more aerodynamic ball led to many shots and passes being over hit. The Jabulani was widely blamed for the low numbers of long range goals or even remotely accurate attempts in the opening stage of the tournament.

As well as the aforementioned Predator boot, adidas also manufacture the F50 and adiPure range of football boots.

Adidas also provides apparel and equipment for all teams in Major League Soccer.

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Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico. Today it is a sporting event that consists of events that involve horses and other livestock, designed to test the skill and speed of the human cowboy and cowgirl athletes who participate. Professional rodeos generally comprise the following events: Tie-down roping, Team Roping, Steer wrestling, Saddle bronc riding, Bareback Bronc-Riding, Bull riding and Barrel racing. The events are divided into two basic categories: the rough stock events and the timed events. Depending on sanctioning organization and region, other events such as breakaway roping, goat tying, or pole bending may also be a part of some rodeos.

Rodeo has provoked opposition from animal rights and animal welfare advocates, who argue that various competitions constitute animal cruelty. The American rodeo industry has made progress in improving the welfare of rodeo animals, with specific requirements for veterinary care and other regulations that protect rodeo animals. However rodeo is opposed by a number of animal welfare organizations in the United States and Canada. Some local and state governments in North America have banned or restricted rodeos, certain rodeo events, or types of equipment. Internationally, rodeo is banned in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, with other European nations placing restrictions on certain practices.

The term rodeo was first used in English in approximately 1834 to refer to a cattle round-up. Today the word is used primarily to refer to a public exhibition of cowboy skills, usually in the form of a competitive event.

In the 1970s, rodeo saw unprecedented growth. Contestants referred to as "the new breed" brought rodeo increasing media attention. These contestants were young, often from an urban background, and chose rodeo for its athletic rewards. By 1985, one third of PRCA members had a college education and one half of the competitors had never worked on a cattle ranch. Today, some professional rodeos are staged in large, air-conditioned arenas; offer large purses, and are often telecast. Many other professional rodeos are held outside, under the same conditions of heat, cold, dust or mud as were the original events.

Historically, women have long participated in rodeo. "Prairie Rose" Henderson debuted at the Cheyenne rodeo in 1901, and, by 1920, women were competing in rough stock events, relay races and trick riding. But after Bonnie McCarrol died in the Pendleton Round-Up in 1929 and Marie Gibson died in a horse wreck in 1933, women's competitive participation was curbed. Rodeo women organized into various associations and staged their own rodeos. Today, women's barrel racing is included as a competitive event in professional rodeo, with breakaway roping and goat tying added at collegiate and lower levels. They compete equally with men in team roping, sometimes in mixed-sex teams. Women also compete in traditional roping and rough stock events at women-only rodeos.

Professional rodeos in the United States and Canada usually incorporate both timed events and "rough stock" events, most commonly calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling, saddle bronc and bareback bronc riding, bull riding, and barrel racing. Additional events may be included at the collegiate and high school level, including breakaway roping and goat tying. Some events are based on traditional ranch practices; others are modern developments and have no counterpart in ranch practice.

Roping competitions are based on the tasks of a working cowboy, who often had to capture calves and adult cattle for branding, medical treatment and other purposes. The cowboy must throw a type of rope with a loop, known as a lariat, riata or reata, or lasso, over the head of a calf or onto the horns and around the hind legs of adult cattle, and secure the animal in a fashion dictated by its size and age.

• Calf Roping, also called Tie-down roping, is based on ranch work in which calves are roped for branding, medical treatment, or other purposes. It is the oldest of rodeo's timed events. The cowboy ropes a running calf around the neck with a lariat, and his horse stops and sets back on the rope while the cowboy dismounts, runs to the calf, throws it to the ground and ties three feet together. (If the calf falls when roped, the cowboy must lose time waiting for the calf to get back to its feet so that the cowboy can do the work. The job of the horse is to hold the calf steady on the rope. A well-trained calf-roping horse will slowly back up while the cowboy ties the calf, to help keep the lariat snug.
• Breakaway roping - a form of calf roping where a very short lariat is used, tied lightly to the saddle horn with string and a flag. When the calf is roped about the neck, the horse stops, the flagged rope breaks free of the saddle, and the calf runs on without being thrown or tied. In most of the United States, this event is primarily for women of all ages and boys under 12. In some nations and states where traditional "tie-down" calf roping is not allowed, riders of both genders compete.
• Team roping, also called "heading and heeling," is the only rodeo event where men and women riders compete together. Two people capture and restrain a full-grown steer. One horse and rider, the "header," lassos a running steer's horns, while the other horse and rider, the "heeler," lassos the steer's two hind legs. Once the animal is captured, the riders face each other and lightly pull the steer between them, so that it loses its balance and lies down. This technique originated from methods of capture and restraint for treatment used on a ranch.

Other timed events

• Barrel racing - is a timed speed and agility event. In barrel racing, horse and rider gallop around a cloverleaf pattern of barrels, making agile turns without knocking the barrels over. In professional, collegiate and high school rodeo, barrel racing is an exclusively women's sport, though men and boys occasionally compete at local O-Mok-See competition.
• Steer wrestling - Also known as "Bulldogging," is a rodeo event where the rider jumps off his horse onto a Corriente steer and 'wrestles' it to the ground by grabbing it by the horns. This is probably the single most physically dangerous event in rodeo for the cowboy, who runs a high risk of jumping off a running horse head first and missing the steer, or of having the thrown steer land on top of him, sometimes horns first.
• Goat tying is usually an event for women or pre-teen girls and boys; a goat is staked out while a mounted rider runs to the goat, dismounts, grabs the goat, throws it to the ground and ties it in the same manner as a calf. The horse must not come into contact with the goat or its tether. This event was designed to teach smaller or younger riders the basics of calf roping without requiring the more complex skill of roping the animal. This event is not part of professional rodeo competition.

In spite of popular myth, most modern "broncs" are not in fact wild horses, but are more commonly spoiled riding horses or horses bred specifically as bucking stock. Rough stock events also use at least two well-trained riding horses ridden by "pick up men" (or women), tasked with assisting fallen riders and helping successful riders get safely off the bucking animal.

• Bronc riding - there are two divisions in rodeo, bareback bronc riding, where the rider is only allowed to hang onto a bucking horse with a type of surcingle called a "rigging"; and saddle bronc riding, where the rider uses a specialized western saddle without a horn (for safety) and hangs onto a heavy lead rope, called a bronc rein, which is attached to a halter on the horse.
• Bull riding - an event where the cowboys ride full-grown bulls instead of horses. Although skills and equipment similar to those needed for bareback bronc riding are required, the event differs considerably from horse riding competition due to the danger involved. Because bulls are unpredictable and may attack a fallen rider, rodeo clowns, now known as "bullfighters", work during bull-riding competition to distract the bulls and help prevent injury to competitors.

Outside of competitive events, other activities are often associated with rodeos, particularly at local levels. A typical rodeo begins with a "Grand Entry", in which mounted riders, many carrying flags, including the American flag, state flags, banners representing sponsors, and others enter the arena at a gallop, circle once, come to the center of the arena and stop while the remaining participants enter. The grand entry is used to introduce some of the competitors, officials, and sponsors. It is capped by the presentation of the American flag, usually with a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," and, depending on region, other ceremonies. If a rodeo queen is crowned, the contestants or winner and runners-up may also be presented.

Variety acts, which may include musicians, trick riders or other entertainment may occur halfway through the rodeo at intermission. Some rodeos may also include novelty events, such as steer riding for preteens or "mutton busting" for small children. In some places, various types of novelty races or events such as wild cow milking are offered for adults. Such contests often are unregulated, with a higher risk of injury to human participants and poor treatment of animals than in traditionally-sanctioned events, particularly if consumption of alcoholic beverages by participants is permitted.

Numerous organizations govern rodeo in the United States, each with slightly different rules and different events. The oldest and largest sanctioning body of professional rodeo is the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) which governs about a third of all rodeos staged in the US annually. It was originally named the Cowboys Turtle Association, later became the Rodeo Cowboys Association, and finally the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1975. The PRCA crowns the World Champions at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), in Las Vegas, featuring the top fifteen money-winners in seven events.

The Professional Bull Riders (PBR) is a more recent organization dedicated solely to bull riding. Rodeo gender bias was a problem for cowgirls and in response, women formed the Girls Rodeo Association in 1948 (now the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA)) and held their own rodeos. The Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) is open exclusively to women. Women’s barrel racing is governed by the WPRA, which holds finals for barrel racing along with the PRCA with the cowboys at the NFR. There are associations governing children's, teen, and college level rodeos as well as associations governing rodeo for gays, seniors, Native Americans and others.

There are also high-school rodeos, sponsored by the National High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA). Many colleges, particularly land grant colleges in the west, have rodeo teams. The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) is responsible for the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) held each June in Casper, WY. Other rodeo governing bodies in the United States include American Junior Rodeo Association (AJRA) for contestants under twenty years of age; National Little Britches Rodeo Association (NLBRA), for youths ages eight to eighteen; Senior Pro Rodeo (SPR), for people forty years old or over; and the International Gay Rodeo Association. Each organization has its own regulations and its own method of determining champions. Athletes must participate only in rodeos sanctioned by their own governing body or one that has a mutual agreement with theirs. Rodeo committees must pay sanctioning fees to the appropriate governing bodies, and employ the needed stock contractors, judges, announcers, bull fighters, and barrel men from their approved lists. Other nations have similar sanctioning organizations.

Until recently, the most important was PRCA, which crowns the World Champions at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), held since 1985 at Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring the top fifteen money-winners in seven events. The athletes who have won the most money, including NFR earnings, in each event are the World’s Champions. However, since 1992, Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) has drawn many top bull riders, and holds its own multi- million dollar finals in Las Vegas prior to the NFR. Women’s barrel racing is governed by the WPRA, and holds its finals along with the PRCA with the cowboys at the NFR.

Contemporary rodeo is a lucrative business. More than 7,500 cowboys compete for over thirty million dollars at 650 rodeos annually. Women’s barrel racing, sanctioned by the WRPA, has taken place at most of these rodeos. Over 2,000 barrel racers compete for nearly four million dollars annually. Professional cowgirls also compete in bronc and bull riding, team roping and calf roping under the auspices of the PWRA, a WPRA subsidiary. However, numbers are small, about 120 members, and these competitors go largely unnoticed, with only twenty rodeos and seventy individual contests available annually. The total purse at the PWRA National Finals is $50,000. Meanwhile, the PBR has 700 members from three continents and ten million dollars in prize money.

Over the years, conditions for animals in rodeo and many other sporting events improved. Today, the PRCA and other rodeo sanctioning organizations have stringent regulations to ensure rodeo animals' welfare. For example, these rules require, among other things, provisions for injured animals, a veterinarian's presence at all rodeos (a similar requirement exists for other equine events), padded flank straps, horn protection for steers, and spurs with dulled, free-spinning rowels. Rodeo competitors in general value and provide excellent care to the animals with which they work. Animals must also be protected with fleece-lined flank straps for bucking stock and horn wraps for roping steers.

Laws governing rodeo vary widely. In the American west, some states incorporate the regulations of the PRCA into their statutes as a standard by which to evaluate if animal cruelty has occurred. On the other hand, some events and practices are restricted or banned in other states, including California, Rhode Island, and Ohio.St. Petersburg, Florida is the only locality in the United States with a complete ban on rodeo. Canadian Humane Societies are careful in criticizing Canadian rodeo as the event as become so indigenous to Western Canada that criticism may jeopardize support for the organization's other humane goals. The Calgary Humane Society itself is wary of criticizing the famous Calgary Stampede. Internationally, Rodeo itself is banned in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. with other European nations placing restrictions on certain practices.

However, a number of humane and animal rights organizations have policy statements that oppose many rodeo practices, and often the events themselves. Some also claim that regulations vary from vague to ineffective, and are frequently violated.

In response to these concerns, a number of cities and states, mostly in the eastern half of the United States, have passed ordinances and laws governing rodeo. Pittsburgh, for example, specifically prohibits electric prods or shocking devices, flank or bucking straps, wire tie-downs, and sharpened or fixed spurs or rowels. Pittsburgh also requires humane officers be provided access to any and all areas where animals may go—specifically pens, chutes, and injury pens. The state of Rhode Island has banned tie-down roping and certain other practices. Other locales have similar ordinances and laws.

Some accusations of cruelty are based on misunderstanding. For example, it is a myth that a bucking horse is a wild, terrified animal. The modern bronc is not a truly feral horse. A significant number of bucking horses are riding horses that learned to buck off their riders. Many bucking horses today are specifically bred for use in rodeos. A proven bucking horse can be sold for $8000 to $10,000, making "rough stock" a valuable investment worth caring for and keeping in good health for many years. Likewise, bucking bulls are also selectively bred. Most are allowed to grow up in a natural, semi-wild condition on the open range, but also have to be trained in order to be managed from the ground, safely loaded into trailers, vaccinated and wormed, and be loaded in and out of bucking chutes.

Young bucking horses are initially introduced to work with cloth dummies attached to the saddle. Others are already well-trained on the ground. Some champion bucking horses got their start as spoiled riding horses that learned to quickly and effectively unseat riders. Due to the rigors of travel and the short bursts of high intensity work required, most horses in a bucking string are at least 6 or 7 years old before they are used extensively, and are expected to be sound performers for many years. Awards are given to the owners of the best bucking horses, who are respected as equine athletes and perform for many years. Many are retired to pasture at the end of their careers. Many bucking horses understand their job well and reduce or stop their bucking, even while still wearing a flank strap, as soon as they either unseat the rider or hear the buzzer. Likewise, some bulls appear to understand that their "job" is to throw the rider; they learned not to buck when in the chute and buck far less once the rider is thrown.

Advocates for rodeo state that sick, injured, hungry, or severely abused animals cannot perform well in a given event. Rough stock must be healthy and well fed to give the cowboy a powerful and challenging ride sufficient to obtain a high score. The bucking strap has to be an incentive to an animal that already wants to buck off a rider, not a prod, or the animal will either flee the pain, not buck, quickly sour and refuse to work, regardless of any pain that might be inflicted. Steers and roping calves will not break from the chute fast enough for ropers to achieve a fast time if they are lame or weak, and they are not generally used for more than a single season.

Health regulations mandate vaccinations and blood testing of animals crossing state lines, so rodeo stock receives routine care. An injured animal will not buck well and hence a cowboy cannot obtain a high score for his ride, so sick or injured animals are not run through the chutes, but instead are given appropriate veterinary care so they can be returned to their usual level of strength and power. PRCA regulations require veterinarians to be available at all rodeos to treat both bucking stock and other animals as needed.

The PRCA emphasizes that they first promulgated rules for proper and humane treatment of livestock in 1947, a full 7 years before the founding of the Humane Society of the United States. Participants are fined for animal abuse, and a study of 21 PRCA rodeos found only 15 animals injured in 26,584 performances, a 0.06 percent rate.

On the other hand, there are occasions of rule violations and animal mistreatment at sanctioned rodeos. However, the major national rodeos are also under the most intense scrutiny and are the most likely to rigorously follow the rules. Rodeos not subject to the rules of the PRCA or other organizations, and rodeos outside of the United States and Canada, where animal cruelty laws are weaker, are more likely to be the sites of abusive practices. However, animal rights groups are less likely to target these cases.

Anthropologists studying the sport of rodeo and the culture surrounding it have commented that it is "a blend of both performance and contest", and that rodeo is far more expressive in blending both these aspects than attempting to stand alone on one or the other. Rodeo's performance level permits pageantry and ritual which serve to "revitalize the spirit of the Old West" while its contest level poses a man-animal opposition that articulates the transformation of nature and "dramatizes and perpetuates the conflict between the wild and the tame." "On its deepest level, rodeo is essentially a ritual addressing itself to the dilemma of man's place in nature."

Rodeo is a popular topic in country-western music, such as the 1991 Garth Brooks hit single "Rodeo", and has also been featured in numerous movies, television programs and in literature. Rodeo is a ballet score written by Aaron Copland in 1942, and choreographer Agnes de Mille's ballet, Rodeo was commissioned by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1942 with the Copeland score. The late country singer Chris Ledoux competed in bareback riding and wrote many of his songs based on his experiences.

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Equine Canada

Equine Canada commonly known by its acronym, EC, is Canada’s comprehensive national governing body for equestrian sport. It is the executive branch of Canada’s national equestrian teams; the national association and registry of Canadian equestrian athletes; the national regulatory body for equestrian coaches, competition organizers, and judges; and the national federation of Canadian horse breeders and Canadian breed registries.

In this role, EC governs Canada’s official relations with the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), as well as Canada’s equestrian relations with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee. It also governs relations between the government of Canada and Canadian equestrian athletes and professionals.

EC governs eight FEI disciplines: dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, reining, show jumping, paraequestrian, and vaulting. Two of the FEI disciplines have remained independent of EC: horseball and tent pegging.

EC also governs the following non-FEI disciplines: hunt seat, pony club sports, saddle seat, and some breed-specific sports. It does not regulate the non-FEI disciplines of classical dressage, horse racing, polo, or rodeo sports.

The organization serves recreational riders by certifying riding coaches and instructors, publishing national riding tests and standards, and encouraging public participation in horse sports.

EC acts as the representative of Canada’s horse breeders and breeding registries to Canada’s federal government. It also promotes Canadian-bred horses internationally.

EC was created through the merger of the Canadian Equestrian Federation (CEF), which governed domestic equestrianism, and the Canadian Equestrian Team (CET), which represented Canada in international competition. The CEF was itself the result of an earlier merger between the National Equestrian Federation of Canada, the national domestic equestrian sport organisation, and the Canadian Horse Council, the national equestrian industry association.

EC’s teams at the 2008 Olympics won one gold and one silver medal. EC’s team at the 2008 Paralympics also won one gold and one silver medal. This represents the highest Canadian equestrian achievement at any Summer Games in the history of the Olympic movement.

Damagingly in a bilingual and multicultural country, equestrian sport is often perceived in Canada as a captive of white, anglophone, social climbing classes, for which money is more important than talent or good sportsmanship. EC has fought against this perception with mixed results.

EC has supported the right of horse owners to euthanize animals that are untreatably ill or injured. This has caused conflict with the Canadian movement to ban horse slaughter.

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Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Billed as The race that stops a nation, it is a race for three-year-olds and over, over a distance of 3,200 metres. It is the richest and most prestigious "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races in the world. The event is held at around ten to 3 pm on the first Tuesday in November by the Victoria Racing Club, on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.

The race has been held since 1861 (see list of Melbourne Cup winners) and was originally held over two miles (about 3,218 metres) but following preparation for Australia's adoption of the metric system in the 1970s, the current race distance of 3,200 metres was established in 1972. This reduced the distance by 18.688 metres (61.31 ft), and Rain Lover's 1968 race record of 3min.19.1sec was accordingly adjusted to 3min.17.9sec. The present record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3min 16.3sec. The world record of 3:13.4 over 3,200 metres is held by Japanese horse Deep Impact.

The Melbourne Cup race is a handicap contest in which the weight of the jockey and riding gear is adjusted with ballast to a nominated figure. Older horses carry more weight than younger ones, and weights are adjusted further according to the horse's previous results.

Weight were theoretically calculated to give each horse an equal winning chance in the past, but in recent years the rules were adjusted to a "quality handicap" formula where superior horses are given less severe weight penalties than under pure handicap rules.

History

Seventeen horses contested the first Melbourne Cup on Thursday 7 November 1861, racing for the modest prize of 710 gold sovereigns (£710) cash and a hand-beaten gold watch, winner takes all. The prize was not, as some have suggested, the largest purse up to that time.

In order to attract a bigger crowd to the fledgling Cup, the first secretary of the Victorian Racing Club, Robert Bagot (c. 1828–1881) decided to issue members with two ladies tickets, calculating that "where ladies went, men would follow". A large crowd of 4,000 men and women watched the race, although it has been suggested this was less than expected because of news reaching Melbourne of the death of explorers Burke and Wills five days earlier on 2 November. Nevertheless the attendance was the largest at Flemington on any day for the past two years, with the exception of the recently run Two Thousand Guinea Stakes.

The race has undergone several alterations over the past 10 years, the most visible being the arrival of many foreign-trained horses to contest the race in the last decade. Most have failed to cope with the conditions; the three successful "foreign raids" include two by Irish trainer Dermot K. Weld successful in 1993 and 2002,[33] and one in 2006[34] by Katsumi Yoshida of Japan's renowned Yoshida racing and breeding family. The attraction for foreigners to compete was, primarily, the low-profile change to the new "quality handicap" weighting system.

The 1910 Melbourne Cup was won by Comedy King, the first foreign bred horse to do so. Subsequent foreign bred horses to win Cup were Backwood 1924; Phar Lap 1930; Belldale Ball 1980; At Talaq 1986; Kingston Rule 1990; Vintage Crop 1993; Jeune 1994; Media Puzzle 2002; Makybe Diva 2003, 2004, 2005; Americain 2010.

Fees

Entries for the Melbourne Cup usually close during the first week of August. The initial entry fee is $600 per horse. Around 300 to 400 horses are nominated each year, but the final field is limited to 24 starters. Following the allocation of weights, the owner of each horse must on four occasions before the race in November, declare the horse as an acceptor and pay a fee. First acceptance is $960, second acceptance is $1,450 and third acceptance is $2,420. The final acceptance fee, on the Saturday prior to the race, is $45,375. Should a horse be balloted out of the final field, the final declaration fee is refunded.

Prize money

The total prize money for the 2010 race will be A$6 million, plus trophies valued at $125,000. The first 10 past the post receive prizemoney, with the winner being paid $3.3 million, down to tenth place which receives $115,000. Prizemoney is distributed to the connections of each horse in the ratio of 85% to the owner, 10% to the trainer and 5% to the jockey.

The 1985 Melbourne Cup became the first race run in Australia with prize money of $1 million, this was won by "What a Nuisance". The Prince and Princess of Wales (Charles and Diana) attended that year's Cup race meeting, arriving by boat via the Maribyrnong River.

The Cup currently carries a $500,000 bonus to the owner of the winning horse from the group one Irish St. Leger, run in September, if it then wins the Melbourne Cup in November.

Trophies

The present trophy is made of 34 pieces of gold metal hand beaten for over 200 hours. Close inspection of the inside of the Cup will reveal small hammer imprints. As of 2008, the trophy values were increased and the Cup now contains 1.65 kg of 18-carat gold valuing the trophy at $125,000 dollars.

The trophy awarded since 1919 is a three-handled gold loving cup. The winning trainer and jockey also receive a miniature replica of the cup (a practice which commenced in 1973) and the strapper is awarded the Tommy Woodcock Trophy, named after the strapper of Phar Lap.

The trophy has changed in appearance greatly over the years since the first trophy was awarded in 1861, with several of them featuring model horses. The first trophy was a gold watch, until a silver bowl manufactured in England, with two ornate handles with a horse and rider on top, was introduced in 1865. The following year an ornate silver cup depicting Alexander taming the horse was presented. There was then a period where a trophy wasn’t presented, until 1876 when Edward Fischer an immigrant from Austria produced the first Australian-made gold trophy. It had two handles and an engraving of a horse race set at Flemington.

A silver plated base sporting three silver horses was added in 1888, but in 1891 the prize changed to being a 15-inch-high (380 mm), 24-inch-long (610 mm) trophy showing a Victory figure offering an olive wreath to a jockey. From 1899 the trophy was in the form of silver galloping horse embossed on a 3-foot-long (0.91 m) plaque, although it was said to look like a greyhound by some people.

In the Second World War years (1942, 43 and 44) the winning owner received war bonds valued at 200 pounds. A new trophy is struck each year and becomes the property of the winning owner. In the event of a dead heat a second cup is on hand. A few years ago an annual tour was initiated to foster further interest in the event. A replica of the cup is taken to locations locally and internationally which have some connection to the Cup. Areas to which the Cup has been taken include the Middle East, New Zealand, United Kingdom and US.

The last Melbourne Cup trophy manufactured in England was made for the 1914 event. It was a chalice centred on a long base which had a horse at each end. A large rose bowl trophy was presented 1915–1918 and the current loving cup design was introduced in 1919.

In the Melbourne metropolitan area, the race day has been a gazetted public holiday since 1877, but around both Australia and New Zealand a majority of people watch the race on television and gamble, either through direct betting or participating in workplace cup "sweeps". As of April 2007, the ACT also recognises Melbourne Cup Race Day as a holiday. In 2000, a betting agency claimed that 80 percent of the adult Australian population placed a bet on the race that year. In 2010 it was predicted that $183 million would be spent by 83,000 tourists during the Spring Racing Carnival. In New Zealand, the Melbourne Cup is the country's single biggest betting event, with carnival race-days held at several of the country's top tracks showing the cup live on big screens.

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IRVING, Texas — Keegan Bradley defeated Ryan Palmer at the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to capture his first US PGA Tour victory at the Byron Nelson Championship.

Bradley, the nephew of LPGA Tour great Pat Bradley, on Sunday made a two-foot par putt at the first playoff hole, the 419-yard 18th at the TPC Four Seasons, to seal the victory.

"I don't know what to say. I'm so happy, I can't believe this just happened," said Bradley, whose victory came nine days before his 25th birthday. "This is a dream come true. I've waited for this my whole life."

Palmer, who had forced the playoff with a rare birdie at the final hole of regulation, hit his approach shot into the water at the playoff hole and while he salvaged a bogey with a 13-foot putt it wasn't enough.

About an hour before, Bradley had wrapped up a final round of two-under 68 with a par at his 72nd hole, where his 10-footer for birdie slid past the edge.

Palmer closed with a two-over 72 to join Bradley on three-under 277, the highest winning total on the US tour this year, thanks in large part to the gusting winds that bedevilled golfers over the final two rounds.

Palmer's birdie at the last hole of regulation was just the second of the day at 18.

At the first extra hole, both players were right off the tee.

Tournament volunteers were called to dismantle a large, temporary lemonade stand to give Bradley a line of sight to the green, allowing him to avoid a drop.

He fired out from under the trees, his ball curving back to the left and landing on the fringe at the front of the green -- dangerously close to slipping into the water along the left of the hole.

Palmer, who had a lie in front of a tree, was less fortunate as his ball bounced into the water.

His drop almost rolled back in the drink, but instead nestled in the rough on the slope leaving him a tough chip.

Given the conditions, Bradley's round was relatively uneventful, with birdies at the third, seventh and 10th and a bogey at the fourth.

He saved par at the 172-yard 17th by draining a 12-footer.

Japan's Ryuji Imada exemplified the difficulty of the day.

Imada had a two-stroke lead after making a 10-footer for birdie at 13. But he bogeyed three of the last four.

His short miss at the par-three 17th saw him fall into a tie for the lead, while his bogey at 18 cost him a place in the playoff.

Imada shot a one-over 71 for 278, tied with American Joe Ogilvie, who posted a 70.

It was a further shot back to Australian Jason Day, the defending champion, who carded a 67 for 279, the last of only five players to finish under par for the week.

Day, equal second at the Masters in April, notched his fourth top-10 finish in his last five starts.

Sergio Garcia, who started the day one off the lead, was in trouble from the first hole.

The Spaniard, who hasn't won since 2008 and still hasn't secured a US Open or British Open berth, missed a four-footer for par at the first.

His 77 included a double-bogey at the par-four fourth, where a chip rolled back to his feet and he ended up needing four shots to hole out from 12 feet.

Teenage amateur Jordan Spieth had a tough finish. The 17-year-old local favorite closed with two double bogeys and two bogeys in a seven-over 77 that left him six-over.

"I was humbled by this back nine," Spieth said. "I'm focused on college now. Had I won today, who knows, but I'm focused now on the next step. This will sink in, and I'm sure it will sink in in a positive way. But it stings right now, it really does." (source:google.com)

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The Miami star makes the highlight shows with scoring and dunks, but he is no slouch at the other end of the court. The next challenge might be stopping Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki.

There's the powder toss before the game. There are the high-flying dunks, and passing ability. As the Miami Heat forward continues to improve as a player, another aspect of his game will be added to the list.

Defense.

Although his scoring has been the talk of the playoffs, his efforts at the defensive end have played just as much of a role in the Heat's advancing to the NBA Finals. The best-of-seven series against the Dallas Mavericks begins Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

"That's my favorite part of the floor," James said. "Offense gets all the headlines, but what I do defensively, it's all about that."

James was a first-team all-defensive selection. He has guarded all five positions at some this season. In the playoffs, he slowed Boston forward Paul Pierce while also showing versatility against point guards such as the Celtics' Rajon Rondo and Chicago's Derrick Rose.

"We knew he was an excellent defender before this year," forward Chris Bosh said. "He definitely should have been brought up for defensive player of the year [James finished ninth in the voting]. I think that is a goal of his, to be the best defender as well. He's looking to become that complete player … You can put him at one through four [positions] on offense and he can guard one through five on the other end."

James could face his next big challenge against Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who has averaged 28.4 points during the postseason. Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said James won't draw the assignment specifically, but the scenario will occur at times.

"Because of the way we defend and rotate, sometimes that will happen," Spoelstra said. "He's versatile enough that he'll probably guard all of their players at least a handful of possessions at least at some point in the series. That's the way we've been doing it for the last 2 1/2 to three months. I don't see that changing in the series."

James said he'd welcome the challenge of stopping Nowitzki, who is coming off averaging 32.2 points against Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals. A 13-year veteran, Nowitzki has been called one of the league's toughest covers because of his size (7 feet) and shooting touch. He shot 39% from three-point range this season, before making an incredible 52% beyond the arc in the postseason.

"I guess people see me as a really good defender and him as the best offensive player," James said. "So they automatically put me on him. Whatever it takes, if I need to guard him throughout the course of the series, I will."

James, who considers himself a student of the game, watches endless hour of video to learn a player's offensive tendencies. With Nowitzki, he said it's a matter of just making things difficult.

"Am I going to stop somebody from making a shot all the time? No," James said. "I'm not that. I study guys. I study their tendencies, what they like, what they dislike and make them uncomfortable. If they're going to make shots while they're uncomfortable, I can live with that." (source:latimes.com)

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Barcelona's Lionel Messi has received a timely boost ahead of the Champions League final from Argentina legend Diego Maradona, who claims the young star is the first player to be as good as himself.

• Preview: Barcelona v Man Utd

• Fergie plays down aerial threat talk

• Venables on Barca and La Masia

• Duerden: Asian hopes pinned on Park

• Jolly: Carrick has point to prove

• Jolly: Rio out to blunt Barca attack

• Rewind: Cruyff builds his Dream Team

• First XI: European Cup finals

Although many talented players have been labelled the 'new Maradona' through the years none have lived up the hype, but the 1986 World Cup winner believes Messi is the real deal.

Argentina international Messi, 23, is widely-regarded as the best player in the world and is one of the main reasons why Barcelona go into Saturday's Champions League final as favourites to beat Manchester United.

"I've heard many times over the years that there is a 'new Maradona'," El Diego told The Sun. "With Messi, though, I believe the player is equal to the hype. He is an incredible talent and someone who has the unique ability to do things with a ball you don't expect.

"That's what makes him special. All great players can play the game and do things which make everyone open their eyes with admiration. But only the truly special can make you gasp as you didn't think what they did was even possible. That is what Messi does.

"Yes he's capable of magic. But he is also a worker for the team."

But despite his plaudits for Messi, Maradona feels Manchester United's attack of Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez, whose performances this season have been followed in South America, can cause plenty of trouble for Barcelona's defence.

"For me, the United players who are most important are the strikers," said Maradona. "I watched Hernandez play in Mexico and you could see he was a real talent who could score goals at the best level.

"It's no surprise that he has done so well so quickly. He is a natural striker. But his movement and the way he plays like a ghost is perhaps the most important thing. Defenders don't know how to play against him because they don't even know where he is. (source:soccernet.espn.go.com)

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LONDON — With the fans at one end of Wembley Stadium singing and dancing, and those at the other sulking and leaving, the public-address announcer made the most obvious of proclamations: Barcelona was the winner of the Champions League.

The match’s result had been decided long before, about the time that Lionel Messi began his cat-and-mouse toying with Manchester United defenders, and certainly by the time that his go-ahead goal skipped past goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar in the 54th minute.

Barcelona beat Manchester United, 3-1, staking claim to the most prestigious club title in the world, and fueling a historical debate about whether it is one of the best teams in soccer history.

Such a question was posed to Manchester United Manager Alex Ferguson, who took control of his club in 1986 and began his coaching career more than a decade earlier.

“In my time as a manager, yes,” Ferguson said. “I’d say it’s the best team we’ve faced.”

It was Barcelona’s second title in three years, and more dominating than its 2-0 win over Manchester United in Rome in 2009.

The victory was not unexpected, although it pitted two clubs widely considered the best in the world. Barcelona, the champion of the Spanish League for three years in a row, was favored by oddsmakers and onlookers. But Manchester United, the proud juggernaut that recently won its record 19th English title, liked its chances in a one-match duel in its home country.

Yet Barcelona dominated with its usual panache. No team works better in cramped spaces. If the game were played in a closet or on a pool table, Barcelona would still find a way to keep the ball away from its opponent.

Barcelona found its footing after a few sloppy minutes, and settled into its brand of keepaway. By game’s end, Barcelona had held possession for 63 percent of the time. It had 12 on-target scoring attempts. Manchester United had one.

Barcelona had a few early chances, including one in which the playmaking midfielder Xavi Hernández punched the ball outside to Pedro Rodriguez, whose shot went wide. He did not miss the second time.

Xavi moved the ball straight upfield, as if it were attached to him by an invisible string, before lacing it wide to his right for Pedro again. His low punch, in the 27th minute, caught goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar — playing his final game — uncharacteristically flat-footed. A moment later, Van der Sar stood with his face in his hands.

The announced crowd of 87,695 sensed that it was witnessing something magical and historic. Manchester United fans were peculiarly quiet, as if resigned to the club’s fate as a foil to Barcelona’s legacy.

But Wayne Rooney unexpectedly reignited the passion, in the 34th minute, on a charge that began as an innocuous give-and-go along the right sideline. Rooney burst diagonally toward the goal, obstructed by nothing but open space, as Ryan Giggs settled in a spot to his right. Rooney tapped the ball to Giggs with the outside of his right foot, and Giggs, with a brief bobble, finessed a perfect return pass.

Rooney one-timed the ball into the left corner of the goal, well past goalkeeper Victor Valdes’s right shoulder, and turned to celebrate before the shot slapped the net. He ran and slid on his knees as United fans temporarily awakened from their worry.

It was a simple reprieve from an inevitable outcome. And it was Messi, named man of the match, who made sure Barcelona left with the championship it seemed to deserve.

Manchester United, unlike some Barcelona opponents, opted not to assign a defender to shadow the slippery Messi, the two-time world player of the year from Argentina.

In the 54th minute, with Barcelona lulling Manchester United with its passing, Messi found himself alone in the middle of the field. He moved quickly toward the goal and, just as defenders converged, sent a skipping shot to Van der Sar’s left. The goalkeeper could not corral what became Messi’s 12th goal in 13 Champions League games.

“They do mesmerize you with the passing, and we never truly controlled Messi,” Ferguson said. “But many people have said that.”

Messi, with his floppy hair and neon-green cleats, often trailed the play, letting the wings push United back and forcing defenders to drop back in the middle or stay with him. With Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, two of the world’s best midfielders, he formed a triumvirate of ball-controlling clinicians. The recipients of their dazzling array of moves often were the wings, Pedro and David Villa.

In one sequence, in the 69th minute, Messi faked out Nani — who had entered as a substitute moments before — near the right corner. Messi’s promising drive to the goal was ultimately thwarted, but the ball bounced back to midfielder Sergio Busquets, who slid it over to Villa. Van der Sar never had a chance. The ball curled past the imposing defender Rio Ferdinand and ripped into the upper corner of the net.

Barcelona led, 3-1, and the match took on the air of a coronation. Ferguson, resigned to falling short of his third European championship, sat glumly on the sideline, chewing gum. Barcelona Manager Pep Guardiola, who won the title as a Barcelona player in 1992 and as its coach two years ago, kept urging on his players from the sideline’s edge.

Barcelona’s French defender, Éric Adibal, was the first to lift the giant, two-handled championship trophy as fireworks shot from the giant arch over Wembley’s open top. Abidal had a growth on his liver removed in March, missed nearly two months and was a mild surprise to start the final.

As the cup was handed to Messi, the tireless Barcelona fans chanted his name and bowed in playful reverence.

Defender Gerard Piqué later cut one of the nets from its iron frame, then wore it downfield like a bride going down the church aisle. Barcelona players and club officials held hands and danced around the center circle until the stadium’s automatic sprinklers sprung from the turf and shot fountains of water. Undeterred, they played in the sprinklers, running toward their legion of fans and sliding on the grass.

Every move was wildly cheered, just as they had been throughout the game. And every move will be recounted, at least until a better team comes along.

“We would like, in 50, 60 years, people are reminded of this team as one of the best,” Guardiola said. “If this happens for us, it’s marvelous.” (source:nytimes.com)

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Day two of qualifying for this years Indianapolis 500 opened with nine spots still left in the starting field and IndyCar's biggest star, Danica Patrick, on the oustside looking in.

With rain predicted the day began with 15 drivers vying for the final nine starting positions. A morning crash ended the day for last-minute substitute Patrick Carpentier in a Dragon Racing car. Carpentier spun and made heavy contact with the Turn One wall in the final minutes of practice. The incident ended Dragon Racing's run at making the ‘500’. Rookie Ho-Pin Tung crashed Dragon’s other entry during a qualifying run on Saturday.

Actual qualifying began at noon and, with rain threatening, Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe, in a backup car after his crash in yesterday’s practice, Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball, Pippa Mann for Conquest Racing and Dreyer and Reinbold Racing’s Ana Beatriz all completed qualifying runs. As rain began to fall, Paul Tracy finished his 4 laps setting the fastest qualifying run of the day at 225.939 mph.

Heavy rain arrived just before 2 p.m. EDT, with all 33 positions filled and Alex Lloyd on the “bubble” as the slowest qualifier. IndyCar headliner Danica Patrick and four others, including her Andretti Autosport teammate and Long Beach race winner Mike Conway, had yet to make the field.

The rain moved out and after a tremendous effort by track personnel to dry the two–and-a-half-mile track qualifying resumed at 4:45 pm. Patrick quickly put in a four-lap run of 224.861, second fastest of the day, to bump Lloyd and safely make the field. A collective sigh of relief could be heard coming from race officials, IndyCar marketing personnel and from the television production trailer now that the series’ most recognizable and marketable driver was in the race.

With Marco Andretti now “on the bubble” as the slowest qualifier, Mike Conway, Raphael Matos, Sebastian Saavedra and James Jakes all made multiple qualifying attempts, but none had the speed to make the field and bump Andretti. But in his final attempt, Alex Lloyd recorded a lap of 223.957 to bump Andretti, whose teammate, Ryan Hunter-Reay, was now on the bubble.

With less than a minute to go in qualifying Andretti went out to make one last attempt to get in the race. As the gun that ends qualifying was fired, Andretti ran some of his fastest laps of the week and re-qualifying with a speed of 224.628 mph, but in doing so knocked teammate Hunter-Reay from this year’s 500-mile race.

After his run Andretti said, “That was new for me. I knew we would be hanging it out there at the end, it would be ‘stick it in the fence or stick in the show’. I feel for [teammates] Ryan [Hunter-Reay] and Mike [Conway] as well. They’re two of the best in the business. Mike at least won at Long Beach. Ryan has had terrible luck this year; he should have won a couple of races already. I was expecting it to come down to the wire. We came up with the speed at the end, but we were really risking it. Someone was looking over me today. I was lucky.” (source : sportscarillustrated.com)

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