Federer claims the honour for the fifth time, while Williams wins it for the second.
The award caps a memorable year for Federer, who during it won the French Open and Wimbledon titles - completing a career Grand Slam and surpassing Pete Sampras' record of Grand Slam singles titles in the process. The Swiss, who was also runner-up at the Australian and US Opens, said: "It is an honour for me to be named ITF world champion for a fifth time. "It was an incredible year for me both on and off the court. To win my first Roland Garros title, break the all-time Grand Slam record and regain the number one ranking is amazing. It means a lot to me to finish the year again at the top." Meanwhile, women's world number one Williams adds the title to the one she claimed in 2002. She won the Australian Open and Wimbledon crowns during the year, as well capturing the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Qatar.
In fact there was double delight for Williams who was also named as world doubles champion, alongside her sister, Venus. The siblings won three of the four Grand Slam titles in 2009, missing out only at the French Open, taking their career total to 10 Grand Slam doubles triumphs Serena becomes the first player since Martina Hingis in 1999 to win both the singles and doubles world champion awards. American twins Bob and Mike Bryan were named men's doubles world champions for a record sixth time, while Swede Daniel Berta and France's Kristina Mladenovic claimed the junior awards.
ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said: "This has been another memorable year for tennis, with some outstanding performances by our world champions. Roger Federer has truly earned his place in the history books, while the Williams sisters remain the strongest competitors on the women's tour." The awards will be handed out at the ITF World Champions Dinner, which takes place in Paris on June 1 during the French Open.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Can You Guess Who Will Go With Oscar
You needn't tune in early to the Oscar show this coming Mar. 7; there'll be no suspense for the Supporting Actor and Actress awards. Christoph Waltz is a lock for his role as the sneaky German officer in Inglourious Basterds, and Mo'Nique a sure thing as the mom from hell in Precious. But you might want to watch later on, to see if two Hollywood icons, George Clooney and Meryl Streep, are upstaged in the Actor and Actress categories by two lesser-known Brits, Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan. And wouldn't it be a blast if The Hurt Locker, the indie Iraq war drama that not many people saw, were to take Best Picture over the mainstream front-swimmer Up in the Air?
Those, at least, are the indications from a tally of 21 groups that have announced prizes for the best films and performances. The critics' choices are often early indicators of the Oscar vibe. And if they're wrong, no big deal. It's not even Christmas yet. December is that most wonderful time of the year, when Santa perches all the little boy and girl critics on his knee and warmly whispers, "You matter." All the other months, we're dog food. But when the winter solstice nears, and movie reviewers convene to vote for their favorites of the year, we suddenly become valuable to the studios. The news stories about the winners provide free publicity for Oscar-yearning pictures, copy for the movie industry's trade ads and balm for its needy ego. The honor roll also gives members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences hints as to which DVDs, of the dozens, hundreds, of recent films they've been sent, should be pulled out of the freebie pile and watched. See, we critics have a higher mission after all. We're the Oscar voters' touts.
We're also an additive, or corrective, to the nominations for the Golden Globes. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, it's always worth saying, is more an annual TV show than a critics' group. Most of them don't review movies at all; they're show business reporters for foreign papers. As such, they want access to movie stars, and they get it by throwing a dinner for celebrities; the party favors are nationwide attention and maybe an award. To get on their guest list, it helps to be famous; note that The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner, who finished third in our critics' tally, was not nominated for a Golden Globe. But we're betting he has an aisle seat on Oscar night. To get a sense of the 2009 critical consensus, I kept tabs on the winners as voted by 21 groups: Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Florida, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle, the New York Online Critics, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Satellite Film Critics, Southeastern, St. Louis, Toronto, Utah and Washington, D.C. Not included are the Gotham Awards, which don't divide acting prizes by gender or the size of the role, or the National Society of Film Critics, the one organization I know of that doesn't vote until January. The venerable NBR is not so much a critics' society, more a group of concerned citizens. They're included here because they've anticipated the top Oscar winners the past two years, and because they throw the best awards banquet this side of the Golden Globes.
In each category, the winner from each group received one point; if the vote was tied, or two prizes were given, the winners got a half-point each.
Those, at least, are the indications from a tally of 21 groups that have announced prizes for the best films and performances. The critics' choices are often early indicators of the Oscar vibe. And if they're wrong, no big deal. It's not even Christmas yet. December is that most wonderful time of the year, when Santa perches all the little boy and girl critics on his knee and warmly whispers, "You matter." All the other months, we're dog food. But when the winter solstice nears, and movie reviewers convene to vote for their favorites of the year, we suddenly become valuable to the studios. The news stories about the winners provide free publicity for Oscar-yearning pictures, copy for the movie industry's trade ads and balm for its needy ego. The honor roll also gives members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences hints as to which DVDs, of the dozens, hundreds, of recent films they've been sent, should be pulled out of the freebie pile and watched. See, we critics have a higher mission after all. We're the Oscar voters' touts.
We're also an additive, or corrective, to the nominations for the Golden Globes. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, it's always worth saying, is more an annual TV show than a critics' group. Most of them don't review movies at all; they're show business reporters for foreign papers. As such, they want access to movie stars, and they get it by throwing a dinner for celebrities; the party favors are nationwide attention and maybe an award. To get on their guest list, it helps to be famous; note that The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner, who finished third in our critics' tally, was not nominated for a Golden Globe. But we're betting he has an aisle seat on Oscar night. To get a sense of the 2009 critical consensus, I kept tabs on the winners as voted by 21 groups: Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Florida, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle, the New York Online Critics, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Satellite Film Critics, Southeastern, St. Louis, Toronto, Utah and Washington, D.C. Not included are the Gotham Awards, which don't divide acting prizes by gender or the size of the role, or the National Society of Film Critics, the one organization I know of that doesn't vote until January. The venerable NBR is not so much a critics' society, more a group of concerned citizens. They're included here because they've anticipated the top Oscar winners the past two years, and because they throw the best awards banquet this side of the Golden Globes.
In each category, the winner from each group received one point; if the vote was tied, or two prizes were given, the winners got a half-point each.
My Return Is For Mercedes
Schumacher on Wednesday lit the touchpaper to what is almost certain to be a phenomenal season in 2010 by signing a three-year contract with Mercedes GP, ending three years in retirement. The seven-times world champion had no intention of returning to F1 until Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo urged him to replace the injured Felipe Massa following his horror smash in Hungary in July. At that moment, Schumacher was again bitten by the bug, and after di Montezemolo's plan to run three cars for next year soon fell by the wayside, there was just one choice open to Schumacher. After Mercedes took over Brawn GP, and then Jenson Button departed for McLaren, there was only going to be one answer when close friend Ross Brawn came calling. "There were no other teams seriously considered," said Schumacher, who will celebrate his 41st birthday in 10 days' time.
"The only reason I seriously thought about a return is because of the old friends (Brawn and Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug) that have asked me. "With the combination of Ross and Mercedes, it is now possible to work together. "I'm happy to give something back to Mercedes after they gave me something in the early days. "With Mercedes, where I started my career, and with Ross, it was the only combination able to trigger this (his comeback). "There was no other combination I felt I wanted to work for and work with. "Ross is a long-term friend. He knows me in detail, as I know him. "We've won races we shouldn't have, had tough times, good times, but in the end we have managed to finish with a positive attitude."
It was Brawn who was the mastermind behind Schumacher's seven world titles, initially at Benetton in 1994 and 1995, and then from 2000 to 2004 with Ferrari. Brawn is convinced, simply because he trusts Schumacher's word, his protege still has what it takes to succeed at the highest level. "I asked Michael that question, and he is the best judge of what he can do, and I trust him implicitly," added Brawn. "He's told me he can do it, so I'm very confident. He's always been his own best critic, he knows what he's capable of. "I'm very comfortable, very confident. I put my trust in Michael, and it won't be misplaced, that he will do a job." Assessing the cards in his favour, Schumacher added: "I have won the title seven times, I'm with a team that won both titles last year, and you have Mercedes as a team owner.
"So you can't expect anything else other than going for the world championship. That's what we're aiming for. "Yes, there will be strong competition, but I am absolutely thrilled to be back, and right in the middle of it." Mercedes have already been dubbed 'Team Germany' as Schumacher will partner Nico Rosberg for the manufacturer. With Button and Lewis Hamilton lining up for McLaren, and with old adversary Fernando Alonso alongside Massa at Ferrari, F1 fans could be in for a treat.
"The only reason I seriously thought about a return is because of the old friends (Brawn and Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug) that have asked me. "With the combination of Ross and Mercedes, it is now possible to work together. "I'm happy to give something back to Mercedes after they gave me something in the early days. "With Mercedes, where I started my career, and with Ross, it was the only combination able to trigger this (his comeback). "There was no other combination I felt I wanted to work for and work with. "Ross is a long-term friend. He knows me in detail, as I know him. "We've won races we shouldn't have, had tough times, good times, but in the end we have managed to finish with a positive attitude."
It was Brawn who was the mastermind behind Schumacher's seven world titles, initially at Benetton in 1994 and 1995, and then from 2000 to 2004 with Ferrari. Brawn is convinced, simply because he trusts Schumacher's word, his protege still has what it takes to succeed at the highest level. "I asked Michael that question, and he is the best judge of what he can do, and I trust him implicitly," added Brawn. "He's told me he can do it, so I'm very confident. He's always been his own best critic, he knows what he's capable of. "I'm very comfortable, very confident. I put my trust in Michael, and it won't be misplaced, that he will do a job." Assessing the cards in his favour, Schumacher added: "I have won the title seven times, I'm with a team that won both titles last year, and you have Mercedes as a team owner.
"So you can't expect anything else other than going for the world championship. That's what we're aiming for. "Yes, there will be strong competition, but I am absolutely thrilled to be back, and right in the middle of it." Mercedes have already been dubbed 'Team Germany' as Schumacher will partner Nico Rosberg for the manufacturer. With Button and Lewis Hamilton lining up for McLaren, and with old adversary Fernando Alonso alongside Massa at Ferrari, F1 fans could be in for a treat.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Best Home Security
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Friday, December 11, 2009
Yet Another Win
General manager Kiki Vanderweghe's side edged out Chicago Bulls 103-101 with 25 points from Brook Lopez and 20 from Chris Douglas-Roberts. Derrick Rose and Great Britain forward Luol Deng scored 27 apiece for the Bulls but they became the Nets' second victims of the season. South-East Division leaders Orlando Magic beat LA Clippers 97-86 as Dwight Howard led the way with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
Eric Gordon poured in 21 for the Clippers in a losing cause. Boston Celtics claimed their eighth successive win as they saw off Milwaukee Bucks 98-89 on the back of Kevin Garnett's 25-point haul, Rajon Rondo adding 11 points and 13 assists.
Andrew Bogut carried the fight for the Bucks with 25 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, but the game ran away from them as Boston won the final quarter 27-18.
Dirk Nowitzki's 33 points led Dallas Mavericks to a 102-101 win over Phoenix Suns which sees them stretch their lead atop the on South-West Division with a 15-7 record. Steve Nash (27), Jason Richardson (25) and Amar'e Stoudemire (20) scored well for the Suns but they were edged out as Stoudemire missed a last-second three-pointer. Charlotte Bobcats beat North-West Division leaders Denver Nuggets 107-95 with 25 points apiece from Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson. Memphis Grizzlies also claimed an upset win - 111-109 against Cleveland Cavaliers - thanks to Mike Conley's lay-up three seconds from the end of overtime. LeBron James scored 43 points for the Cavaliers, but hit the rim with a last-second three-point attempt.
Eric Gordon poured in 21 for the Clippers in a losing cause. Boston Celtics claimed their eighth successive win as they saw off Milwaukee Bucks 98-89 on the back of Kevin Garnett's 25-point haul, Rajon Rondo adding 11 points and 13 assists.
Andrew Bogut carried the fight for the Bucks with 25 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, but the game ran away from them as Boston won the final quarter 27-18.
Dirk Nowitzki's 33 points led Dallas Mavericks to a 102-101 win over Phoenix Suns which sees them stretch their lead atop the on South-West Division with a 15-7 record. Steve Nash (27), Jason Richardson (25) and Amar'e Stoudemire (20) scored well for the Suns but they were edged out as Stoudemire missed a last-second three-pointer. Charlotte Bobcats beat North-West Division leaders Denver Nuggets 107-95 with 25 points apiece from Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson. Memphis Grizzlies also claimed an upset win - 111-109 against Cleveland Cavaliers - thanks to Mike Conley's lay-up three seconds from the end of overtime. LeBron James scored 43 points for the Cavaliers, but hit the rim with a last-second three-point attempt.
Best Place To Buy Camera And Laptop
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Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Drodba Took The Game
The 22-year-old Gunners captain pointed to the lack of penetration his side had in the 3-0 Carling Cup defeat to Manchester City last week as more evidence of the need to increase their attacking options, particularly after Robin van Persie was ruled out for five months with torn ankle ligaments.
He told The Guardian: "Throughout the game (against City) we had a lot of possession but didn't really have anyone to go in behind the defenders, apart from Carlos Vela.
"We had a lot of similar players who like the ball into their feet. Sometimes it's true that you need a different kind of option."
Fabregas argued that a striker with the power and pace of Drogba could lift a team out of the ordinary.
Recalling his side's 3-0 defeat to Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on November 29, he said: "Overall, I saw a Chelsea team that was normal but a team that has probably the best striker in the world.
"An average team that has the best striker in the world can always do something and Didier Drogba makes all the difference."
He told The Guardian: "Throughout the game (against City) we had a lot of possession but didn't really have anyone to go in behind the defenders, apart from Carlos Vela.
"We had a lot of similar players who like the ball into their feet. Sometimes it's true that you need a different kind of option."
Fabregas argued that a striker with the power and pace of Drogba could lift a team out of the ordinary.
Recalling his side's 3-0 defeat to Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on November 29, he said: "Overall, I saw a Chelsea team that was normal but a team that has probably the best striker in the world.
"An average team that has the best striker in the world can always do something and Didier Drogba makes all the difference."
Even A Smart Phone Can Save Your Life
here are a growing number of smartphone applications aimed at assisting medical professionals or improving personal health.
From AirStrip OB, which lets obstetricians remotely access real-time data about newborn babies, to Epocrates, a kind of encyclopedia for medics, phone apps have the potential to be lifesavers.
Then there are the apps aimed at improving people's general health, such as RunKeeper, designed to make it easier to keep fit, and Absolute Fitness, which could help you keep tabs on your diet.
We take a look at just a few of the health-related applications now showing on a smartphone near you.
From AirStrip OB, which lets obstetricians remotely access real-time data about newborn babies, to Epocrates, a kind of encyclopedia for medics, phone apps have the potential to be lifesavers.
Then there are the apps aimed at improving people's general health, such as RunKeeper, designed to make it easier to keep fit, and Absolute Fitness, which could help you keep tabs on your diet.
We take a look at just a few of the health-related applications now showing on a smartphone near you.
Real Time Search
Google announced Monday the fruits of its earlier deal with Twitter, showing off how it has decided to present real-time Internet content within search results.
Amit Singhal, Google fellow, introduced the real-time section during an event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. "We are here today to announce Google real-time search," Singhal said, calling it "Google relevance technology meets the real-time Web." Twitter search will show the latest matches for a particular search term, but Google wants to do more than sort results by time.
"Relevance is the foundation of this product," Singhal said. "It's relevance, relevance, relevance."
Google will build a section called "latest results" into the regular Google search results page that automatically refreshes Internet content from sources like Twitter.
Singhal showed off how a search for "Obama" would bring up tweets, Web pages, and other Internet content related to the president as it was generated. At the Web 2.0 conference in October, Google struck a deal with Twitter to get access to the service's "firehose" of tweets.
Google plans to roll this out over the next several days, and not all users may see the new section immediately, Singhal said. The company also announced partnerships with social-networking companies Facebook and MySpace to display updates from those services.
Real-time search at Google involves more than just social-networking and microblogging services. While Google will get information pushed to it through deals with those companies, it also has improved its crawlers as to index and display virtually any Web page as it is generated.
Facebook updates posted to public Facebook Pages will be indexed, while any Myspace update designated as public will appear in search results.
Google also demonstrated a Google Labs project called "Google Goggles," which allows a smartphone user to take a picture of a given object and send it to Google in hopes of finding out more information that object.
Amit Singhal, Google fellow, introduced the real-time section during an event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. "We are here today to announce Google real-time search," Singhal said, calling it "Google relevance technology meets the real-time Web." Twitter search will show the latest matches for a particular search term, but Google wants to do more than sort results by time.
"Relevance is the foundation of this product," Singhal said. "It's relevance, relevance, relevance."
Google will build a section called "latest results" into the regular Google search results page that automatically refreshes Internet content from sources like Twitter.
Singhal showed off how a search for "Obama" would bring up tweets, Web pages, and other Internet content related to the president as it was generated. At the Web 2.0 conference in October, Google struck a deal with Twitter to get access to the service's "firehose" of tweets.
Google plans to roll this out over the next several days, and not all users may see the new section immediately, Singhal said. The company also announced partnerships with social-networking companies Facebook and MySpace to display updates from those services.
Real-time search at Google involves more than just social-networking and microblogging services. While Google will get information pushed to it through deals with those companies, it also has improved its crawlers as to index and display virtually any Web page as it is generated.
Facebook updates posted to public Facebook Pages will be indexed, while any Myspace update designated as public will appear in search results.
Google also demonstrated a Google Labs project called "Google Goggles," which allows a smartphone user to take a picture of a given object and send it to Google in hopes of finding out more information that object.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Many College Students Are Encouraged To Get H1N1 Vaccine
Chris Edwards' fever spiked at 104 degrees this fall before he was sent home from Frostburg State University in western Maryland to recuperate from the H1N1 flu.
"It scared most of my family more than it scared me," the freshman information technology major told CNN in a telephone interview Thursday. "For me, it was regular sick." He is one of many students at U.S. colleges who have tested positive for H1N1 -- also known as swine flu -- in recent months. To help cut down on the spread of the disease, the U.S. Department of Education has begun encouraging college students to get vaccinated. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that officials would like to see college students inoculated before they head home for Christmas break. And if exam schedules make that impossible, students should try to get the vaccine while they are at home, he said.
"If you are sick, this is highly contagious and we really need you home getting well before you return to class," Duncan told a group of college newspaper reporters. Edwards can attest to how difficult that can be. After missing a week of school, he said, "It took me a long time to catch up." The Department of Education said its most recent check of elementary and secondary schools found none were closed because of the H1N1 virus. That's a big change from a peak in late October of more than 450 schools closed, affecting over 350,000 students across the United States.
However, officials warn it is too soon to relax. "Although flu is going down, it's far from gone," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Thomas Frieden said Monday, pointing out that flu season lasts until May.
"It scared most of my family more than it scared me," the freshman information technology major told CNN in a telephone interview Thursday. "For me, it was regular sick." He is one of many students at U.S. colleges who have tested positive for H1N1 -- also known as swine flu -- in recent months. To help cut down on the spread of the disease, the U.S. Department of Education has begun encouraging college students to get vaccinated. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that officials would like to see college students inoculated before they head home for Christmas break. And if exam schedules make that impossible, students should try to get the vaccine while they are at home, he said.
"If you are sick, this is highly contagious and we really need you home getting well before you return to class," Duncan told a group of college newspaper reporters. Edwards can attest to how difficult that can be. After missing a week of school, he said, "It took me a long time to catch up." The Department of Education said its most recent check of elementary and secondary schools found none were closed because of the H1N1 virus. That's a big change from a peak in late October of more than 450 schools closed, affecting over 350,000 students across the United States.
However, officials warn it is too soon to relax. "Although flu is going down, it's far from gone," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Thomas Frieden said Monday, pointing out that flu season lasts until May.
We Are Not Distracted
United head to West Ham on Saturday looking to close the gap on Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea to a couple of points before Carlo Ancelotti's men tackle City at Eastlands later.
Yet it is the Carling Cup that remains the talk of the city, as it pits United against City in a two-legged semi-final where the prize is a place at Wembley.
While United have been there on numerous occasions in recent years, for City it would represent their first major final since 1981 and confirmation the multi-million pound investment of Sheikh Mansour may eventually change the landscape of the English game.
But the Red Devils have no intention of simply standing aside.
"You are aware of the shifts in power but we have always been up there, which is a good achievement," Brown told Inside United.
"We set out to challenge for the title at the start of every season and to continue doing that we have to keep working hard.
"City have got a lot of money to spend and have therefore bought good players and will probably continue to do so.
"That means they are going to be challenging - they have to be with the players they have.
"We have just got to keep doing what we are doing, continue improving and hopefully we can keep on doing as well as we have over the last few years."
Having placed his trust in youth to get United past Tottenham in midweek, Ferguson will bring back all his big names at the weekend, although there is still a question mark over Edwin van der Sar, who missed the win at Portsmouth last weekend after suffering a bang on the knee in a collision with Everton's Tim Cahill the week before.
However, it is the decision not to pursue a stated interest in Partizan Belgrade youngster Adem Ljajic that has vexed many United fans.
Old Trafford sources insist there is no truth in the claim by Partizan president Dragan Djuric that United - who have confirmed debts of £790million - are in the midst of a "financial crisis".
That has not stopped questions being raised by the Manchester United Supporters' Trust, who have been fiercely opposed to the Glazer family since they completed their controversial takeover in 2005.
"The true picture will not be clear until after the January transfer window but with the £80m Ronaldo transfer fee plus the supposed £25-30m annual transfer kitty a spend of £100m would effectively be break-even and supporters will rightly be asking where has the money gone when they've been forced to pay more and more through the huge ticket price rises in recent years," said MUST chairman Duncan Drasdo.
Yet it is the Carling Cup that remains the talk of the city, as it pits United against City in a two-legged semi-final where the prize is a place at Wembley.
While United have been there on numerous occasions in recent years, for City it would represent their first major final since 1981 and confirmation the multi-million pound investment of Sheikh Mansour may eventually change the landscape of the English game.
But the Red Devils have no intention of simply standing aside.
"You are aware of the shifts in power but we have always been up there, which is a good achievement," Brown told Inside United.
"We set out to challenge for the title at the start of every season and to continue doing that we have to keep working hard.
"City have got a lot of money to spend and have therefore bought good players and will probably continue to do so.
"That means they are going to be challenging - they have to be with the players they have.
"We have just got to keep doing what we are doing, continue improving and hopefully we can keep on doing as well as we have over the last few years."
Having placed his trust in youth to get United past Tottenham in midweek, Ferguson will bring back all his big names at the weekend, although there is still a question mark over Edwin van der Sar, who missed the win at Portsmouth last weekend after suffering a bang on the knee in a collision with Everton's Tim Cahill the week before.
However, it is the decision not to pursue a stated interest in Partizan Belgrade youngster Adem Ljajic that has vexed many United fans.
Old Trafford sources insist there is no truth in the claim by Partizan president Dragan Djuric that United - who have confirmed debts of £790million - are in the midst of a "financial crisis".
That has not stopped questions being raised by the Manchester United Supporters' Trust, who have been fiercely opposed to the Glazer family since they completed their controversial takeover in 2005.
"The true picture will not be clear until after the January transfer window but with the £80m Ronaldo transfer fee plus the supposed £25-30m annual transfer kitty a spend of £100m would effectively be break-even and supporters will rightly be asking where has the money gone when they've been forced to pay more and more through the huge ticket price rises in recent years," said MUST chairman Duncan Drasdo.
2010 World Cup Final Draw
Where will your favourite team land?
Here are the groups as they are drawn from Cape Town:
Group A
South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France
Group B
Argentina
Nigeria
Korea Republic
Greece
Group C
England
USA
Algeria
Slovenia
Group D
Germany
Australia
Ghana
Serbia
Group E
Netherlands
Denmark
Japan
Cameroon
Group F
Italy
Paraguay
New Zealand
Slovakia
Group G
Brazil
Korea DPR
Ivory Coast
Portugal
Group H
Spain
Switzerland
Honduras
Chile
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Its The Place To Learn
One size fits all rabbit costume
Sir Alex Ferguson is set to keep faith with the youngsters defeated by Besiktas last week when Manchester United face Tottenham at Old Trafford in the Carling Cup quarter-final. It means teenage trio Danny Welbeck, Federico Macheda and Rafael Da Silva will all be involved, as well as Darron Gibson and Gabriel Obertan, who have just 25 first-team appearances between them. The quintet know they could get more regular action elsewhere but, as someone who has been in that position, Fletcher feels they will learn more by staying where they are. "A first-team game for Manchester United can mean the equivalent of playing 10 or 20 anywhere else. It is that big," said the Scotland skipper. "It is on so much of a higher scale.
"That was always echoed through the youth system and from my own experience I know it is true. "It is all very well training, and at a club like United you do pick up lots, but the more games these lads get, especially big matches like tonight's, the more they will learn. "These players need games. They are an important part of the squad and will probably be needed later on in the season, so we will feel the benefit right through the club." It is a view Ferguson shares, which is why he was so irritated by the criticism his players received last week and why, at the first appropriate opportunity, he launched a fierce counter-offensive.
Sir Alex Ferguson is set to keep faith with the youngsters defeated by Besiktas last week when Manchester United face Tottenham at Old Trafford in the Carling Cup quarter-final. It means teenage trio Danny Welbeck, Federico Macheda and Rafael Da Silva will all be involved, as well as Darron Gibson and Gabriel Obertan, who have just 25 first-team appearances between them. The quintet know they could get more regular action elsewhere but, as someone who has been in that position, Fletcher feels they will learn more by staying where they are. "A first-team game for Manchester United can mean the equivalent of playing 10 or 20 anywhere else. It is that big," said the Scotland skipper. "It is on so much of a higher scale.
"That was always echoed through the youth system and from my own experience I know it is true. "It is all very well training, and at a club like United you do pick up lots, but the more games these lads get, especially big matches like tonight's, the more they will learn. "These players need games. They are an important part of the squad and will probably be needed later on in the season, so we will feel the benefit right through the club." It is a view Ferguson shares, which is why he was so irritated by the criticism his players received last week and why, at the first appropriate opportunity, he launched a fierce counter-offensive.
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