To all you devoted soccer fans, the Euro cup is starting to get into the quarter-finals round of play. With favorites including Portugal, and Germany the teams are bringing their best in order to be named champion of Euro Cup 2008.

The buzz is that Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo is the one who is going to carry the Portugal team. In fact, in his last 13 appearances he has scored eight goals. According to soccernet.com he is “the best player on the planet going into the Championships,” (referring to Euro Cup 2008).

Apparently Portugal has the reputation of being inconsistent when it comes to big championships. They made it to the semis and quarter-finals in 2000, and 2002 however, in 2004 in the Euro Cup final they had a shocking loss to Greece, a loss that will not be forgotten.

With Coach Luis ‘Big Phil’ Scolari leading the team the Portuguese have a chance to take it. Sadly, the contract of Scolari is ending soon after the Euro Cup tournament, with many teams looking to hire him.

 The problem for Portugal that is critical in play is: the lack of defense. Portugal is known to have an exceptional offense, and a so-so defense. With a team that is not particularly well-rounded it is hard to make it far, and this is what has seemingly been the problem for quite some time now.

It is not that the defense is bad but, they lack discipline. The defense as a whole makes silly mistakes that can be easily corrected with more time and effort.

If Portugal wants to become the champions they are going to have to step up their game, not only in their so-called average defense but, in their incredibly good offense as well. Strategic mid-field play will be pivotal to this team’s success throughout the tournament.

Maybe this will be the year for Portugal, and I guess we’ll find out soon.

-Jess

We all know the NBA Finals are going on right now with game four tomorrow night. With the Boston Celtics taking the first two, the Los Angeles Lakers really needed to step it up in game three if they even wanted to see a chance at the championship, and apparently they did.

The Los Angeles Lakers won game three last night June 10, 2008, with the final score being 87-81. Although Lakers fans everywhere rejoiced in the fact that we were victorious, if you consider yourself a true Lakers fan you can acknowledge that they did not play up to par.

After the game as I watched the numerous people being interviewed, it was only Sasha Vujacic that was man enough to tell it like it is. He said, “We didn’t play well but, we played good enough to win.” Hats off to Sasha for being the only honest one to be interviewed.

If we are being honest here and if you are an avid basketball watcher you know that the Lakers just didn’t play well last night. Lamar was off, Pao was off, and even Fisher had a so-so game. I am usually not the type to brag about the awesomeness of Kobe Bryant but, he was one of the few who were living up to their usual game play, minus his numerous missed free throws. Hopefully Phil Jackson makes Kobe work on his free throws today in preparation for game four.

As for Vujacic, not only was he completely honest during his interview, he happened to play above average last night as well. His nickname is “The Machine,” and he helped out quite a bit in the game last night.

This is what the Lakers need in order to tie the series and even win. The Lakers starting five and the Lakers bench need to play as they have played this whole season, whole-heartedly. The reason the Lakers have made it thus far is because of this and in the first two games of this final series it’s as if that was thrown out the window. Come on Lakers, show the Celtics what you are really made of! Lakers for life.

-Jess

Picture courtesy of espn.com

Sorry ladies, this week’s sports hottie happens to be a woman. I mean, as women we should be able to appreciate other athletic women who just so happens to be gorgeous. It’s okay to let the little green monster come out just a bit, but here I present to you an established and gorgeous female athlete, surfing sensation Malia Jones.

Malia of Hawaiian, Spanish-Filipino, and German descent is a surfer and a model. She began surfing at a very young age and has actually born here, and when I say here I mean Loma Linda, California.

How cool huh, to all you LSU students who keep up with our blog, her dad went to Loma Linda University, and is now a dentist.

She was a U.S. amateur champ at the age of fifteen, and from winning that tournament her second career was born, modeling. Although Malia vows that surfing is her primary career and first love.

She has been named part of the “50 Most Beautiful People” by People magazine and one of America’s “10 Sexiest Athletes” by Esquire. She seems to be a very busy girl and she also happens to design swimwear for Mambo Graphics Sportswear.

I just thought I’d give a shout out to a successful female athlete that is ridiculously good-looking.

-Jess

Well, the worlds the highest paid athlete did not prosper in the French Open finals. World renowned tennis super star Roger Federer was defeated in the final of the French Open on Saturday June 7, 2008. Defeated is an understatement, it was honestly a massacre. The final score of the match was 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.

Federer is the first player in tennis history to lose three French Open finals consecutively. Not only did Federer lose his match, he was evidently upset with his own performance. Despite all this, he managed to keep himself together for the presentation of the trophies where long-time competitor Rafael Nadal was presented with the title of champion and 1^st place.

A set back in any tennis players career can be clay-court. Clay is unmistakably more difficult to play on as opposed to grass court play. Not only does the ball bounce differently it is faster paced game on clay.

Even with losing the French Open once again, Federer has maintained a refreshingly positive attitude about the rest of the season and Wimbledon. According to ESPN.com after the match Federer said, “It doesn’t matter now. I’m looking forward to grass. I think the second half of the season, hopefully, is going to be better than the first.”

For Nadal, this is a great title to add to his name. He just beat the player that is rumored to go down as the best player in the history of tennis. Nadal is definitely getting his name out there, not that he necessarily needed to. He was ranked number two in the world for quite some time.

Overall, the French Open 2008 was entertaining and worthwhile to watch, even with Nadal’s massacre on Federer.

-Jess

Since baseball is a new found love of mine I find myself frequently checking MLB.com and watching tidbits here and there on ESPN in between the NBA Playoffs. Well, on Monday, May 19, 2008 Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox pitched a no-hitter.

For those of you who are not that familiar with baseball, a no-hitter is when there are no runs scored during the length of an entire game and no hits, a player may be walked but no hits are actually recorded. It may sound silly for me to even mention that but, I know when I had no interest in baseball I probably thought that a no-hitter was actually a no hitter like, no one hit the ball at all. Which players do hit the ball but it is caught or somehow is proclaimed an out.

Not only is Jon Lester a stellar athlete, he managed to pitch the eighteenth no-hitter in Fenway Park history. According to MLB.com Lester’s warm-up in the bullpen was pitiful however, he told a reporter that he is “a slow starter,” yet he clearly still delivered.

Last night’s game was not only his first no-hitter, it was his first complete career game. What a special night that was for both Jon Lester and the Boston Red Sox as a whole.

He pitched a total of 130 pitches with his last pitch traveling at a speed of 94 mph. Catcher, Jason Varitek ran to Lester and hoisted him up like they had just won the World Series. It’s completely understandable though since less than 20 months ago Lester was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and look at him now.

Lester gets to join the other three no-hitter records in Red Sox history. Impressively, Jason Varitek has caught all four of them, and he went in to the record books last night as well surpassing other catchers that have caught three no-hitter games.

What a fortunate night for 24 year-old Jon Lester, Veteran Jason Varitek, and all of the Boston Red Sox.

-Jess

There was a lot of hype surrounding the Belmont Stakes, Saturday. With Big Brown victorious in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, many speculated that he would be the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 30 years.

In fact, Big Browns trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., practically guaranteed it. This great claim was the substantiated by the fact that Big Brown had been undefeated in five starts, winning all of them by a combined 39 lengths.

In addition to his brilliant track record, Big Brown’s place in history seemed even more attainable when an undefeated horse, Casino Drive, was removed from the racing lineup because of a bruised hoof.

But like most “sure things” Big Brown just didn’t hold up; sadly, he finished dead. Instead of becoming the 12th Triple Crown winner, Big Brown is the only Triple Crown hopeful to ever fail that miserably.

During the race he ran third for most of the way. His jockey Kent Desormeaux tried to push him into an explosive sprint, but Big Brown did not respond.

Desormeaux slowed Big Brown down when he knew that victory was no longer within his reach. This action was incredibly stunning to the crowd of 94,476 who had come out to watch Big Brown win the Triple Crown.

Desormeaux made the decision to slow down the horse out of concern for his health. With the victory out of reach he decided to make sure that Big Brown would end the race safely. His concern most likely stemmed from the fact that Big Brown was running on a crack in his hoof.

While Big Brown’s defeat was one for the record books, at least we can all be satisfied that he finished the race safely. It would have been terrible to see the potential champ get euthanized like his former competitor Eight Belles.

-Tab

I wish I could tell you that I watched Wednesday’s game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburg Penguins, but I can’t…in fact I was forbidden by my father.

After watching the disappointing fifth game of the series with my family, my dad “discovered” that I was a bad luck charm for the ’Wings and I was literally uninvited to watch the conclusion of the finals with him. In fact, he recommended that I skip watching the game entirely…being the obedient daughter that I am, I conceded to his demand.

Well…I’m not sure if my father’s paranoid request had anything to do with it, but one thing’s for sure; the Red Wings dominated the ice last night and took Lord Stanley’s Cup back to Detroit.

The final match took place in Pittsburg at the Mellon Arena, where the Penguins tried to become the second team in history to come back from trailing 3-1 in the final series. The only team to have ever made that come back was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs.

While the Penguins had an impressive showing in the second period, scoring two goals to tie the game, but they could not rally back against the relentless efforts of the Red Wings. Brian Rafalski scored his second goal in the third period to give the Red Wings the lead. Rafalski’s goal proved to be the game winner with the final score at Red Wings 3, Penguins 2.

This 2008 Stanley Cups victory only continues the winning tradition that the ’Wings have established over the past decade. In the last 11 season the Red Wings have won four Stanley Cup titles. Their victory in 1997 ended their 42-year championship drought. Currently the Detroit Red Wings have won 11 Stanley Cups which is the third highest total in the National Hockey League.

-Tab

For the Detroit Redwings, last nights match was a must win game. With a 3-1 game lead for the Stanley Cup trophy the Wings needed just one final “V” to earn the title of champions. They were playing in front of their home crowd and everything appeared to be in prime position for their potential hoisting of the cup.

Unfortunately for the ’Wings, the fifth game in the series was also a must win game for the Pittsburg Penguins. In order to continue competing for hockey’s greatest honor, the Penguins needed to pull off a big upset…and they did.

The final score of the match was Penguins 4, Redwings 3. But don’t let this score fool you…last night’s match was all about the Redwings, but sadly it was their game to lose.

At the start of the game the ’Wings were playing nervously. They were not possessing the puck as well as they had in the past four games. The team made several mistakes in the first quarter which ultimately cost them two goals.

The second goal was the result of a terrible play by one of the Redwings’ defensemen. He attempted to clear the puck from the goal box, but his pass was too sharp and it was easily deflected by an opponents skate and into the net. The Redwings couldn’t have given them an easier goal.

The 2-0 lead only lasted the first period. Three minutes into the second period the ’Wings finally put a point on the board. The play became even more aggressive between the rivaling teams, but the referees only seemed to be calling penalties against the home team.

This didn’t phase the Redwings at all. They went on to score two more goals to take the lead. With only a minute left in the third quarter it looked as if the Redwings would be raising the trophy shortly. It seemed as if everyone in the Joe Louis Arena was ready for its unveiling, but the Penguins were not ready to give up their own Stanley Cup dreams.

With just 34.3 seconds left Max Talbot scored the equalizing goal for the Penguins.

Unbelievably the game went on for three overtime periods before either team scored the golden goal. With the Redwings relentless attacking Penguins’ net it seemed as if the title would soon be theirs. The Penguins’ keeper, Marc-Andre Fleury, truly was the man of the match.

While the ’Wings greatly out shot the Penguins they did not make the one shot that mattered. That honor belongs to Penguin Petr Sykora who scored the winning goal with just over nine minutes left in the third overtime.

The battle will now move to the Penguins’ home turf. The game is scheduled at 8 p.m. eastern time on Wednesday June 4.

-Tab

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Jonny Wilkinson is one of sport’s greatest hotties, and I’ve never even heard of him.

This hidden gem just so happens to be one of the world’s greatest rugby stars. (Well…now you know why I’ve never heard of him.)

Wilkinson began his rugby career when he was scouted at one of his high school matches. He left school in 1997 to start his career as a Newcastle Falcon.

Jonny is currently playing professional rugby for both the Newcastle Falcons, in the Guinness Premeirship, and the English national team.

At just 18 years old, Jonny made his national team debut against Ireland on April 4, 1998. After this first match, Jonny began starting regularly for the English national team. He made his World Cup debut in 1999.

His career with the Falcons was just as impressive. In 2001 he assisted the team in winning the Tetley’s Bitter Cup.

Jonny really began his rise to fame in 2003 after he kicked the winning goal in overtime to help England win its first World Cup.

Wilkinson’s remained dominant for the past several years. Just last year, he became the highest point-scorer in the history of the Five/Six Nations Championship.

Overall, Jonny has a great reputation for his extreme dedication to training and his incredible work ethic; an example of this commitment is that he spends hours a day practicing his goal-kicks.

Wilkinson’s dedication has obviously paid odd throughout the years because he is currently considered at the top of his game.

He is also at the top of our very own hottie list!

-Tab

Hello dedicated readers!

I’m not sure if any of your read my post last month about my new supplementary blog.

While I feel that this is a worthy subject…this belief has yet to be supported.

So far…there have been literally two…I repeat two…views of my new page. This is pretty disappointing because the blog has been in existence for quite a while now.

Once again, the domain name is http://collegeathlete.wordpress.com.

Despite the fact that no one even reads it…my blog is actually pretty good.

Directions for the College Athlete describes how to go about entering the world of college sports, as well as, what to do when you get there. Through my own personal accounts, I have begun offering some insight that I hope will help other athletes that are trying to make it into college sports.

So far, I have written a few posts about how the how the whole college athlete process works. Specifically there is a posts that describes how to find the right school for you and how you can get yourself noticed by college scouts.

As previously mentioned in this blog, both of these steps are an incredibly important because finding a school to play at directly affects a person’s future whether it is in professional sports or “the real world.”

I have also written a few different posts detailing the intricacies of the life of a college athlete. So far I have yet to fully tap into this discussion.

In my upcoming posts I plan on writing about college life in general. While I will be writing about different topics that all college students can relate to my entries will be written from the perspective of a college athlete.

I plan on writing about the different expectations that are placed on college athletes, how to juggle a demanding schedule, homesickness, parties, and so much more.

So please…please…please, read it!

Thank you.

-Tab