June 28, 2008 - You never know how one of these can come in handy. A 24-year-old Colorado Springs woman, vacationing in Europe, went for a hike in the Bavarian Alps. During the trek, Jessica Bruinsma lost her footing and fell 16 feet to a narrow overhang, spending the next 70 hours waiting to be found. After nearly three days, she spotted a group of lumberjacks but they were too far away to hear her, so she improvised.

Apparently, there was a cable that brought wood up and down the mountain. Initially, the timber transport system was out of service. But when a repairman restored the line on Thursday, Jessica hooked her sports bra on the cable and it reached a worker at the base. He had heard of the missing hiker and immediately alerted police who airlifted her to safety.

Bruisnma realized she needed her shirt and jacket for warmth but the bra might serve as an appropriate signal to those on the ground. And her resourcefulness paid off! She has scrapped plans to stay in Berchtesgaden to learn German and plans to return home to Colorado where she hopes she’ll recover quick enough to participate in an upcoming marathon. Her goal is to complete the course in three hours and ten minutes. We’re guessing she’ll be properly outfitted for the run.

Full story

Filed under: Mountaineering, News Bytes, Outdoors by jane
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June 28, 2008 - Top seed Ana Ivanovic, clear favorite to win Wimbledon for the first time this year, was upset in the third round on Court No. 1 by wild card entry Zheng Jie of China. Zheng, ranked 133 in the world, secured the astonishing 6-1, 6-4 victory in 72 minutes.

Ivanovic of Serbia, who took over the No. 1 ranking after winning the French Open earlier this month, blamed the pressures of winning her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros this month and becoming world number one for her shock defeat.

“It has been a very emotional past couple of weeks and it took its toll,” Ivanovic claimed.

“It’s a surprise for me,” said the 24-year-old Zheng, who has won 11 tour doubles titles, including the 2006 Wimbledon and Australian Open championships. “Thanks to Wimbledon, (which) gave me a wild card. I just tried my best and had to keep going, going.” Her unexpected win extended a spate of stunning upsets at the All England Club including Maria Sharapova’s round two loss yesterday.

Filed under: News Bytes, Tennis by jane
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June 27, 2008 - The number three seed, Maria Sharapova, was stunned in the second round of Wimbledon, 6-2, 6-4,  by little known compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva. The dramatic upset by a 154th-ranked player marked Sharapova’s earliest exit from a Grand Slam tournament since her first full season on tour in 2003.

Like Sharapova, Kudryavtseva is a Russian blonde in her early twenties with a two-handed backhand. But unlike Sharapova, one of the world’s most recognizable and bankable athletes, Kudryavtseva is not a household name and her career earnings are less than a quarter of what Sharapova earned just this year.

The Australian Open that Sharapova won in such convincing fashion back in January was of no help to her as she tried and failed to control her powerful shots. Her game was littered by double faults and unforced errors.

On paper, it seemed inconceivable that Kudryavtseva could beat the three-time Grand Slam winner and reigning Australian Open champion — especially at the tournament where Sharapova made her major breakthrough four years ago.

Kudryavtseva, who was born in Moscow and now lives in Miami, lost in the first round at Wimbledon to eventual champion Venus Williams last year.

In their only previous meeting, at the French Open last year, Sharapova easily beat Kudryavtseva 6-1, 6-4.  But this match was a completely different story.  Later, Sharapova was brutally honest in her assessment of how she lost to her unheralded compatriot, “She just did everything better than I did”.

So Kudryavtseva, now part of Wimbledon folklore, moves on after the second round as does Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Amelie Mauresmo and Jelena Jankovic. 

Filed under: News Bytes, Tennis by jane
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June 18, 2008 - “Go ahead, go shred”….
June 21st is right around the corner and if you don’t know by now, it’s the official Go Skateboarding Day! There are tons - and we mean tons - of events going on everywhere for this special day (which luckily falls on Saturday this year). For many, everyday is go skateboarding day but this is the “official” day.

Just about every skateboard company and skatepark is planning a Go Skateboarding Day Event. If you’re not aware of something going on near your hometown then go by your local shop and get the details. If there still truly is nothing going on in your area you have two options… One you make something happen yourself, hit up all your homies and build the biggest skateboarding session ever assembled. You could even cooperate with your local core shop on doing something. Or option number two, just skate! Yeah that’s right, even if you are alone make sure you skateboard on Go Skateboarding Day.

Just think, at that moment on that day when you are skateboarding, there will be millions of others doing the exact same thing. Imagine how many kids are doing ollies at the same exact same time. How many tricks are being done in unison with each other? And how much street shredding will be going down. So be sure to skateboard on this glorious day, and most importantly have fun. Encourage some of your non-skateboarding friends to pick up a skateboard. Improve on your skills or just cruise the streets.

Don’t miss out, it only happens once a year! Go!! Skateboarding!!!

Filed under: News Bytes, Skateboard by jane
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June 16, 2008 - The big news over the weekend was the Lakers win over the Celts - sending Kobe & Co. back to Boston down 3-2 in the Final series.  But Friday night at the Staples Center was almost as exciting with the Los Angeles Sparks beating Connecticut in overtime, 98-93. For the second consecutive game, all five Sparks starters scored in double figures for Los Angeles. The next night, the Sparks ignited once again for a win over the Monarchs in Sacramento.

In other news:

Soccer: The U.S. Women open the 2008 Peace Queen Cup with 2-1 victory over Australia.   Forward Natasha Kai scored in the first half and forward Abby Wambach added the winner 13 minutes from the end of the game. The Americans face Brazil next on June 17 at the Suwon Sports Complex.

Beach Volleyball:  Reigning Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh set a record for team gold-medal finishes on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour on Saturday as the U.S. beach volleyball tandem defeated Jia Tian and Jie Wang of China for the US$600,000 smart Grand Slam title in Berlin, Germany.

Waterpolo: The USA Women’s Senior National Team’s bid for a third straight FINA World League Super Final title was halted by Russia as Team USA lost 8-7 in the championship game.

Motocross: The third round of the Women’s Motocross World Championship saw Germany’s Steffi Laier take her second consecutive victory; once again it was a double moto win for the German, who topped the podium from Katherine Prumm and hometown rider Livia Lancelot. Laier moved up to fifth in the Championship.

Filed under: General, News Bytes by jane
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May 30, 2008 - An inconsistent performance from 2002 champion Serena Williams saw her crash out in the third round of the Fench Open. Serena  shanked overheads, hit wild volleys and squandered six break points. The result: a stunning loss to Slovenian No. 27 seed Katrinia Srebotnik, 6-4, 6-4.

This was Williams’ earliest exit in nine visits to Roland Garros and guarantees a first-time women’s champion. Williams, who won the French Open in 2002, was the lone former champion to enter the draw.

Filed under: News Bytes, Tennis by jane
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May 28, 2008 - Mention Indianpolis-style racing to a casual fan and it’s not this year’s winner Scott Dixon who comes to mind, it’s a tiny brunette for whom a first name suffices. That’s Danica in case you haven’t been paying attention - the first female driver to win a major open-wheel race.

Last Sunday’s 92nd Indy 500 had a decidedly feminine feel with three of the 33 starters in possession of a xx chromosome. Unfortunately, all of them were knocked from the race in crashes, and all were a result of carelessness by their male counterparts.

When a crash happens on the track, the perpetrator often emerges unscathed while the innocent victim is penalized with a costly repair bill. This seems to be the case on lap 105 when Marco Andretti tried an ill-advised pass on teammate Tony Kanaan, who turned into the path of Sarah Fisher, who was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Fisher, who not only drives, but also runs her own race team on a shoestring budget, was obviously distraught. In an interview after the race, “We were hoping to go to Kentucky (the next Indycar stop),” she said, haltingly, “but I don’t think we can.”

Danica Patrick’s exit was as innocent as Fisher’s. Driving for Andretti Green Racing, she was merely exiting the pits when Ryan Briscoe, driving for Team Penske, clipped her while coming out of his own stall. With 29 laps to go, she broke the left rear suspension on a car that had run in the top 10 most of the race.

Patrick ended up finishing 22nd and was steamed after the bang. The passionate driver climbed from her disabled car and strode purposefully toward the offending driver ’s pit seemingly ready to rumble before Indy security intercepted her. 

Milka Duno, the third woman in the field, did a nice job staying on the lead lap for most of the race before spinning out in a a four-tire-flattening single-car spinout caused when she was squeezed out on a pass.  Better luck next year ladies!

Filed under: Motorsports, News Bytes by jane
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May 28, 2008 - High winds and a grand slam debutante almost blew out the top women’s seed, Maria Sharapova. Sharapova struggled with her serve at the French Open, hitting 17 double-faults and barely managing to defeat 103rd-ranked Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 3-6, 8-6 Wednesday in the first round.

Sharapova landed only 64 percent of her first serves in the match on center court, where she is trying to complete a career Grand Slam at the clay-court major. Her 19-year-old opponent came within two points of winning at 5-4 in the third set, but Sharapova won the next two with strong serves to hold. At 6-6, Sharapova regained control by breaking serve for the first time in the final set, returning a second serve with a big forehand that caught Rodina flat-footed.

Then, serving for the match, Sharapova double-faulted one final time, but took the next three points to end it. Rodina was playing in her first Grand Slam tournament. She lost in the first qualifying round at the Australian Open this year.

Rain delays over the first three days of the tournament gave way to strong wind on Day 4, when organizers hoped to cut through a huge backlog of matches.

In other early round matches, fifth-seeded Serena Williams, the only former champion in the women’s field, won the final four games to defeat Mathilde Johansson of France 6-2, 7-5 and advance to the third round. Second-seeded Ana Ivanovic had a convincing win to also advance to the third round. Last year’s French Open finalist easily beat Lucie Safarova 6-1, 6-2. Fresh off her victory in Rome, third seed Jelena Jankovic took a while to find her form, but managed to push through Romania’s Monica Niculescu 7-6, 6-2. Also struggling, 2002 finalist and No 8 seed Venus Williams  had to sweat profusely in a 6-3 4-6 6-2 victory over Israel’s Tzipora Obziler.

Filed under: News Bytes, Tennis by jane
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May 26, 2008 - Our pick for Pretty Tough Player of the Week is twelve-year-old Jaime Nared. The Beaverton, Oregon sixth grader is nearly 6-1 and already an excellent basketball player. Since second grade, she’s been demonstrating her Michael Jordan-like skills on a boys team at The Hoop, a private basketball facility in her hometown. She can hold her own against the boys and regularly drops three-pointers while scoring 30 points in a game.

Last month, seemingly out of nowhere, her coach was informed by Hoop officials that Jaime couldn’t play with the team anymore. The reason, they claim, is that league rules prohibit mixed-gender teams. This was news to Coach Michael Abraham, who has been coaching basketball for 32 years.

Coach Abraham, as well as Jaime’s parents, think the real issue here is that this 12-year-old girl is making the boys look bad. “I remember one play. She stole the ball, dribbled up court and made a behind-the-back pass to a teammate. He missed the lay-in, and she grabbed the rebound and put it in. I think it was just too much for some of those parents,” says Jaime’s mom, Reiko Williams. “The next day, she came home and said they wouldn’t let her play with the boys anymore.”

“She’s absolutely as gifted a sixth grader as I’ve ever been associated with,” says Abraham.

Obviously, we think they should let the girl play. If she can play better than the boys, hooray for her. Let her be challenged and play at a level where she can be competitive. Come on boys - give the girl a break.

Video

Filed under: Basketball, News Bytes, Student-Athlete by jane
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May 21, 2008 - This is really great news!

ESPN announced that Women’s Motocross will be added to the sports line up for X Games 14, joining the other sports of BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, Rally Car Racing and Surfing. The Women’s Moto X Racing competition will include 10 of the top women motocross racers in the world competing for the gold medal in the first-time event.

“Adding women’s motocross to X Games this year is great timing and a perfect fit,” said Rick Alessandri, managing director, X Games Franchise. “We are committed to expanding the female participation at this world-class event, and the women’s motocross circuit demonstrates unbelievable talent deserving recognition on the X Games stage.”

Women’s Moto X Racing will have a main event consisting of 10 women motocross racers competing for medals and prize purse. World-renowned competitors, such as 17-year-old WMA Pro National phenomenon Ashley Fiolek, will be racing a 125cc 2-stroke or 250 4-stroke motorcycle. The competition will air live Saturday, August 2 at 4 p.m. ET on ABC.

Fiolek, who recently turned pro last year, said, “This is a huge step forward in women’s professional motocross. I feel honored to be asked to participate in the X Games and I am looking forward to a great race.”

Get ready for some wheel action…

Filed under: Motocross, News Bytes, X Games by jane
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