Stephanie Rice Celebrates Her 21st Birthday

Swimming glamour girl and Olympic star Stephanie Rice stepped out to celebrate her 21st birthday, almost three months to the day after her actual birthday.

Rice postponed festivities because of the world champ meet in Rome in July.

Wearing a dazzling, floor-length, silver-sequined Rachel Gilbert dress and a diamante-studded silver-chain headpiece, Rice blew out the candles on an elaborate one metre-high, casino-themed cake at the lavish bash in Queensland.

About 150 family and friends joined Rice for the 1920s-themed cocktail party, with the yacht draped in velvet and feathers, lit by chandeliers.

A stretch Hummer took Rice and friends to the party from the Marriott Hotel.


News and Image Courtesy: Dailytelegraph.com.au

English Rugby Team Launches 2009-10 Rugby Kit

England have launched their new home kit for the 2009/10 season which has again been produced by Nike and have lost the red swirls and gone for an all-white kit which England have not worn since Will Carling's '90s Grand Slam winners.

Nike says that it is the lightest and most innovative playing jersey yet.

England new's look returns to a classic all-white playing strip with the shirt boasting an open neck collar and iconic embroidered rose.

At 27% lighter than in previous seasons the new kit is designed to give the team every possible advantage on the pitch.

A new and improved 'gripper' print features on the chest panels of the jersey, effective in both wet and dry weather.

Nike's Dri Fit fabric has been specially engineered to be stronger and more flexible than ever, ensuring that sweat is moved away from players' bodies to provide comfort and enhance performance against the opposition.


At the back of the jersey, it's Latin! The motto RUGBEIA FLOREAT UBIQUE - Rugby flourishes everywhere.

News Courtesy: Worldcupweb.com

Uganda U-19 Cricket Players Missing in Canada

Seven members of the Uganda Under-19 cricket team have failed to return home after they went missing in Canada where they were taking part in a 2010 World Cup qualifier, an official said here on Wednesday.

The Uganda Cricket Association spokesman Latimer Mukasa said the players left the camp in Toronto on Saturday, two days before their return to Kampala at the completion of the tournament, where Uganda failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in New Zealand.

He said the Canadian police have been alerted to search for the players who left without their travel documents.

The missing players include team captain Ahmed Yakub and top scorer Andrew Ochan. Others are Emmanuel Nakaana, Ahmed Sangau, Moses Okwera, Geoffrey Nyero and Michael Abala.

News Courtesy: Google AFP

Saints Choke on Eels

A few weeks ago it was alleged that the St George Dragons were already printing up premiership t-shirts. If so, that could be a huge waste after the Dragons lost their first final to the Eels. NRL betting was thrown on its head as the massive outsiders upset the whole apple cart.

What it did was give Melbourne a week off as well as a home preliminary final. If Melbourne’s weekend wasn’t good enough, it only got better when the Eels victory, in the process eliminated the Sea Eagles.

The Dragons now head to Brisbane to take on the Broncos. Here you have Wayne Bennett taking on his old club in a game filled with storylines. The winner of this match will have to go down and take on the Storm. Both sides have played the Storm in a Grand Final and know how much of a threat they are.

The other game this weekend sees Parramatta play the Gold Coast Titans. The Titans finished third and lost last week to the Broncos. The winner of this match plays the Bulldogs for a spot in the Grand Final.

Was it the complete lack of expectations which helped the Eels? In recent years they have struggled with favouritism and maybe being complete outsiders helped them against the Dragons. The lack of distractions would have been good for them.

In other NRL news, South Sydney coach Jason Taylor fights for his job after his Mad Monday meltdown. He slapped one of his players who didn’t react too kindly to it. Elsewhere there isn’t much news.

Over in Manly, they weren’t celebrating like they were last year and were another NRL side to be eliminated when not actually playing. It is a difficult feeling to deal with seeing as its totally out of your control but that is how the system works. Interestingly, the NRL and AFL used different Final 8 systems and then swapped to the other one, the exact same year.

The one the AFL currently use is deemed to be fairer as the top four have more control over their own destiny. Had Melbourne lost to the Sea Eagles it would have been them who was eliminated and crazily it would have been the Sea Eagles not only not eliminated but having the week off.

Many people find this exciting while others don’t think it is fair. What do you think?

When David Wiseman isn't wondering who will win the NRL Grand Final, he is wondering who will win the Melbourne Cup.

Darren Sutherland Found Dead in London

Darren Sutherland, the Irish Olympic boxer was found dead at his London home yesterday.

The 27-year-old middleweight, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Games in Beijing, was discovered hanged in his apartment by his manager Frank Maloney. The Metropolitan Police are not treating his death as suspicious.

"It is an absolute tragedy," McGuigan, a former world champion, said. "I would describe Darren as a phenomenal talent. I believe he would have become a world champion in the professional ranks one day."

Sutherland had won the first four fights of his professional career and Terry Edwards, the former Great Britain head coach, said that boxing has lost one of its best prospects.

News Courtesy: www.timesonline.co.uk

Standard Chartered Bank Signs 4-Year Deal with Liverpool

Liverpool announced the club's largest ever commercial agreement on Monday, the English Premier League club sealing a four-year shirt sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered Bank.

Financial details were not disclosed but the tie-up has been reported to be worth 80 million pounds ($133 million) for the British bank's logo to replace Danish beer brewer Carlsberg, who have sponsored Liverpool since 1992.

The five-times European champions said the agreement would begin next July and run until the end of the 2013-14 season.

News courtesy: Reuters

Usain Bolt Pulls Out of Shanghai Grand Prix

World Champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica has pulled out of a meet in China this month, citing fatigue and the risk of injury. Usain Bolt (world champion in the 100 and 200 meters) had been due to compete in the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix on Sept. 20.

"The season has been long and has been challenging with early challenges I faced," Bolt said Friday in a statement apologizing to Chinese fans.

Bolt had earlier pulled out of a Sept. 25 meet in South Korea.

News Courtesy: The Associated Press

Stephanie Rice Strips for WHO Magazine

Swim sensation Australia's Stephanie Rice stripped off for Who Magazine's body issue. Rice has been featured alongside pregnant Toni Pearen and Natalie Bassingthwaighte.

Image Courtesy: News.com.au

Gary Linekar, Danielle Bux and The Royals

Gary Linekar and Danielle Bux were invited by the Prince and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to their Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire.

The Linekers joined 100 celebrity guests, including Philip Schofield, Fern Britton, Alesha Dixon, Joss Stone and Phil Collins at a party to thank them for their support of the Prince's Trust charity over the years.






Image Courtesy: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

WC Qualifiers: Argentina may MISS WC 2010

Argentina May Miss WC 2010Goal Scorer : Nelson Valdes

Argentina may miss 2010 WC after 1970. Their hopes of reaching South Africa next year took a knock when they were beaten by Paraguay 1-0 in Asuncion. In the 27th minute Nelson Valdes kicked a superb goal and pushed Argentina in the play-offs. Argentina were reduced to 10 men when mid-fielder Juan Sebastian Veron was shown the red card in the second half. After Wednesday's defeat, the two-time World Cup champions, temporarily in the fifth place with 22 points from six wins, four draws and six losses, was left in real danger of missing out on the finals.

Image Courtesy: Guardian.co.uk

Who Will Dominate NRL Finals?

The entree is over and now the main course is ready to be served. Who will be the masterchef of the NRL Finals series and end up as the champions?

After a late stutter and stumble, the Dragons rebounded to finish as the minor premiers. They had a great win against Parramatta and funnily enough will be playing them again in the first week of the finals. The loss was neither here nor there for the Eels as had they won they would still be playing the Dragons in this sudden death situation.

The Bulldogs were hammered by the Tigers and now have to play a Newcastle Knights side which is full of confidence. The Bulldogs should have too much firepower for the Knights who have bounced back remarkably since the Brian Smith debacle.
A Queensland derby looms as the Gold Coast Titans host the Brisbane Broncos. The Titans have done very well to finish third in just their second season in the NRL and John Cartwright and his team can be very proud of all that they have achieved. The Broncos have fought back well since they looked like they could be on their way out of the top 8.

Again Melbourne plays Manly, but this isn’t the Grand Final but fourth vs fifth. A big game but on the other hand but sides should be playing in the following week so it really doesn’t matter too much.

As far as the sides which missed the finals, it was a shocking year for both the Cronulla Sharks and Sydney Roosters. The Rooster finish last after virtue of an inferior points difference. The Sharks gave them a chance after losing in the final minute to Souths. This meant a Roosters win could see them climb to second last. They were 16-0 up but ended up losing 32-16.

Penrith finished in 11th spot but would have had eighth spot had they defeated the Knights. Like all the teams which missed the finals they were just too inconsistent. Next year the Tigers, Rabbitohs, Cowboys, Raiders and Warriors will be hoping to do much better.

As for a finals prediction, who really knows how it is going to play out? That has been part of the attraction of the great NRL season. NRL betting really isn’t sure what to. On field it has been a great regular season and it should be an even greater finals season.


David Wiseman is looking forward to the NRL finals and following that working out his Melbourne Cup betting.