Sports Quiz

Congratulations to Steve Johnson who was the winner of our last quiz. Thank you to all who tried and better luck next time. In case you were wondering about the answers, here they are:
1) Which team won the British Rugby League 2005 Challenge Cup?
Answer: Hull beat Leeds 25 - 24
2) Which city held the 1896 Olympic Games?
Answer: Athens
3) Who is the present men’s world croquet champion?
Answer: Reg Bamford
This weeks Questions are:
1) Who won the men’s singles at Wimbledon last year?
2) Who holds the women’s 100m. world record in athletics?
3) Which person holds the record for scoring the most goals in a Soccer World Cup Tournament?

High handicappers still chasing the elusive “2”

IPGC golf from The Haven

Monday 6 March,
Bangpra - Stableford
Division 1 (0-14)
1st Yasuo Suzuki, 35
2nd Martin Hayes, 34
3rd Alan Hanlan, 33
4th Glyn Nicholas, 32
Division 2 (15plus)
1st Peter Johansson, 35
2nd erge Straeten, 34
3rd Paul Taylor, 31 c/b16 c/b6 11
4th Kjell Christianssen, 31 c/b16 c/b6 10
A Monday trip to Bangpra is a rare occurrence for the Haven and judging by the large turnout, a popular one, which hopefully will be repeated often, especially as the Starter didn’t hold up the field and everyone enjoyed a quick round! Scores were pretty identical in both divisions, although the fast greens meant that the course just about won again as standard scratch went up to 73.
Congratulations to Yasuo & Peter who took the honors on 35 points and a big well done to Martin & Serge for pushing the winners all the way! In the “2”s competition, Yasuo Suzuki and Barry Winton shared the Division 1 prize and surprise, surprise, despite the large field, once again, nobody carded a “2” in Division 2. This rollover jackpot really is getting huge. Prior to the presentation, Richard Livingston welcomed Eddie Dunbar, Paul Gremin, Arne Berger & Magellan Iscariot and welcomed back Ian Bakewell.
Wednesday 8 March,
Khao Kheaw B&C - Bogey
1st Al Rolnik, 2up
2nd Steve Martin, A/S c/b 1up
3rd Paul Taylor, A/S c/b A/S cb3 1up
4th Alan Howell, A/S c/b A/S c/b3 1down
What happened? After the Lord Mayors show at Bangpra on Monday, just 19 golfers made the trip to Khao Kheaw. Was it the “Bogey” format or was it the course? Even the promise of riches in the Division 2 jackpot rollover couldn’t entice many high handicappers out and a lot of 16 plus handicap golfers will be relieved to hear that again, no “2”s were carded, surely, some lucky golfer(s) will claim the huge prize at Burapha on Friday? In Division 1, the prize was shared by Al Rolnik & Steve Martin.
Getting back to the main competition and a superb win by big Al Rolnik to take the honors from Steve, Paul & Alan who were all locked in an unbelievably tight count back. Also commiserations to Brian Bruce who just missed out on a podium place after finishing ‘All Square’ and 1 down on the back 9. Prior to the prize giving, Richard Livingston, welcomed back Randy Haupt & Kenny Moss
Fri 10 March,
Burapha C & D - Stableford
Division 1 (0-15)
1st Gerald Decio, 36
2nd Barry Winton, 35 c/b 17 c/b6 12
3rd Roy Thornton, 35 c/b 17 c/b6 10
4th Barry Traynor, 34
Division 2 (16plus)
1st Serge Straeten, 34
2nd Tony Quaid, 32
3rd Samantha Taylor, 31
4th Peter Johansson, 29
Another large group left the Haven, albeit with some degree of trepidation, having heard that 160 golfers would also be at Burapha contesting the PSC Championship. Their fears soon vanished as they realized that the course management had everything under control and PSC took over A&B course leaving C&D virtually free, so a reasonably quick round was enjoyed by all. Many high handicappers were on parade and even Micky Moore came back especially from “The Bananas” to join the chase for the mighty Division 2 jackpot in the “2”s competition.
Off the blue tees, the course played very long as fairways were wet from recent rains and also, the brief downpour midway though the round, made the greens quite slow. Apart from the two 2’s recorded by Roar Berger, Micky Moore & Dave Spendley, playing in the same group, for a miserable 22 points each, there were no sign of any real “2”s in Division 2 and the jackpot rolls onwards and upwards, to Mountain Shadow on Monday. How those two golfers in Division 1, Roy Thornton & Gerald Decio who shared their prize must have rued the fact they were not Division 2 competitors!
Scores were pretty reasonable in Division 1 where Gerald enjoyed his maiden victory, just pipping Barry & Roy by a single point, but clearly the course proved just too long for the higher handicappers and Serge coasted to victory with a mere 34 points.
Prior to the presentation, Richard Livingston, caused a few tears when he announced that Kevin & Samantha Taylor were leaving, to prove there is gaiety amongst golfers as well as cowboys.

Did I tell you about Ray Dell’s ‘Ace’?

IPGC golf from Lewiinski’s

Well, the answer to the title query is “No!” Yes, the rum sodden mind of The Scribe failed his readership and The Society once again. And this, after Ray was so kind as to come down to the other Polish Bar at which this one spends his time (well it has Poles in it, doesn’t it) to buy a celebratory drink. Why do we forget the ones who do the most for us? (Are you listening Mom and Dad?) Anyway, the “Farmer in the” Dell aced the signature 2nd Hole at Green Valley on the third day of the Lewiinski’s Open. Not to belabor it, as this column has done in the past, but the 2nd is the tough par 3 over the water to the quasi-island green (quasi- island...hmmm). Anyway Ray, congrats and my apologies.
Sunday 5 March,
Green Valley - White Tees, Stableford
A Flight:
1st Klaus Schackt 41 points
2nd Jim Wickstrom 37 points
3rd Phil Mitchell 36 points
B Flight:
1st Roy Thornton 42 points
2nd Jim Brand 40 points
3rd Jim Munns 37 points
C Flight:
1st Barry Chadbourn 39 points
2nd Bob Lindborg 39 points
3rd Pete Stonebridge 37 points
D Flight:
1st Mike Loewen 37 points
2nd Sugar Ray Handford 36 points
3rd Betty Koehler 36 points
The Volkscomputer is starting to heat up. The practice facility and the computer keyboard must be hot from all the usage. Klaus shot a marvelous gross 76 which tallied him 41 points to take the premier Flight by 4 points and just miss the Medalist honors by two strokes. Jim Wickstrom had gross 74 to take those non-paying honors. His 37 points were a point better than Flippers bronze effort. The top seven players in A Flight were all in the 70’s!
Roy Thornton, MBE, was the Man of the Match, and top in B Flight, with 42 points, two clear of one of the Caddies to the Stars, Rick Brand. Capt. Fogg brought in a fine 37 points off his becoming-stingy 12 handicap.
Barry Chadbourn stepped out of the shadow of his charming wife Trudy, to take the top step in C Flight. It should be noted that it took a count back to edge the always-tough Guru of Green Valley. The Headmaster rounded out the penultimate Flight.
The Shack’s Mike Loewen continues to show indications that his handicap will keep inching down as his 37 points edged the tandem of Sugar Ray and the better half of the Koehler household, Betty. Sugar Ray showed his rare unchivalrous side as he put the count back on his mate’s bride.
Monday, 6 March,
Crystal Bay - A & B, Stableford
Blue A Flight:
1st Frank O’Hara 34 Points
2nd Takeshi Hakosaki 32 Points,
3rd Graham Johnson 31 Points
White A Flight
1st Vic Hester 36 points
2nd Rick Sharp 35 points
3rd Joe Mooneyham 34 points
White B Flight
1st Eddy Beilby 36 Points
2nd Dave McFeely 33 points
3rd Dave Porter 33 points
Frank O’Hara could buy his merry band of leprechauns a getaway drink with his A Flight winning purse thanks to a modest 34 points, albeit off the windswept Blue Tees of Crystal Bay. Takeshi-San, making a rare, but welcome, visit to the Society showed well with a second place in Blue Flight. The difficulty of the course on the day was reflected by the modest, but podium holding performances, of two fine golfers, G-r-a-h-a-m J-o-h-n-s-o-n and the President’s brother. (Didn’t President Jimmy Carter have a brother too?) Both had 31 points, but G-r-a-h-a-m was awarded the third step because the whole field finished in daylight, despite he being in the first fourball.
Both Flights of the White Division were won with even-to-handicap 36 points, A Flight by Victor the Inflictor and B Flight by Eddy Beilby. Vic led in two from the rabbit foursome, The Hermit and “I’m in the” Mooneyham. Eddy led a three pack comprised of an Irishman, a Brit and an Aussie. Good luck carried the Irishman, good manners the Brit and nothing was left for the poor Wallaby Downunder.
Wednesday 8 March,
Khao Kheow - C & A - Yellow Tees, Stableford
A Flight:
1st Phil Mitchell 35 points
2nd Tom Sathrum 34 points
3rd Graham Johnson 33 points
B Flight:
1st Steve Mulberry 39 points
2nd Bob Lindborg 38 points
3rd Dave Porter 35 points
C Flight
1st Hec Cooper 38 points
2nd Sugar Ray Handford 37 points
3rd Bruce McAdam 36 points
The slave master of a Golf Manager whipped the poor lads into submitting en masse to the Yellow Tees. They responded in fine form with the 39 points of “Around the” Mulberry “Bush” taking MoM honors and first in B Flight. He led The Guru, who was on a podium for the second time on the week, by a single point. Everyone’s Favorite Valet was third, thanks to a count back over frequent visitor. Bruce Milner.
Hec Cooper, one of Milner’s Marauders, smarting from Monday’s bad math, left nothing to chance as he topped C Flight with 38 points, a digit in front of “Sugar”. Another Marauder edged the Good Roger on count back to tidy up C Flight.
In the top shop, Flipper put it on “Wifi” Sathrum by a slim point, 35 to 34. G-r-a-h-a-m J-o-h-n-s-o-n continued to show mastery on the week in count backs as he edged both Chas Li and the GM.
Friday 10 March,
Noble Place - C & B - White Tees, Stableford
A Flight
1st Per Aschan 39 points
2nd Phil Mitchell 38 points
3rd Pat Hanafin 36 points
B Flight
1st Robert Sellick 40 points
2nd B Flight Paul Shaw 39 points
3rd Bruce Milner 39 points
C Flight
1st Loz Shaw 44 points
2nd Eddy Beilby 37 points
3rd Sugar Ray Handford 37 points
A performance, which but for the vapor lock of The Scribe, would have warranted The Title was turned in by Lawrence “Loz” Shaw as he amassed 44 points. That was seven clear of the fine performances of Eddy and Sugar!
Robert Sellick, OBE, had 40 points on Peter Thompson’s collaborative effort, one clear of the tandem of Paul Shaw and the Head Marauder. Paul, no relation to Loz, had the better of the count back.
Per showed his golf prowress by taking the top rung in A Flight edging the always tough Flipper. Third place was awarded on an alphabetical count back as Hanafin bettered Hynard.

Seaboard FC - back to winning ways

The MBMG League’s leading goal scorer Mark Brittain adds to his tally on Saturday

Following the previous Saturday’s disappointing 5-0 away defeat in Bangkok, Seaboard FC were determined to get back to winning ways at home to Sunbelt Thaivisa in the MBMG International League last Saturday at Horseshoe Point. Seaboard manager Rick Bryant was very pleased to welcome back several players that had missed the previous week’s encounter.
Straight from the kick off Seaboard took the game to Sunbelt and as early as the second minute John Campbell was to test the Sunbelt keeper with a free kick from 20 yards out. Seaboard continued to press and opened the scoring on 5 minutes: the impressive Campbell made an interception on the halfway line and beat two players before playing an incisive, defence splitting pass to Paul Derbyshire, who ran on and slotted home in style.
Two minutes later Seaboard should have doubled their lead when Stevens played a ball down the line to the eager running Mark Brittain and his cross was headed just wide by Derbyshire. Stevens was next to try his luck when he connected with a cross from Dave Brown but he was unlucky to see his effort drift just wide of the upright.
It was only a matter of time before the second goal would come and it was Campbell again, ghosting past three defenders who laid the ball inside to Stevens and his powerful drive could only be parried by the Sunbelt keeper into the path of ever alert Brittain, who tapped the ball into the net.
Campbell was causing the Sunbelt defence continual problems and was close to adding his name to the score sheet on 26 minutes when his powerful drive went just over the bar. Emmanuel Tshuma, playing in an unfamiliar role at right back was having an excellent afternoon and after a surging run, he played a tremendous ball through to Brittain who neatly slotted home for 3-0 on 33 minutes.
Sunbelt who had not troubled the Seaboard goal were thrown a life line 2 minutes later when a mix up in the Seaboard defence allowed the Sunbelt forward to nip in and place the ball past the onrushing Mark Coombs.
Seaboard were to regain their three goal cushion a minute later when debutant Frank Weinberg was played through and the ball deflected nicely to Brittain, who completed his hat trick for the day and took his goal tally for the season to twenty six. Weinberg himself should have scored with almost the last move of the half when well positioned at the far post but he headed just wide.
Half time - Seaboard FC 4 Sunbelt Thaivisa 1.
Seaboard started the second half unchanged but failed to get into their stride and it was Sunbelt who got their second of the afternoon when a loose ball from a corner was stabbed home under the body of Coombs. This appeared to put life back into Seaboard and they were unlucky on a couple of occasions when firstly Brittain shot just wide following a good ball from Stevens and secondly when Pierre Ngalamo drove the ball wide after Stevens again had provided a spectacular cross field volleyed pass.
Seaboard’s fifth goal did eventually come 15 minutes into the second period when Brittain raced onto a ball from Stevens and his lob over the keeper hit the post but Derbyshire was their on hand to tap in the rebound.
Seaboard were now in total control but for all the chances they created they could not increase their lead. Young Jake Baker was particularly unlucky when he bravely reached a ball before the keeper but his lob just shaved the post.
In fact it was Sunbelt who scored the last goal of the game a minute from time when a ball into the box fell nicely for the advancing forward and his shot gave Coombs no chance in the Seaboard goal.
Final score Seaboard FC 5 Sunbelt Thaivisa 3.
Manager Bryant was pleased with his teams improved performance this week and could draw on some positives from this game, in particular Emmanuel Tshuma who had a fine match.
Seaboard’s season continues next Saturday (18 March) with an away game in Bangkok against the Bullshead Brazilians, kick off 4:30pm at Patana School.
Seaboard’s next home game is against the British Club at Horseshoe Point on Saturday 25th March kick off 4:00pm.
Seaboard FC have been fortunate enough to secure the sponsorship of AGS Four Winds International Movers and Cranes and Equipment Ltd. Europe-Middle East-Asia for this season and would like to thank them for their continued support.
Anybody who could be interested in joining Seaboard FC, whether their stay in Thailand is for a long or short period is more than welcome to come down to the football pitch in Naklua every Tuesday evening at 6:30pm, contact us at [email protected] or call Peter on 01 810 1470.

The Beautiful Game?: Adios for another year

Riz Taylor
Well that’s that, then. Unlike last season when we witnessed Liverpool’s ridiculously romantic capture of the Champions League crown, this season’s competition will see almost no British involvement from the quarter final stage. A disastrous series of results for the best that Britain has to offer saw Chelsea, Liverpool and Rangers all crash out of European competition last week, leaving each with more than a little food for thought.
Arsenal managed to overcome Real Madrid and were rewarded with a tricky looking fixture against Juventus in the last eight. Congratulations to them of course, but as I’ve already complained they’re starting to become less and less British by the day. More on that later.
So is the Premiership as good as it thinks it is? Probably not. But rather than reopening that old can of worms, let’s instead look at where it has gone wrong for the British teams that can put their passports away for another season.
Manchester United’s woeful display that saw them eliminated by finishing bottom of their group was an embarrassment for a club of their stature. Alex Ferguson must surely make signing a midfielder or two his top priority this summer or risk seeing his brilliant striking partnership of Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy starved of the service they so desperately need. The likes of Darren Fletcher, Keiron Richardson and Alan Smith simply don’t cut the European mustard as midfielders, and were found out on the biggest stage.
Chelsea were unfortunate to come up against a Barcelona side that are simply awesome. The Spaniards ooze class throughout their side, and importantly have individual brilliance in their ranks that can get them out of any situation. Messi, Ronaldinho, Deco can all produce something from nothing, which is something that cannot be said of Chelsea’s functional style. Whilst efficient in defence, the Blues have no special player to create moments that can match their supposedly special manager. Mourinho dislikes egos (apart from his own), but he will surely break the bank to sign a decent striker in the summer, as relying on Didier Drogba to spearhead the campaign of the world’s richest side is simply embarrassing. Sending on lumbering second-choice defender Robert Huth as a makeshift striker for the last ten minutes against the Spaniards was also a bizarre tactical move.
And what of the reigning Champions? Liverpool’s pathetic whimper of an exit to Portuguese side Benfica confirmed what everyone knows - that their four strikers would have trouble scoring in Soi 6 on a sunny Pattaya afternoon, let alone in the Champions League at Anfield. Don’t believe me? Listen to these statistics - before their second leg match, Liverpool hadn’t scored in their three previous Champions League matches, hadn’t scored more than one goal in their previous nine matches, and strikers Robbie Fowler, Fernando Morientes, Peter Crouch and Djibriel Cisse had scored just one goal between them in 46 hours of football - more than 30 games. Come back Michael Owen, all is forgiven.
Rangers were unlucky not to beat Villareal over two legs, losing on away goals. The Scottish champions made history by qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time, but aren’t going to rest on their laurels. On Sunday it was announced that former Lyon boss Paul le Guen will take over at Ibrox in the summer. Here is a quietly spoken man who lets his record do the talking, and this is a record that includes taking the stylish Lyon to the latter Champions League stages and three consecutive French titles. Rangers’ fans, a difficult bunch to please, should be salivating over the prospect of his arrival.
And so we are left with Arsenal, the English side that doesn’t have any English players in its line-up. With the injuries to Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell, Arsenal haven’t fielded an Englishman since early February. Does anyone else find it difficult to conjure up any love for the cosmopolitan Gunners?
To prove the point, Spanish winger Jose Reyes has been moaning about his limited exposure to the English language that is hindering his progress in going native. “We’ve got six or seven players who speak Spanish and even more that speak French. There’s very little English. It’s difficult for me to learn English because in the dressing room we speak more French and Spanish than English. But my girlfriend has no problem speaking English. But I guess that is because she is more intelligent than me.”
That’s another question for another day, but the message is that Reyes’ comments show that Arsenal are barely managing to hang on to their English identity. This, surely, is wrong. Whereas I’ve never been in favour of rulings on foreign players, perhaps it’s time for a rethink to force Arsenal to stop acting like a colonial French outpost.
The final word goes not to Jose Mourinho, who has childishly spent the whole time moaning about Barcelona and referees since Chelsea’s exit. Instead it’s the sporting comments of Frank Lampard that impressed. Sadly for British football fans this is almost the last time a British player will have the chance to impress in Europe’s top competition, for another season at least.
“Ronaldinho is the best player in the world, everyone knows that” said Lampard. “What amazes me is his consistency, how regularly he plays to that level, he’s going to go down as one of the all-time greats. His goal was fantastic, but it didn’t really change the game much. We had 90 minutes to try and score two goals and we couldn’t do it. We wanted to be patient, we didn’t want to rush at Barcelona because that would have been suicide, but we ended up not creating many chances. My Spanish isn’t that great but I said “Good luck” to their players at the end and I meant it. They are a great team to watch. We’ll just have to try again next year.”
A new ‘lead’ role for Stan?
If Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is searching through previous employees in a desperate effort to find a goalscorer and can’t afford Michael Owen, he might also have missed the chance to bring Stan Collymore out of retirement.
The wife-beating former England international is busy trying to make a name for himself in Hollywood as an actor, and is likely to be unavailable for footballing duties in the summer. He’s taken a few knockbacks since ending his footballing career, but Collymore looks like he may make it on the big screen after landing a part playing Sharon Stone’s love interest in Basic Instinct 2.
“It’s only a short role, but in one of the early scenes I had to make love with Sharon in a car. I guess you could say I had a bit of experience for the part,” said Collymore. Ahem.

Three Sisters new first place leader

Pattaya Sports Club Friday Bowling League

Teuvo bowled the only 200 game out of the 135 games bowled

Three Sisters took three points from Friends and moved into first place. Domicil upset Jack & Tar taking four points and Montana did the same to House of the Golden Coin knocking both teams down to a tie for second. Café Kronborg remains in fourth after splitting their match with Café Ole at two points a-piece. France moved into fifth place after winning four points from Shenanigans and Grapevine moved into sixth as they took all four points from Mai’s Thai Restaurant. In the last match of the day Brother D got three points from VFW Post 9876.
Last Monday most bowlers had trouble with the Pattaya Plus lanes as they had no oil on them and on this day bowlers complained that their was too much oil.

A Welsh scrum at Bert’s?

PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s

Tuesday March 7, Burapha - Stableford

Mike, Don, Tim and Andy - the front row forwards at Bert’s Bar.

This was another fine day out from Bert’s, with 12 groups enjoying their free breakfast, before climbing into transport and nipping down the road to Burapha to play the very fine A & B Courses. One of the main points of the day was that we once again had a ‘star’ to do the presentations on our return to Bert’s; this time in the form of Mike Watkins, one time Welsh Rugby Captain
The course as usual was in excellent condition, with well-grassed fairways and tricky greens, if not exactly wickedly fast. A good drive brought good results and we had many scores in the 40+ points range. Back at the ranch, once everyone had enjoyed some very fine burgers, chips and peas, Tim quickly dispensed with second, third and technical prizes, and then Mike Watkins said hello to the winners, Donald Hendry, Tim Holt and Andy Evans, before relating a few of his experiences as Captain of Wales and having his photo taken with the winners.
T.T.F.N.
Results:
A Div: 1st Donald Hendry, 2nd Maurice Herberge, 3rd Dave Askew
B Div: 1stTim Holt, 2nd Mike Wing, 3rd Fred Theobald
C Div: 1st Andy Evans, 2nd John Robertson, 3rd Max Matthews
Near Pin: Dave Askew, Donald Hendry, Mathew Mittell, Idris James, Fred Theobald, Tim Holt, Ian Colvill, Dick Warberg, Don Burke, Jannie Jasperre, Max Matthews (2)
Long Put: Donald Hendry, Graham Wright, Cees Bosman, Laurinne Brinn, Keith Avery, Dave Swain

Bells chime for Tom in ‘Tankard’ win

PSC golf from The Grapevine

Thursday, March 9, Green Valley - Tom Herrington created history in at least two different ways by winning the monthly tankard at Green Valley last week, scoring a net 69 (hcp 18) and holding off Billy Knight (net 72, hcp 18) in convincing style. In doing this, Tom becomes our first dual winner as his handicap has floated out in recent months; although this result may attract the attention of the grim reaper (aka Tony Oakes & Co.). It’s always good to see our regular golfers sharing in the spoils, so congratulations, Tom. It’s not easy to win one tankard, and now you have a matching set.

Tom Herrington, winner of March Grapevine Tankard.

The main story of the day also involves Tom as he grabbed the bell firmly in his hand and shook it vigorously, much to the encouragement of his peers. This followed a shameless proposition by the M.C., and had some amongst us requiring minor medical attention. So, to all future tankard winners, be warned a precedent has now been set. Well done once again, Tom. “He who laughs last, laughs loudest”.
In B Flight, Roy Pimblett (net 73) beat Rich Murphy (net 75) for the “Bikkies”. I’m quite sure if Roy’s ‘Teelak’ Thong had been playing again this week, we could have witnessed a beating of a different kind yet again.
Long putts were won by Billy Knight and Ian Covill and N.T.P.s were collected by Hamilton (Paddy) Wilson (2), Roy Pimblett, Bill Knight, and Frank (no cigar) Pilkington.
Remember, if you’d like a good day of golf, come on down and sign up at The Grapevine, or call 038-361736. Cheers and good golfing.

Peanuts for the ‘monkeys’ at Khao Kheow

PSC golf from The Café Kronborg

Monday March 6, Treasure Hill - Stroke
For The second time in a row, the Treasure Hill Golf and Country Club was host to forty three golfers playing stroke-play this week with the cut at 18 and under. The course was in fine condition and playing with a degree of difficultly, mainly due to the players not hitting the ball straight.

Gene Rooney, one of the week’s two-time winners from Café Kronborg

Aussie Gene Rooney took the A Flight with the best score of the day, a net 68, ahead of Rob Brown in second with a net 70 and Brian Noguer third on net 74
Big Jeff Hackman took the B Flight with a net 74, Joop Jaspere was second with net 76 and Bob Nelson came in third with net 79 on count back from old Pattaya regular Dick Caggiano in fourth.
Near Pins: #2 Gene Rooney, #6 Han Mau, #13 Carole Kubicke, #17 Ebrahim
Long Put: #9 Jeff Hackman, # 18 Peter Hammond
Thursday March 9, Khao Kheow - Stableford
The good news from Khao Kheow is that as from the March 1, low season prices have been introduced and a round with a caddie will cost peanuts. Mind you, you know what they say about peanuts and all that can be said about the players is that they played like monkeys, (all except for one). This is not altogether surprising as anyone who shoots their handicap on this course is having a great day
The winner of the A Flight, 0 to 18, was as per Monday, Gene Rooney who sneaked in with 35 points ahead of Jan Persson in second with 34 points and Derek Brook in third on 33 points.
The B Flight, 19 and up was also won, as per Monday, by Jeff Hackman, this time with 40 points. Tim Holt came in second with 34 points and in third was Jannie Jasperre with 33 points.
Near Pin: B3 Peter Harris, B8 Brian Noguer, C3 Don Ostrom, C8 Kevin Riddell
Long Put:B9 Harold Gruber, C9 Derek Brook

The Square Ring

by Howie Reed

Yet again the Pattaya Mail has won the award as the best newspaper on the Eastern Seaboard. As strange as it may seem “The Square Ring” was a big part of that win. How do I know? Well, when last I asked for a raise of my already exorbitant salary I was told, “You are a part of the award winning team that is the Pattaya Mail. Where is your pride?” So I will continue to pay them each week to be allowed to stay on the team. How about this headline from last weeks Mail, “Wife beats husband by one stroke”. Wonder how many times she had to hit him?
While boxing has no regular season, the big fights do seem to have a pattern. Heavyweight championship fights almost always start sometime around the ‘Ides of March’, take a break after June then come back strong in ‘The Fall’. The first “meaningful” heavyweight title fight arrives this Sunday on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City as James “Lights Out” Toney (69-4-2) tries to wrest the WBC heavyweight title from Hasim Rahman (41-5-1). Toney won the WBA/IBA titles from John Ruiz in April last year with an easy unanimous decision. Two weeks later the New York State Athletic Commission removed the title after Toney tested positive for “illegal substances”.
Rahman is kind of a different breed of cat. Many believe that Rahman peaked when he knocked out Lennox Lewis in 2001 to become the WBC/IBF/IBO heavyweight champion of the world. Since then he lost back those titles and his performances in the ring have been less than scintillating. He got the WBC Interim title by beating Monte Barrett. That allowed him and promoter Don King to inherit the ‘real’ crown when Vitlai Klitschko retired. It would be silly to write that Toney is a throwback but then anyone with 75 trips to the professional ring is. Whenever James Toney is involved in any contest there is a better than 100% chance that some world class “trash talking” will take place courtesy of Mr. Toney... “I’m a real fighter, Hasim Rahman ain’t. I’m going to destroy him. I’m going to knock him out.”
When both boxers were in Cancun last December for the WBC Convention there were reports of a scuffle between the two. “He scratched me on my lip like a little b—h. He thinks he’s some big bad a—, but he ain’t. I’m the IBA champion of the world and I’m the people’s champion.” Forget the fact that being the IBA champ isn’t worth a lap dance in Boys Town, Toney really can talk some trash. In response Rahman said he would knock out James or make him quit to which Toney replied, “Tell him to keep his promise. I’ll be ready.”
For the record Toney has never been knocked out while Rahman has kissed the canvas 3 times. Common opponent? Both fought John ‘The Quit Man” Ruiz. Toney got the win - Rahman didn’t. Look for Toney to win a decision in an “interesting” fight.
April 1, Lamon Brewster (33-2) travels to Cleveland Ohio in the USA to defend his WBO heavyweight title against Sergei Liakhovich (22-1). Brewster got the title when Wladimir Klitschko quit after 5 rounds in 2004. Since then he’s defended against household names and ‘never were or will be’s’ Luan Krasnigi, Andy “The Foul Pole” Golota and Kali Meehan. Liakhovich meanwhile has beaten the “usual suspects” Joe Lenhart, Sione Asipeli, James Walton, Ron Guerrero, Onebo Maxine and the ever popular Dominick “Shooting Blanks” Guinn.
Little non-boxing note here on Cleveland Ohio. The city rests on Lake Erie. A number of years ago Lake Erie caught on fire, which gives the city of Cleveland the distinction of being the only city in the world living on a body of water that caught fire. Try harder Pattaya.
Hard to believe but Wladimir Klitschko (45-3) will get yet another shot at a heavyweight title on April 22. Many “experts”, (that excludes The Square Ring), consider Chris Byrd (39-2-1) to be the best of the current heavyweight crop. That might have been true a few years ago but currently there is no ‘best’ on show. Byrd’s last outing had his own hometown fans booing him. His excuse? “It’s not my fault. The other guy has to make the fight.”
Klitschko and Byrd met in 2000 with Klitschko earning an easy unanimous 12 round decision and also dropping Byrd in the 9th and 11th. It could be said that Byrd has brought about his own problems. Where once he was a bright, fighting regularly boxer, he has become a whining clown with only 4 bouts since 2002. The fight, which will be staged at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany, sold out all 14,000 seats in 48 hours.
“This goes to show the magnitude of this fight and how both Chris and I are well-known, not only in the United States but the world over,” said Klitschko. Well maybe but it also shows that the German public is hungry for boxing... Good for them! You could say that the German public must be starving for boxing as Nikolav “Total Stiff” Valuev (43-0) is planning a May 27 WBA heavyweight fight there.
The sport of boxing can be both national and international in scope. Events in a nation probably affect boxing more than any other sporting endeavor. Thai boxer Chatchai Dutchboy Gym’s comments that he probably lost his Olympic medal because of “communist judges” is a case in point. With the flurry of stories recently coming out of the Philippines about a possible coup, the contest between Manny Pacquiao and Oscar Larios scheduled for May 20 in Manila is now in the ‘deep stuff’.
Another fight that’s now history is the March 25 match-up between Marco Antonio Barrera and Jesus Chavez. First Chavez pulled out with an ‘injury’, then Barrera rejected the proposed replacements - no fight. Now with the help of the WBC, there’s a surprise: Manny Pacquiao has been made the #1 challenger. The official statement read, “The WBC is now awaiting Pacquiao’s acceptance, as is customary for all WBC mandatory fights in order to start the free negotiation period or proceed to appoint another official challenger in the event Pacquiao does not accept.”
The two fought in November of 2003 with “The Pac Man” getting an 11 round TKO in a fight he totally dominated. Pacquiao’s plate seems more than full however; with a September 9 date against Erik Morales (48-4) outdoors at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas and a rescheduled fight in Manila against Oscar Larios on June 25.
Whilst on the subject of cancelled fights, next weekend, March 25, WBO featherweight champ Scott Harrison was scheduled to defend his title against Joan Guzman. After Harrison had some minor oral surgery the fight was subsequently postponed. Danny William, currently the darling of the British boxing fans, stepped in to fill the date. Jose Nunez, Gizman’s manager, fired off a letter.
“This is absurd!” he wrote. “How is a true champion going to postpone a fight because of ‘minor’ dental surgery? Are his teeth the problem or is it really his weight that is causing the postponement?”
Frankly who cares? The fight has been rescheduled for May 20 in Belfast’s legendary Kings Hall. Reporting on ignorant managers and promoters would drive a man to drink. I wish to thank one and all. Bring on the liquid Jeeves.