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Tammy sets her sights on winning the Pattaya Women’s Open
The US$170,000 “Pattaya Women’s Open” professional
women’s tennis tournament, which is part of the Sony Ericsson WTA tour and
is supported by Pattaya City and Chonburi province will be held at the Dusit
Resort, Pattaya from 3 - 11 February 2007.
The tournament attracts leading tennis players from the around the world and
plays an important role as a stepping stone for Thai players to compete at a
professional level, including Thailand’s leading women’s tennis star
Tamarine Tanasugarn, who reached the final here in 1996. Tamarine, fresh
from her successful run at the PTT Bangkok Open, where she lost a closely
fought final to American teen star Vania King is aiming to go one better at
Pattaya this year and win the tournament.
Tamarine revealed that she is “very happy” to play on home soil, as she gets
tremendous support from the Thai fans. In her last outing at the PTT Bangkok
Open she did not expect to reach the final, but was motivated by the support
from the Thai fans who cheered her all the way to the final. She was
disappointed not to have won.
Her recent experience at the Asian Games has shown how quickly the Asian
women’s players have developed in the last 2- 3 years. In order to keep pace
with them, she is working hard on improving her own game. Tammy will start
her 2007 season at the Australian Open and play in Japan before returning
home to Pattaya, where she is hoping to be the champion.”
A full list of players for the 2007 Pattaya Open has yet to be finalized but
is expected to include PTT Bangkok Open champion Vania King from the USA and
Asian Games silver and bronze medallists, Sania Mirza from India and Japan’s
Akiko Nakamura.
There will be no entry fee for spectators during the qualifying rounds for
the Pattaya Women’s Open on the 3 - 4 February. For the main draw from 5 - 8
February, tickets are on sale at 300 baht and for the final three days 9 -
11 February, tickets are priced at 300 baht, 500 baht and 1,000 baht.
For further information and ticket bookings, contact Pentangle Promotions
Co., Ltd: Tel 02-3823491-3 Fax: 02-3823490 or visit the website:
www.pentanglepromotions.com
Chris Youngman goes sub-par
PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s
Tuesday, January 2, Treasure Hill,
Stableford
We entered the New Year with fine golfing weather and a really difficult
course to score on, or so I thought. We also had more than a full group of
golfers. It is always difficult to guess up to two months ahead how many
golfers will be in town, and whether they will be in a fit state to play.
Still we manage and the visiting golfers always seem to end up with a game.
 Tuesday’s
flight winners: Chris Youngman (left), Mike Godsen (front right) & Steve
Hamstead.
This day was a ‘Holiday’ and we arrived at Treasure Hill with a few extra
golfers hoping we could play all of them. Fortunately they are very helpful
at Treasure Hill and after a short wait, off we went onto a packed course in
simply excellent golfing weather.
The course itself is in pretty good condition but is starting to dry out and
the players who can play on dry courses have a big advantage. Still, the
greens are hard and fast, so get on the wrong side of the hole at your
peril.
After a longer than expected round, we returned to Bert’s where the
presentation got underway. In the A Div, the winner was Mike Gosden with
Anders Pederson in second and Tony Oakes in third. In the B Div the winner
was Steve Hamstad, with Koji Yamada in second and Hashimoto Shinubo in
third. The C Div saw Chris Youngman triumph with 38 points. The reason I
mention the number of points, for I do not normally with this being a
‘friendly’ game, is that for the first time since he got a handicap, a long
time, he actually beat his handicap. Real reason to celebrate. In fact so
excited was he that he was ill and had to go home to bed early. Meanwhile,
in second place was Henry Cignac with Bernie Cairns in third.
It may be noted for our regular readers that Dick Warberg is not in this
week’s photo. Yes he did play, but maybe Xmas was too good. He will be back.
T.T.F.N.
Near Pin: Anders Pederson, Gareth Weeks, Mike Gosden, Rainer Helling, Jannie
Jaspers, Tom Herrington, Cees Bosman,Ursula Lehner
Long Put: Pektti Reivikainen, Koji Yamada, Tom Herrington
Tandem triumph for Chris & Roy
PSC golf from The Peacock Place
Monday, January 1,
Pattaya C.C.,
Stableford
We all know that life goes on regardless here in Pattaya and as such we had
planned our golf schedule around playing on New Years Day. We’d gingerly
reserved only 6 slots at Pattaya Country Club and one or two skeptics
forecast we would have trouble filling them.
If the truth be known, hangovers are the norm here and a New Year’s Day
hangover is the same as any other. But on the morning of the event, Captain
Bob’s mobile was red hot with people eager to participate and by the time we
left for the golf course we had 30 stalwarts in tow.
The course is a little fiery at the moment and badly in need of watering. I
don’t know why the club has elected not to water as there appears to be
plenty of it in their reservoirs. The greens as usual were pretty fast and
the main criticism I would have was the condition of the bunkers; they were
in real need of raking.
We split the field into two categories, A Flight being from 0 to 13 and B
Flight, 14 to 36. The A Flight was won by Chris Davidson with a resounding
40 points followed by Jim Wickstrom with 35 points and a visitor from Canada
Greg Philp, no relation to our Captain Bob Philp, who scored 34 points.
The B Flight was won by Jeff McLaury with 37 points followed by Matt
Anderson with 35 points on a count back from Toy Theobald. 2’s were recorded
by Paul Sharples, Jack Mosely, Matt Anderson, Jim Wickstrom and Alan Bishop.
Wednesday, January 3,
Green Valley, Texas Scramble
Due to the high season, the courses are less able now to
accommodate fluctuating group numbers and anticipating a strong turnout for
Green Valley, we attempted to increase our allotted tee times. We were told
firmly but fairly by the course management, however, that they were unable
to do so, and we had to turn quite a number of people away.
As it transpired, we were left with the exact number required to make up 7
groups and Captain Bob announced that we would play in fours and have a
two-man Texas Scramble. Stableford and stroke play competitions are ok in
the main but team competitions have the ability to bond people: most seemed
to enjoy it anyway.
The course as usual was in great condition, the fairways neatly cut and the
greens quick but not too tricky. Chris Davison with his partner Roy Thornton
won for the second time in a row with a score of 62.1, second was Ken Little
and Wendy Khan with 62.5, coming in third was Barry and Trudy Chadbourne
with 64.1 and fourth was Tiger and Brian Hardwich with 65.0. There were a
total of eight 2’s recorded.
We all returned to the Peacock Place for some complimentary food and a few
wet and frosty ones.
If you’re in the Mabprachan area and fancy a game of golf with some like
minded and friendly people, come and join us at The Peacock Place Hotel and
Restaurant opposite the Mabprachan Reservoir. Our schedule is in The Pattaya
Mail or call us on 087 928 7859. You’ll need to put your name on the
starting sheet these days though as our venue is becoming quite popular. We
have 9 groups booked now at most courses.
Austar maintain top place after final end thriller
“San Miguel” Lawn Bowls Leagues
Barry Hooper
We’re now into the fourth week of play in the leagues and the teams are
settling into match play. The green is starting to improve after its
refurbishment programme and a lot of recent work from the management.
 Some
close measuring is required as the battle for the top places hots up.
This week’s matches in the First Division saw Cunning Stunts and Hopefuls
play a good spirited game with the Hopefuls coming out on top after 16 ends
with a 21-15 win. The Roos v Ying Yangs match was played on Saturday
afternoon and the Ying Yangs had the march on the Roos’s for the first half
before an apparent team talk between John and Steve changed things around
with Roos making a big comeback to take a 16-12 win.
The game between the Shoemakers and the Bankers was a close affair but
victory for the Shoemakers by a score of 14-13 gave them their fist win of
the season. The final match could not take placer as the Hat Tricks have
withdrawn from the league. It is hoped to form a new duo soon to take their
place.
In the Second Division, which took place on Friday, the Harvons took an
early lead against Panac with On for Harvons putting in some very good lead
woods. Despite their best efforts, Panac could find no answer to the form of
their opponents and went down by a score of 26-8.
The newly formed Odd Couple team of Alec and Vic played the Golfers of
Fergus and Stuart and this was a very tight affair throughout with the
Golfers being left to rue missed opportunities in the latter stages of the
match, which saw a win for the Odd Couple by 18-14.
Match 3 saw the current league leaders Austar take on the Celtic Warriors
and the game was tied going into the 16th end. Not wishing to lose their
grip on the top spot, however, Austar redoubled their efforts and scored
three in the 16th to take the game 18-15 and remain in first place.
In other matches played, the Gunners were firing on both barrels as they
defeated Tanjo 17-12 and Banita came with a late surge to triumph over
Lighter Men by a 17-13 scoreline.
Van de Boss captures WBC title in Pattaya
Dutch champ recovers from early setback to earn points win over Russian opponent
Story by Martin Bilsborrow Photos by
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Vimolrat Singnikorn
An enthralled boxing audience was in attendance at the Fairtex Thepprasit
stadium last Wednesday, January 3, to witness the eagerly anticipated WBC
Muaythai Interim Heavyweight title showdown between giant Dutchman Ricardo
Van de Boss and Russia’s premier Muaythai fighter, Malex Gadzhiev.
 Ricardo
Van de Boss proudly dons the WBC Interim Heavyweight title belt.
The prize for the winner would be the opportunity to unify the World
Heavyweight crown in a fight scheduled for later this year against China’s
outstanding champion, Zhang Qung Jun, also known as the “tiger of Jian Xu”.
Gadzhiev had been in a training camp in Thailand for the past 8 months and
his focus on this fight was apparent when he entered the ring covered in a
headscarf and in a seemingly cocoon of concentration.
His opponent, Van de Boss, enjoyed the majority of the crowd support due to
a large presence of Dutch fans, who had been entertained and helped to find
their singing voices earlier in the evening with a multiple Holland v
Thailand Muaythai match-up. His entrance to the ring was accompanied by a
caucophony of noise as the boisterous supporters from Holland welcomed their
hero.
 A
serious looking Malex Gadzhiev enters the ring prior to the big fight.
The fight got under way in a rather cagey fashion with both fighters trying
to weigh-up their opponent. Van de Boss was looking to be the more assertive
of the two and probably pinched the first round by nature of his aggression.
Seconds into the second round, however, the fight turned on its head when
Van de Boss emerged from a clinch with a large cut in the center of his
forehead. Whether the cut was caused by a punch, elbow or head butt was
unclear but it suddenly changed the whole nature of the contest.
Hampered with the blood streaming into his eyes, the Dutchman now found
himself on the back foot as Gadzhiev looked to pounce on his opportunity.
For the following two and a half rounds the Russian picked off his opponent
seemingly at will, controlling the tempo of the fight and building up a big
lead.
 Van
de Boss blocks a right cross as Gadzhiev goes on the offensive.
Seconds before the bell in the fourth, however, Gadzhiev found himself
backed into a corner and was caught by a heavy right cross from his
opponent. As the bell sounded for the end of the round, the Russian fighter
was still clearly feeling the effects of the punch as he retreated to his
corner sucking in great gulps of air.
Despite the action at the end of the fourth, Gadzhiev still entered the
fifth and final round knowing the fight was his to lose. Van de Boss, who
presumably been told the same by his own corner men, immediately went on the
offensive and caught his opponent with a series of combinations. The fight
came to life as both fighters traded punches and kicks, knowing that the
final round could sway the judges’ decision either way.
 The
Dutchman can’t hide his delight at the judges’ decision as a crestfallen
Gadzhiev sinks to the canvas.
The final bell sounded with Van de Boss in the ascendancy and his army of
fans cheering him on. The judges were quick to announce the decision in
favour of the man from Holland who improved his record to 25-18 with 13 KO’s
and will now progress forward a world title unification bout.
In an interview with the press later, Van de Boss paid
tribute to the Dutch supporters at ringside: “I knew I had to finish
strongly and gave everything I had. I wanted to return to The Netherlands as
the champion and my mission in Thailand has been accomplished. The partisan
crowd of Dutch expats kept me going, especially in the final round which I
had to win. Another 30 seconds and I might well have won by KO.”
A disappointed Gadzhiev said he thought he had done enough to win the fight
but that he would learn from the defeat. “I rarely have to go the full
distance and there won’t be any fade outs in future contests,” he said.
The Beautiful Game?:
Riz Taylor
Forest’s happy Agogo
Back to the Premiership this weekend, but not before a
look back to FA Cup third round day. If you believe the newspapers the old
trophy has lost some of its magic in recent years, but that’s a matter of
opinion. For me, checking the results looking for giant-killings is the most
entertaining afternoon of the season. And I’m not alone - the weekend saw
the highest third round attendances since 1981.
Those fans prepared to battle the cold weather were rewarded with the third
round’s most goals since 1966, and although there were no truly enormous
upsets the fourth round draw was destined to be missing a few big sides,
including both Merseyside clubs. Holders Liverpool crashed out at the hands
of Arsenal and Everton were spanked 4-1 at home by Blackburn Rovers.
I’ve lost count how many times I’ve laughed at my Dad as he’s reeled off his
list of ‘big clubs’ over the years. Blackpool, Burnley, Preston, Wolves -
all enormous clubs that should be in the top flight if you believe my old
man. And yet, as much as I’ve scoffed at him in the past, I now realise that
things will be exactly the same in years to come as I bemoan the demise of
Sheffield Wednesday, or try to explain that QPR were once a top six outfit
as kids stare blankly back at me in disbelief.
Perhaps the biggest fall from grace in recent years - beating off stiff
competition from Leeds - is the plight of Nottingham Forest, who have
plummeted from their league titles and European Cups down to the third tier
of English football in recent years. But enough with the misery, the FA Cup
gives everyone a chance to make a name for themselves, and this time around
it was Forest’s turn to make headlines for the right reasons as they turned
over Premiership side Charlton.
Not that an away defeat for Charlton is that much of a big deal. The Addicks
have gone over twelve months without a victory on their travels, but then
losing to Forest, who had lost their previous league match 5-0 at Oldham, is
yet another disgraceful result in what’s turning into a miserable season.
Striker Grant Holt grabbed Forest’s second goal, and the first was scored by
- get this - ‘Junior Agogo’. I promise I’m not making that up, and despite
the enormous temptation I’m holding fire on the Pattaya-related gags about
under-age dancing venues.
Swansea City overturned a weakened Sheffield United side and the once
‘enormous’ Sheffield Wednesday grabbed a draw at Manchester City. Cardiff
and Spurs couldn’t be separated and Leicester City, almost Big Time Charlies
themselves once, took Fulham into a replay. The Foxes dominated much of
their tie and got a fitting reward with a late equaliser from Danny
Cadameteri, the former Everton star who had lost his way and served a
six-month drug ban.
It’s been sixteen years since an FA Cup Final didn’t feature one of the
current ‘Big Four’, and that final was contested by Forest and Tottenham in
1991. This year’s fourth round draw did the neutrals no favours as Arsenal,
Manchester United and Chelsea were all drawn at home, which on the face of
it makes things look as though that long run won’t be coming to and end this
year. But there is still hope for the neutral as Arsenal host bogey-side
Bolton Wanderers whilst United will need to dispatch in-form Portsmouth.
It’ll be the seventh time that Pompey boss Harry Redknapp has been drawn
against United in the FA Cup, and his record is none too shabby. You’ll
remember Paulo Di Canio slotting the winner home for West Ham at Old
Trafford in 2001 as Fabien Barthez appealed for offside, and let’s not
forget Redknapp’s exploits with Bournemouth, who pulled off one of the
competition’s biggest surprises by beating the star-studded cup holders in
1984.
The third round didn’t manage anything on that scale this time around, but
Chelsea won’t fancy taking on a Nottingham Forest side with nothing to lose
in round four. Apologies in advance for the gag, but there’ll be more than a
few neutrals hoping to see some Agogo dancing at the end of the month.
County
It’s not all good news from Nottingham. In a survey by Littlewoods
Football Pools, Notts County were voted as the team that give its supporters
the most misery.
The survey asked fans of all 92 English league clubs which factors gave them
the most stress. Among them were losing a home game, the ‘yo-yo effect’ of
constant promotion and relegation, narrowly missing out on promotion and
financial problems.
MK Dons and Carlisle were the next most stressful sides to support, while in
the Premiership that award was given to Portsmouth, followed by Manchester
City and Watford.
Smith back for
seconds
In this week’s token Scottish news, Walter Smith looks set to quit his
job as Scotland manager for another stab at managing Rangers, after the
Glasgow club sacked Frenchman Paul le Guen last week. Le Guen was relieved
of his duties after stripping the captaincy from midfielder Barry Ferguson.
Fergie hails
Larsson
Talking of Fergusons, Manchester United’s Sir Alex was quick to applaud
the efforts of Henrik Larsson after Sunday’s FA Cup win at Aston Villa, even
comparing the Swede with United’s most influential player recent years.
Larsson, who had so many successful years at Celtic before moving to
Barcelona, has joined United on what apparently is a ten-week loan spell.
His classy debut was topped off with a goal that helped United ease into the
fourth round.
“He could have scored two or three,” said Fergie. “With his movement and
experience, he was terrific. The goal summed him up, no drawback. Henrik has
scored goals throughout his career and some of them have been crucial. Eric
Cantona was like that.”
Cees gets busy
at Plutaluang
PSC golf from The Café Kronborg
Monday,
January 1,
Plutaluang,
Stableford
This is a course Dave always books when there is a ‘Holiday’, for
several reasons, but mostly because he likes to play it. It was,
therefore, sad that Dave started the New Year in a cast with a broken
ankle and he had to ‘volunteer ‘ Cees Bosman to run the day. Dave is
adamant he does not remember how he did it, mind we all know Pattaya,
and Dave.
 Cees
Bosman doubled up as organizer and A Flight winner at Plutaluang.
So early in the morning Cees started to book people in, and of course
being New Years Day in Pattaya there was a record no show, difficult for
a new organiser. Still, our Cees is made of strong stuff, and finally
all were booked in and off they went.
The course itself was in good shape and despite the presence of a 6-ball
in front of us from the 10th hole onwards; we fairly sped around and
were soon back in the clubhouse.
As Cees said he has done presentations in Dutch before but this was the
first time he has done one in English. Despite all the hassle, the
winner of the A Flight, 0 to 20, was Cees himself with 38 points.
Ebrahim followed him home in second with 37 points and Marcus Inazuka
was in third with 36 points.
In the B Flight, (21 up) the winner was Jan Longren with a best score of
the day 41 points, with Mike Winfield in second on 38 points and Einar
Utoft in third with 34 points.
Near Pin: Sigga Jouni Huatari, Simon Walden (2)
Long Put: Bruce Lawrence, Joop Jasperse
Thursday,
January 4,
Pattana,
Stableford
One thing you can be certain of at Pattana is that there will
be a long queue at the booking-in desk. On this day we also found out
the ‘Sports Day’ ended with December, so some players had to dig deep.
Another given here is that the wind will blow, as it did on this day,
hard. This was a problem in particular as we played the A & B nines, and
B1 in the wind is a monster of a hole. Indeed many balls are lost on
this nine.
The course itself is one you either love or hate. Personally, I think it
is a really good layout with fine fairways, undulating greens that are
really tricky in heavy winds, and rough that is deep and notoriously
difficult to get out of.
Playing from the White Tees on this day, the players with a strong game
off the tee came to the fore and it was seen that most of these were in
the A Flight. The results that came in later were as follows: A Flight,
(0 to 18) the winner was Richard Cignac with 38 points, with Derek Brook
in second on 37 points, Steindor Eidsson in third with 36 points and
Marcus Inazuka fourth with 35 points. In the B Flight, (19 up) the
winner was Bjorn Kristjohannson on 34 points, second came Henry Cignac
with 33 points, Rolf Hofman third on 30 points and Neil Allison fourth
with 29 points.
T.T.F.N
Long Put: Tore Eliasen, Eric Hansen
Near Pin: Jack Merrick, Einar Johannson, Leena Hanninen, Joop
Jasperse
The Groom notches 46
IPGC golf from Lewiinski’s
Sunday, December 31,
Green Valley - White Tees, Stableford
A Flight
1st Hugh Lyons (7) 42 points
2nd Chas Li (10) 42 points
3rd Paul Shaw (12) 40 pointsh
B Flight
1st Joe Mooneyham (13) 46 points
2nd Jan Eriksen (13) 40 points
3rd Lee Adelly (14) 40 points
C Flight
1st Seamus Cotter (16) 45 points
2nd Stan Dismuke (17) 37 points
3rd Ian Grout (13) 35 points
D Flight
1st Mike Craighead (20) 37 points
2nd Keith Dyson (20) 37 points
3rd Mike Loewen (25) 34 points
NP’s: #2 - Phil Mitchell; #9 - Joe McArdle; #12 - Bobby Driggs;
#16 - Sonny Crawford
2’s: Hugh Lyons (2), Darren Smith (2), Phil Mitchell, Jim Munns,
Gareth Gill, Brian Wilkinson, Kevin Taylor
Green Valley, bared to its defenseless Sunday configuration, gave up
some big scores, but none the equal of The Groom’s B Flight winning 46
points, thanks to a sparkling gross 75. Joe’s 46 topped a trio of B
Flight 40’s in the names of The Quiet One, Lee Adelly (one of the
Caddies to the Stars) and the Leprechaun. The luck of the Irish did not
show itself as Jan and Lee took the pay slots on count back.
While it wasn’t best on the day, Seamus Cotters 45 was awfully good. His
gross 79 provided him eight more points than C Flight’s second place
competitor, Stan the Man. Fighting for the bronze of the penultimate
flight were the three-pack of Ian Grout, Steve Hughes and Col. Kevin.
Ian had the best of it
Everybody in the A Flight money, and one out of it, had scores in the
40’s. The tandem of Irish Hugh Lyons and Chas Li, both had 42 points
with Hugh coming home more strongly. Third was the knotted pair of Paul
Shaw and Darren Smith, with the big Hawkeye getting the worst of the
math.
What happened in the junior flight? Mike Craighead and Keith Dyson were
the only players to better their handicap, with The Mechanic using his
guile to prevail on count back. Mike Loewen gladly accepted the loot for
D Flight third, even though his 34 points were meek by the day’s
standards.
Wednesday, January 3,
Eastern Star -White Tees, Stableford
A Flight
1st Jim Wickstrom (4) 42 points
2nd Dave Mascari (5) 41 points
3rd Hugh Lyons (6) 40 points
B Flight
1st Tony Cotter (16) 39 points
2nd Jan Eriksen (13) 36 points
3rd Kevin Moraghan (17) 36 points
C Flight
1st Joe Tynan (24) 36 points
2nd Lou Szigligeti (20) 36 points
3rd Bob Lindborg (18) 35 points
Near Pins: #6 - Dave Mascari, #13 - Stewart Keane
2’s: Bob Patterson, Jan Eriksen, Norm Robinson, Stewart Keane,
Colin Davis
Jimmy Wickstrom lives on Eastern Star and used that home court advantage
to amass an A Flight winning 42 points. He needed every one of them as
the owner’s brother, Dave Mascari, had 41 points and the pair of Hugh
Lyons and Peter Hynard had 40. This time the luck of the ol’ Sod
prevailed as Peter was left baht-less despite his fine day.
In another brotherly connection, Tony Cotter, brother of Sunday’s second
star, took B Flight with 39 points. The Quiet One notched his second
silver in as many comps but it required a count back nod over hard luck
Col. Kevin.
Irish Joe Tynan counted back the Zigger to take C Flight. The Guru of
Green Valley snatched the last loot of the day with his 35 points.
Friday, December 5,
The Emerald - White Tees, Stableford
A Flight
1st Tore Elliassen (13) 38 points
2nd Claus Birk Thomsen (11) 37 points
3rd Bob Patterson (7) 36 points
B Flight
1st Eddy Beilby (19) 33 points
2nd Dave McFeely (17) 32 points
3rd John White (20) 32 points
2’s: Gordon Kerr, Marty James, Nick Payne
The Irish had a good week, but the Scandi’s threw the marker down on the
week’s ending round at The Emerald. Longtime friend Tore Elliasen topped
the premier flight with 38 points, one more than Claus Birk Thomsen. The
new Golf Manager, Bob Patterson, showed he could play despite the
distraction of organization, as he matched his handicap and took A
Flight third.
The second flight of the day yielded to a golf course which plays
incrementally tougher for those that don’t really bang the ball. The Man
of Leisure was perfectly happy with 33 points, which was one clear of
the flight’s next best.
A knot of three was to be found at 32 points in the persons of Dave
McFeely, John White and Ed Junger. Ed had about the same luck as his
employer Airbus has had lately, as he dropped off the money sheet after
the count back.
Mitchell makes his mark
I.P.G.C. Golf with The Caddy Shack.
Tuesday, January 2, Noble Place, Medal
The first golf of the New Year was a visit to Noble Place on the A & B
courses for a Medal competition on what turned out to be a public
holiday. The course was in very good condition and some excellent scores
were recorded, with Ronnie Millward and Phil Mitchell coming joint 2nd
on net 70, but with Phil having the better count back. The winner of the
day was Jack Spencer firing a superb net 68 off his 11 H/cap.
 Emmet
White (left) & Phil Smith (right) congratulate Friday ‘man of the match’
Phil Mitchell.
There were no “twos”, but over a few beers it was all about Ronnie
Millward playing under his handicap for the first time in his life.
Well-done Ronnie.
Friday, January 5, Pattaya C.C., Stableford
Pattaya Country Club was the venue for a Stableford
competition on a very crowded golf course. After a 30-minute delay, and
a big apology from the management, play eventually got underway.
Paul Butler and Kevin Taylor tied for second place with 35 points each,
Kevin just edged out Paul for on count back, but way out in front was
Phil Mitchell with a 71 gross and 43 points off his 6 H/cap to take
first place. He later remarked: “I did not play a bad shot all day.” The
rolled over “twos” pot was also won by the ‘man of the match’ Phil
Mitchell.
On January 16, at Eastern Star, there will be a 4-man scramble for the
birthday bash of Keith Fortt with many prizes, a raffle, and a live band
playing in the evening. All are welcome but sign up early, as there are
limited playing spots.
Cliff Hornsby wins at last
IPGC golf from The Haven
Wednesday, January 3,
Noble Place, Stableford
1st Paulus Huneker, 42pts c/b 22
2nd Fred Land, 42pts c/b 21
3rd Werner Pausch, 41pts
4th Guy Fraser, 40pts
5th John Teague, 38pts
Although the name of the course has been changed to Green something or
other, the scribe and many of the readers may not recognise the new name, so
for the time being we will still refer to it as Noble Place to avoid
confusion. Even with its new name it still plays the same, which is to say
it is one of the top courses on the schedule and with a very competitive
price remains a firm favourite with the players no matter that the travel
time is a little longer than some of the other courses.
Once again it was in first class condition with the greens being flat and
fast and the fairways looking and playing superbly.
Paulus Huneker must have forgotten to declare his latest handicap, or so the
result would indicate, and just pipped Fred Land, even though Fred had a
lifetime best in second place. Paulus just slipped in on the count back
after Fred had mistakenly picked up at one hole, which cost him the
potential winning point. After another good result at another venue Paulus
will now be playing off 4 shots less in the future.
With the tees set up on the usual yellow positions, it was no surprise to
find many of the players bettering their handicaps, as was the case with
Werner Pausch in third and Guy Fraser in fourth. John Teague also showed
that the hours spent on the practice range have not been in vain. In fact
the CSS went down a shot on the day.
There were no “twos” in the Second Division but in the First Division, Mark
Cooper had one and Paulus Huneker had two, which went a long way towards his
winning margin.
Before presenting the prizes Richard Livingston, the resident PGA teaching
professional, welcomed new members Paulus Huneker, Jack Merrick, Terry
Barnes, and Robert Gennari and he also welcomed back Tore Eliassen, Tony
Charlwood, John Teague, Koji Yamada, Marcus Inuzuka, Guy Fraser and Vance
Millar.
Friday, January 5,
Eastern Star, Stableford
Division 1
1st Cliff Hornsby, 38pts c/b 22
2nd Norman Isherwood, 38
3rd Jim Wickstrom, 37 c/b 20
4th Doug Hollingsworth, 37
Division 2
1st John Teague, 38pts c/b 21
2nd Alan Griffiths, 38pts
3rd Robbie Bennett, 35pts
4th Brian Kelly, 34 c/b 19
5th Kenny Priddy, 34pts
With numerous members having now returned, a large party left The Haven for
Eastern Star in high hopes of a new year bringing forth what had been
missing previously from their golf games.
For most it turned out to be “same as before”, but Cliff Hornsby in the
First Division was one of the few to find a silver lining to add to the
usual as he swept to his first win since his coming to the Land of Smiles
several years ago. Although it did not auger well after the first nine,
Cliff was lucky that he managed to turn the tables on Norman Isherwood by
equaling Norman’s front nine as the latter sank on the homeward stretch,
which allowed Cliff to just steal it on the count back. Jim Wickstrom just
got the better of Doug Hollingsworth in the count back, to take third place.
The Second Division was also a close run affair with John Teague getting on
the podium for a second time in the week. This time however he managed to
climb the top step, ahead of Alan Griffiths, by virtue of an excellent back
nine, as Alan slumped following a tremendous start.
Robbie Bennett made it a happy return to The Haven as he slipped into third
place ahead of Brian Kelly, who took the last slot on count back from Kenny
Priddy.
The rollover pot for the “twos” in the Second Division was shared by Robbie
Bennett and Max Arlen, whilst the first division was shared by Dave Stockman
with one and Daryl Blair with two.
Back at The Haven Richard welcomed new member Charles Scott and welcomed
back Wendy and Doug Hollingsworth, Barry McIntosh, Roar Berger, Ashley
Bolton, Jim Wickstrom, Brent Philp, Robbie Bennett, Jack Spencer, John Allen
and had a special welcome back for two old members who, although not having
been out of the country, had been unable to play for some time due to ill
health, in the form of Max Arlen and Fred Ewins.
Findon on fire at Burapha
IPGC Jomtien Golf
Wednesday, January 3, Burapha, Monthly
Medal
With an increased green fee, more than we expected, another strong field
arrived for the first game of January, the notorious Monthly Medal.
There was a rollover in the “twos”, yet again, for the Division 2 players
and surprise, surprise, a triple payout looms at Eastern Star next Monday.
Fred Duffy and Bill Hewitt both had birdies to share the top division prize.
The lowest net score of the day was a remarkable 69 from Ben Findon to win
the Division 2 honours, Glyn Evans’s 70 and Bob Lathwell’s 72 earned them a
share of the purse as well.
Joop Medze’s 74 was enough for third place prize in Division 1, closely
followed by the sandbagger, John McCloone’s 72 and the winner, Serge
Strataen with a net 71.
Nearest the pins in the premier flight went to Phil Groves and Herma
Fitzgerald whilst Bev Ewens and Glyn Evans took the Division 2 prizes.
The ‘ladies tipple’ was awarded fittingly to the ladies man, Alan Bissell,
for collecting three caddies’ telephone numbers and two lady members of
staff in the clubhouse and forgetting who’s who one hour later.
The Rich Man Poor Man’s free dinner draw vouchers start again next Wednesday
at the presentation for all non-prizewinners on the day. A fond farewell was
also said to Herma and Michael Fitzgerald and also Disco Dave and Swansea
Lil who have spent numerous months with us and have now left for a three
month round the world cruise. Life’s a bitch eh. See you all soon.
Friday, January 5, Eastern Star, Stableford
Our inaugural weekly game every Friday on this course brought in
24 players for a straight 1,2,3 prize in two divisions - no “twos” or
‘nearest the pins’ on Fridays.
Over the next few weeks we are looking at running some sort of Friday league
format as well as the normal competition. There are the normal discussions
and new ideas thrown around back at the clubhouse afterwards and we will
keep you posted.
Hong Kong based, but a regular monthly visitor Robert Watkins, playing off
15 H/cap, scored 35 points to win his first top prize with us in Division 1.
Paddy Wilson and Ken Lill both scored 34 but a greater count back of 20/19
on the back nine gave Paddy second place. Third place in Division 2 went to
Tony Duthie with 30pts; one point better was Glyn Evans in second, and the
winner Bob Lathwell came home with 36pts.
Jomtien Golf meets every Monday and Wednesday at around 9.00am for a 10.30
tee-off time at Paweenas, Soi 5 Jomtien Beach Rd. At present the Friday
tee-off times vary at Eastern Star between 9.15 and 10.45 so please call in
the bar to sign up or call Glyn on 086 837 5464. Club hire and transport are
available as well.
Fergus & Colin sign-off the year in style
PSC golf from The Bowling Green
Thursday winners from left to
right: Peter, Ray, Patrick, John, Mam and Wayne.
Report and photos by Barry Hooper
Saturday, December 30,
Eastern Star, Stableford
A Flight
1st Fergus Brennan
2nd Gary Cannings
3rd Brian Blackford
B Flight
1st Colin Cronin
2nd John Merritt
3rd Petter Anderson
Near Pins: Mashi Kaneta, Tewin Lamthong, Gary Cannings,Tony Oakes
2’s: Mike Leighton and Stein Morisse
Conditions this week were excellent again and the staff were very courteous
and helpful in every way possible; a very good way on which to end the play
for 2006.
It was our organiser Fergus that decided to finish his year in style with an
A flight win, whilst golfer of the month Colin Cronin scored a B flight
victory to also end his year on a high note.
Tuesday, January 2,
Eastern Star, Stableford
A Flight
1st Derek Eastham (15) 33pts
2nd Fergus Brennan (12) 33pts
3rd Ray Trembath (14) 32pts
4th Frank Kelly (17) 31pts
B Flight
1st Mick Hartley (32) 39pts
2nd John Morrel (31) 38pts
3rd Tewin Lamthong (25) 36pts
4th Terry Hopkins (23) 36pts
Near Pins: Richard Wakeling, Derek Eastham, Terry Hopkins
2’s: Fergus Brennan
Some players were undoubtedly recovering from the effects of the New Year
activities but this did not stop some excellent play from taking place. I
particularly have to make mention of the eagle on a par 4 by Fergus Brennan
that gave him the only “twos” win on the day.
Well Done Fergus what a way to start a new golfing year.
Thursday, January 4,
Greenwood (Noble Place), Stableford
Flight A - (all on c/b)
1st Wayne Farrell (14) 35pts
2nd Ray Trembath (17) 35pts
3rd John Merritt (17) 35pts
4th Derek Eastham (15) 35pts
5th Fergus Brennan (12) 35pts
Flight B
1st Joel Flor (20) 36pts
2nd Peter Harris (19) 35pts
3rd Patrick Browne (25) 33pts
Flight C
1st Mam Morel (37) 39pts
2nd John Robertson (28) 38pts
3rd John Morel (31) 36pts
Near Pins: John Merrit, Geoff Moody, Tom Herrington
2’s only: John Merritt
Three flights the order of the day due to the large field of players that
entered. It is good to see the Bowling Green Golf Society becoming so
popular. Long may it continue for 2007.
Wayne Farrell topped a 5-way count back in the A Flight, the top five
players all scoring 35 points, whilst Joel Flor and Mam Morel took the B & C
Flights respectively with 36 and 39 point hauls.
John Merritt was the only player to record a “two” and backed it up by also
winning one of the ‘near pin’ prizes.
As always, the golfers would like to thank Tony, Jean and Staff for all the
great service we enjoyed at The Bowling Green during the week. If any one is
interested in golfing with the Bowling Green we play every Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday. We meet at Bowling Green at 7:45 am for breakfast and
transportation, and new players are always made to feel welcome. Call Tewin
on 086 056 7019 or the Bowling Green 038-720742 or send an email to
[email protected]
Angela’s Sunday best
Phoenix Members Golf
New Year’s Eve winners Tukta, Angela and Doug
with stand in captain Ron Bridge.
Sunday, December 31, Phoenix, Stableford
Another beautiful day at Phoenix saw five flights playing their
final rounds of 2006 on the Mountain and Lakes nines. Conditions were close
to perfect but, on a very busy course, play was on the slow side and only
the top three players managed to beat their Sunday handicaps.
For the major prizes a count back placed Tukta Speirs in second place ahead
of Doug Wilson-Santee, both players with 39 points. This would often be a
very healthy winning score but was well short of the day’s amazing winning
total of 46 points amassed by Angela Poustie. Angela will be “rewarded” with
an 11-stroke cut in her Sunday Group handicap.
In captain Ben Hogstrom’s absence, former captain Ron Bridge conducted the
prize-giving ceremony back in the clubhouse. Ron welcomed new member Sten
Svensson and his guest Per Amund Ruth. Near pins prizes went to Jack
Spencer, Angela Poustie and Mike Poustie.
As usual, all non-winners were entered into a lucky draw and the winner was
Ian Speirs. Ron wished all present a happy New Year and everyone went on
their way to celebrate.
Sunday, January 7, Phoenix, Stableford
A dull start to the day with temperatures down a little from
normal: Just perfect for a stroll around the lush fairways of Phoenix. It
didn’t stay that way for long though, with the sun breaking through by the
time we had the first group out at 12.30pm.
This is a good time to play golf. The sunsets at Phoenix are a wonderful
sight, and when we finish it’s just right for the first (for some of us)
beer of the day.
As stated before, scores and handicaps on our Sunday outings must not be
confused with any official handicaps. We run our own domestic handicap on
this day.
Our winner for the day (Paul Lavender) had been playing quite badly over the
last few weeks. However, he finally hit good form and shot 47 points off 23
H/cap.
Do not despair, with our system of trying not to let the same player win two
weeks on the trot, he will cut 12 shots for next week and will be off 11
H/cap. Such is the fun of the day.
The second position was taken by Ron Bridge with 43 points and again he will
be cut 7 shots for next week. Steen Poulson took third on 42 points and will
be cut by 6 shots.
As usual all guests are welcome to join in the fun, but check with the
organisors for tee time availability.
The Phoenix Members Golf Group meets every Sunday and Wednesday in the
restaurant and the draw for the day’s groupings is made at 12.00 (noon). For
more information, contact Ben Hogstrom (08 6157 5310), Ron Bridge (08 1452
5995) or Mike Gerard (08 7091 7565).
Butler and Maddox take
a shine to Crystal Bay
PSC golf from The Bunker
Wednesday, January 3,
Crystal Bay, Medal
The first game of the year for The Bunker Boy’s was played at the lovely
Crystal Bay Golf Course.
In a Medal competition and with the cut at handicap 17 and under, we saw
Tony Scambler win the A Flight with a four-under par net 68, second place
went to Jim Treen who shot a two-under par net 70, and third place was
shared between Geoff Parker and William Macey who both finished one-under
par net 71’s.
The B Flight was jointly won by Lee Butler and Brian Maddox who both scored
fantastic seven-under par net 65’s whilst Thea Van Spellen came third with a
net 71.
Geoff Hart, Mashi Kaneta, Dougy Crowe and Dave Arrowsmith shared the ‘near
pin’ prizes.
Friday, January 5,
Mountain Shadow,
Stableford
Friday’s game was played at Mountain Shadow and again the cut was
made at handicap 17 and under.
Playing a Stableford format, Roger Privett won the A Flight with 35 points
ahead of Mashi Kaneta 34 points and three players sharing third place,
Charlie Gooch, Gerry Cooney and Tony Scambler, all on 32 points.
Brian Maddox won the B Flight with 34 points; in second place came Jan Van
Spellen with 33 points and third place went to Bryan Rought with 32 points.
‘Near pin’ prizes were won by Jan Van Spellen, Gerry Cooney, Geoff Parker
and old-timer George Routledge.
Winning start for Hall & Findon
IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at the OK Corral
The Pattaya Golf Society’s first official outing of the New Year was at the
Emerald Golf Club at Ban Chang on Tuesday, January 2nd and a huge field
assembled under hot skies, refreshed only by an intermittent breeze.
 December’s
“Player of the Month” David Thomas (right) receives his award from Mr.
Denis.
The format was the very intriguing “South African” Stableford game, where
players are paired and the score for a hole is reached by multiplying both
Stableford scores together. Beware the dreaded zero! So it was then that
twenty teams gathered on the first tee to watch as Ben Findon and Les Hall
led the first group off on a empty course, which still did not prevent us
being charged “holiday” green fees.
As the round developed, reputations counted for nothing as scores were
erased by the multiplication by zero and it promised to be another day when
safety and shot economy were to be paramount.
Paul Quodomine and David Thomas muscled their way into third place with a
score of 63 points, mainly by virtue of a fine individual round by the
former whilst the latter forgot the subtle rules of the game by scoring only
one point on a hole where his partner had gathered five points. For his
golfing promiscuity David was earmarked for the first ‘Booby Bevy’ of the
year!
The OK Corral’s current “SAS” champions, Ian Kidd and Carl Lovatt came
second with a fine 69-point total, playing successful if unspectacular golf.
Whilst all this was happening, events in the leading group were pushing
along at a fair pace with Les Hall making a fist of things. When Big Ben
chimed in with a spectacular birdie on the fifteenth it gave the pair twelve
points on the hole and propelled them to the top of the leaderboard. This is
where they would stay for the duration of the event, finishing with a score
of 70 points, just two-over par on the increasingly tough track.
Ben was joined by Paul Quodomine in the hunt for the “twos” pot and it was
fitting that the knave of the day, David Thomas, took the December “Player
of the Month” award at the packed presentation. The year had begun in fine
style at the OK Corral and other good things await in the coming golfing
year.
“Forty - what?”
There are some golf days when you get more than you expect, and
Thursday, January 4th was one such day as the Pattaya Golf Society travelled
to the best “value for money” club in the area, Noble Place, aka Green Wood.
The format was Stableford and the large field was divided into two flights
at 17 and under. The day was hot and the course was busy but things got
underway promptly and the action soon took shape.
In the top flight, Bill Hewitt managed a level par round for a total of 36
points and third place whilst Jan Eriksen and Mark Graham began the year in
fine style sharing the win with 37 points each. By the time they had
returned their cards spectacular events had been occurring elsewhere in the
second flight. Chris Walsh was posting 38 points whilst the OK Corral’s
genial host, Mr. Denis, came home all smiles, having played the best golf of
his short career, his score of 38 points also being his first sub-par
competition round. The two shared an excellent second place and later a
refreshing beer.
They were all eclipsed, however, by the performance of eighteen-handicapper
Andy Parkinson who concluded the front nine in a staggering 37 shots, giving
him 26 points. He completed his round with a mere 18 on the back nine to
finish with an unbelievable total of 44 points! It was golf straight out of
the top drawer and the handicapper will have his work cut out to fine-tune
Andy’s status.
As if all this wasn’t enough, Werner Pausch was playing his last round
before returning to Frankfurt two hours after the conclusion of the
competition and he chose not to enter the fray, yet he amazingly returned
the same score of 44 points!
Green Wood had been forgiving, yes, but not that easy surely. Coming down to
earth, David Thomas and Bill Hewitt shared the “twos” pot and Chris Walsh
received the ‘Booby Bevy’ for an unbelievable error on the tenth when he
chose to take relief without studying his shot and dropped his ball behind a
tree! The inevitable “blob” embarrassed his otherwise good card.
No embarrassment for winner Andy Parkinson, though, it had been the best
golf day of his life. “Forty - what?”
Mickey Mouse Friday Night Darts League
Results & Standings January 7 (week 6)
The Rising Sun remain league leaders with the Helicopter Bar and the
Londoner sharing second place. Helicopter and Londoner had a close match
with everything going to Londoner on the beer. Mark (Drum) had a 16 dart
finish against Ae at the Blue Mountain. The match of the evening had to
be between OK Corral and Chaplins, fighting it out to see who is the
strongest team in the league and can hold up the table all on their own.
Penny from OK Corral sealed Chaplins fate with her favourite 69 finish,
steady, Bull - 17 - X1. Well done to OK Corral on breaking their duck.
Palmers is leading the under tens with a nice round 50 while Helicopter
have the least with 19. Good luck for next week.
Diamond Shop moves into
second place behind Montana
Pattaya Sports Club Friday Bowling League
200 Bowlers - Dang, Berry,
Suphan, Lance, La & Rich.
Diamond Shop won three points from Café Kronborg and
continued their climb up the standings and pushing Café Kronborg down to
third.
Montana remains in first place as they took all four points from
Domicil. Dang rolled a good 564 series for Montana and Teuvo had a 538
for Domicil. VFW Post 9876 got three points from House of the Golden
Coin; Ooy bowled a 529 series for VFW and Su had a 602 series with
handicap for Golden Coin.
Three Sisters split their match with Brother D with each team getting
two points and Café Ole split their match with Mai’s Thai Restaurant.
Konrad rolled a 519 series for Brother D, Rich had a 552 for Café Ole
and Berry rolled 201 & 234 games, 591 series. Lance bowled a 560 series
with two 200 games to lead Jack & Tar to a three point win over
Shenanigans.
The Square Ring:
by Howie Reed
Jeeves, it’s nice to see you back among us.
“Nice to be back Your Lordship. With your permission I will proceed with
my report on all things boxing.”
As my late father would say Jeeves, “Lead on McDuff.” No, he never
mentioned who McDuff was.
“Well Your Lordship, your Yank Mike Tyson has gotten himself in a pack
of trouble according to promoter Harlen Werner. He was supposed to be in
Manchester for an ‘Evening with Mike Tyson’ but he never showed up. I
think that this time Tyson might be innocent. Might be a case of an
unscrupulous promoter - not something that’s unknown in boxing.
“Werner said that he tried to secure Tyson for the event but never had a
contract and never made any payments. Werner also stated the obvious by
saying that his promotion was premature and done without Tyson’s
consent. Sounds like a right prat to me.
“Tyson did get in very serous trouble just before New Year, in
Scottsdale, Arizona which is near Phoenix. Shortly after leaving a
nightclub Tyson was stopped by police after nearly colliding with the
sheriff’s car.
“The cops searched Tyson, who acted like a gentleman - he’s a fine
actor. The police found two bags of a white powder substance in his back
left pocket and an additional bag was located on the driver seat in a
Marlboro cigarettes pack. Drug tests revealed that Tyson was under the
influence of a depressant, stimulate and cannabis. The same report also
noted that Tyson admitted that the bags of cocaine were his and he uses
it anytime he can get his hands on it.
“In a classic understatement Tyson said: ‘I am an addict and have a
problem.’ ‘He has run out of second chances, at least in my book,’ said
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. If convicted Tyson could face 7
+ years in prison.”
Is that it Jeeves?
“No Your Lordship. I’m sure you are familiar with the old saying that
‘The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh.’ Well in England it’s the Queen
that giveth and the Queen that taketh. Each year’s end the Queen
presents the list of those that have been selected to receive the MBE
honors.”
What? What does MBE mean Jeeves?
“It means Most Excellent Order of the British Empire your Lordship and
is an order of chivalry established on June 4, 1917. The MBE is the
fifth most important year-end honor. It’s recognition and allows one to
use the initials MBE after their name. The Order’s motto is For God and
the Empire. Did I know all that? Of course not, I looked it up on the
web. May I continue? Thank you your Lordship.
“This year Her Majesty ordered that the former featherweight champion
Prince Nassem Hamed be stripped of his MBE. It’s very rare to have the
honor taken away after being granted. That’s it your Lordship. Now that
I’m finished may I be excused to ice down your after-column lager?”
Yes Jeeves, you may.
One former fighter that’s on is way to jail is former world champion
Graciano Rocchigiani. The former champ ought to feel like he’s returning
home, ‘Been there before and done that.’
He got 9 months for a series of parole violations. How does the boxer
feel about another trip to the Gray Bar Inn? “I mostly fear the boredom
and the sh*t food. I have several employees who hope that they won’t
have to wait nine months until they see their boss next time.”
Rocky recently opened a gym to help youth. Good laugh that. Visitors?
Not at least his parents. “I don’t want them to see me as a jailbird. I
have good parents, they have not earned this.” True, but Rocky did.
Promoter Vladimir Hrunov was on a high after he promoted the first WBC
Heavyweight title fight in Russia. He had planned to follow that with a
big late spring event, June 2 was a possibility, with another
blockbuster show. His plan was to bring in ‘re-tread’ Riddick Bowe to
headline with the main attraction a four round exhibition featuring Mike
Tyson. Vladimir might have to go back to the drawing board. The only
appearances that Mike Tyson’s going to make in the near future are in
the presence of a sheriff’s deputy while wearing the pink underwear of
Maricopa County Arizona.
The ‘Soap Serial’ that has become the reign of “super fighter” Manny
Pacquiao shows all the signs of imploding into a battle, not in the
ring, but among greedy b**tards. The first shot was fired when Golden
Boy Promotions, that’s Oscar’s company, had the audacity to sign Manny
to a 7-fight deal. After Pacquiao beat Eric Morales, Top Ranks Bob Arum
called Oscar and his company “creeps” when he announced that he had
signed Pacquiao even though The Pac Man had a valid contract.
Enter super “something” Shelly Finkle. First he said, through trainer
Freddie Roach, that he could get Pacquiao out of any contract as he had
final approval of any such agreement. Then he did the ‘shuffle’ while
dancing out of the picture. Oscar has fielded a suit against Arum and if
the rumors are true, Arum has signed to stage a fight on April 28 at the
Steve Wynn Casino in Macau, China.
To underscore how smart he is, Arum flew to the Philippines to hold a
press conference in the Champagne Room of the historic Manila Hotel with
Pacquiao at his side. This information was contained in a self serving
press release out of Top Rank that said in part, “If this battle is a
boxing match, then Bob Arum has scored a mighty knockdown against
promotional arch-enemy Oscar De La Hoya.”
The courts will of course decide the issue. In a short statement
Pacquiao said: “We are here to announce that my new promoter is Top
Rank.” The cast of characters sitting with Pacquiao could have come
straight from Central Casting. There was Arum, American agent Michael
Koncz, Filipino lawyer Franklin Gacal and Filipino promoter Rex ‘Wakee’
Salud. Salud said: “We promise all the Filipino people that what we are
going to do for Manny is going to be something special. Our goal is to
make Manny Pacquiao a worldwide superstar.”
Shelly Finkle who goes by the title of either lawyer, advisor,
consultant or father confessor has gotten his shorts in a wad over Bob
‘Today I’m Telling the Truth” Arum. Mr. Arum claimed that Finkle’s
contract with Pacquiao was finished. Not so according to Finkle: “Bob
Arum is wrong and he knows it. The GBP contract is better for Manny. He
was glad I wasn’t in his meetings because I would not have allowed Manny
to sign a second agreement and get into lawsuits.”
When the vultures get through with Pacquiao he’ll be fighting nightly on
Pattaya Second Road for beers and tips.
Thank goodness there was some boxing action last Sunday. It was the
highly anticipated rematch between Samuel “The Real” Peter (28-1) and
James “Lights Out” Toney (69-6-3).
The first time they met Peter won a majority decision, which Toney
claimed was “terrible”. It wasn’t but what the heck. As happens often
when an improving young fighter meets an older boxer headed the other
way, it wasn’t close. The judges had it 119-108 and 118-110 twice while
‘The Square Ring’ had it 119-108. It could actually have been a shut out
at 120 for Peter but ‘The Square Ring’ gave Toney a “this one’s for you
round.”
Toney was dropped in the second round for the first time since 1994 when
Roy Jones did the deed. You can file the following under “useless
information”. Since the knockdown in 1994 Toney had a record of 27 wins,
6 losses, 1 draw and one ‘no contest’. He fought a total of 285 rounds,
which is 855 minutes or over 14 hours. Little info for the next time
you’re sitting around the local dance palace.
As this was a WBC title eliminator Peter should next meet champion Oleg
Maskaev. Don’t hold your breath. Maskaev is making sounds like a
Klitschko fight will be coming first and if so, he’ll have the WBC title
yanked from his greedy hands.
Jeeves, did you know that the tailors here in Pattaya are busy 24/7
making the new Saddam Shirt? Tis true. The shirt is a little tight at
the neck but hangs well. What’s that Jeeves, you think I should be
awarded an MBE, Member of the British Empire. I’m touched. What? You say
it means ‘Much Big Ego’. Not funny Jeeves. The lagers better be cold,
the cigars fresh and the music good, my man.
Road to The Super Bowl - Part 2
by Howie Reed
There’s an old saying that states, “beauty is only skin deep but ugly
goes all the way to the bone.” The Colts 23-8 win over the hapless
Kansas City Chief’s was downright ugly.
Going into the game it was advertised that the Colts porous defense
would be unable to stop the running of Larry Johnson. Maybe true but
when Kansas City ran their “Ballet Offense”, as in 1-2-3-kick, for the
first 51 plus minutes of the game, Johnson wasn’t a factor. Kansas City
was out-gained 435 yards to 126. Johnson got only 32 yards on 13
carries. Even with the win Colts QB Peyton Manning had another less than
stellar play-off game
When Seattle played host to the Dallas Cowboys it was almost your normal
football game between two teams that stumbled into the play-offs. The
final score with Seattle winning at 21-20 sounds pretty normal. In truth
the game was that way till well past the three quarter mark before the
wheels fell off. The game entered the Twilight Zone of the strange and
unusual.
Trailing by 7 with 6:48 left in the game, Seattle were 3rd down and 8
from the Dallas goal line. Ignoring the sure field goal, the Seahawks go
for the TD. Hasselbeck is chased out of the pocket to his right and sees
back up TE Will Heller getting mugged in the end zone. Hasselbeck throws
in the direction of Heller hoping for the flag. Problem was that when
Hasselbeck left the pocket and started to scramble he became a runner,
which made Heller a blocker and means ‘mugging’ was OK.
The crowd in Seattle, the loudest in pro football, was stunned but what
happened next gave them hope. Dallas QB Tony Romo, on first down from
his own 2, tossed a parallel pass which was caught by Terry Glenn with a
nifty catch off his shoe tops. When hit by rookie corner Kelly Jennings,
Glenn fumbled with the ball bouncing into the end zone. Two Seahawks
dove for the oddly shaped ball with LB Lofa Tatupu making an in the air
save to keep the ball from going out of bounds which allowed Michael
Boulware to recover for a touchdown. Touchdown, Seattle leads. Wrong!
Dallas Head Coach Bill Parcells challenged the call on the field. “Upon
further review” it was clearly shown that Tatupu’s foot was out of
bounds when he tipped the ball. It’s a safety not a touchdown, which
moved Seattle two points closer at 20-15.
Seattle took the kick and after a couple of ho hum runs Hasselbeck hit
TE Jeremy Stevens on a 37-yard touchdown strike. Seattle had the lead at
21-20 after missing the 2-point conversation.
Trailing the Seahawks by 1 it appeared that Dallas QB Tony Romo had the
ship going in the right direction. Starting from his own 28, Romo hit
Crayton for 11 and Owens for 12, which combined with a 35-yard scamper
by Julius Jones put the Cowboys on the Seattle 8. From there with 1:53
to go, Romo hit Witten for 7 and a first down on the Seattle 1 thanks to
a spotting of the ball that seemed “iffy” at best.
The “spot of the ball” was challenged by the Review Assistant upstairs
and was changed from the 1 yard line to the 2 which made it 4th down. No
problemo. A field goal wins the game. The snap by the center was
perfect, centers always make perfect snaps, but then holder Romo dropped
the ball. The QB picked up the elusive pig skin and tried to scamper
towards the end zone but was stopped at the 2. Game over and Seattle
wins in the unlikeliest fashion.
Romo was in tears in the locker room later saying, “I cost us the game.”
He’ll either get over it or he won’t. Dallas fans are like Teelocks -
they’ll whine for years. Unlike babies and puppies that eventually grow
up at some point and stop.
With New England playing host to the New York Jets it was ‘teacher’,
Pats coach Bill Belichick, against ‘student’ Eric Mangini for the Jets.
After a workmanlike 37-16 win, Belichick probably said, “I taught Eric
everything he knows but not everything I know.”
It was a performance by the Pat’s that one would expect from a team that
has been in 3 of the last 5 Super Bowls. QB Tom Brady’s numbers weren’t
great (22 of 34 and 212 yards) but he ended two long drives with TD
passes.
The Jet’s were the “feel good story” of the year but in the end
Cinderella’s shoe didn’t fit. The Jets did find a good running back in
rookie Leon Washington and maybe proved that Chad Pennington can be the
QB to take them to the next level.
It was Sayonara for one of the NFL play-off teams when the Philadelphia
Eagles and the New York Giants (8-8) met for the third time this year.
To say the Giants had been a dysfunctional team for the latter half of
the season would be accurate and kind. They stunk.
Taking the opening kickoff the Giants marched down the field 67 yards on
7 plays with QB Eli Manning hitting Plexico Burress for the 27 yards TD.
The 7-0 lead would hold up until the start of the second quarter when
Brian Westbrook scampered 49 yards around right end to knot the score.
After trading field goals to advance the tie to 10, the Eagles ended the
quarter riding the arm of Jeff Garcia, he completed 6 of 7 for 78 which
included a 28 yard TD pass to Dante Stallworth, for a 17-10 lead.
Following an exchange of second half field goals and with only 12
minutes left in the game, the Giants offense suddenly became
un-discombobulated.
Tiki Barber, ran 6 times for 26 yards and caught two passes for 25 on a
drive that would tie the score at 20. The payoff came when Eli Manning
hit Plexico Burress on three straight passes for 43 yards and the
touchdown. The Giants went 80 yards using over 7 minutes of 4th quarter
clock.
With the rain pelting down, (it seldom pelts up), the Eagles took over
on their own 34 with 5 minutes left. Using the legs of Brian Westbrook,
4 runs for 34 yards, and a couple of passes by Jeff Garcia, the Eagles
got down to the New York 20 with time to waste. They did three running
plays and the clock went down to 3 seconds. David Akers then kicked a
38-yard field goal for the win and a trip to New Orleans
This Week’s Games
Sunday, January 14, (4:30am Thai): Indianapolis (13-4) at
Baltimore Ravens (13-3).
Now the Colts have to go outdoors and face a “real” defense in the
Baltimore Ravens. If Manning can’t get at least some passes downfield
the Ravens behind the steady quarterbacking of Steve McNair and the
running of Jamal Lewis will win in a very dull game.
Consider that the Raves in their two losses, to Denver and Cincinnati
both on the road, only gave up 13 points in each game while scoring 10.
Does anyone think that the Indianapolis defense will hold the Ravens to
10 points? The wise guys say “No” with the Ravens favored by from 3 to 4
points.
Sunday, January 14, (8am Thai): Philadelphia (11-6) at New Orleans
Saints (10-6).
You can expect the Saints to run well with either Duce McAllister or
‘Super Rookie’ Reggie Bush, who between them combined for over 1,600
yards. The N’Awlins offensive is their best defense.
Philly will have to slow the pace, control the ball and stop a potent
Saint offense. Can they? The wise guys think not as they favor N’Awlins
by 4 to 5 points.
Monday, January 15, (1am Thai): Seattle (10-7) at Chicago Bears
(13-3).
Back on October 1 the Bears completely dominated the ‘SeaBirds’
winning 37-6. In that game Bears’ QB Rex Grossman threw for 232 yards
with 2 touchdowns while DB Ricky Manning jr. intercepted Seattle QB Matt
Hasselbeck twice.
The Seahawks were missing running back Shaun Alexander but it’s hard to
think that will make any difference. Seattle is banged up and lucky to
get this far. Chicago favored by 8 points, which could hold as long a
Grossman doesn’t screw it up.
Monday, January 15, 4:30am Thai): New England (13-4) at San Diego
Chargers (14-2).
This provides the most interesting match up. The Pat’s will find the San
Diego Chargers a different kettle of fish from the Jets. The Chargers
have the best running back in the NFL and the MVP of the league in
LaDainian Tomlinson who accounted for 1,815 yards this year and 28
touchdowns. The Chargers rookie QB Philip Rivers has had a good year
throwing for 3,388 yards and 22 touchdowns with only 9 interceptions.
New England has a chance if they play like they did against the Jets.
They have an even bigger chance if the “rookie QB jinks” strikes Philip
Rivers or the “Marty Schottenheimer playoff jinx” continues. The
Chargers coach is 5-16 in play off games. Those in the “know” like San
Diego by 4 points. Those that don’t like the Patriots.
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