The New York Yankees begin a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees start a new era under 43-year-old manager Joe Girardi expecting to win the the World Series for the first time since 2000 and with owner George Steinbrenner ceding control of the team to his two sons Hank and Hal.
Today’s game will take place at 1:05 p.m. while Wednesday’s and Thursday’s will be night games starting at 7:05 p.m.
The pitching matchups for the Blue Jays-Yankees series are:
March 31: Roy Halladay vs Chien-Ming Wang
April 2: A.J. Burnett vs Mike Mussina
April 3: Dustin McGowan vs Phil Hughes
It will be a special opening day for Wang as he prepares to open the final opening day at Yankee Stadium (the Yankees will move to a new ball park next year) and he celebrates his 28th birthday.
If you want to purchase tickets for these or other Yankee games you can do so by clicking here. If you are looking for tickets to other baseball teams and games you will find them here.
All times Eastern
2008 Estoril Open
Location: Estoril, Portugal
Dates: April 14-20
International Series
U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships
Location: Houston, USA
Dates: April 14-20
International Series
Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana
Location: Valencia, Spain
Dates: April 14-20
International Series
Monte Carlo Masters
Location: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Dates: April 21-27
Masters Series
Torneo Conde de Godó
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Dates: April 28 - May 4
International Series
BMW Open
Location: Munich, Germany
Dates: April 28 - May 4
International Series
Name: Kimi Raikkonen
Birthday: October 17, 1979
Team: Ferrari
Country: Finland
Podiums: 49
F1 Titles: 1
Kimi Raikkonen entered Formula One as a regular driver for Sauber-Petronas in 2001. Having previously only raced in very junior open-wheel categories, he was given his Super Licence from the FIA after a performance delivery promise from his team boss, Peter Sauber. He joined McLaren Mercedes in 2002, and became a title contender by finishing runner-up in the 2003 and 2005 championships to Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, respectively.
Switching to Ferrari in 2007, Raikkonen became the highest paid driver in the sport, and secured his first Formula One World Drivers’ Championship, beating McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso by one point.
Raikkonen is very calm and cool —prompting the nickname “Iceman”, which is written on the side of his current helmet design.
After a disappointing first week for Ferrari, Raikkonen won his first race of the 2008 season at the Malaysian Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Robert Kubica and Heikki Kovalainen, and placing 2nd behind Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship standings.
The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women’s tennis organised by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments (Astralian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S Open), the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events. ITF tournaments are not part of the WTA Tour, although they award points for the WTA World Ranking.
Bausch & Lomb Championships
Location: Amelia Island, United States
Dates: April 7-13
Category: Tier II
Family Circle Cup
Location: Charleston, United States
Dates: April 14-20
Category: Tier I
2008 Estoril Open
Location: Oeiras, Portugal
Dates: April 14-20
Category: Tier IV
GP SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem
Dates: April 28 - May 4
Location: Fes, Morocco
Category: Tier IV
ECM Prague Open
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Dates: Dates: April 28 - May 4
Category: Tier IV
After two rounds of play the NCAA Tournament has already seen a good share of upsets. In fact four of those happened on March 21 at the same venue: The St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.
First No. 12 seed Western Kentucky stunned No. 5 seed Drake 101-99 in overtime. In the second game No. 13 seed San Diego edegd No. 4 seed Connecticut 70-69. Then No. 13 seed Siena cruised 83-62 over No. 4 seed Vanderbilt and last but not least No. 12 seed Villanova upset No. 5 seed Clemson 75-69.
Davidson has proven to be a tough No. 10 seed defeating No. 7 Gonzaga in the first round and then shocking No. 2 seed Georgetown in the second round.
Also in the second round No. 7 seed West Virginia managed to upset No. 2 Duke 73-67 and No. 5 Michigan stated pulled a “mini upset” over No. 4 Pittsburgh, which to be honest was hardly shocking at all since both those teams were evenly matched in my opinion.
There have been other close games where the highest seeds were able to escape huge upsets. Most notably the first one that comes to mind is No. 1 seed UCLA escaping No. 9 seed Texas A&M 51-49 to advance to the Sweet 16. Of course no one can ignore No. 1 Memphis slipping past No. 9 seed Oregon 77-74 nor No. 2 seed Texas surviving No. 10 seed Miami 75-72.
These are just a few examples of the insanity of this month’s tournament of 64. Those teams that managed to survive big scares better be ready because even though all No. 1 seeds are still alive that may soon change. Remember that during the madness of March there has been no year where all four No. 1 seeds have reached the Final Four.
The experts have picked Memphis to fall first, but after what we saw in the first two rounds we can’t say that even a team as solid as UCLA is safe from a collapse before the Final Four.
You still have time to buy your tickets, so get them now through Tickets of America and don’t miss the insanity and excitement of the NCAA’s Tournament of 64.
Name: Lewis Hamilton
Birthday: January 7, 1985
Team: McLaren
Country: England
Podiums: 13
F1 Titles: 0
In 2006 Lewis Hamilton stunned onlookers with a string of spectacular performances in GP2. Outshining his more-experienced team mate Alexandre Premat and a resurgent Nelson Piquet Jr with his bold driving style, he won the title and, perhaps more importantly, the Formula One paddock’s admiration.
In late 2006 the McLaren team - shy of a second driver to pair up with incoming champion Fernando Alonso for the 2007 season - decided to see how their protege would cope in a Formula One car. They were not disappointed and rewarded Hamilton’s impressive testing times and mature approach with a race seat.
It was an out-of-character move for a traditionally conservative squad, but one which quickly paid dividends for team and driver alike. Hamilton won four Grands Prix in his debut season and led the championship for much of the year, developing an intense rivalry with Alonso both on and off the circuit. Only a mixture of bad luck and inexperience in the final two rounds deprived him of the title. It was an opportunity missed, but one which, given Hamilton’s huge talent, is almost certain to come his way again.
The New York Yankees will play Virginia Tech on Tuesday March 18 at English Field in Blacksburg, Virginia to benefit the school as it overcomes the shooting tragedy of last April when a gunman killed 32 people and wounded many more on the Blacksburg, Va., campus.
The team plans to bring its entire starting lineup for its scheduled exhibition at Virginia Tech. New York agreed to schedule the game last season in the wake of the April 16 shootings on the campus.
The Yankees also made a $1 million donation to the school last May. The Bronx Bombers will also wear special baseball caps during batting practice and the exhibition game. After batting practice, the Yankees will autograph their caps, to be auctioned by the university.
The L.A. Times is reporting that Pau Gasol could miss as much as two weeks due to a left ankle sprain that the Los Angeles Lakers towering center suffered on Friday night against the New Orleans Hornets.
According to the L.A Times Gasol was hurt after landing on Vladimir Radmanovic’s foot while cutting through the lane with about 9:30 left in the first quarter. X-rays were negative and an official recovery timetable will be determined today after Gasol undergoes an MRI exam either in Houston or Los Angeles.
Gasol missed about two weeks after sustaining a sprained ankle in training camp that produced “similar pain, a similar reaction,” he said.
Of course if this prognosis proves to be true all bets are off regarding the Lakers, their playoff hopes take a turn for the worse and their championship dreams could be all but over.
And as for the game against the Houston Rockets and putting an end to the 21-game winning streak?
Don’t even think about it, without Gasol the Lakers aren’t a good match and the Rockets will keep on rolling, at least for a few more days.
The Lakers will be physically hampered and emotionally devastated to defeat a team that is playing as well as the Rockets are.
Ok I have to admit that the sizzling Houston Rockets have proved me wrong. When I found out that Yao Ming had suffered a stress fracture in his left foot I, like probably most people following the NBA, predicted that the team was doomed and that their 13-game winning streak would end in the next few games.
I for sure never would have imagined that they woud reach 20 straight victories and become one of the top teams on the NBA power ranking’s of several important sports outlets.
For example ESPN, Yahoo Sports, CNN/SI, and The Sporting News all have the Houston Rockets ranked as the number 1 team in the nation for the week ending March 9, 2008.
The Rockets have not only proved critics wrong, but probably most importantly, they have learned to play without Yao Ming as several role players have stepped up big time and helped All-star shooting guard Tracy McGrady carry the load.
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This 26-year-old Ukrainian player has won 11 ATP singles titles. Davydenko was born under the Soviet Union regime, but he now plays representing Russia instead of his native Ukraine.
His best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semi-finals, which he has accomplished four times: at the 2005 French Open, 2006 US Open, 2007 French Open and the 2007 US Open.
When he was 11 years old Davydenko left his parents in Ukraine to live with his elder brother Eduard in Russia hoping that there he would find more opportunities to become a professional tennis player. Davydenko was granted Russian citizenship in 1999 at the age of 18, and has represented Russia ever since.
In 2006 Davydenko helped Russia win the Davis Cup against Argentina, 3-2. He finished the regular season by winning his second Moscow crown and his first ATP Masters Series tournament in Paris to end the year as the No.1 Russian and ranked No.3 in the world.
Last year Davydenko compiled a 17-4 record in Grand Slam play with two losses coming to Federer. He played 30 tournaments, the most in 2007 among Top 10 players for third straight season. He was a member of the Russian Davis Cup team which reached the final but lost in the final 4-1 to Andy Roddick, James Blake and the rest of the American team.
In 2007 Davydenko earned over $2 million for second straight season. As of February 14, 2008, he was the top ranked player for Russia and fourth in the world.
Davydenko was off to a hot start winning eleven of his 16 first matches while reaching the quarterfinals or better in three of his first five tournaments; however he struggled on clay, where he won 14 matches and lost 12. He went 3-7 against Top 10 opponents but had a good showing on hard court as he compiled a mark of 34-16 and on grass where he won four of six matches.
Birthday: June 2, 1981
Birthplace: Ukraine
Residence: Russia
Pro: since 1999
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