srk-ganguly

However, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) owner Shah Rukh Khan soothes balm on the ageing Dada, by commenting that there is no IPL team possible in Kolkata without Sourav Ganguly.

In an interview to Times Now, Shah Rukh said that he will talk to Ganguly and that KKR will try to take him onboard, since he remains unsold in the recently concluded IPL auction.

The real story of the second day of the IPL auction was Ganguly. Speculations were rife throughout the day that one of the franchises might just pick him once the unsold players are put up for the second time.

To everyone’s horror, among the 28 players who were re-auctioned at the request of the franchises, Ganguly’s name didn’t figure.

It was Murali Karthik who turned out to be a gainer as he was bought by Sahara Pune Warriors at $400,000.

There is every reason that the most successful Indian captain will feel insulted as he had prolonged his cricketing career only to play in the IPL. With franchises turning their backs on him, it is certainly one of the most ignominious ends for the Prince of Kolkata.

One of the realistic reason could be his base price of $400,000. By the time the re-auctions of the unsold players were held, it became clear that his old team KKR who had a purse of $425,000 won’t bid for him. Ditto for Chennai Super Kings who had almost exhausted their purse with only $385,000 remaining.

Everyone was looking forward to Sahara Pune Warriors – a franchise with whom Ganguly has been linked for quite some time. However with three editions already over, even the new teams know how to get their economics right as most of them found it fit to spend the remaining money on uncapped domestic players who would form the core of the team.

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Doctor on Fran Crippen case: ‘No such thing as dying of exhaustion’.The news of swimmer Fran Crippen’s death has created an outpouring of response and raised serious questions about the race conditions and safety issues at the 10K open water event in the United Arab Emirates.

Crippen did not finish the race on Saturday and was found in the water about two hours later. Three swimmers were also hospitalized and treated for heat exhaustion — two of them American women — and the winner, Thomas Lurz, was quoted as saying the competition should not have taken place, citing high water and air temperatures.

(Separately, USA Swimming just announced it will commission an independent investigation into Crippen’s death, saying it will “examine exactly what happened to Crippen, why it happened and what can be learned to keep such an incident from happening again.”)

(Stating the obvious, it will be separate from FINA’s ongoing probe into the matter. FINA is the international governing body of the sport.)

Of the many comments posted to The Times blog item on Saturday, one in particular caught my eye. It was from noted oncologist Larry Weisenthal, founder of the Weisenthal Cancer Group in Huntington Beach. He competed on the varsity team at the University of Louisville and still swims and assists at open-water events.

He granted permission to reprint his comments from the Saturday blog item, and we spoke at greater length about the tragedy. Weisenthal took issue with contention from race officials in the U.A.E. that Crippen died from “overexertion.”

“I’m a physician and there’s no such thing as dying of exhaustion,” said Weisenthal, adding that such a thing was nonsensical.

The conversation covered a lot of ground — he said the race never should have taken place under those conditions. What sort of measures should be taken so something like this doesn’t happen again?

“At a minimum, I think two things that need to happen,” he said. “There needs to be a little bit of scientific study to be put into this. It wouldn’t be that expensive or hard for FINA to do. I could design some studies to determine a maximum safe water temperature.

“Also, for world-class, open-water races, each swimmer needs to have someone assigned to take care of him.”

Speaking at a media conference in Auckland, Smith said the All Blacks squad was looking better than ever, but there was always a risk of teams becoming complacent when they were on a high.

“If you sit back and try and play the same game it’s pretty easy to get caught up, I mean, you look at South Africa this time last year – they were riding high and I think they were the first to admit they rested on the same tactics and everyone else adjusted.

“We’ve got to think of new ways to always improve our game,” he said.

While the All Blacks beat Australia convincingly at the start of the Tri Nations, the scores became closer in the last two games due in part to the Wallabies familiarising themselves with the AB’s tactics.

“They’ve played pretty smart, they’ve improved on each game and they were aware of where they could improve and they made a lot of changes that have worked well.

“On the other side of it, we probably haven’t adjusted our game too much and as can happen you get a bit complacent with what you’re doing if it’s working well.”

Smith said he had not yet had many opportunities to train with star second five-eight Sonny Bill Williams, but he was looking sharp and in good shape.

“It’s a luxury that the All Blacks have, you can pick from a lot of guys. Right through the field you’ll have a couple of players in each position that will offer a lot to the team.”

Rejoining the squad after long period away with injury and a rip-roaring season with Waikato, first five-eight Stephen Donald said he was thrilled to have made the team, especially seeing he had so little time to impress selectors.

“I knew the clock was ticking and I lay awake dreaming a few nights of how well I could come back and how big a statement I could make.”

Donald said the neutral environment of Hong Kong should make Saturday’s game refreshing and exciting.

After Hong Kong, the All Blacks head to Europe for tests against England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Amid a supermarket-tabloid report of a reputed 4th of July engagement between the rocker and Kristi Lynn Gibson, his on-and-off girlfriend of 16 years — and mother of their two daughters, Raine Elizabeth, 10, and Jorja Bleu, 5 — Michaels put to rest any rumors of an impending marriage.

“No. We are not engaged yet,” Michaels, 47, said on Wednesday’s CBS “Early Show”, promoting his new CD, “Custom Built.” “We’re a work in progress.”

Describing the ring that Gibson wears, Michaels called it “a promise ring … a friendship ring, with benefits. That’s what we call it.”

As for how he feels these days, after his brain hemorrhage in April, the “Celebrity Apprentice” champ said, “It’s been a little rough … I’m very lucky to survive it. Very few people do.”

Unbeaten in the group phase, Portugal keeper Eduardo had his unblemished record spoiled by the unstoppable David Villa on Tuesday evening. In scoring the only goal in Spain’s Round-of-16 win over the Portuguese, the Barcelona striker became La Roja’s top FIFA World Cup™ finals goalscorer, an indication of his inestimable worth to Vicente del Bosque’s side.

“Portugal were very tight at the back and their keeper was in great form,” said a magnanimous Villa after Spain had completed a slender 1-0 win. “They didn’t make it easy for us, but I got one sight on goal and luckily it was enough.”

“Their keeper was terrific,” said Spain midfielder Xavi in praise of the impressive Eduardo. “He made two or three great saves and even when we scored he made a superb stop from El Guaje.”

Xavi’s cute back-heel was instrumental in the build-up to the only goal of the game, though not even the praise of the influential Barcelona playmaker could make up for the disappointment Eduardo felt as he departed the Green Point Stadium.

“I had a good game,” said the Portuguese shotstopper, “but it wasn’t enough and in any case what really counts is the team’s performance and not what I do. It’s really frustrating to concede a single goal and get knocked out of the World Cup. Defence was supposed to be one of our strong points but there was nothing we could do to stop them getting through.”

“Spain started off very strongly and they controlled the game up to the half-hour mark, moving the ball around really well,” commented Ricardo Carvalho, taking stock of Portugal’s elimination. “We defended as a team but there wasn’t much we could do to stop Villa from scoring.”

“When you lose you just have to get on with it,” added Fabio Coentrao, talking exclusively to FIFA.com. “Spain played really well, especially up front. Villa scored a wonder goal, just the kind of goal they needed. Only a great striker can do the kind of thing he did.”

Patience is a virtue
Villa’s strike ensured a frustrating evening for Eduardo, who pulled off half a dozen magnificent stops to keep the Spanish at bay, forcing them to dig deep to conjure up a winner. In the end Spain’s typically patient, probing approach paid off, as Pedro, who came on for La Roja’s matchwinner, explained afterwards: “It was a very even game. They really kept things tight at the back and we found space hard to come by. We were far more comfortable once we scored, though. We know how to bide our time and that helped us tonight.”

Even more encouragingly for Spain fans, the team also rediscovered the quick passing game that had eluded them in South Africa until tonight. “This is the best we’ve played since we arrived here,” said substitute Fernando Llorente, who almost forced a breakthrough on two occasions, Eduardo denying him both times.

“We were on top of our game,” concurred orchestrator-in-chief Xavi, “especially in the second half, when we had control of the ball and played our best football. The goal did us a power of good and that’s when we started hitting top form.”

After several days of uncertainty, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque could afford a typically wry smile after it was all over: “When we play like that, it’s difficult to stop us.”