Francesco Molinari (born 8 November 1982) is an Italian professional golfer. He is a two-time winner on the European Tour and was a member of the 2010 European Ryder Cup team.
Aramis Ramirez
Aramis Nin Ramírez ( June 25, 1978 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is an All-Star Major League Baseball third baseman for the Chicago Cubs. He started his professional career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1998 before being traded to the Cubs in 2003. On November 12, 2006, Ramírez signed a five-year deal with the Cubs with an option for 2012.
Ramirez activated his 14 million dollar contract on November 3 of 2010 to stay on with the team in the 2011 season.
Filippo Inzaghi
Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI (born 9 August 1973 in Piacenza) is an Italian World Cup and UEFA Champions League-winning footballer who plays for Serie A club Milan. Inzaghi became the first striker to score in all international club competitions open to European teams after his double against Boca Juniors during the FIFA Club World Cup final in 2007. Filippo Inzaghi is currently the second all time most prolific goal scorer in European club competitions with 70 goals (only beaten by Raúl's 72 goals). He is also Milan's top international goal scorer in the club's history with 43 goals. He also holds the record for most hat tricks in Serie A (10), and the UEFA Champions League (3 - tied with Michael Owen). The brother of fellow footballer Simone Inzaghi, Inzaghi got his start playing for hometown club Piacenza Calcio as a teenager in 1991, but made only two league appearances before being loaned to Serie C1 side Leffe, with whom he scored an impressive 13 goals in 21 matches. In 1993, Inzaghi moved to Serie B club Verona and scored 13 goals in 36 league appearances. Upon his return to Piacenza, he scored 15 times in 37 games helping his team win Serie B and proving himself to be an exciting young prospect. Inzaghi made his Serie A debut when he transferred to Parma A.C. in 1995, but scored only twice in 15 Serie A matches. One of these two goals came against Piacenza Calcio, making him cry. He added another two goals in European competition. The following season he moved on to Atalanta B.C., finishing as the Capocannoniere (Serie A's top scorer) with 24 goals, and scored against every team in the league. He was awarded Serie A Young Footballer of the Year, and was the team captain in last game of the season.
But, he was soon on the move once again to his sixth team in seven seasons, this time to Juventus F.C. for a reported 23 billion Italian lire. He formed a formidable attacking partnership along with Alessandro Del Piero and Zinedine Zidane, a tandem which would last for four seasons, marking Inzaghi's longest stint with one team at the time. During his time at Juventus F.C. he scored two Champions League hat tricks (against Dinamo Kiev and Hamburger SV), and he was first player to do so. Juventus won the Scudetto in the 1997–98 season in which Inzaghi scored a decisive, Scudetto winning hat trick against Bologna, but lost 1–0 in the Champions League final to Real Madrid.Despite a very good tally of 89 goals in 165 games for the Bianconeri, Inzaghi was soon benched in favour of David Trézéguet, and later signed for A.C. Milan for reported 70 billion Italian Lire, or 45 million Euro cash plus Cristian Zenoni. (Sky Sports reported a smaller total figure, £17M) for the 2001–02 campaign by coach Fatih Terim. Juventus announced that the sale of Inzaghi produced a net profit of €31M to the club. However, Inzaghi suffered a knee injury and missed the first half of the season. Upon his return, he was able to forge a strong goalscoring partnership with Andriy Shevchenko, and he soon racked up an impressive trophy count with the Rossoneri, among them the 2002–03 Champions League (in which Milan defeated his previous team, Juventus, in the final on penalties), along with the 2003 Coppa Italia and the 2003–04 Scudetto. In 2002–03 Champions League campaign he scored his record third Champions League hat trick against Deportivo La Coruna in the Group stage and decisive goal in quarterfinals against Ajax, totalling 12 European goals in that season. In November 2004 he signed a contract extensionWith 70 goals Inzaghi is the second highest scorer in European club competitions behind Raúl. He became the first player to score two Champions League hat tricks (both with Juventus) when he netted a treble during a 4–4 group stage draw with Hamburg on 13 September 2000; his first was in a 4–1 victory over Dynamo Kyiv during the 1997–98 quarterfinals. Inzaghi scored a record third Champions League hat-trick in a 4–0 win against Deportivo in the 2002–03 season, while playing for Milan. This record would later be tied by Michael Owen, who has scored two hat-tricks for Liverpool and a third for Manchester United.Inzaghi earned his first cap for Italy against Brazil on June 8, 1997, and has since scored 25 goals in 57 appearances. He was called up for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Inzaghi was Italy's top goalscorer during the qualifying rounds of the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004, but missed the latter due to injury.Loris Capirossi
Loris Capirossi (born April 4, 1973 in Castel San Pietro Terme, Bologna) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, who currently rides a Ducati for the Pramac Racing MotoGP team. He is a former 250cc World Champion for Aprilia; Capirossi made his 300th start at the 2010 season-opening Qatar Grand Prix.Manny Pacquiao
Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao (born December 17, 1978), also known as Manny Pacquiao, is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is an eight-division world champion, the first boxer in history to win ten world titles, the first to win in eight weight divisions, and the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000s by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). He is also a three-time The Ring and BWAA "Fighter of the Year", winning the award in 2006, 2008, and 2009. Currently, Pacquiao is the WBC Super Welterweight World Champion and WBO Welterweight World Champion (Super Champion). He is also currently rated as the "number one" pound-for-pound best boxer in the world by most sporting news and boxing websites, including The Ring, BoxRec.com, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, NBC Sports, Yahoo! Sports, Sporting Life and About.com. Aside from boxing, Pacquiao has participated in acting, music recording, and politics. In May 2010, Pacquiao was elected to the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress of the Philippines, representing the province of Sarangani. He is the only active boxer to become a congressman in the Philippines. At the age of 14, Pacquiao moved to Manila and lived, for a time, on the streets. He started boxing and made the Philippine national amateur boxing team where his room and board were paid for by the government. Pacquiao reportedly had an amateur record of 64 fights (60–4). In 1995, the death of a young aspiring boxer and close friend Eugene Barutag spurred the young Pacquiao to pursue a professional boxing career. Pacquiao started his professional boxing career when he was just 16 years of age, stood at 4'11'', and weighed 98 pounds (7 pounds under the minimumweight division). He admitted before American media that he put weights in his pockets to make the 105-pound weight limit. His early light flyweight division fights took place in small local venues and were shown on Vintage Sports' Blow by Blow, an evening boxing show. His professional debut was a four-round bout against Edmund "Enting" Ignacio, on January 22, 1995, which Pacquiao won via decision, becoming an instant star of the program. Pacquiao's weight increased from 106 to 113 pounds before losing in his 12th bout against Rustico Torrecampo via a third-round knockout. Pacquiao failed to make the required weight, so he was forced to use heavier gloves than Torrecampo, thereby putting him at a disadvantage.
Following the Torrecampo fight, Pacquiao continued undefeated for his next 15 fights. He went on another unbeaten run that saw him take on the vastly more experienced Chokchai Chockvivat in flyweight division. Pacquiao knocked out Chockvivat in the fifth round and took the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) Flyweight title. After one official defense and two non-title bouts, Pacquiao got his first opportunity to fight for a world title. Pacquiao captured the World Boxing Council (WBC) Flyweight World Title (his first major boxing world title as well as the flyweight lineal title) over Chatchai Sasakul by way of knockout in the eighth round. He defended the title successfully against Mexican Gabriel Mira via a fourth-round technical knockout. However, Pacquiao lost the title in his second defense against Medgoen Singsurat, also known as Medgoen 3K Battery, via a third-round knockout. The bout was held in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. Singsurat got Pacquiao on the ropes and landed a flush straight right to the body coiling Pacquiao over and keeping him there. Technically, Pacquiao lost the belt at the scales, as he surpassed the weight limit of 112 pounds.Following his loss to Singsurat, Pacquiao gained weight anew and skipped the super flyweight and bantamweight divisions. This time, Pacquiao went to super bantamweight or junior featherweight division of 122 pounds, where he picked up the WBC Super Bantamweight International Title. He defended this title five times before his chance for a world title fight came. Pacquiao's big break came on June 23, 2001, against former IBF World Super Bantamweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. Pacquiao stepped into the fight as a late replacement on two weeks' notice but won the fight by technical knockout and won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Junior Featherweight World Title belt, his second major boxing world title. The bout was held at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao went on to defend this title four times under head trainer Freddie Roach, owner of the famous Wild Card Gym in West Hollywood.On November 15, 2003, Pacquiao faced Marco Antonio Barrera at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, in a fight that many consider to have defined his career. Pacquiao, who was fighting at featherweight for the first time, brought his power with him and defeated Barrera via technical knockout in the eleventh round and won The Ring Featherweight World Title (as well as the lineal featherweight champion), making him the first Filipino and Asian to become a three-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in three different weight divisions. He defended the title twice before relinquishing it in 2005On March 19, 2005, Pacquiao moved up in super featherweight or junior lightweight division of 130 pounds, in order to fight another Mexican legend and three-division world champion Érik Morales for vacant WBC International and IBA Super Featherweight Titles. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. In this fight, Pacquiao sustained a cut over his right eye from a from an accidental clash of heads in the fifth round. He lost the twelve-round match by a unanimous decision from the judges. All three scorecards read 115–113 for Morales.
On June 28, 2008, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Pacquiao defeated David Díaz in lightweight division via ninth-round knockout and won the WBC Lightweight World Title. With the victory, Pacquiao became the first and only Filipino and Asian to become a five-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in five different weight divisions, and also became the first Filipino fighter to ever win a world title at lightweight. During the fight, which Pacquiao dominated, Díaz was cut badly on his right eye in the fourth round. After the bout, Díaz acknowledged Pacquiao's superior hand speed, stating "It was his speed. It was all his speed. I could see the punches perfectly, but he was just too fast."On December 6, 2008, Pacquiao moved up to the welterweight division, in order to face the six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight called "The Dream Match". Presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, the bout was scheduled as a twelve-round, non-title fight contested at the 147-pound welterweight limit. Although Pacquiao went into the fight widely recognized as the leading pound-for-pound boxer in the world, some boxing pundits had speculated that 147 pounds could be too far above his natural weight against the larger De La Hoya. However, due to rehydration after the weigh in, De la Hoya came into the fight actually weighing less than Pacquiao, and close to 20 pounds under his usual fighting weight. Pacquiao dominated the fight, and after eight rounds De La Hoya's corner was forced to throw in the towel, awarding Pacquiao the win via technical knockout. On May 2, 2009, Pacquiao fought at light welterweight or super lightweight division for the first time against Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight billed as "The Battle of the East and West". Pacquiao won the bout via knockout to claim the International Boxing Organization (IBO) Junior Welterweight and The Ring Junior Welterweight World Titles (as well as the lineal light welterweight title). In doing so, Pacquiao became the second man in boxing history to become a six-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in six different weight divisions and the first man ever to win lineal world titles in four different weight classes. On November 14, 2009, Pacquiao defeated Miguel Cotto via technical knockout in the twelfth round, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight billed as "Firepower". Although the bout was sanctioned as a world title fight in the welterweight division, where the weight limit is 147 pounds, Cotto agreed to fight at a catchweight of 145 pounds. Pacquiao dominated the fight, knocking Cotto down in round three and round four, before the referee stopped the fight at 0:55 of round twelve. With this victory, Pacquiao took the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Welterweight World Title and WBO Super Champion belts, to become the first seven-division world champion, the first fighter in boxing history to win world titles in seven different weight divisions. Pacquiao also won the first and special WBC Diamond Championship belt. This belt was created as an honorary championship exclusively to award the winner of a historic fight between two high-profile boxers. After the fight, promoter Bob Arum stated "Pacquiao is the greatest boxer I've ever seen, and I've seen them all, including Ali, Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard." Miguel Cotto said in a post fight interview: "Miguel Cotto comes to boxing to fight the biggest names, and Manny is one of the best boxers we have of all time." Cotto showed heart and fans regarded this as one of the year's best fights. On July 23, 2010, Bob Arum announced that Pacquiao would fight Antonio Margarito on November 13, 2010. The fight for the vacant WBC Super Welterweight World Title gave Pacquiao the chance to win a world title in his eighth weight class, the light middleweight or super welterweight division. A catchweight of 150 pounds was established for the fight although the weight limit for the light middleweight division is 154 pounds. During the pre-fight, Pacquiao weighed in at a low 144.6 pounds, while Margarito weighed in at the limit of 150 pounds. Pacquiao said he was pleased with his weight because he loses too much speed when he gains pounds. During the fight itself, Pacquiao weighed 148 lbs, 17 pounds lighter than Margarito's 165.[On May 7, 2011, Pacquiao successfully defended his WBO World Welterweight title against three-division world champion Shane Mosley via lopsided unanimous decision at the MGM Grand Arena. Rapper LL Cool J performed as Mosley entered first the arena, while vocalist Jimi Jamison of the rock band Survivor sang Eye of the Tiger as Pacquiao approached the ring. Pacquiao knocked Mosley down in the third round using a one-two capped with a left straight. Mosley was left dazed by the knock down but managed to stand up. Mosley floored Pacquiao in the tenth round with a push, but referee Kenny Bayless inexplicably ruled it a knockdown. None of the judges seemed to have bought it judging from the scores. Replays showed that Pacquiao was throwing a punch off balance, slipped and went down with a little help from Mosley's right hand. Bayless apologized to Pacquiao after the fight for the mistake. Pacquiao gained one-sided verdicts from all three judges - 119-108, 120-108 and 120-107. Pacquiao reported that the only thing preventing him from knocking out Mosley was a cramp in his legs. Freddie Roach said that Pacquio had problems with cramping before but usually in training sessions and not in the middle of bouts.
Stephanie Rice
Stephanie Rice, a beautiful water angel
Rice won bronze in the 200 m and 400 m individual medleys. In the 200 m final, she recorded a time of 2:11.42, a second below the previous Australian record, behind American Katie Hoff in 2:10.13, and Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, who claimed second place. In the 400 m final, Rice recorded a new personal best time of 4:41.19, shaving 0.54 sec off her previous best. Rice set a new personal best time of 4:40.79 in the 400 m individual medley at an Italian meet in June 2007,[citation needed] edging closer to the 4:40 barrier in the event. At the 2007 Japanese Open Championships, Rice won silver behind Zimbabwean champion Kirsty Coventry in the 400 m individual medley. In doing so, she smashed her personal best time by 3.61 seconds, cracking the 4:40 barrier and setting a new Australian and Commonwealth record of 4:37.18. At the 2008 Australian Olympic trials, Rice broke the world record in both the 400 m and 200 m individual medleys. In the 400 m, she clocked 4:31.46, 1.43 seconds below American Katie Hoff's mark of 4:32.89. (Hoff retook the world record at the U.S. Olympic Trials, on 29 June 2008, with a time of 4:31.12.) In the 200 m, she clocked 2:08.92 seconds, taking almost a second off the previous record held by China's Wu Yanyan.In Beijing, Rice won three gold medals (each in world record time) in the 200 m and 400 m individual medleys and in the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay. In winning the 400m individual medley, Rice won her first Olympic medal, Australia's first gold medal of the games and their 400th Summer Olympic medal. Recording a time of 4:29.45, she reclaimed the world record from Hoff, bettering the mark by 1.67 seconds, and became the first woman to break the 4:30 mark in the event. (Kirsty Coventry also went under 4:30 in taking the silver) Her second gold medal of the games came on 13 August in the 200 m individual medley with a new world record time of 2:08.34. Rice prevailed after being neck and neck with Coventry throughout the last 50 m, who once again followed Rice to beat the old world record. On 14 August she won her third gold medal as part of the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay team. She led off the team and Australia were in second place at the end of her leg.Rice began the meet with a solid performance int the 200m IM, despite losing her world record, she sliced 1.42s off her personal best time capturing a silver medal. Experimenting with the 200 freestyle didn't end well as she failed to make the final. With the absence of Linda Mackenzie, Kylie Palmer and Meagan Nay, the team was never in medal contention, finishing 5th. Rice retained her 400 IM record however finished with a bronze in the final. She was awarded a silver medal for her contributions in the medley relay heats.Jwala Gutta
Hank Aaron
Hank Aaron Tribute
On August 1, 1982, Hank Aaron was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, having received votes on 97.8 percent of the ballots, second only to Ty Cobb, who had received votes on 98.2% of the ballot in the inaugural 1936 Hall of Fame election. Aaron was then named the Braves' vice president and director of player development. This made him one of the first minorities in Major League Baseball upper-level management. Since December 1980, he has served as senior vice president and assistant to the Braves' president. He is the corporate vice president of community relations for TBS, a member of the company's board of directors and the vice president of business development for The Airport Network. On January 21, 2007 Major League baseball announced the sale of the Atlanta Braves. In that announcement, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig also announced that Aaron would be playing a major role in the management of Braves. He will be forming programs through major league baseball that will encourage the influx of minorities into baseball. On February 5, 1999, at his 65th birthday celebration, Major League Baseball announced the introduction of the Hank Aaron Award. The award was set to honor the best overall offensive performer in the American and National League. It was the first major award to be introduced in more than thirty years and had the distinction of being the first award named after a player who was still alive. Later that year, he ranked fifth on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In July 2000 and again in July 2002, Aaron threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, played at Turner Field and Miller Park, respectively. On January 8, 2001, Hank Aaron was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President William Clinton. In June 2002, Aaron received, from President George W. Bush, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Shane Mosley
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