Sobota květen 27, 2006

Robbie Williams Will Play Football

Tonight Robbie Williams, the famous English singer, will lead the England XI team to play soccer against the Rest of the World XI selection of the famous players such as Diego Maradona of Argentina. The exhibition match, called Soccer Aid, and expected to attract 70,000 fans on Old Trafford, Manchester, is to raise funds for UNICEF. The match is to be broadcasted in UK on ITV network. At the same time, Eurosport will broadcast France vs Mexico friendly, which is a reward for non-English soccer fans.

See also:

• Let me entertain you on FIFA.com
• Terry's top talent on ITV.com

— V 27 2006, 07:18:48 odp. CEST Permalink

Neděle únor 12, 2006

Columbia, Bogner or Colmar?

Downhill skiing is my favourite sport. With the XX Winter Olympics in Torino 2006 comming, I went shopping for a new ski jacket and pants. I wanted to replace my noname all gray jacket and black Loap pants with something of high quality and of nice and visible design.

My friends have bought Columbia Titanium sports wear recently (such as Peak to Creek Shell) and it all looked very good -- I was almost sure that Columbia would be my choice as well. However, I went across two Colmar jackets with a huge discount in Drapa Sport shop. After trying them on, I quickly changed my mind and wanted Colmar. You see and feel the quality in every moment you wear, touch and use the jacket. I was so excited wearing it that it was a must to buy it. I chose Colmar MU1123 black/orange jacket and Colmar MU1447 black pants. I really can't wait to go skiing!

Colmar MU1123 jacket



Colmar MU1447 pants

Here are the features of the jacket:

• Power Skirt
• Polar fleece lined collar
• Inner pocket
• Cellular phone pocket
• Key hook
• Inner polar fleece cuffs
• Detachable hood
• Waterproof zipper
• Thermometer
• Preshaped sleeves
• Ventilation
• Sunglass pocket
• Skipass pocket
• Schoeller PCM technology

And here the list of features of the pants:

• Bottom finish of the pant
• Edge protector on the leg
• Innter snow gaiters
• Stretch inserts in the pant
• Waist adjustment zipper
• Preshaped knees
• Schoeller PCM technology

Both jacket and pants have Watershield technology which makes them breathable, resistant, water repellent, waterproof and windproof. You can wash them in 30 °C water and iron. What I like the most is the solid material, great design and perfect fit. Wearing them makes you feel warm in minutes so I wonder if the second layer fleece would be needed (the jacket doesn't include a fleece sweatshirt).

And what about Bogner? I haven't seen the German manufacturer's sports wear in any shop, so I know its ware only from advertisements. If you have and use any Bogner sports wear, share your experience in the comments below.

The facts: Colmar is the oldest brand of the three I was comparing. Mario Colombo founded his manufactory in 1923, Willy Bogner set up his company in 1932 and Columbia Hat Company has been founded in 1938.

— II 12 2006, 02:03:09 odp. CET Permalink

Sobota leden 28, 2006

Tennis Is a Brutal Sport

Even though you don't touch your opponent in tennis, you can get hurt. This innocent sport shows how accidents as simple as ankle injury can get in your way to the Grand Slam title. The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of 2006 season, is to finish on Sunday, January 29, with Roger Federer vs. Marcos Baghdatis men's singles final match. I'm sure it would be Roger Federer vs. Andre Agassi if Agassi didn't miss the tournament due to ankle injury. BTW Roger Federer plays every match with an ankle brace.

Maria Sharapova receives medical care during the match

Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin-Hardenne will play women's singles final match just in a few hours. Kim Clijsters, the top favourite in women's tennis, is missing the final due to ankle injury in the semi-final match with Amelie Mauresmo. Lindsay Davenport, (now former) number one player had also ankle problems during her matches, even though she was one of the few to declare themselves completely healthy before the top tennis action Down Under. Davenport is now heading home to take care of her ankle and Clijsters is expected to miss hard-court matches for at least two months.

According to the tennis players, injuries are the result of intense season with breaks between tournaments being not long enough to relax and heal their wounds. Players want the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to shorten the season in order to have a longer break before a new season starts. But shorter season means less matches which means less tennis over the year.

Why don't just players miss the match if they don't feel fit? Because they want to win the money (players get money even if they don't win the tournament). So it is a simple economic reasoning: a tennis player will participate in as many competitions as his physical condition would allow. If it is too dangerous, they will withdraw, otherwise they will undertake the risk of another injury. However, ITF is eager to discriminate good and fit players in favour of worse and not so healthy players just because some of them want to secure their top positions in the ATP/WTA ranking.

You can see that only underperforming players are calling for regulation. Unfortunately, this is a common phenomenon which can be seen not only in tennis...

UPDATE: The Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne retired due to stomach trouble after she lost the first set in the final match against Amelie Mauresmo of France. Mauresmo won her first Grand Slam title after more than 30 unsuccessful attempts in her career. She looked embarrassed at the first time indeed, since it was her third win after her opponnent retired during the match in the tournament.

— I 28 2006, 02:26:12 dop. CET Permalink