Kim Clijsters slams 'harsh' bans for fellow Belgians

BRUSSELS — Belgian star Kim Clijsters on Saturday slammed the "extremely harsh" sanctions imposed on compatriots Xavier Malisse and Yanina Wickmayer for missing drug tests.

US Open semi-finalist Wickmayer and Malisse were on Thursday handed one-year bans by the Flemish Doping Tribunal (VDT) for falling foul of doping regulations.

Wickmayer, the world number 18, was suspended for failing to fulfill the controversial "whereabouts rule" while Malisse was also punished for missing a drug test.

"To receive a one-year ban because of this seems extremely harsh and is potentially career-ending for both of them," US Open champion Clijsters said on her Twitter message system.

"While they may not have followed correct administration, they did not register a positive doping offence either.

"I feel I have to write about this. Its very, very unfortunate what's happened to Yanina and Xavier this week."

"I hope the authorities and athletes can work together on finding better solutions to keep our sports clean."

Both players can appeal against their suspensions to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Wickmayer was accused of failing on three occasions to fulfill the ADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration and Management System), under which athletes are obliged to tell national anti-doping authorities where they will be at a chosen hour each day for a three-month period.

Malisse was punished for missing a dope test and for twice failing to fulfill the ADAMS.

The sanctions came as a surprise as only last month it was expected that the two players would escape with just a reprimand.

The suspensions on Malisse and Wickmayer run until November 4, 2010.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) said on Saturday that it backed the decision taken by the Belgian authorities.

"The ITF recognises and respects the decision of VDT, and shall take all steps necessary to enforce and give effect to it," said a statement.

Source: AFP

I'm with Kim on this one there's gotta be a better way for the players and ITF to work together on the drug issue.

The year long punishments are getting ridiculous (especially for something like missing the drug tests, I've never been a fan of the "whereabouts rule" ). Not to mention career killing.

Look at what happened to Martina Hingis, she would have played for at least a few more years had it not been for the ban.

I'm all for keeping the sport clean, but there's gotta be a better method.

Be a grump, it's good for you!

In a bad mood? Don't worry - according to research, it's good for you.

An Australian psychology expert who has been studying emotions has found being grumpy makes us think more clearly.

In contrast to those annoying happy types, miserable people are better at decision-making and less gullible, his experiments showed.



While cheerfulness fosters creativity, gloominess breeds attentiveness and careful thinking, Professor Joe Forgas told Australian Science Magazine.

'Eeyore days'

The University of New South Wales researcher says a grumpy person can cope with more demanding situations than a happy one because of the way the brain "promotes information processing strategies".

He asked volunteers to watch different films and dwell on positive or negative events in their life, designed to put them in either a good or bad mood.

Next he asked them to take part in a series of tasks, including judging the truth of urban myths and providing eyewitness accounts of events.

Those in a bad mood outperformed those who were jolly - they made fewer mistakes and were better communicators.

Professor Forgas said: "Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, co-operation and reliance on mental shortcuts, negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking, paying greater attention to the external world."

The study also found that sad people were better at stating their case through written arguments, which Forgas said showed that a "mildly negative mood may actually promote a more concrete, accommodative and ultimately more successful communication style".

His earlier work shows the weather has a similar impact on us - wet, dreary days sharpened memory, while bright sunny spells make people forgetful.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Very insightful. Take that cheerful people! :P :D.

Song of the Moment: Hanson-Waiting For This

This song just makes me wanna get up and dance.

Can't wait for their new album!. Still a long way to go.

'Terminator' franchise in new bidding war

All the big studios, with Sony leading the way, as well as Summit Entertainment and Media Rights Capital, are interested in bidding when the Terminator franchise is auctioned off this month.

This news comes from the Financial Times' Matthew Garrahan who says the rights auction is for new Terminator films, TV program and other spin-offs.

Because we all know The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Fox did so well, right? that build on the popularity of the franchise. The sale is being conducted by FTI Capital Advisors for Halcyon which bought the Terminator rights 2 years ago for $25M from Mario Kassar.

Halcyon recently filed for Chapter 11 after a dispute with Pacificor, a Santa Barbara-based hedge fund that lent Halcyon the sum to buy the Terminator rights.

Sheesh, I think this character/concept is played out. Then again, Terminator 4: Salvation made $380M worldwide.

Source: deadline.com

Apparently Mr. Joss Whedon himself put in a bid as well. And wrote a hilarious open letter to boot!. LOL

Seriously, how cool would it be if Joss actually got it?. Oh, the possibilities.....

Player withdrawals go down with new WTA Tour schedule

DOHA, Qatar (AP)—The WTA Tour’s new scheduling system with fewer mandatory tournaments has caused withdrawals to drop by more than one third this season.

The tour has also withstood the global financial crisis, with attendance and prize money up significantly for top events, chief executive Stacey Allaster said Sunday.

Allaster, the former WTA president who took over as chairman and CEO in July, said the tour’s so-called “roadmap” implemented this year has been “a fantastic success.”

The tour lowered the number of non-Grand Slam tournaments top players must enter from 13 to 10 and extended its offseason by two weeks. As a result, Allaster said, player withdrawals from top events is down 34 percent compared to last year.

Meanwhile, attendance was up 11 percent for premier tournaments in 2009, and prize money increased by 34 percent despite the tough economic climate.

“If we don’t have healthy athletes, we can’t have a level of product that we want,” Allaster said on the last day of the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, where Serena Williams defeated sister Venus in the final.

“That’s why it was important in the roadmap that we scheduled breaks. That is why there is a long break after Wimbledon, so they can take a rest after that grind.”

The longer offseason is also meant to give players more time to recover.

“We have two more weeks for them,” Allaster said. “They have two good months that they can have a good break.”

Still, it was evident that the long season has taken a toll on the players.

The Doha tournament, which featured the top eight women in the world, saw top-ranked Dinara Safina retire in her first match with a serious back injury, and No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki had to quit in her semifinal against Serena Williams.

Victoria Azarenka retired in the third set of her last round-robin mach on Friday, and alternate Vera Zvonareva pulled out after playing one match.

Wozniacki led the tour with 65 wins this season, in addition to playing for Denmark in the Fed Cup.

“Caroline Wozniacki played over 90 matches this year. That’s a lot of play,” Allaster said. “She, I’m sure, will be relooking at her schedule and the level of play that she can have.”

The players in Doha have been overwhelmingly positive about the shorter schedule.

“Comparing to the men’s tour, our schedule is much better,” third-ranked Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova said. “They still have two or three more weeks to go. It’s crazy because you don’t get time to rest and don’t get time to have good preparation before next season. For us, it’s so much different, so much better.”

Some challenges still remain for WTA officials. The tour’s main sponsor Sony Ericsson has yet to decide whether to renew its $88 million contract that expires at the end of the year.

Aldo Liguori, Sony Ericsson’s head of public relations, said he was impressed by the increased interest in the Doha tournament but wouldn’t reveal anything about future sponsorship.

“We still have a little bit of time left,” Liguori said. “I can certainly confirm we are looking at it very carefully. … We haven’t made any decision yet, and all options are open.”

The next step of the WTA’s roadmap is increasing the number of tournaments that are held together with the men’s ATP tour. In 2011, the annual tournaments in Rome and Cincinnati will feature men and women playing at the same time.

“We can all see the success of tennis when it’s combined,” she said. “We do know that combined events are a great strategy. Six of our top events in 2011 will be combined.”

Source: Yahoo Sports

Well, it's a step in the right direction, now if only they would follow suit with the ATP.

People like Nadal and Federer would certainly appreciate it.

DWTS 9: Week 7 Foxtrot, Quickstep, Jive, Samba, Rumba & Salsa

With the double elimination looming over everyone's head again this week, and two dance routines it was high pressure for all involved.

Anna & Michael justified the judges save last week with a smooth looking Foxtrot. Alright Michael, you got me.

Who knew you could be light on your feet?. Way to go!. The judges were equally impressed and give him his highest score yet 23/30.

Also huge props on your design skills Michael, the dress Anna wore looked beautiful (which is more then I can say for the rest of the pack).

Apparently the purple theme was inspired by Barnie *lol*.

Barnie will never look as good in a dress :D.

Kym & Donny's Quickstep had a few mishaps, but was covered well by his showmenship and charisma. I actually thought the overall routine was quite good.

Like Michael Donny was very light on his feet. Their score remained same as last week 24/30.

Anna & Mark with Lacey sick this week Anna filled in to help Mark out with his Samba.

Which I thought was entertaining, and very well done given the circumstances.

In fact I really have to give him credit for a guy who was being forced to learn the same routine with 3 different people he handled it very well.

I wish the judges felt the same way, only Len was as sympathetic as me.

The other two were rough on the poor guy. Bruno called it a "Kung-Fu Panda doing the Samba in the Planet of the Apes". WTF?!

I hope the low score of 19/30 doesn't send him home, but with a double elimination it could be a high possiblity.

Dmitry & Mya's contemporary Foxtrot pleased Bruno and Carrie Ann, but didn't have enough classic steps to satisfy Len. Giving them one point higher then last week 25/30.

Karina & Aaron came out firing with a rockin' Jive. It was by far his best dance in the competition. Brilliant.

I keep sayin' that nothing could rival past competitors dances, but this one was right up there with Kristi Yamaguchi's, Helio Castroneves Jives and Mel B.'s Paso Doble.

In fact I'm adding this one to my list of favourites. It was a quick but controlled dance full of entertainment, fun and high energy. A well deserved 29/30. Congrats Aaron for finally garnering two 10's!.

Louis & Kelly thanks to Louis' tougher training Kelly finally let go of her nerves and let loose with her Salsa. She got all the judges on their feet (and Bruno on top of the desk! *lol*).

With such enthusiastic reactions I thought she would get some impressive scores, but alas they were much lower then expected. Only 24/30.

I thought it was deserving of at least one or two 9's. At least that's 4 points higher then last week.

Kelly may not have liked, or agreed with Louis' methods this week, but they clearly paid off.

And if she wants to continue she'll have to put up with more of the same because things are only gonna get tougher from now on.

Derek & Joanna delivered a sultry, sensual Rumba earning all 9's from the happy judges and the second highest score of the night 27/30.

Although I'm not convinced Joanna's fiancee appreciated Derek's fantasy beach montage *lol*. I guess Derek likes living dangerously.

The night ended with another group dance off.

Team Tango (consisting of Joanna/Derek, Kym/Donny, Kelly/Louis) vs. Team Paso Doble (Mark/Anna, Aaron/Karina, Michael/Anna, Mya/Dmitry).

The judges thought Team Paso lost sync a few times. Mya & Dmitry were definite stand-outs in their individual routines. Aaron & Karina weren't too shabby either.

They all got 24/60 added to their total scores from the first dance.

Though I agree with Len that Team Tango's routine seemed a bit easier technically/sync-wise due to the constant hold. It was still far superior to Team Paso Doble.

The scores reflected it with 28/60. Huge kudos to Kelly for redeeming her Tango, and Donny for soldiering on despite a possible flu.

Roger Federer sweet as chocolate

What's better than Roger Federer?, why Roger and chocolate of course =).

I knew it was only a matter of time before the Swiss maestro got together with a product that is very famous in his home country.

Roger Federer and Lindt & Sprüngli, a premium chocolate manufacturer in Switzerland, announced a long term deal where Federer will serve as the global brand ambassador of its brand Lindt chocolates.

Lindt & Sprüngli expressed its happiness in partnering with the 15-time major tournament champion.It confirmed that the contract details will be kept confidential. In the past 160 years, Lindt & Sprüngli has never associated its products with any celebrity.

Association with Federer is sure to establish global presence of this premium brand chocolates in key market segments.

Federer with his practical approach and pleasant disposition fits well as a global ambassador for Lindt & Sprüngli. Lindt & Sprüngli claims it to be a perfect match of No. 1 chocolate and No. 1 tennis star as Federer and Lindt both stand for ‘Swissness,’ ‘Premiumness,’ ‘Quality’ and ‘Passion.’

I will have a piece of that!.

Source: tennisgrandstand.com