Latest news about Games And Recreation and Health and more

Dustin Pedroia could easily be mistaken for a mechanic, carpenter or plumber, most anything except a major leaguer. “I’m not the biggest guy in the world. I don’t have that many tools,” he said. “If you saw me walking down the street, you wouldn’t think I’m a baseball player.” Well, not unless he was carrying his AL MVP award.

Pedroia added to his ever-expanding trophy case Tuesday, becoming the first second baseman to earn the honor in nearly a half-century.

The Boston little man with the meaty swing easily beat out Minnesota slugger Justin Morneau, Red Sox teammate Kevin Youkilis and record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez in a scattered ballot that saw five different players draw first place-votes.

Generously listed at 5-foot-9, Pedroia has quickly piled up a huge stack of hardware. Earlier this month, he won the Gold Glove. He was the 2007 AL Rookie of the Year and capped off that season with a World Series ring.

“I had to overcome a lot of things to prove people wrong, and so far I’ve done that,” he said on a conference call from his home in Arizona. “I have to find a way to have that edge.”

Pedroia drew 16 of the 28 first-place votes cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and finished with 317 points. He was even left off one ballot, while Morneau and Youkilis were listed on every one.

“You look around the league, there are a ton of great players,” Pedroia said.

Pedroia led the AL in hits, runs and doubles in helping the Red Sox win the wild-card berth. He batted .326 with 17 home runs and 83 RBIs and also stole 20 bases.

Pedroia became a fan favorite at Fenway Park with his scrappy approach. In a lineup depleted by injuries to David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew and the midseason trade of Manny Ramirez, Pedroia took his hearty hacks wherever needed — while he usually batted second, he also hit leadoff and cleanup.

Nellie Fox was the previous second baseman to become AL MVP, in 1959 with the White Sox. No position has produced fewer MVPs overall — just 10 overall since the AL and NL awards were first presented in 1931.

Pedroia was the fourth second baseman to win the AL MVP award, along with Fox, Joe Gordon (1942) and Charlie Gehringer (1937). Six second basemen have won the NL honor, with Jeff Kent, Ryne Sandberg and Joe Morgan doing it most recently.

Pedroia and his wife originally planned to leave early this week for a vacation in Mexico. But with the MVP vote looming, a Red Sox official suggested he delay the trip by a day or two, just in case.

“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Pedroia said. “I wasn’t nervous or overly excited.”

Pedroia certainly didn’t plan on this. He made just $457,000 last season and didn’t have an MVP bonus provision in his contract.

Pedroia was driving to his daily workout when he got the phone call telling him he’d won. Right away, the calls and text messages from teammates began pouring in.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said.

Pedroia became the 10th Red Sox player to take the award and first since Mo Vaughn in 1995. He also is just the third player to become MVP the season after earning the Rookie of the Year award, joining Cal Ripken Jr. and Ryan Howard.

Morneau got seven first-place votes and had 257 points, and Youkilis and Twins catcher Joe Mauer each got a pair of first-place votes. Rodriguez drew the other first-place nod and came in sixth.

Morneau, the 2006 AL MVP winner, hit .300 with 23 home runs and 129 RBIs in helping the Twins reach a one-game playoff for the AL Central, which they lost to Chicago.

Youkilis (.312, 29, 115) was third with 201 points and Mauer (.328, 9, 85) was next with 188 points.

White Sox star Carlos Quentin, who was leading the AL with 36 home runs when he broke his right wrist in an act of frustration, was fifth with 160 points. Rodriguez, who went 62-for-69 in save chances and recently filed for free agency, drew 143 points.

Texas slugger Josh Hamilton, who made a remarkable recovery from drug addiction to resume his career, was seventh and followed by last year’s winner, Yankees star Alex Rodriguez.

Tampa Bay first baseman Carlos Pena came in ninth, the top vote-getter from the AL champions. The Rays beat Boston in Game 7 of the ALCS.

Morneau earned $75,000 for his MVP finish and Mauer, Youkilis and Pena got $25,000 each.

The AL MVP was the last of the major BBWAA awards presented this year. Albert Pujols won the NL MVP award Monday and last week Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum won Cy Youngs, Joe Maddon and Lou Piniella were picked as Managers of the Year and Evan Longoria and Geovanny Soto were the top rookies.

After their convincing victory over the Australia in the Test series, India are all set to take on England in the first of the seven One-Day Internationals here at the Madahvrao Scindia Stadium Friday.

The Indians may still be in an euphoric state, but Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co. are well aware of the challenges ahead without senior pros Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly, who have quit international cricket, Rahul Dravid, who is no longer a member of the One-day side, and Sachin Tendulkar who sought permission from the selectors to skip the first three ODIs.

In-from fast bowler Ishant Sharma, the Man of the Series against Australia, will also be missing with an injury, but the likes of Munaf Patel and Rudra Pratap Singh are capable of forming a potent attack with spearhead Zaheer Khan.

Virender Sehwag, who was not a part of the victorious Indian one-day team in Sri Lanka, is back to join his Delhi teammate Gautam Gambhir to revive their old firm in the ODIs just as they did excellently in the Tests.

The middle order will also see some young legs with Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. The duo has been in fine form in the domestic circuit and will be looking forward to carry it into the series against the Englishmen.

But the main cause of concern for the Indian team will be the form of experienced Yuvraj Singh. The left-handed batsman has been a proven performer in one-dayers but has hit a bad patch following the ODI series in Sri Lanka. After a century against Australia in the second innings of a warm-up game in Hyderabad, the batsman has failed miserably in the Ranji Trophy.

The spin attack also looks formidable with Harbhajan Singh and Yusuf Pathan, who is known for his big hitting prowess. Harbhajan with two half-centuries against Australia has also showed that he is developing into a good lower-down batsman.

After a convincing 4-0 win over South Africa in the one-day series in September, England will looking to fancy its chances against the high-flying Indians.

But the build-up to the tournament hasn’t been ideal for them. From losing badly to Stanford Superstars in the one-off Twenty20 game in Antigua, to the defeat against a second string Mumbai XI in the warm-up game two days back, isn’t an ideal situation England would have loved to be in.

English captain Kevin Pietersen tried to put up a brave front after the loss in Mumbai.

‘I think the guys are all right, we just need to turn our heads on now and make sure we start on Friday,’ he said after the shock defeat in the warm-up match. ‘Today and what happened the other day (in Antigua) doesn’t really count in the grand scheme of things. What counts is the internationals. This really doesn’t matter, but it has taught us a few quick lessons.’

Making it more difficult for the visitors is the non-availability of left-arm swing bowler Ryan Sidebottom but Stuart Broad’s recovery will be a relief for them. England coach Peter Moores hoped that Sidebottom could be considered for the second match in Indore.

Moores said the players want to take revenge for the 5-1 loss in 2006.

‘They want to show how much they have matured as a team. I think we are ready and up for the challenge,’ said Moores. ‘We are looking to get off to a good start, put some pressure on India and gain some confidence.’

But much will depend on Pietersen and talismanic all-rounder Andrew Flintoff , who need to be at their very best. Flintoff, incidentally, is being given special attention by their batting coach Andy Flower, who is well versed with the Indian conditions. Owais Shah is among the batsmen who play spin well but the onus will be on openers Ian Bell and Matt Prior, to lay a strong platform.

The visitors have already announced their playing XI with Samit Patel preferred to Graeme Swann as the lone spinner.

It will also be the first time that the new Power Play rule will be used in India. The batting side can now choose the timing of either the second or third Power Plays, of five overs each, both chosen earlier by the fielding side.

Teams:

India (from): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel, Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay.

England: Kevin Pietersen (captain), Ian Bell, Matt Prior (wicketkeeper), Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Andrew Flintoff, Samit Patel, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steve Harmison.

Umpires: Russel Tiffin (Zimbabwe) and Suresh Shastri (India)

Third Umpire: Amish Saheba (India)

Match Referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)

Timings: 9 am to 12.30 pm; 1.10 pm to 4.40pm

Being defensive is a trait that doesn’t come naturally to the Australians. But with his team staring at defeat, Australia coach Tim Nielsen came out and defended the team and the tactics it adopted.

Nielsen thinks his team can bat the whole day to save the Test but with the Aussies struggling at 141 for five, seeing through the final day will be a Herculean task. “Chasing a 500-plus target is not easy but I think we still have a chance to save the Test if we can bat sensibly tomorrow and take it session by session.

The first one-and-half-hours will be crucial,” said Nielsen. The way Australia started the chase, it looked as if the batsmen were out to commit hara-kiri.

Matthew Hayden, who hasn’t fired in the series, went after the bowlers from the first ball. Defending the ploy, Nielsen said his team was trying to put pressure on the Indian bowlers.

“We thought if we attacked the bowlers right from the start we might force the Indians to change the tactics, but it didn’t worked. We had a bad day,” said the rattled coach.

The visitors’ problems have been compounded by the fact that their bowlers have been ineffective on a track on which their counterparts have extracted enough purchase. “Both Zaheer (Khan) and Ishant (Sharma) have bowled well and so have the spinners.

They have been able to put consistent pressure on us for longer periods while we haven’t been able to do the same. Zaheer has used the reverse swing very well,” said Nielsen.

Defending the tactic of using Michel Hussey as a bowler, Nielsen said the team wanted to take the pace off as the Indian batsmen were going great guns. “They were scoring at five an over, we had to do something and thought taking the pace off was the best thing to do.

A chef who murdered a lover and ate part of his flesh after cooking it with fresh herbs and olive oil was jailed in Britain for at least 30 years on Monday.

Sentencing Anthony Morley to life, British judge James Stewart said the murder was one of the most gruesome he had ever encountered and reminiscent of a scene from a work of fiction.

“Not only did you murder your victim by cutting his throat and stabbing him, but you cut him up, cooked him and ate part of him,” Stewart said, according to the UK Press Association.

“Before this case I had associated cannibalism with eras long gone, with the tale of Robinson Crusoe. No longer. You have plumbed depths rarely encountered in our court.”

Morley, 36, a former winner of the Mr Gay UK contest, stood in the dock with his head bowed as he was sentenced. There was a cry of “murderer” from the public gallery at Leeds Crown Court.

The jury heard how Morley attacked Damian Oldfield, 33, in Leeds in April after they went to bed together. Morley, who had denied murder, said he feared he was going to be raped.

He carved a section of flesh from Oldfield’s thigh and another from his chest. Six pieces of cooked human flesh were found on a chopping board in Morley’s kitchen.

Herbs, olive oil and seeds were found on the work surface near the cooker and a frying pan was on the hob with the remnants of fried herbs and oil in it.

A section of flesh, which appeared to have been chewed, was found in a bin bag.

Morley was arrested after he walked into a takeaway restaurant and said he had just killed someone.

“Thankfully disturbing crimes of this type remain incredibly rare events,” said Detective Inspector Scott Wood, of West Yorkshire Police, who led the investigation. “None of the investigation team has been involved in a crime of this nature before.”

The victim’s mother, Denise Oldfield, said her son had been killed “in the cruellest of circumstances”.

The stifling suspense and the prolonged wait finally came to an end as Sachin Tendulkar on Friday emerged as the highest run-accumulator in Test cricket’s history, staking a legitimate claim as the best batsman Cricket has known since Don Bradman, both aesthetically and statistically.After his mission incomplete in Bangalore, Tendulkar redeemed himself in Mohali in his 152nd Test and West Indian legend Brian Lara was toppled from the highest Test run-accumulator’s pedestal.

Test debutant Peter Siddle sent down the first ball of the post-tea session. Tendulkar glided it to third man for three runs to surpass Lara’s record of 11,953 runs and raise the bar even higher for posterity.

Relieved to have achieved the milestone that eluded him in Bangalore, an overwhelmed Tendulkar took the helmet off and looked upwards in a silent prayer and suddenly all the hostility surrounding the Indo-Australian Test series evaporated as Ricky Ponting and his men came to shake hands with him.

Sourav Ganguly walked down from the non-striker’s end, patting him on the achievement and firecrackers went off around the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in a pre-Diwali celebration to mark the golden moment in the history of Indian cricket.Tendulkar arrived here with 11,939 runs against his name from 151 Tests, averaging 54.02 hitting 39 centuries in the process. His ODI record put together– he tops the run-accumulator’s chart there too with 16,361 runs — Tendulkar has scored more than 25,000 international runs with the help of a mindboggling (42+39) 81 centuries and 138 half-centuries.

And all those runs flowed from the blade of someone who, rather reluctantly, swapped leather-flinging with willow-wielding after a blunt Dennis Lillee told the 12-year-old aspiring fast bowler in a Chennai camp that he had no hopes as a pacer.

Or probably the blame actually lies with Waqar Younis.

Tendulkar was hit on the mouth by Waqar in his debut Test series in Pakistan with dripping blood drenching the shirt of the cuddly teen with curly hair. Nineteen long years since the incident and bowlers around the world continue to bleed even to this day for a folly of one of their predecessors.

Worse, the torment is far from over.

Almost as a matter of revenge, Tendulkar lorded over the bowlers since that 1989 series, eclipsing virtually every batting record and piling on mountain of runs and setting new benchmarks for batsmanship in the process.

Impeccable technique, perfect temperament and unflinching commitment to his craft have made Tendulkar a…

The family man beneath the champion cricketer came to the fore again and Sachin Tendulkar said he missed his deceased father after eclipsing Brian Lara’s world record for most runs in Test cricket’s history. Once he reached the mark, Tendulkar took off his helmet and looked upwards, as if muttering a silent prayer.

“When I looked up, I had two thoughts in my mind. First I thanked the almighty for all he has given to me.

Then I thanked my father. Today I miss him.

Definitely he would have been a proud man today,” Tendulkar said. On this momentous occasion, none of his family members was around and the batting great explained, his family members don’t believe in public display of emotions.

“I don’t play for records and it’s not that everyone has to be around. We’ll celebrate.

They all value this, they all must be extremely happy for me, I know. But it’s not my family style to go over the top.

As long as I know their feeling, it’s important and I know that everyone must be extremely happy for me.” Asked how his son would celebrate the feat, Tendulkar said, “Well, I’m not sure because he always surprises me.

” Tendulkar said today’s historic feat was one of the proudest moments of his career. “Of course it is.

I mean whenever the team wins or does well, it’s a fantastic feeling. Of course there was some excitement in mind but I had a big task ahead.

It was an important knock for when I went into bat, we had lost three wickets in no time. It was important to get a partnership,” Tendulkar said, of his 142-run stand with Sourav Ganguly.

American Zach Johnson, fresh from his victory at the Texas Open, charged into an early one-shot lead in the opening round of the Las Vegas Open in Nevada on Thursday.

The former Masters champion made the most of ideal scoring conditions, firing a flawless 10-under-par 62 at the TPC Summerlin.

Johnson, who won his fourth PGA Tour title in San Antonio four days ago, covered the last nine holes in a sizzling six-under 30 to finish one ahead of compatriot Michael Allen.

Australian rookie Nick Flanagan got to nine under before bogeying his final hole for a 64, level with Americans Kevin Na and John Mallinger.

Johnson, who held off a late challenge by Tiger Woods to win last year’s Masters by two shots, was delighted to maintain his red-hot form in the Nevada desert.

“It’s just the confidence,” the 32-year-old told reporters. “Confidence that my fundamentals are going in the right direction and confidence that my execution has been good, especially down the stretch.

“But today’s Thursday. Let’s just take it at that. I’ve still got three more days of golf. Tomorrow I’m even par. That’s my outlook.

KEEPING MOMENTUM

“I’m going to try to keep the momentum going because I think that’s important, but you’ve got to forget about the last hole, the last day.”

With hardly a breath of wind on the manicured desert layout, conditions were near-perfect for players competing in the fourth-last event on the 2008 PGA Tour.

“It kind of feels like you’re playing in a dome,” Johnson said after starting his second nine with five consecutive birdies. “You throw some grass (and) it might fall to your left foot instead of your right foot.

“It’s pretty benign and the course is in great shape. If you get the ball on the correct side of the hole and you have some rhythm going, the greens are perfect — so good scoring conditions.”

Ryder Cup player Chad Campbell signed off with an eagle for a 65 to lie three strokes off the pace with fellow Americans Joe Durant, Charles Warren, Robert Garrigus and Will McKenzie.

Of the other big names in the field, 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir opened with a 69 while twice major winner John Daly carded a 73.

THE SLOGAN Catches win matches was probably on their minds when the Royal Bengal Tigers took on the Lahore Badshahs in the second match on Sunday. After being put in, the Tigers latched on to the catches on offer and the factor was the key to restricting the Badshahs to 139/6 and winning the match by eight wickets.

Tigers’ skipper Craig McMillan removed Imran Nazir early on. A direct hit from short mid-wicket saw Nazir walking back.

That set the pace of things to come. The fielding was so tight that most of the Badshahs’ batsmen fell while going for big shots.

Skipper Inzamam-ul Haq was undone by Upul Chandana as the delivery clipped the bat and wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta made no mistake. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala pulled off an incredible catch inches off the ropes to send danger-man Azhar Mahmood back on a meagre score of three.

Jhunjhunwala later added another one to his kitty when Naved Latif’s lofted shot off Lance Klusener landed straight in his hands at extra cover. The only decent totals were from opener Imran Farhat (37) and Shahid Yousuf (32).

The Badshahs too were tight in the field but the Tigers managed to wrap-up the innings with 2.2 overs to spare. Kiwi Hamish Marshall who did the bulk of scoring, was adjudged the Man-of-the-Match.

He carried his bat through, scoring an unbeaten 76. Brief scores: Lahore Badshahs 139-6 in 20 overs (Farhat 37, Yousuf 32, Chandana 4-21) lost to Royal Bengal Tigers 140/2 in 17.4 overs (Marshall 76 n.

o., McMillan 35 n.

o.; Saqlain Mushtaq 2-19) by 8 wickets.

Going almost a year without winning can play tricks on a man’s mind. Just ask coach Herm Edwards, who had trouble sleeping Sunday night after his Kansas City Chiefs halted a franchise-record 12-game losing streak with a 33-19 victory over Denver.

“I kept asking my wife about 1 o’clock, ‘We won, right?’” Edwards said Tuesday. “She said, ‘Yeah, you won, honey.’”

Their first victory since Oct. 21, 2007, was especially important for the raft of young players on the roster of the rebuilding Chiefs, Edwards said. Coaches had noted that many of the rookies were beginning to doubt whether they even belonged in the NFL after an 0-3 start that included back-to-back blowout losses to Oakland and Atlanta.

“I think they were questioning themselves,” Edwards said. “They were questioning their talent. You can’t question that. The way you overcome that, you’ve got to just keep playing. Just play with energy. Just keep going fast. Just keep playing hard.”

Two-time Pro Bowler Larry Johnson ran for 198 yards, but most encouraging for Kansas City’s long-term picture was the energy and verve displayed by rookies. Two were given game balls. Dantrell Savage had a 51-yard kickoff return that swung the fourth-quarter momentum back to Kansas City, and cornerback Brandon Carr played well against Denver’s high-powered passing attack.

“The one thing you have when you’re a young guy, you have talent. That’s what gets you in this league,” Edwards said. “But you also have passion. You’re not going to know how to do everything correctly. That’s part of the process of learning how to play. And so, you’ve got to keep playing with your passion. Don’t let your passion die because you make mistakes and start thinking, overanalyzing things, and you play like a robot.

“You’ve got to go play. We made some errors. We didn’t do everything right on either side of the football. But I thought the way we played, we played so hard, you cover up for it. If you continue to play that way, you’re going to continue to get better. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Rookie left tackle Branden Albert, one of two first-round draft picks starting for the Chiefs, injured his elbow in the first half and may not be able to play this week at Carolina. Edwards said the elbow was in a brace.

“I would say he’s probably questionable this week,” Edwards said. “His elbow is pretty swollen. He’s better than he was after the game, but his elbow is really swollen.”

Edwards was uncertain how much time Albert would miss, but he doubted the rookie would need surgery.

“Not that we know of at this point,” he said. “It was good, nothing broken, just one of those kind of like when your finger comes out, you put it back in. Except it’s an elbow, and that’s kind of bigger than a finger.”

Cornerback Patrick Surtain, out for three weeks with a shoulder injury, planned to start practicing this week and could be ready for playing time against Carolina.

Edwards was also asked about tight end Tony Gonzalez expressing his disappointment at not being thrown a pass at the end of the game to get the 3 yards he needed to set the career receiving record for his position.

Gonzalez, readily agreeing the victory was more important than anything else, said he was nevertheless disappointed not to have gotten the record at home in front of Chiefs fans who have been so supportive. He had 12 family members at the game, waiting to see him make football history, but no passes were thrown his way until late in the third quarter.

Edwards said that once he became aware that Gonzalez needed only 3 yards, it was late in the game and the Chiefs had only a one-possession lead against an opponent averaging 38 points.

“In a game like that, I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t. It wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be fair,” Edwards said. “It wouldn’t be fair to me. It wouldn’t be fair to the football team. It wasn’t anything against Tony at all.”

Gonzalez will likely get the record at Carolina. When the Chiefs return to action against Tennessee at home on Oct. 19 following their bye week, they will have a pregame ceremony honoring him.