In April...
In a game lasting 3 hours and 46 minutes, the Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees, 9-7, to open Major League Baseball's 2010 season. Said umpire Joe West, crew chief for the teams' three-game series, "They're the two best teams in baseball, why are they playing the slowest?" (4/4)
Duke University defeated Butler University in the NCAA men's basketball final, 61-59. Read a Nike advertisement running in Sports Illustrated and other national publications to commemorate the Blue Devils' victory, "Order Has Been Restored." (4/5)
The University of Connecticut defeated the Standford in the NCAA women's basketball final, 53-47, the closest margin of victory for the Huskies during their 78-game winning streak. Said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer on the Cardinal's return to the championship game, "Once you get used to the cream, it's hard to be down in that skim milk." (4/6)
Lionel Messi scored four goals as Barcelona eliminated Arsenal from Champions League competition, 4-1, just the sixth time one player has scored four goals in Champions League match. Said Arsenal manager Arsene Wegner of one of Messi's goals, "I don't know how many players can score that goal. It's something that looks impossible that he makes possible." (4/6)
Boston College defeated the University of Wisconsin, 5-0, to capture the NCAA men's hockey national championship at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The final set an indoor record for college hockey with 37,592 in attendance. (4/10)
Phil Mickelson won the Masters Tournament, his third, by three shots at the Augusta National Golf Club amid a circus-like atmosphere surrounding Tiger Woods's return major competition. Said Mickelson of his aggressive strategy, "I mean, a great shot is when you pull it off. A smart shot is when you don't have the guts to try it." (4/11)
The New York Mets defeated the Saint Louis Cardinals, 2-1, in a 20-inning contest that lasted nearly seven hours and featured no scoring until the 19th inning. In all, 46 players entered a game in which Mets starter Mike Pelfrey was given the save for his shut-out appearance in the final inning and Cardinals position player Joe Mather was credited with the loss for two innings of work. (4/17)
Ubaldo Jimenez pitched MLB's first no-hitter of the season, and the first no-hitter in the Colorado Rockies' 18-year history, a 4-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Said Jimenez, "In the fifth inning [Rockies pitching coach] Bob Apodaca, he just came to me and was like 'You've been throwing good from the stretch, why don't you just give it a try?'" (4/18)
Edwin Valero, a lightweight division boxer, winner of 27 bouts, all by knockout, committed suicide by hanging himself in a jail cell after being arrested for stabbing his wife to death. Nicknamed "Inca" in his native Venezuela, Valero was known for his constant attacking style and chest tattoo of President Hugo Chavez's face imposed upon the Venezuelan flag. (4/19)
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was suspended by the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for six games, which could be reduced to four, after a second accusation of rape surfaced against the quarterback. Wrote Goodell on his decision, "...[Y]ou are held to a higher standard as an NFL player, and there is nothing about your conduct in Milledgeville that can remotely be described as admirable, responsible, or consistent with either the values of the league or the expectations of our fans." (4/21)
The NFL Draft debuted in primetime to a new three-day format, the first round televised on the first evening alone, the second and third rounds on the second evening, and the remaining rounds during Saturday afternoon. Three of the top four picks - quarterback Sam Bradford, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, and offensive tackle Trent Williams - hailed from an Oklahoma Sooners team that finished the 2009 season with an 8-5 record. (4/22)
During a first round playoff game, Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa levelled Nashville Predators defenseman Dan Hamhuis with a hit that drew a major penalty for boarding. The hit also drew comparisons to Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin's crosscheck of Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell, an offense leading to a two-game suspension in March. (4/24)
In May...
Super Saver won the 136th Run For the Roses ridden by Calvin Borel, winning jockey of three of the last four Kentucky Derbys, who guided the colt from post position 4 to the finish line along the rail for almost the entire race. Due in part to the muddy track, Super Saver's winning time of 2:04.45 was slowest since 1989. (5/1)
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. dominated Shane Mosley in a twelve-round unanimous decision, picking up the final ten rounds on each of the judges' scorecards. Said Mayweather of his tactics after a near knockdown by Mosley in the second round, "I wanted to give the fans what they wanted to see, a toe-to-toe battle. It wasn't the same style for me but I wanted to be aggressive and I knew I could do it." (5/1)
The opening round of the Players Championship, the highest prize fund in professional golf, begins 5/6. In anticipation of the 200,000 visitors, crews at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass have been preparing the course since February with tournament volunteers numbering 2,100.
The 93rd Giro d'Italia bicycle stage race begins in Amsterdam 5/8 for three stages before continuing in Italy and concluding 5/30. Following the example of 2008 winner Alberto Contador, 2009 winner Denis Menchov intends to skip the Giro to concentrate on the Tour de France to complete a career sweep of the three major cycling races: the Giro, the Tour, and the Vuelta a Espana
The 135th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, will be held 5/15. Though the race is called the Race For the Black-Eyed Susans, Maryland's state flower does not bloom until June requiring the victory blanket to be composed of daisies that resemble Black-eyed Susans.
The Monaco Grand Prix, a Formula One race contested on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine, will be held 5/16. Said Sebastian Vettel who crashed out of last year's race, "Sometimes this happens in Monaco. You make a little mistake and you have to pay the price."
MLB's interleague play begins with games between the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees and New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels and Saint Louis Cardinals, and Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants on 5/21. Since interleague play was introduced to the regular season the American League leads the National League, 1,674-1,534.
The UEFA Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Internazionale will be played at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain on 5/22. Tickets for the match have thus far been priced at over $1,500 on the low end to over $3,000 on the high end.
Roland Garros, commonly called the French Open, will commence competition on 5/23. Said women's singles favorite Justine Henin, winner of four French titles, "When I saw Roger Federer win the French Open it brought back the fire."
The 94th running of the Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for 5/30. Chevrolet will build and sell a limited edition replica of the race's Camaro pace car, priced at $41,950.
[Cian is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. If you like the magazine, he suggests subscribing for free.]
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