THE TIMES

Tiger Woods Proving to Be a Pain in the Neck

The time is not right for the world’s top golfer. After having been in all the wrong sorts of news for more than half a year now, his latest act—this time on the golf course—has not made him any more of a media or fan sweetheart. Woods withdrew less than halfway through the last round of the Players Championship citing neck pain, and while that may be regular for an athlete, The Times says, “As with all things surrounding Woods at present, things are not quite as simple as they seem.” It does seem incongruous with the man who “won the US Open in 2008 with a fractured leg and who had only once withdrawn midway through a round because of injury—as an amateur at the 1995 US Open.” According to The Times, everything from the venue to the timing and the decision itself is wrong. After all, this is the same golf course that had opened its doors to Woods when he wanted to hold his private press conference earlier this year. Also, Woods, when “asked two days earlier if he had any health issues, said: ‘No, zero. Absolutely 100 per cent.’”

The Salt Lake Tribune

One-eyed Nash Lifts the Suns

With the NBA’s regional play-offs at the stage of decision, injuries stop mattering, even if it involves being able to see with only one eye, notes The Salt Lake Tribune. The Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash scored ten of his 20 points in the fourth series game against San Antonio Spurs with his “right eye swollen shut. He had six stitches beneath a bandage on his eyebrow, while the purplish lump was darkening another shade.” The win took the team into the finals. Nash was struck by another player’s elbows in the third quarter and headed to the locker room. The Tribune finds a precedence: “It was reminiscent of the 2007 West semi-finals, when Nash had his nose sliced open when he and Tony Parker collided head-to-head in Game 1. The gash in Nash’s nose bled profusely, and the Suns went on to lose the series. Not this time.”

The Independent

Ancelotti’s Calm Adds Lustre to Blues’ Season

The weekend saw none of the predicted drama of last-minute turnarounds as Chelsea wrapped up the English Premier League title with a calm 8-0 mauling of unlucky last-day opponents Wigan. The Independent credits it to new manager Carlo Ancelotti who has “restored chic to Stamford Bridge with a team designed to entertain”. Comparing him with Jose Mourinho, the man at the helm when the club last won the league, in 2006, the paper says, “The last time they won the title, it was vested largely in the wardrobe and polymathy of the manager. Ancelotti has reversed that dynamic energy. His team has redressed the prolonged absence of its centre of gravity, Michael Essien, by shedding its inhibitions. And their boss, simultaneously, has altered the flow of energy around the bench; he has exuded calm and dignity, where Mourinho relied on passion and provocation.”

espnsoccernet.com

Looking For a Distraction

Greece can’t wait for the football World Cup to start, says George Tsitsonis in his special Cup blog on espnsoccernet.com. “There is certainly great anger amongst Greeks at the moment at what is happening to the country’s economy” and the resulting austerity measures, the public protests, and the violence that has followed. “Football can help distract us, that is one of the great gifts of this sport as has been evidenced countless times around the world since the game’s inception,” Tsitsonis says. “And how we wish that football, Greek football, can help distract us just for a month or so from the tragic reality we are currently living in.”