If you slept through the weekend, here's what you missed:
AFL - the Collingwood-Essendon Grand Final of the pre-season competition was predictably won by Collingwood. Attention now shifts to the season proper, starting Thursday week with the now traditional Carlton-Richmond clash.
FA Cup - A Manchester derby in the semi-final...the city will be hot ahead of that one. Manchester United comfortably saw off Arsenal (a preview of the Premier league run in?), while Manchester City predictably saw off Reading, but only 1-0. Still after their European disappointment on Thursday night, they'll take the win and move on. The other semi won't have quite the glamour, but a Stoke-Bolton match-up will ensure we have a princes vs paupers final, and we all love to cheer for an underdog at Wembley. Bolton gave us the match of the weekend with a heart-stopping 3-2 victory over Carling Cup winners Birmingham. A 90th minute winner from substitute Lee Chung-Yong gave Bolton the win over injury-hit Birmingham. Stoke were 2-1 victors over suddenly in form West Ham.
CWC - In the cricket World Cup, predictable victories came for Australia and New Zealand over Kenya and Canada, although both matches were closer than expected. The good news for the holders, Australia, was the return of Mike Hussey, who made a typically efficient 54 from 43 balls. However, the main action was on Saturday, when the two favourites South Africa and India clashed. India got away to a blinding start, and at 1/267 in the 40th over, a score of 350 seemed a formality. However, Tendulkar's dismissal for 111 triggered a 9/29 collapse driven by Dale Steyn's five wickets. A well paced team effort from South Africa got them home with two balls to spare, likely ensuring South Africa will finish top of the evenly balanced Group B.
NFL - the lockout has started after the owners and players failed to break the impasse. This is already causing journalists to struggle to fill NFL pages, although there are always human interest stories.
NCAA - here comes March Madness. The 68 team (this year) men's college basketball extravaganza to find the best in the land. Ohio State is the favourite and number 1 seed from the East, with the other number 1 seeds being Duke, Kansas and Pittsburgh. Duke are the defending champions after edging out Butler in a classic last year. The Final Four match-ups are in Houston on April 2, with the title game two days later.
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