Sports

Lorenzo Fertitta is president of one of Las Vegas’ most successful casino chains. For years he has made his millions watching people gamble and having the privilege of receiving that money for himself. Yet, now that is about to change as he resigns this position and takes on the UFC full-time.

Fertitta, his older brother, Frank III and Dana White purchased the UFC in 2001 for $2 million when it was struggling and on the verge of folding. But in the seven-and-a-half years since, they’ve turned it into one of the great success stories in sports.

Willie Randolph was fired by the New York Mets on Tuesday after a poor season that caused the collapse of the team back in September. The bench coach Jerry Manuel will be taking over on an interim basis.

A preseason favorite to win the NL pennant, the $138 million Mets (34-35) had won two in a row when Randolph was dismissed early Tuesday morning. He is now officially the first big league manager to be fired this season – but he wasn’t the only ones to be let go. Rick Peterson – pitching coach – and Tom Nieto – first base coach – were also fired.

Tiger Woods was afraid that his injured left knee would keep him from finishing the long 72 holes that make up the U.S. Open. However, he was able to get a chance to finish 18 more at the famous Torrey Pines course.
Woods holed a 12-foot birdie putt that curled into the right side of the cup on the 18th hole – which forced a playoff with Rocco Mediate. Mediate, trying to become the oldest champion at age 45, two-putted for par from above the ridge for an even-par 71 to finish at 1-under 283, the first time since 2004 that someone broke par in a U.S. Open.

People all over the United States are outraged by the fact that Beck Hammon – the WNBA point guard – has decided to play on the CSKA Russian team during the summer Olympics. She was able to fast track her citizenship to Russia and she signed a 4 year contract with the team for $2 million.

Ron Polk – the former Mississippi State coach – is furious with the school’s new athletic director and said that he is “utterly cruel” for bringing in Kentucky’s John Cohen. He told the school that he would be removing his name from the stadium and would be taking it out of his will.

Tony Romo (quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys) and singer Justin Timberlake may not be the best golfers on the track and right now would not be able to play in the U.S. Open – but they did prove that they could at least break 100 while playing on the Torrey Pines’ South Course.

The two played alongside the ‘Today’ host Matt Lauer and an average guy from Omaha, Nebraska. The four of them were trying to prove Tiger Woods wrong when he said that only a pro can beat the course.

One of the most eloquent sportscasters – Jim McKay – died this week. McKay was 78 years old and died from natural causes at his farm in Monkton, MD. He was the host of ABC’s most influential sports show “Wide World of Sports” and stayed for over 40 years. The series opened viewers eyes to many sporting events that were both compelling and very different from what most of us are used to.

The Boston Celtics seem to be living up to the legacy of the NBA-record of the 16 championship teams that have gone before them. They won against their rivals – the L.A. Lakers in a 98-88 win. The home team used a destructive defense to frustrate Kobe Bryant.

PON – the organizers for the National Games in East Kalimantan have decided to provide 350 motorcycles to help transport journalists who will be covering the whole event. The event is scheduled for June 6-17.

“The motorcycles can be used by the journalists free of charge,” the organizers’ spokesman Jauhar Effendi said here Wednesday. He went on to say that 250 of the motorcycles will be in Samarinda and 100 in Balikpapan as well as a few cars.

There are many fans of MMA (mixed martial arts) that believe that Saturday night’s fight with Kimbo Slice was fixed. The fight was stopped by the referee Dan Miragliotta during the main event. This gave Slice the win in a fight that many believed he was losing.

The fight was ended 38 seconds into the third round. The scorecards read that Slice was down points to opponent James Thompson by two of the judges. The third judge had split the first two rounds. The fans were not happy about the decision and made this clear all over the Internet.