Djokovic Wakes up from 2011 Dream Season

Coming off his incredible win over Nadal in the US Open tennis final, Djokovic was unable to complete his Davis Cup match due to a lingering back injury.  The injury first made an appearance during the final with Nadal.  With only a short rest period between the final and his Davis Cup match, Djokovic was unable to recover properly and retired after losing the the first set.

Novak Djokovic’s 2011 Season

Looking back it has been quite a year for the young Serbian player.  To start off 2011 he notched 41 consecutive wins that led him to hoist his second major Australian Open title, along with a slew of victories at other prestigious events.  He was indeed the man to beat, and for 41 matches no one was able to.

An on form Federer stopped the streak in the semi-final of the French Open at Roland Garros.  Federer played inspired tennis, dismissing the circulating rumors of his demise from the top of men’s tennis.  This was a temporary lull however, as Djokovic returned to form and snatched the Wimbledon championship to add to his list of major titles.

Fast forward to the present.  We have a new US Open … Read more at FryingPanSports

A Quick History of Golf

While the definitive history of golf has yet to be uncovered, the game has existed in one form or another since at least medieval times, when games were played with balls and clubs.  The game itself grew out of a ball and club game on the fjord of the Firth of Forth in Scotland.

According to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, the game of golf was invented in Scotland.  While ball and club games were played in other places, like the Netherlands and China, among others, the golf game we recognize today with 18 holes almost surely originated in Scotland.  In fact, there is 1457 documentation of the existence of golf in the form of an Act of Scottish Parliament wherein James II of Scotland banned the playing of “gowf” and football because they were distracting soldiers from practicing archery, which was needed for military tactics.

Golf was banned in Parliamentary Acts of 1471 and 1491 because golf was deemed unprofitable, and Mary Queen of Scots was frowned upon for playing golf right after the murder of her husband in 1567.  Golf was not considered a suitable pastime for women at that time, so it was … Read more at FryingPanSports

ESPN Launches Food Scorecards

Some horrible and obnoxious things were found when the health department’s inspection reports were reviewed by ESPN. These reports were of arenas and stadiums in North America where some major sporting events were held. As per these reports, around 30% of all the venues which were host to leagues in 2009 had more than 50% of their food and beverage vendors receiving certification that they had violated the standards that were set for handling food (though the drink holders seemed somewhat sanitary). All the violations as reported were critical and very major. The violations mainly were storing the food and then serving at an inadequate temperature which will stimulate the growth of pathogens. The food was served at improper temperature as there were no proper equipments, the staff members did not follow hygienic practices as they did not wash hands after using restrooms and touching their faces, the cooking place was infested with insects and rodents which could easily contaminate the food and usage of same equipment for doing different things.

The report of the department brought to the notice major violations of standards and most of these can prove to be extremely dangerous. Though the reviews and the findings … Read more at FryingPanSports