Life’s beat

Like another famous athlete, British tennis star Andy Murray has been having relationship problems of late. Unlike Tiger Woods, Murray hasn’t been spending too much time with other women, however. He’s been spending too much time on his Playstation.

Murray, the No. 4 ranked player in the world, was dumped by his long-time girlfriend Kim Sears due, in part, to the fact that he spent up to seven hours a day playing video games.

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LOS ANGELES – The illegal substance for which Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez(notes)tested positive and was banned 50 games was prescribed to address erectile dysfunction, not “an agent customarily used for performance enhancing” a source close Ramirez said Thursday.

However, two sources said the substance Ramirez tested positive for was a gonadotropin. Major League Baseball’s list of banned substances includes the gonadotropins LH and HCG, which are most commonly used by women as fertility drugs. They also can be used to trigger testosterone production. Testosterone is depleted by steroid use, and low testosterone can cause erectile dysfunction.

“Testosterone and similar drugs are effective for erectile dysfunction in that they jazz up your sex drive,” said Charles Yesalis, a professor at Penn State University who has testified before Congress on issues of performance-enhancing drugs. “But far more clinicians accept that affect with Viagra and Cialis. It’s hard for me to understand if it was erectile dysfunction why they would use it.”

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LAS VEGAS – Four years ago, in the very same ring where he scored a crushing second-round knockout over an opponent many thought would give him the challenge of his career, Manny Pacquiao lost a decision to Erik Morales.

Morales was one of the most entertaining fighters of his time, but never once were “Morales” and “all-time great” ever used together in the same sentence.

In 2005, Pacquiao was a good and exciting but hardly great fighter. After Saturday’s K.O. of Ricky Hatton, though, he stands atop the boxing world, even with the heavily hyped return of Floyd Mayweather Jr., who had been a near-unanimous choice as the world’s top fighter prior to his untimely retirement in June 2008.

Mayweather Jr. unretired on Saturday and said he’d fight Juan Manuel Marquez in July, but he’ll have to defeat Pacquiao if he wants to be regarded as the best after Pacquiao decimated Hatton at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Pacquiao knocked Hatton down twice in the first round and then knocked him cold with a crushing left hand that may have been the best punch of his career late in the second round. Hatton fell face first and laid motionless for several minutes as the arena erupted.

If the Pacquiao Era hadn’t started with his decimation of Oscar De La Hoya in December, it began with a straight left that left promoter Bob Arum squealing.

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GO MANNY!!!!we are So Proud OF YOu!!!yhaooo!

MANILA - The streets of the Philippines could resemble a ghost town for a few hours on Sunday morning as everyone from taxi drivers to petty thieves makes time to watch Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Ricky Hatton.

Pacquiao, known as the "nation’s fist," is idolised in the Southeast Asian nation and his every appearance in the ring has a majority of the 90 million people glued to their television and radio sets, causing a surge in demand for electricity.

"In terms of sports events, every Pacquiao fight is the Philippines’ Super Bowl," said Carlito Claudio, vice president for systems operations at the National Grid Corp of the Philippines.

Power demand normally rises by two percent, or around 140 megawatts, whenever Pacquiao fights and this Sunday is likely to be no different, Claudio told Reuters by phone.

Pacquiao, a former four-weight world champion, will try and snatch the IBO light-welterweight title from Hatton in a 12-round bout in Las Vegas on Sunday morning Phillipines time.

"I’ll skip work in the morning to watch the fight," Danilo Santos, a 28-year-old taxi driver in Manila, told Reuters.

"I’m sure all Filipinos will also stay home so it will just be a waste of time driving around. If Manny wins, then I’ll have a busy afternoon," added Santos, who expects people to be partying in the streets should their man triumph.

Lolita Cruz has set up a cable television at her small, neighbourhood canteen in a Manila suburb so her customers can watch the fight while eating.

"I am praying for Manny’s victory because that will bring honour and pride to all Filipinos anywhere in the world," Cruz said. "He’s my hero because he always makes us proud."

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Restaurants with cable television will open early as will shopping malls with cinemas, where people can watch the fight live via satellite.

The SM group, the country’s largest cinema operator, said the tickets, priced at 551 pesos each, were selling fast.

"So far we’ve sold only 50 percent of the tickets but many people usually buy during the day of the match," said Armando Cortez, supervisor at the SM North EDSA cinemas which sold the most tickets in the country for Pacquiao’s December 7 defeat of Oscar de la Hoya.

Pacquiao, nicknamed "Pac-man," is clearly popular with the nation’s criminals as well.

"We have historical and statistical data to show that there’s always zero crime during Pacquiao’s actual match," said Nicanor Bartolome, national police spokesman.

In the southern Mindanao island, government soldiers will set up a giant screen in a former camp of the militant rebel group Abu Sayyaf to watch the match, according to a local radio report.

Pacquiao, widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, has also distracted politicians.

Congress adjourned its session early this week so about 50 lawmakers, including the speaker of the House of Representatives, could fly to Las Vegas for the fight. source: Link

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) - - Manny Pacquiao avoided Manila’s distracting delights to train in Hollywood so he could better focus upon what he needs to do to win Saturday’s showdown fight with England’s Ricky Hatton.

After working out for weeks next door to a Thai restaurant where he would eat dinner, the Filipino boxing star has found his focus and is confident he can become a champion in a record-matching sixth different weight division.

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uhm ill be watching via PPV!weeeeeeeee cant wait!!!!!!GO MANNY!!!!!

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AFP) - - The Cleveland Cavaliers showed the Boston Celtics just what they’ll be up against in a possible National Baksetball Association playoff clash Sunday with a regular-season drubbing

LeBron James made five three-pointers and scored 29 points as the league-leading Cavaliers beat reigning NBA champs Boston 107-76.

The Cavaliers improved to 39-1 at home, and with a victory over Philadelphia on Wednesday they can match the 1985-86 Celtics for best home record in NBA history.

But what the Cavaliers really want is to seize the title that Boston won last year.

They warmed up for a possible meeting with Boston in the Eastern Conference playoffs by posting their most one-sided victory in 173 games against the Celtics.

Cleveland led 31-9 after the first quarter, and stretched the lead to 30 in the second period.

Cavs star James didn’t play in the fourth quarter, getting a little rest along with Mo Williams and Delonte West.

While they clowned on their bench, the Celtics were clearly just waiting for it to be over on theirs.

Paul Pierce scored 14 points and Glen Davis 12 for the Celtics, who were held to 36 percent shooting.

Cleveland have already clinched the top seed and home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. With a victory on Monday in Indianapolis, they can secure home-court in the NBA finals as well, should they reach them.

To get to the championship series, Cleveland will likely have to get past the Celtics, who beat them in a seven-game Eastern Conference semi-final series last year. link: yahoo

1. When the 2008-09 NBA schedule was released, Sunday’s battle against Boston was billed as one of marquee matchups of the season. Instead, with the Cavaliers locking up the East on Friday in Philly, it became just another routine Cavaliers clubbing at The Q.

The Wine and Gold held the shorthanded Celtics to just nine points in the first quarter – while netting 31 themselves – and never looked back the rest of the way as the Cavaliers evened the season series with the Champs, taking the 107-76 victory in an Easter Sunday matinee in Cleveland.

The Celtics never led on Sunday and the Cavaliers, who improved their near-perfect home mark to 39-1, led by as many as 36.

LeBron James led everyone with 29 points despite not leaving the bench in the fourth quarter – (other than to celebrate a teammate’s success with his roundhouse “Guitar Hero” celebration.) LeBron was 9-for-14 from the floor, including 5-of-8 from long distance. The young King might have cemented his MVP season, canning all six free throws and adding seven assists, four boards and massive chase-down block on Ray Allen. more>>

Jai Lewis scored 12 of his personal best 40 points in the fourth quarter including the go-ahead 3-point shot with 77 seconds remaining as Rain or Shine slipped past Burger King, 118-112 Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

The 6-foot-5, 290 lbs import brought life to what had looked like lost cause by scoring five straight points and making a key defensive stop that paved the way for the Elasto Painters’ remarkable come-from-behind win – their fourth straight in the 2009 Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference and the longest in franchise history.

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