Welcome to what will unfortunately be the last World Sport Report as the Sport section here on TheVine will be no more. I hope you've enjoyed reading this report every week for the past year or so, and what better way to go out than with a parkour fail compilation... enjoy!
Rugby Union
Quade Cooper got Australia off to the worst possible start against New Zealand on Sunday and from there the All Blacks completely controlled the semi-final going on to win 20-6. Now I'm not in the business of Quade Cooper bashing, but perhaps the Wallabies may have been better off if the fly-half were playing for his country of birth... nahhh you're alright Quade.
*YouTube Comment: "WTF. all i wanted to see was the try and iys fucked. Fuck this."
In the other semi France proved too strong for Wales in a low scoring affair, coming out victorious 9-8.
That paves the way for a New Zealand vs France final on Sunday which should be a white-wash in favour of the All Blacks.
Australia will play in the third-place match-up against Wales tonight.
Football
In a big story this past week in the EPL, foreign owners are pushing to get rid of the relegation and promotion system that exists within the English FA. With the huge amounts of money invested into their teams, the foreign pussies can't handle the risk that they might just find themselves in the Championship. They apparently need 14 out of the 20 teams to agree in order to push through a rule change in the league - but here's an idea - if you're going to invest in an overseas product, maybe just accept the rules of the market you're entering.
On the pitch a 4-1 home victory over Aston Villa saw Manchester City move to the top of the table after United could only manage a 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield. The Manchester derby is happening this weekend and should sort out the men from the boys - I'm thinking that over the course of the season United will prove too strong and take the title, with Chelsea a close third.
And in the Champions League, both Real Madrid and Chelsea had big wins this week beating Lyon and Racing Genk respectively, while Bayern Munich could only manage a draw against Napoli, which puts Manchester City on the back foot in Group A - after three games they sit in third place.
Motor Racing
Casey Stoner had a 26th birthday to remember - officially becoming the master of the island and now a two time World Champion after he won his fifth consecutive Australian GP at Phillip Island on Sunday.
Stoner's main rival for the title, Jorge Lorenzo, was forced to withdraw from the race after a fall in final practice saw the top of his left ring finger sliced off.
And in sad news, a 15 car pile-up in Las Vegas took the life of British Indy Car driver Dan Wheldon. The crash has sparked many, including Australian driver Will Power, to push for an end to Indy Car racing on oval circuits due to the extreme high speeds (approx 370km/h) and the danger that leads to when things go wrong. Here's the horror incident below.
American Football
The Oakland Raiders honoured the passing of legendary team owner Al Davis with a 24-17 win over the Cleveland Browns. It wasn't all good news for the Raiders however, with quarterback Jason Campbell going down for the season with a broken collarbone. Oakland has since traded two future first round draft picks to acquire Carson Palmer from Cincinnati - a high price to pay for a QB who had stated he was never going to play for the Bengals again.
And a few scores in short - Ahmad Bradshaw had 103 yards rushing and 3 TD's to help the Giants to a 27-24 win over the Bills... Tom Brady led the Patriots to a touchdown scoring final drive in the last 2 minutes to get past the Cowboys 20-16... Tampa Bay recovered from a huge loss in week 5 to bounce back with an important win over division rival New Orleans 26-20, and The Detroit Lions undefeated run has come to an end losing to another big improver this season the San Francisco 49ers 25-19. The game also ended in controversy when a vigorous handshake between the two coaches almost turned into an all-in brawl.
And it seems some of the worst teams in the league were unhappy I gave the gong to the Indianapolis Colts last week, as the rest of them including the Rams, Vikings and Dolphins all stunk out loud and are starting their tanking efforts in hope of landing Stanford QB prospect Andrew Luck in next year's draft.
Baseball
The World Series is upon us with the St Louis Cardinals winning a close game one yesterday against the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers - who lost last years World Series to the Giants - had their chances in game one but couldn't capitalise going 0 for 5 when they had runners in scoring position.
Generally in the recent past game one has been a good indicator of what's to come, as 19 of the past 23 game one winners has gone on to take the World Series. That said, I'll back the Rangers to buck that trend and come back and take the series.
Surfing
Kelly Slater edged closer to his 11th world title despite being beaten in the final by Adrian de Souza at the Rip Curl Pro - Supertubos in Portugal.
The win for de Souza saw the Brazillian move from sixth up to third in the ASP rankings and still within reach of the title, however Slater needs only to finish ninth or better at the next stop in San Francisco to take the crown.
Basketball
There's talk that some of the biggest names and best talent of the NBA could be headed to Australia as part of a lock-out inspired World Tour in the next month.
LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, Rajon Rondo, Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony are just some of the names expected to participate, with the tour spanning three continents over two weeks including Puerto Rico, London, Macau and Australia.
While not finalised yet, the tour would reportedly take place over the two weeks between October 30 and November 9. Check local guides...
More
More basketball trick shots...
Impressive...
That's gotta hurt...
Boring Sports Video of the Week
Earlier I mentioned MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo lost the top of his finger in a crash before Sunday's race... well here's a marshal looking for said finger in the gravel trap...