Russia And Qatar get Wold Cup Spotlight As More Questions Are Asked About FIFA Voting Process

English hopes were dashed yesterday afternoon as FIFA announced who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. After a morning of final presentations and a nail biting 3 and a half hour wait FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced at FIFA headquarters in Zurich that Russia would be the hosts of the 2018 finals while underdogs Qatar would host the 2022 tournament.

As the evening went on England bid ambassadors added anger to the disappointment of the failed bid as reports came through suggesting that England’s bid had been rejected during the first round of voting, receiving only 2 votes from a possible 22 on FIFA’s executive committee.

In the run up to the event England’s bid team felt confident of getting through the tricky first round of voting, having seemingly secured votes from a number of FIFA executives. After a very strong presentation and economic assessment of the bid, spirits were sky high, as bookmakers made England favourites in the final hour before the decision.

This morning however the bid team and the rest of the Nation awoke knowing that the dream was over and Russia, not England, would host the world’s biggest sports tournament, with fingers already being pointed and questions being asked as to why England’s 2018 bid flopped in such spectacular style.

Some are questioning the BBC’s decision to show the Panorama’s report last Monday night that accused FIFA of taking bribes for votes, right before the voting this week. Others, including former England Manager Graham Taylor, believe the World Football organisation suffers from internal corruption, and is surprised that we’re only just realising this now.

“Fifa for me is full of people who say 'yes' to your face and 'no' behind your back” Turner says. “Their reputation has not changed over many years”.

"England have had little or no influence. We are considered to be arrogant and know-alls."

Taylor went on to suggest that now should be the time that FIFA have to answer the questions they’ve been skirting around for years.

“I just have a feeling that perhaps, just perhaps, it might now be time... they really need looking into, they should really be investigated - and of course our journalists are very good at that.”

It’s thought that England will now wait until the bidding for World Cup 2030 to try and bring football home once again.

Ban Them!!

They should be banned. This is seemingly the only way to prevent scenes like the ones we saw last night at the Second City Derby between Aston Villa and Birmingham City in the League Cup Quarter Final.

But it’s not just the fans that I believe should be banned from grounds up and down the country. Birmingham City FC should also face repercussions for last night’s violence. A club, however unfair it may seem, is represented by its fans and their actions and must be held accountable when these sorts of incidents take place.

Last night Blues fans rushed the field and began to riot, throwing missiles into the away stand including bottles and flares. Chairs were pulled out of the stands and fans clashed with police inside the ground. If a club cannot control their supporters inside their ground and keep the stadium safe for supporters then action has to be taken against the club as well as the fans who commit such acts. Birmingham City FC must be held accountable for their failure to keep St Andrews safe yesterday.

Football continues to have the black cloud of hooliganism hanging over it, and the British football authorities have to take action to remove this sort of violence from our game. If banning Birmingham from the remainder of this years League Cup will do this then its action that must be taken. Docking points for Premier League fixtures and removing clubs from domestic and European competitions is not something anyone in football wants to see. But if that is what has to be done then surely the FA must act accordingly.

Last night has hurt not only Birmingham City FC but also the England 2018 bid. With last minute lobbying taking place yesterday and today, last nights scenes are not going to sit favourably with the FIFA executives as they look to cast their deciding votes for the hosts of World Cup 2018 and 2022.

Only once British Football is clear of fan violence can we look to be given the opportunity to host tournaments such as the European Championships or the World Cup. Last night showed that we may still not be able to keep a football ground safe for fans, which is surely a major priority for Clubs, and if we cant do that then major changes have to take place in order to keep football safe.

The Think It's All Over. It Is Now.

Today ambassadors David Cameron, Prince William, David Beckham and Eddie Afekafe gave the final presentation to FIFA delegates in Zurich in the last process of the FIFA World Cup 2018 bid. The presentation, lasting around 40 minutes, aimed to show the Football Federation that England was ready and prepared to host the 2018 World Cup, highlighting Englands stadiums, training facilities, safety, transport and passion for the sport, as well as promoting Football United, a program that will be set up immediately, should the bid be successful, that promotes grass roots football in the UK and all over the globe.

Now the bids are in all that remains is the waiting as the FIFA delegates make their decision later this afternoon. England need 12 votes from the 22 man Executive Committee that consists of President Sepp Blatter, Senior Vice-President Julio Grondona, 6 FIFA Vice-Presidents (including Michel Plattini and two of the FIFA members featured in Panorama’s recent program on bribery and corruption within FIFA Jack Warner and Issa Hayatou.), and 14 other Members from various Nations around the world.

Despite yesterday’s violence after Birmingham’s league cup tie against Aston Villa, and Panorama’s Monday night program that featured allegations of corruption within FIFA, England’s bid team are confident that they can convince the Committee that it can produce the best World Cup in 2018.

A decision will be made today, with FIFA scheduled to announce the results of the bid campaign between 3 and 4 this afternoon

I'm Back!!

Wrote this last week.

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I'm Back

Mike Vick is Back and Soaring With The Eagles In Philadelphia

333 Yards, 20/28 pass completions, 80 yards rushing from 8 carries, 4 passing and 2 running touchdowns. These numbers posted last Monday night in a wet Washington D.C have the NFL world talking about one thing . Michael Vick is back and ready to tear apart any defence that tries to shut him down.

Mondays record breaking evening began quickly and never showed signs of slowing down for the Philadelphia Eagles and their mobile, agile offence. After faking the ball to LeSean McCoy on 1^st and 10 from their own 12 yard line, Vick rolled left, paused and hurled a 60 yard bomb to DeSean Jackson who left a flapping LaRon Landry lying in the dust as the Eagles stepped out to a 7-0 lead.

Vicks pass (the longest TD pass of his career) was a perfectly weighted rocket that came almost effortlessly from a flick of his left wrist. It marked the beginning of arguably the most impressive game of his career and sent a chill down the spines of defensive coordinators around the league. Monday night we saw again, the Quarterback that evolved the position, paved the way for players such as Vince Young and JaMarcus Russell and changed the way defences play more then any other player.

These are bold statements to make about one player. There have been scrambling quarterbacks in the league before; Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon, and even Steve Young are on a short list of a number of Quarterbacks who could out run the odd linebacker or two. Vick however runs circles around all that scrambled before him.

Vick was very much a run first, read later style quarterback. The slightest hint of pressure and he was out of the pocket and on the move. Initially this was impossible for teams to handle, as Vicks mobility, agility and speed left most linebackers that he faced one on one, flat footed and to immobile to bring him down. However as teams wised up to Vicks panicky nature and instinct to run he became less effective. It was at this point the Jim Mora Jnr. Head Coach of the Falcons at the time, began to try and hone in Vicks passing ability. The man had a cannon for an arm, but lacked the confidence to stay in the pocket and set up to pass. Vicks accuracy posed another problem to Mora's attempt to turn Vick into a slightly more conventional Quarterback. The cannon lacked direction and when he did pass it was rarely to the same standards being set by the leagues top quarterbacks such as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning. Over the '04, '05, and '06 seasons Vick threw 36 interceptions, 49 touchdowns and completed only 54.7% of his passed. Compare that to Tom Brady who, over the same period of time, threw 40 picks, 2 more than Vick, but also managed 78 touchdowns, and completed on average 61.2% of passes, almost 10% more then Vick, despite Brady attempting 424 more passes then Vick over the 3 seasons.

Although the Falcons tried to slow Vick down, steady him, and focus his game toward the aerial threat Vick was unable to find the proficiency in his arm to take the Falcons aerial attack to the next level.

After the '06 season Vicks world turned upside down after the star pleaded guilty charges of financing and running of an illegal dog fighting ring. Vick was suspended from the NFL indefinitly, and was eventually sentenced to 23 months in federal prison, although he was released early and allowed to complete his sentence under house arrest. Vick also filled for bankruptcy after the Atlanta Falcons forced him to pay back $19.9 million, initially given to him in bonuses before his suspension and arrest.

However last year after much encouragement from long time friend Donovan McNabb and coach Andy Reid the Philadelphia Eagles brought Vick's two year nightmare to an end when they offered him a one year contract with an option of an extra year in Philadelphia should all go to plan.

2009 saw Vick play sporadicly in the Eagles regular season. Featuring on just a few downs per game, Vick played a Wildcat style role, with the option to give the handoff, pass or run the ball himself. On week 13, against his old club the Atlanta Falcons Vick threw and ran for touchdowns, his first scores since December 2006.

At the beginning of the 2010 season, Eagles starting Quarterback Donovan McNabb was traded to Washington, with Reid naming Kevin Kolb as the Eagles new starter. However in week 1 of the regular season, Kolb was injured by Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Mathews suffering a concussion. Vick came on and stole the show. Throwing for 175 yards, completing 16 of 24 passes one for TD and racking up 103 yards from 11 carries, Vick looked back and in complete control, narrowly missing out on a huge comeback win for the Eagles.

Since then Vick has been the chosen starter for the Eagles offence. In week 4 he suffered a rib injury at the hands of the Washington Redskins, forcing him to miss weeks 5,6,7. However in his return on Week 9 after the bye week, Vick led the Eagles to a massive win over the heavily favoured Colts.

This Monday marked what will surely be the peak of Vick's comeback to the NFL. Every game he's started this season the Eagles have won, defences seem to have forgotten how to shut down the scrambling Quarterback and his arm looks as powerful and more accurate then ever with Vick yet to throw an interception this year. As John Grudden pointed out to the many viewers on ESPN's Monday broadcast “he's checking down through receivers and looking to run only when the pass isn't on”, something Vick has never really done throughout his career in the NFL, but something that the Eagles trained McNabb to do in his later years at the club.

Vick has come back from the dead, a man that had it all and lost it all in a flash. But whatever he did before has to be left behind. He's paid his debt to society and to those involved. Now he's playing the best football of his life, seems focused mentally both on and off the field and is playing like a league MVP. Vick may not top his showing from last Monday, (if he does the NFL Hall of Fame might need a new jersey to replace the one they took off him after the game on Tuesday) but what he is doing is showing the NFL and the rest of the world that he has grown up, he still has the drive and the talent to be the best in the NFL, and right now, no one has as big an impact on the Quarterback position in the league then him. The real question to ask now is how much will it cost the Eagles to keep hold of him for next year, and how far can he take them this year; an NFC East title, an NFC championship game, or dare I say, a Super Bowl?

Boston Send Message To Heat: You Can't Put A Price On Chemistry

The most anticipated summer in NBA history came to a close last night with the opening games of the 2010-11 season, and even before the first final buzzer of the night rung out in Boston, one fact loomed ominously in the minds of Heat fans around America. You CAN'T buy team chemistry. Thats right, for all the wheeling and dealing and big surprises that took place this summer, it was a team that managed to retain its 5 starters from last year and add to an already talented set of bench players, that looked most likely to flourish in this years race to the NBA finals next May.

For the Boston Celtics this off season looked like it was going to be a fairly miserable affair. With many unsure just how long Boston's four leaf clover of Allen, Pierce, Garnett and Rondo would remain together in the Irish-American capital, and others wondering if this was the year that Head Coach Cos Rivers would walk, the free agency period of summer 2010 seemed like it could be the end of Boston's NBA Finals challenge for the next few years. Yet on opening night the Celtics found themselves, not only with their 4 superstars healthy, under contract and happy to be a part of the 2008-09 Finals winning franchise, but also a with few key additions to their roster, most noticeably Basketballs biggest star of the last 15 years Shaquille O'Neal.

Their opponents last night however had an off season filled with rumour, money and mass media attention. The Miami Heat won the NBA lottery in the summer when they re-signed their star player Dwayne Wade in what was the most hotly contested free agency market of the last 20 years. Then Miami revealed to the world that they had hit the triple double of all free agency acquisitions by signing Chris Bosh, and LeBron James arguably two of the most highly valued players in the NBA. Once Miami had their three golden eggs in the basket, they set about signing a highly talented supporting cast including Cleveland's Big Z, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Point Guard Eddie House (formerly of the Celtics) and Forward Juwan Howard in an attempt to guarantee that the NBA Championship head to the beaches of South Florida in May 2011.

Yet like many teams that have tried to throw money at league title or world championship the Miami Heat look like they too are going to have to learn that money can buy you the talent, but you cant buy and bond a team over one summer. Chelsea FC had to wait over 18months for their first Premier League title, and Manchester City didn't manage to find a way into the Champions League last season, despite the millions they spent on new talent. Miami could easily become another team to add to this list, and last night seemed to reveal these issues.

Boston looked smooth, controlled and like a team that had been playing together for the last 4 years. Miami impressed, but weren't allowed to play the kind of basketball that a lesser team would let them play. James and Wade were hurried and kept under close guard by Pierce and Allen, while Shaq and Garnett kept Bosh and Big Z under wraps on the glass. Miami's Big 3 were not silent on the night, as they managed to rack up 52 of the Heat's 80 points, LeBron being the X -Factor to the trio as he totalled 31 points but only shot 10-21 from the floor. Boston's three Musketeers rose to the challenge as they too notched up 49 of the Celtics 88 point, with Ray Allen hitting 5-8 from three point range and getting himself a solid 20 points on the night, closely followed by Pierce who managed 19.

It was Boston's little big man Rajon Rondo that seemed to be the difference between two sides who were evenly matched all over the floor. His penetrating drives inside and ability to dish the rock in the tightest of situations left easy sinks for Allen, Garnett and Pierce, and the 4^th year Guard picked up 17 assists (almost 3 times that of Dwayne Wade, Miami's leading playmaker who finished with 6). Rondos domination of the Point Guard position highlighted a fact that has almost been overlooked by many in the run up to this season. Miami need a Point Guard of their own to create and provide for their superstar line-up. Kobe and Pau have Derek Fisher in LA. Orlando'sDwight Howard has Jameer Nelson, and the Phoenix Suns have Steve Nash. All are championship contenders, and all have above average Point Guards.

Miami have 81 games left to play this year, and there is no doubt that they will go on to crush a number of teams both in the regular season and the playoffs, but last night, after an off season of glitz and glamour, the Heat have been brought back down to Earth with a bump, with a loss to a rival Championship contender with a star studded roster, one of the best Point Guards in the game, and a team spirt and chemistry that only playing with each other for a number of years can bring. Today on the second day of the 2010-11 NBA season, the Miami Heat sit with a .000 record.

Monaco Incident Part 2

Yesterday race stewards at the Monaco Grand Prix deemed the over taking move by Michael Schumacher on Fernando Alonso to have been a breach of racing regulations, and have penalised the German driver.

Schumacher, who finished the race in 6th position after a sneaky overtake on the final corner, has been penalised with a Stop Go penalty, which race stewards converted into a 20 second penalty after the race.

The stewards, that included Schumacher's former rival Damon Hill, sighted their argument to article 4o.13 in the sporting regulations that states "if the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking."

The 20 second penalty drops Schumacher back into 12th place and out of a points scoring position, whilst Sebastian Buemi moves up into 10th place to pick up one world championship point for team Toro Roso.

Mercedes will likely appeal the stewards decision, with a date for the appeal being set by the FIA at a later date.

Monaco Incident

This weekends Monaco Grand Prix, as it seems to do every year, threw up more thrills, spills and talking points then the rest of the season. The most obvious talking point this year is the incident that took place on the last corner of the final lap between Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, and former Ferrari driver and 7 time World Champion Michael Schumacher.

Following an incident at la Rascasse Monaco's tight second to last corner, the safety car was introduced for the 4th time in sundays race. With just 4 laps remaining and plenty of debris on the track it seemed that the race would finish under the safety car. However race stewards decided the track was clear enough for the safety car to come in on the last lap, allowing the race to finish under racing conditions for the final corner, and the home straight.

F1 rules state that once the safety car pits in normal racing can take place once a car has passed the safety car line, that in Monaco's case, crosses the track a few meters down from the entry to the pits.

Exiting la Rascasse Alonso managed to get his back end out of shape sliding his car in the entry to Anthony Noghes corner. This slide allowed Schumacher, who had been trailing Alonso behind the safety car, to nip up the inside of the Ferrari and maintain the position out of the final corner and onto the home straight.

Initially it seemed that maybe the Mercedes driver had not waited until passing the safety car line, before overtaking Alonso. However video evidence showed this was not to be the case.

After the race Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali believed that Schumacher's move was against F1 rules. Alonso was instructed that the race was "over" and therefore the pass should not be allowed.

Former Ferrari man Ross Brawn had a different view.

"The regulations which are new this year which say you can race between safety car line 1 and the start finish line"

"We were advised before the end of the race that the safety car would be coming in, there was no instruction that the race would finish under the safety car"

Both teams will be presenting their respective cases to the race stewards, but the debate will continue into next week.

Monaco Grand Prix Race Round Up

Webber Shines Brightest As The Stars Come Out For The Monaco Grand Prix

On a perfect day for racing in the small principality Mark Webber put on an almost perfect drive to ensure he took the chequered flag in first place on Sunday in Monaco. Webber, who becomes the first Australian to win the street race since Jack Brabham in 1959, started on pole after pipping Robert Kubica, with what many have described as a perfect lap, in saturdays final session of qualifying. And he never lost his position at the front of the field, as the Australian managed to get his Red Bull Racing car first into turn one and pull away from a chasing pack.

However as history tells us, the Monaco grand prix always throws up a few thrills and spills to entertain the crowds, and cause havoc for the drivers. Sundays race was no exception. After Nico Hulkenberg collided with the barriers exiting the tunnel on lap 1 the safety car was deployed and remained out for the first 6 laps of the race. The pack bunched up behind Webber as the leader was prevented from extending any sort of read over his World Championship rivals. However it was the McLaren of Jensen Button that suffered most from the introduction of the safety car. Due to a mix up at McLaren that resulted in a bung being left in the a cooling vent of his side pod, Button's engine over heated under the slow place of the safety car forcing last years World Champion to retire after only 3 laps.

Once normal racing resumed Webber pulled away again from Vettel and the remainder of the field, whilst at the back of the pack, the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, who started from the pits due to a crash in practise saturday morning that prevented him from qualifying, started to work his way past the F1 newbies. After being stuck behind Lucas Di Grassi of Virgin Racing for almost 3 laps Alonso made short work of the Lotus' and Hispania Racing cars eventually moving himself into 10^th place.

As Alonso pilled on the pressure, thanks him making his mandatory pit stop on lap 2, the front runners began to make their stops to prevent the Spaniard from passing them when they pitted. Hamilton, Vettel and Kubica all pitted around lap 22-23 and managed to retain their positions.

As many of the front runners came in Nico Rosberg found clear air and managed to post the fastest lap of the race. It was not enough for him to gain leverage on the leaders as Webber exited the pits with Rosberg in his rear view mirrors. Rosberg was unable to extend his gap over the chasing group and after pitting on lap 29 he was forced to rejoin behind Alonso, Hamilton, Massa and his team mate Schumacher.

The safety car made its second appearance of the day after Rubens Barrichello smashed into the barriers at the top of the hill at around 170mph thanks to a failure at the left rear of his car. Webber's 15 second lead was wiped out as the cars bunched up as Rubens wreckage was cleared from the track.

After the cars were again allowed to race, it was Webber that again took the initiative and stretched out another healthy lead. Robert Kubica, who was looking to retake second place back from Vettel after the young German overtook him at the start of the race, pulled out a number of fastest laps and filled the Red Bull drivers mirrors with his Yellow and Black Renault.

However another incident forced the safety car to come out, as the race stewards suspected a lose drain cover on the road could cause a major accident. Once the safety car pulled back in from its third outing Webber, again, pulled out all the stops to pull away from the chasing pack, as Vettel and Kubica, were joined by Massa in the fight for second.

Monaco's tight streets continued to hamper the drivers ability to overtake, as the race processioned through the principality. Much of the races action seemed to be over until Lap 74 when Jarno Trulli, attempted to slide his Lotus up the inside of Karun Chandhok at Rascasse. As the two touched the Lotus went straight over the top of Chandhok's Hispania car taking both parties out of the race. The incident happened yards away from the front of Mark Webber's car as he managed to avoid the nasty tangle of the two back markers. It also brought out the safety car for the 4^th and final time in the race. With the safety car coming in on the last lap, it allowed Webber to take the chequered flag under racing conditions and win the most prestigious Grand Prix on the calender.

Monaco Qualifying Round Up

Webber edges out Kubica as Red Bull see Pole in Monaco

For the 6th time this year it will be a Red Bull Racing car at the front of the grid for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix. Australian Mark Webber, who takes his second pole in as many weeks, managed to take pole position away from Renault driver Robert Kubica by just 3 tenths of a second in the third session of saturdays qualifying.

Kubica had managed to hold off strong challenges from Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, and Webber's team mate Vettel, before finally being knocked off pole by Webber on his final lap of the session.

Kubica splits the two Red Bulls, with the young German, Vettel, taking 3rd whilst Felipe Massa's ferrari finished 4th to complete the first 2 rows of the Grid.

The McLaren pair of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button take 5th and 8th positions respectively with the two Mercedes GP drivers slotting in between them, as Nico Rosberg managed to again out qualify his World Champion team mate Michael Schumacher to take 6th.

Rubens Barrichello placed his Williams-Cosworth 9th on the grid, but was well off the pace of the front runners, with Vitantonio Liuzzi getting his Force India car into saturdays final qualifying session and 10th place on the grid.

Noticeable by his absence in qualifying was Fernando Alonso, who managed to have a tangle with the barriers of the tricky street circuit in the final practise session on saturday morning. The crash caused enough damage to the chasis of his Ferrari that he was unable to get it fixed before qualifying, and therefore was unable to take part. Alonso will start Sundays race from the back of the grid behind Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok of Hispania racing, and will have to try and find as many overtaking spots as he can on the narrow twisty street circuit, if he is to have a chance of picking up any points and strengthen his title challenge.

Alonso was not the only driver to be caught out by the tight corners and unforgiving nature of Monaco, as Renault's Martin Petrov managed to hit the barriers at turn one during the second session of qualifying leaving him stuck in 13th on the grid for sunday.

Speaking after his flying lap Webber described his final run.

"It all came together in that lap, the car was a pleasure to drive and I am delighted because the guys have worked really hard.

"To get pole at Monaco is obviously a great feeling so I am really pleased."

Webber will be looking to match his impressive drive last week which saw him lead from start to finish in Spain.

NBA Game 5 Boston @ Cleveland Short Summary.

Pierce and Co Revel, as Cleveland Lose Home Court Advantage

Tuesday night saw game 5 between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland.

Boston came into town off the back of a 97-87 win in game 4 of this tight series, and the Celtics were looking again to the star of that game, Rajan Rondo, to help bring home vital road victory for the visitors.

For much of the opening moments of the game nothing could separate the two sides as they swapped the lead between each other for most of the first quater. But as the second period progressed it was Boston who began to take control.

After Cleveland pulled out to an early lead Boston looked to their big time players to respond to the pressure Cleveland was putting on them. Paul Pierce kicked into gear, and notched up 14 points in the first half, with Kevin Garnett netting himself 12 inside the first 24 minutes. By half time Boston had a 44 - 50 lead.

After the half the Celtics just ran away from a Cleveland team that just couldn't find its rhythm. League MVP LeBron James only managed 15 point, with 9 of them coming from the free throw line, as he shot his way to a miserable 3/14 from the floor.

On the other side of the court Ray Allen and Paul Pierce lead Boston with 25 and 21 points respectively, as the Celtics racked up 70 points in the second half to take game 5 with a comfortable 120 - 88 win.

Game 5 ended in misery for Cleveland who now head to Boston needing a win in game 6 to keep the series alive and to prevent Boston moving to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic.

NBA 10/05/10

Last night saw the Suns meet the Spurs in San Antonio in Game 4 of their series in the Western Playoffs. The Suns, who have been knocked out of the playoffs by San Antonio 4 times since 2003, took a commanding 3 game lead into last nights game, looking to send the Spurs "fishing" for the remainder of the summer.

The Suns started slowly and allowed the Spurs to stretch out a 25-19 first quater lead over the visitors, but that would prove to be as good as it would get for San Antonio in a thrilling night of basketball. Phoenix managed to put together 9-2 run in the 2nd to take away the Spurs lead midway through the quater, which included some key play from their bench players, especially Jarred Dudley who racked up 16 pts on a very effective night.

The Spurs were by no means out of the tie however, as Manu Ginobili, who posted up 15 pts and 9 assists, managed to team with both Duncan and Parker to keep San Antonio's playoff hopes alive.

With 6 min left to play in the third Sun's fans watched with baited breath as All-Star point guard Steve Nash took a blow to the face from the elbow of fellow All-Star Tim Duncan. The knock opened a cut above Nash's right eye and would require Nash to leave the floor for the rest of the quater to get stitches. San Antonio used this period to put together an 11 point run and tie up the game heading into the fourth.

As the 4th ticked away the game remained tied with both teams trading minimal leads, until with 10 minutes left Steve Nash, back from the locker room, started to etch out a lead for Phoenix. After nailing a long range three, that game the Suns a 77-80 lead Nash went on to score another 7pts and 5 assists to add to his already impressive tallies.

Etching out a 6 point lead with 50 seconds to go, Suns fans could not have been scorned for thinking that they had this wrapped up, yet the Spurs remained in contention, with Parker and Nash trading buckets until George Hill was fouled whilst making a clutch 3 pointer, giving the Spurs a 4 point play and a chance to reduce the lead to 2.

However after a pair of Grant Hill free throws, Ginobili was unable to hit his three point attempt and after Richardson grabbed the rebound and hit the two resulting free throws, the Suns took game 4 and the Series over their rivals and progressed to the Western Conference Championships.

Nightly Notables

On a night where someone would have to step up in order to seal the deal for Phoenix, both Steve Nash, and Amar'e Stoudemire answered the call. Nash totalled an impressive 20 points, shooting 9/15 and dished the ball out across the court racking up 9 assists. Stoudemire's powerful inside game grabbed him 5 rebounds and 29 points, shooting a very impressive 10/17 on the night.

On the Spurs side of the ball, Tim Duncan grabbed 8 rebounds and 17 points, joint 2nd in scoring for San Antonio alongside George Hill who also hit 17 points, shooting 6/11. Tony Parker was the Spurs star of the night as he posted 22 points 5 rebounds and 5 assists, but it was not enough to keep them in the game or in the series.

Phoenix now wait for the Conclusion of tonights game between the LA Lakers and the Utah Jazz, to find out who they will meet in the Conference Finals. Utah who narrowly lost game 3 of their series need to win at home tonight in game 4 as they, like the Spurs were last night, stand on the brink of elimination, having lost the first 3 games of their series with Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers.

Else where tonight, the Orlando Magic come off a massive 40 point win over Josh Smith and the Atlanta Hawks and will be looking to close out the series away from home. Atlanta, who have been dominated by the Magic all series, will be relying on Smith and Johnson, neither of whom have impressed in the previous 3 games, to increase their production if the Hawks are to stand a chance of winning a series which many feel, is already over.

Orlando's (or Atlanta's) opponents in the Eastern Conference final will be either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Boston Celtics, who are locked at 2-2 in a nail biting series. The Cavs took a 2-1 lead in game 3 after LeBron James took centre stage racking up 38 points and 7 assists in a dominating 124 - 80 win in Boston. However Boston replied, much as they did in game 2, on Saturday night with a 97 - 87 win, thanks to a 29 point 13 assist display from Celtics guard Rajan Rondo. Game 5 will see the series head back to Cleveland, but after the 104 - 86 win the Celtics managed in game 2 in Cleveland, home field advantage means nothing in this series, which could easily stretch to a full 7 games.