A round-up of other sporting news
Sports Book of the Year shortlist announced
SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR:The shortlist of six books has been announced for this year's William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year Award with the names of some of Ireland's top sportspeople to the fore in the list.
The top six books have stories on some of Ireland's greatest ever sports stars. Sonia O'Sullivan's autobiography with Tom Humphries is included, as is Ronan O'Gara's story of his glittering career with Ireland and Munster.
Keith Duggan's depiction of life behind the doors of Mayo football, House of Pain, is included in the shortlist along with the great highs and lows of a career in motorsport with arguably Ireland's greatest driver, Tommy Byrne, in Crashed and Byrned.
The shortlist for 2008 is completed by two horse racing books focusing on a couple of Ireland's most famous and interesting characters, jockey Mick Fitzgerald with his story Better Than Sex, which was written with Donn McClean, and trainer Mouse Morris who tells his extraordinary tale of life within horseracing.
The winner of the award will be announced in Dublin this Thursday, December 11th.
WILLIAM HILL IRISH SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2008 - Shortlist: Sonia - My Story by Sonia O'Sullivan with Tom Humphries; House of Pain - Through the Rooms of Mayo Football by Keith Duggan; Crashed and Byrned by Tommy Byrne with Mark Hughes; My Autobiography by Ronan O'Gara; Mouse Morris - His Extraordinary Racing Life by Declan Colley; Better Than Sex by Mick Fitzgerald with Donn McClean.
Revington chooses first squad
MEN'S HOCKEY: New Ireland senior men's coach Paul Revington has announced his first panel of 26 players. The former South African coach, who does not officially take up his post until January, took the opportunity to view over 30 players during last month's three-match series against Scotland and also hold meetings with players and staff during his 10-day visit to Ireland.
He heads a management team of eight, which will be again reviewed after one year. "The squad contains a healthy mix of youth and experience, experienced players in key areas of the field, exciting attacking and goal scoring options and high quality goalkeepers," he said. Revington has also selected 16 players for the Ireland 'A' side, which he will be watching carefully.
The new coach has also announced the team's training schedule for next year up to the European Nations Trophy, which begins at the start of August.
• SQUAD in SPORTS ROUND-UP
Strict regime for Garmin-Slipstream
CYCLING: The 29 riders from the Garmin-Slipstream team will be tested over 600 times next season after agreeing to a new internal anti-doping programme, the US outfit said yesterday.
Garmin-Slipstream, managed by former professional rider Jonathan Vaughters, was founded in 2005 on a strong anti-doping stance and were using the services of the Agency for Cycling Ethics (ACE) until it closed earlier this year.
"(The team) will participate in a new program run by the Anti-Doping Sciences Institute (ADSI) to further its anti-doping mission." said a statement.
"All 29 athletes on the team are voluntarily participating in the program, which will test them over 600 times in 2009.
"The programme will include tests to detect the new generation of the banned blood-booster EPO, called CERA."
Surgery saves Brown's life
RUGBY: Former All Blacks outhalf Tony Brown has undergone life-saving surgery in Japan after suffering a freak injury, local newspapers reported. The Yomiuri Shimbun said Brown ruptured his pancreas while playing a club match in October. He spent five weeks in a Tokyo hospital and developed acute pancreatitis.
"They (the doctors) said it was quite severe and they needed to operate to save my life," Brown told the paper.
Tennessee clinch play-off place
AMERICAN FOOTBALL: The Tennessee Titans, New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals all clinched play-off berths by winning divisional titles on Sunday.
The Titans improved to a league-best 12-1 with a 28-9 win over the Cleveland Browns, ending the Indianapolis Colts' five-year reign as AFC South champions.
Tennessee also clinched a first-round bye when the New York Jets dropped a 24-14 decision to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Giants (11-2) missed a first chance to wrap up the NFC East when they fell at home to the Philadelphia Eagles 20-14, a result which ended their seven-game winning streak.
But when the Dallas Cowboys lost 20-13 to the Pittsburgh Steelers just hours later, the defending Super Bowl champions clinched the division title. Arizona won their first division title in 33 years, claiming the NFC West with a 34-10 rout of the St Louis Rams. The Cardinals (8-5) secured their first division crown since the NFC East in 1975.
Heavy security greets England
CRICKET: England were escorted to their hotel by around 50 armed commandos after returning to India yesterday for their two-Test tour.
The England team, who decided on Sunday to resume the tour after curtailing a one-day series following last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, arrived in two batches from Abu Dhabi.
All-rounder Andrew Flintoff said it was tough for players to dismiss security concerns but added they had been united when they finally voted to go ahead with the tour.
"Everyone has decided to go, we have decided to go as a team," he said.
The first Test, starting on Thursday, was switched to Chennai from Ahmedabad and the second to Mohali (December 19th-23rd) from Mumbai.
