International: Soccer (Football) League play is suspendedthis weekend in almost all countries. This allows soccer stars, no matter their team or where they play, toreturn home to play for their national teams. This weekend will see the early selection rounds for countries to bechosen to play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, to be contested next (2018) June andJuly in Russia. So, no Arsenal or ParisSaint-Germain, no Bayern or Roma or Real Madrid this weekend. As for prospects on national team play thisweekend: wave your own flag, too earlyfor this blog to speculate. In the USA: Elite Eight action begins today in the NCAABasketball playoffs. This collegiatetournament has brought plenty of action and excitement, whether you prefer tocall it the big dance or March madness... Kansas, Oregon, South Carolina, North Carolina and Kentucky have thisElite Eight sounding like a Miss America pageant, but Catholic schools Xavierand Gonzaga have held out too, and will play each other today for a spot in theFinal Four. Last night, in the finalgame leading to the Elite Eight, Wisconsin tied Florida with two seconds to go,to send the game into overtime. Nospoiler alerts here, you will have to watch the game you recorded or check thenet for your results. In India: If ever there was a year to follow Cricket,this might be IT. This year, Australia's tour of India has not been a ho humaffair, and all is on the line for the start of today's Fourth Test, India v Australia, in a stadium in the remote mountaintoplocale of Dharamsala. A few weeks ago India's players probablyexpected the fourth Test to be a festive occasion in a picturesque locale,completing a marathon home international season with the completion of acomfortable series win over Australia. But... Instead Dharamsala plays host to amatch that will be anything but valedictory. Australia has fought India all theway through the series, having started with a stunning upset in Pune, and nowfind themselves needing only a draw to go home with the trophy. India, bycontrast, have had to dig particularly deep to avoid defeat, first gettingdecidedly scrappy in Bengaluru, and then fighting hard, getting injured, doingall they could to escape with a draw in the third test in Ranchi... Virat Kohli, India's spectacular team Captain, has beeninjured and his season has tragically ended.... In a series that has hit plenty of heights,the mountaintop locale of Dharamsala seems as fitting a place as any for thefate of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be decided. Australia beating India INIndia? Can it happen, what was that theysaid, thrice in fifty years? We shallsee, all Australia needs this week is a draw and it will have done so. -- Posted By Rex to Speed o Rex at 3/25/2017 03:56:00 AM -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "omnisport" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/omnisport. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
