Spanning the Globe

Rome↵
↵First Federer doesn’t win the Aussie Open and then goes into a protracted slump, and now, NOW, Rafael Nadal has been ousted early in a tournament on clay. Juan Carlos Ferrero beat him yesterday in two sets in a second-round match of the Rome Masters. The three-time defending champion, Rafa has never lost in Rome. In fact, he hasn’t lost on clay since last May, when Fed beat him in Hamburg. Before that he’d won 81 straight matches on the orange stuff. So what the hell is going on out there anyway? Next thing you know, Roddick’s going to win Wimbledon.↵↵Milan
↵Look who’s back at the top of a leaderboard. Big John Daly shot a 67 today at the Italian Open to put him three strokes back of the lead after the first round today in Milan. It might not sound like that much to be crowing about, but for a guy who’s made three cuts this year in ten starts on tour, a first-round 67 is like a mini-green jacket. He credited his play today to a change in his stance, but me, I’m wondering if it’s cause he can’t get his Coors Light over there in Italy. Cause you just know Big John don’t be drinking no Eurotrash Peroni crap. ↵

↵↵Ireland
↵You thought all that bluster about testing Eight Belles for steroids was just posturing for the media. Think again. Today the news has broken that the horse of the Irish Olympic hopeful Jessica Kurten has tested positive for a banned substance and will be given a two-month ban from the show jumping circuit. When asked for comment, the horse, named Castle Forbes Maike (that’s Irish slang for “gimme a one and one mate”) said he couldn’t understand what happened, he was just taking some nutritional supplements that he got from Trevor Graham.↵

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