Sports Thread #1 For 11/16/09: The Runthrough

From Timesonline.com

The great Allen Iverson tenure has thankfully ended in Memphis.

Stephen Jackson is also thankfully gone from the Warriors and traded to the Bobcats. Will be interesting to see where he plays since Gerald Wallace the unquestioned 3 on that team. I guess he'll be the 2, since I don't know how Gerald Henderson starts ahead of him with how big Jackson's contract is.

Novak Djokovic has won back to back tournaments, including the BNP Paribas Masters final thriller over junior friend Gael Monfils . Tennis.com's enjoyable Steve Tignor with a fine review:

They’ve played better matches, but this tournament was a step forward for each guy. If Monfils can give us this much substance in the future, if he can find his way through the close ones, I won’t complain about the pointless flash, the empty calories anymore—I’ll be able to say “that’s Gael being Gael” with a smile rather than a sigh. And really, would we want to see the guy intentionally not hit a forehand from 10 feet in the air? As for Djokovic, I was heartened, if a little frightened, by the return of his family and their us-against-the-world rooting style in Paris—even his girlfriend looked like she was ready to mix it up. If they keep him this motivated, if he tastes the top again, if he can tip his mental balance from frustration back to the hunger he had in 2007, we won’t have to worry about this generation being too nice. If Djokovic and Monfils keep playing matches like this one in 2010, all we'll have to worry about is that there's enough oxygen around to keep them on their feet.

Djokovic also won the weirdest trophy in tennis, which is always given if someone wins the valued Paris Indoors.

Jimmie Johnson is just a beast.

Michelle Wie didn't just lift a boulder off of her shoulder.......she lifted off a mountain.

Robin van Persie and Arsenal fans are fortunate that he is just out for 6 weeks after suffering ligament damage in the friendly against Italy over the weekend.

Barcelona's Eric Abidal is out for three weeks now, and will be interesting to see will fill in for him in the crucial second leg for France against Ireland in less than two days time.

RIP Antonio De Nigris.

Peter Forsburg isn't coming back to the NHL for the moment to prepare for the Olympics.

This Bud Adams video was great: