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http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010...simon-whitlock

Phil Taylor won the PDC World Championship final last night with a 7-3 victory over Simon Whitlock, who fought gamely, at Alexandra Palace. Taylor trailed the Australian by two sets to one but produced a stunning run of form to seal his 15th world title.
Taylor later told Sky Sports 1: "I think that's one of the greatest finals – no disrespect to the others. It was hard work but this is everything I've ever dreamed of and practised for.
"When we went for the break Simon said, 'I'm coming after you, I'm not going to give in, you know,' and I said, 'I know'. It's been absolutely brilliant and I'm so chuffed.
"I love everything about the game. I love getting up every morning and practising and finding new ways of getting better. I love the competition. I'm always motivated as it's my job and it's what I love doing."
His beaten opponent had no complaints, instead reflecting on his terrific tournament with immense satisfaction. "I'm just proud of the way I played," said Whitlock. "I think I pushed Phil a bit and next year I'm going to come back stronger.
"It's changed my whole life. I can move over here and can play on the circuit now. I hope this support continues for all of my life. I'll keep trying and will never give up in trying to become a world champion."
Taylor, the world No1, opened with a 180 and, although Whitlock won the leg, the unseeded 40-year-old lost the first set. However, Whitlock swiftly raised eyebrows by winning the next two sets to take a surprising 2-1 lead.
Yet that was to be as good as it got for Whitlock, who had sprung a shock in the semi-final by beating Raymond van Barneveld, as Taylor took control. He won the fourth set and followed that by taking the fifth with a checkout of 161, before dominating the next two to establish a commanding 5-2 lead.
Whitlock then won the first leg of the sixth set and, although he lost the next two, he still squared matters. A 180 then put pressure on Taylor but he managed to check out on 80 to move within a set of victory. Taylor was in imperious mood by now, and a brilliant checkout of 170 in the eighth left Whitlock with no other option than to offer his hand sportingly in recognition.
Taylor would not have it all his own way, though, as Whitlock grittily checked the slide in the ninth set, winning the first and third legs before closing it out with a double one after both players had failed to nail their checkouts.
An improbable fightback was not on the cards, though, with Taylor appropriately wrapping up his victory with a 131 checkout. Taylor, who was outscored in 180s but found finishes of 170, 167 and 161 in his run of five successive winning sets, claimed a £200,000 winner's cheque, the highest paid out in darts history.

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POLICE kicked 91 people out of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG today, with 13 of them arrested for drunkenness.

Police also issued 28 penalty notices for drunk and anti-social behaviour, such as offensive language.

A police spokeswoman said the known troublespots between bays 11 to 14 were the main target for police but she described the behaviour of the crowd, close to 60,000, as "pretty good".

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LINGERIE FOOTBALL LEAGUE KICKS OFF ON FUEL TV

By staff writers
December 10, 2009

Lingerie football is here! America's thirst for ever-wackier forms of sport has hit a new high with the introduction of the American Lingerie Football League.
The league consists of a 20-week season played on indoor pitches, with all-female teams (which is a relief!) and highly skilled athletes giving their all (and in some cases showing it).

FUEL TV will have all the action from the ALFL from January 6 at 7.30pm (EDT). Miss it at your peril! Meanwhile, enjoy this taste of what is to come.

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Know your limits: Australian race fans told to keep to 24 cans of beer a day

Police have issued restrictions on alcohol at the forthcoming Bathurst 1,000 car race


Australian motorsport fans are ruing militant alcohol consumption guidelines at one of the country's most popular races – after being limited to a mere 24 cans of beer a day.
Police in charge of the Bathurst 1,000 car race in Bathurst, New South Wales, issued the restrictions before the start of the four-day event this Thursday.
Spectators are limited to one 24-can case each of full-strength beer, although if revellers are willing to consume lower-strength alcohol (3.5% abv or less) they will be entitled to a more satisfactory 36 cans.
Wine lovers have not escaped the heavy hand of the law either, being restricted to a punitive four litres a day.
Fans will be limited to 24 375ml cans of average-strength beer – a total of 9,000ml. This betters by 1,048ml the 14 pints William Hague famously said he swilled as a young man – but then the Conservative MP reckoned he was drinking that amount every day rather than merely reserving heavy consumption for infrequent sporting events.
Clearly, we mere mortals could not hope to match the exploits of a rowdy Australian motorsport fanatic or an adolescent shadow foreign secretary.
But more acceptable to amateur drinkers may be the comparatively gentle exploits of the London mayor Boris Johnson, who chooses November's edition of Tatler to extol the benefits of a couple of pints over lunch. Johnson's predecessor, Ken Livingstone, was known to enjoy a glass of whisky during meetings, asserting it was good for his cough.
But for the most notorious drinking records, one must delve back into the sporting world.
The Australian cricketer David Boon famously, or infamously, drank 52 cans of beer on a flight from Sydney to London before the 1989 Ashes tour, a staggering (literally) total of 19,500ml of grog.
This betters the total of a motor-racing fan and a precocious young Tory combined.
Maybe 24 cans is quite harsh after all.

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