One last moment for Flintoff

If you're interested, you can read about 5,000+ articles about the Ashes 2009 ending today (but sure not many in the U.S., though the NY Times had an article).

I was following it off and on Sunday (it's not like it's televised here in the States!); it started to look a little dicey as Ponting and Hussey thwarted England's attempts to make it a short final day. But then -- as happens so much in sports -- a slight mistake was capitalized on by a wily, wounded veteran.

Hard for me to explain this, particularly since I didn't grow up talking cricket. But I'll try. Hussey hit a short ball, essentially, and signaled for a run, where the two batsmen switch positions. It wasn't a great hit, and it was fielded. Captain Ponting reacted slow. It was fielded by Flintoff, who -- there's no better way to describe it, even though it's over-used -- fired a laser at the wicket, and smashed it with Ponting's bat a foot from the line (he has to cross the line to be safe). It was only the third wicket, but it was fully demoralizing, and as I said yesterday:

Will Flintoff come through with a bravura perfomance on the last day of his last Test?

Well, the answer was yes. It reminded me of last spring's Capitals vs. Rangers hockey playoffs, Game 7, a similarly dicey situation with the scored tied late in the third period. Superstar and Hall-of-Fame bound Sergey Federov awakened the echoes with a faster-than-he's-been rush, stopped nearly on a dime, froze the defender, and fired a, ahem, laser into the net to win the game and the series.

It certainly wasn't all Flintoff, though he was certainly a big part of the first match win (taking five wickets). In this match, Broad took five wickets in the first innings, captain Strauss batted great and got the next wicket after Flintoff with a split-second toss on a really short ball to knock the wicket down before the batsman could get back, Trott got his first century in his first Test when England needed runs for confidence...

I can see why people could get fascinated by this game.

Heck of a sports weekend. Eric Bruntlett finished a baseball game with an unassisted triple play, only the second time that's EVER happened -- and Michelle Wie, who's had a few bumps on the road to superstardom, played 3-0-1 in the Solheim Cup (which the U.S. won over Europe) and looked like the best player on the course.

So, though I've never mentioned it -- I hate ESPN because they don't cover enough minor sports. Flintoff's final moment of glory should have been in Sportscenter's Top 10, maybe even #1 -- it was that good, that necessary, and the Ashes are NOT a regular season baseball game.

Ah well. At least I saw it and knew what it meant.

If you want to see it, Cricket Online has it, in the second segment on the 4th day.

Here's a picture of the ball breaking the wicket before Ponting breaks the plane.

Wish that they had a picture of Flintoff making the throw. Can't have everything.

And here's Michelle Wie. If she wins a few majors, she could make more money than Tiger Woods, because she can sell clothes as well as sports equipment.