The 2007 FISA Rowing Tour USA makes a stop in New York City today by rowing around the isle of Manhattan. The last leg of the week-long rowing tour is a "Row Around New York" where participants will row 30 miles around the island. The boats began at 6 am today at Pier 40 (Houston St. and the Hudson River) and should finish there at around 5 pm. Participating rowers, there are 70 of them, hail from 17 different countries with ano additional 50 rowers from the New York area. more ›

Holiday shopping got the best of you? Why not head out to Randall's Island tomorrow to watch some rugby at the 48th Annual NY 7s Tournament. Matches start at 8 AM and run all the way until 5:30 PM. The long list of teams (90 plus teams) participating includes teams from around the United States, Canada and Europe. There even seems to be a team all the way from Hong Kong. The NY 7s Tournament is the oldest and largest sevens tournament in the United States. more ›

With the 2006 World Cup only a day away, Gothamist thought it was about time to post about where you can watch it (of course, you may have to step away from the office for a bit). The list is by no means comprehensive as a lot of bars and restaurants are sure to show the world's most popular sporting event. A list of establishments that we came across in the extended entry. Feel free to add to the list in the comments. more ›

Let's step away from some of the more popular sports for a second. Move aside basketball and your NCAA Tournament. Take a chill pill baseball with your World Baseball Classic and Spring Training. Yesterday the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum hosted the Big Apple Grapple, which featuring the some of the world's best male and female arm wrestlers. All battling for NYC's King and Queen of Arms. Unfortunately, there are no results online for this scintillating display of strength. more ›

When Japan advanced to play Cuba in the finals of the World Baseball Classic, the matchup was not what Major League Baseball commissioner had envisioned or set up the tournament to produce. On Monday, Japan won the game 10-6 and the first championship of the World Baseball Classic. As they celebrated, Gothamist was left to wonder whether the tournament can become a fixture in the United States. more ›

Say it ain't so! The United States has been eliminated from the World Baseball Classic. Great news for George Steinbrenner, bad news for US baseball. Last night in Anaheim (or Los Angeles as the Angels would have you call it), Mexico defeated the US, 2-1. In the loss, the US team only managed three hits off 8 Mexican pitchers. If you're scoring at home, that's a single by Junior Griffey, a double by Chipper Jones and another double by Jeff Francoeur. The loss put the United states at 1-2 in 2nd round play and in a three-way tie with Mexico and Japan. But the same International Baseball Federation rules that put the US into the 2nd round, sent Japan to the semi-finals where they will play South Korea. Cuba will play the Dominican Republic in the other semi-final matchup. more ›

In what is becoming a slightly disturbing trend, the United States lost again in the World Baseball Classic. First, they lost to Canada, yesterday, the Americans lost to South Korea, 7-3. South Korea, who is 2-0 in the 2nd round and is unbeaten in the WBC, slugged their way to victory. Hee-Seop Choi teed off for a three-run homer in the 4th inning off of Astros pitcher Dan Wheeler, giving the Koreans a 6-1 lead. South Korea added another run in the 6th and the United States mounted a feeble attempt at a comeback in the 9th. more ›

Gothamist has watched tons of baseball games and every so often after a player tags-up, you see an appeal to the umpires. We've never actually seen that appeal work. In yesterday's World Baseball Classic game between the United States and Japan, it did. In the 8th inning with bases loaded, Akinori Iwamura hit a fly ball to left off Joe Nathan. Tsuyoshi Nishioka tagged up from third and easily beat an off-line throw from Randy Wynn to the plate. After the Nishioka apparently scored, the US appealed at 3rd, with the 2nd base umpire denying the appeal. Buck Martinez, the US manager came out and appealed to home plate umpire Bob Davidson who called Nishioka out after a conference. While replay wasn't an option for the play, it showed that Nishioka was clearly still at 3rd when Wynn caught the ball. more ›

In a stunner, the United States actually lost a game in pool play during the World Baseball Classic. Yesterday, they lost to their friendly neighbors to the north, 8-6. If you're thinking to yourselves, "Canada? Who the hell do they have?" Gothamist can say that we're right there with you. The "big" names on Team Canada include: Erik Bedard, Paul Quantrill, Chris Reitsma, Corey Koskie, Jason Bay, and Matt Stairs. Canada all but conceded the game when they shuffled their starting rotation, so the win is even bigger a shock. But with the WBC essentially an extremely competitive Spring Training, anything can happen. more ›

Over in Arizona yesterday, the United States won their first game in the World Baseball Classic, defeating Mexico 2-0. Jake Peavey, the starter for the United States, pitched only three innings, allowing 1 hit on only 23 pitches. He was pulled despite pitch counts allowing as many as 65 in the first round. Mike Timlin picked up the victory for the Americans, who struggled mightly against Rodrigo Lopez and four other Mexican pitchers. more ›

Yesterday, Billy Wagner, the new Mets closer announced that he was dropping out of the inaugural World Baseball Classic. CC Sabathia of the Cleveland Indians is also stepping aside, which is potentially a bigger problem for the United States than Wagner not playing. The US team now only has 3 starting pitchers - Jake Peavy, Dontrelle Willis and Roger Clemens - potentially a problem considering all the rules on the books. Lucky for the United States, they only have three games in pool play. more ›

Now that they've got all this cleared up, we're ready for some world baseball action! Too bad it doesn't start until March 3rd. more ›

Could a "World" Baseball Classic really be called that without one of the world's best baseball nations? Probably not, which is why it's great to hear that Cuba will be playing in the inaugural WBC. President Bush, former owner of the Texas Rangers, stepped in to help solve the issue. Each team that plays in the tournament is guaranteed 1% of the net profit with escalating amounts as they advance and any winnings Cuba would receive would be in violation of a U.S. trade embargo. Any proceeds that Cuba would get is going to be donated to Katrina victims directly by Major League Baseball. Gothamist wonders what the over/under is on Cuban defections during the tournament. The Times notes that the Cubans travel with extra security (more security than players!) to international games to prevent defections. Is there a Vegas line on this? We're going to go with ± 3.5. more ›

Major League Baseball announced the 60-man US World Baseball Classic roster yesterday with several players on the Mets and Yankees named as possible team members. The US list includes Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Al Leiter, and Alex Rodriguez. The Mets have Paul Lo Duca, Billy Wagner and David Wright on the US players listed. While the 60-person list is a list of players that can play in the tournament, the eventual roster must be trimmed to 30 players the day before tournament play. more ›

The sumo show doesn't stop here at Gothamist. Dave sent us some photos of sumo wrestlers going into Madison Square Garden earlier today. Yay for the cameraphone! We can only imagine the faces of the people emerging from Penn Station on their way to work. Good thing it's almost 60° out otherwise there might be some serious sumo nippleitis. more ›

A little more than a week ago, Gothamist wished that we could have sumo wrestlers walking the streets of New York. Now, with a sumo wrestling event Saturday at Madison Square Garden, Gothamist sort of got our wish. While we still don't see any pictures of giant men walking down the street, The Times does supply one image of sumo wrestlers eating at the Carnegie Deli. What did they eat? The Woody Allen, which is described as "lotsa corned beef plus lotsa pastrami" (two pounds worth, says The Times). more ›

The defending champion, Ewerton Teixeira, has been dubbed one of the favorites to win again. At only 21, the Brazilian Teixeira jumped onto the international scene in 2001 and quickly became a dominant force. Also favored are Atsushi Kadoi, the "Aggressor from Japan" and Eduardo "GenX" Tanaka from Brazil. more ›

Tomorrow, the 2004 NYC Grand Prix of Fencing in fencing starts, featuring over 300 fencers. The competition includes individual events and the 2004 World Championships in Women's Team Foil and Saber. The top 30 men in saber will all be competing as will the top 5 women in foil and saber. more ›