Sports Notes Cambodia Winning Football - Sportswriter Jim Murray Awards - November 2006

James Loving - National Radio Text Service - Thursday November 9, 2006 -

Cambodia Undefeated in Last Three Games - COMEDIAN TOM DREESEN HEADLINES NOVEMBER 12 AWARDS DINNER FOR JIM MURRAY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION

CAMBODIAN NATIONAL TEAM UNDEFEATED IN LAST THREE GAMES

SAY WHAT!!! The Cambodian National team is undefeated in its last three games. Yes… believe it or not I tell you true.

This past weekend the Khmer squad played two friendly games with Vietnam club side An Hgiang. They came up with a 1-0 victory on Friday November 3 and had a 0-0 level result Sunday November 5 at Phnom Penh's Old Stadium.

Cambodia avenged their 0-3 loss to the same side two weeks ago in Vietnam. It was their only loss against Vietnam clubs. While in Vietnam, Cambodia earned a 2-1-1 record in the friendly games against Vietnam club sides.

The Khmers began their Vietnam trip with a 3-1 victory over Binh Duong a club that finished third in the V-League this season. Cambodia followed that up with a 1-1 result against Port Authority, a 0-3 loss to An Hgiang and a 1-0 victory over Army.

The victory over Army in Vietnam and this past weeks results earns Cambodia an undefeated record in their past three games. That is the longest undefeated record since 1998 during the time I've been covering the team.

So what has turned the Cambodian national team around from losers to winners?

"Technical understanding of what we're trying to do," said head coach Scott O'Donell.

O'Donell also pointed out the team coming up with three clean sheets in a row.

NOTES:

National team records were destroyed during the Khmer Rouge conflict.

***

The side will leave Thursday for Manila, Philippines where they will compete in the minnow competition of the AFF Tourney: Pre-qualifying round (formerly Tiger Cup). taking place from November 12 through 20.

Competition will be against the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Timor Leste and Cambodia. The two top teams will go through to compete against ASEAN sides Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Vietnam and Malaysia.

NICE TOUCH

The national team football games during the Water Festival are a nice touch to the festivities. It gives Cambodian people that come to Phnom Penh from the provinces to celebrate the Water Festival a chance to see their national team play.

It will also help develop support and a fan base that the Cambodian team so badly needs.

The Water Festival competition will benefit by repeating every year against Vietnam teams. The competitive nature between the two countries and the fairly large community of Vietnamese living in Cambodia can help induce healing between the two nations.

When the Vietnam U-20 team came to play in January 2002 at Old Stadium there was an enthusiastic Vietnamese crowd on hand cheering on their side. The point being… bringing people together for a good time… isn't that what the BEAUTIFUL GAME is supposed to be all about?

THE FORMER CONTENDER

Excuse me… there is lineage here… in The Contender reality TV show. Sylvester Stallone the star of the Rocky boxing movies and also Rambo films was one of the creators of The Contender TV show. Fighter Joey Gilbert who fought on the show in the first season of The Contender has joined forces with Frank Stallone, Sly's brother to create a website that you can talk to boxers. FULL STORY…

We thank all of our French language readers as your participation in reading our NBA MAX stories rated # 10 in our latest NR Top 10 polls for September that we will publish soon. The primary focus was on our Dominique Wilkens story who was born in France.

COMEDIAN TOM DREESEN HEADLINES NOVEMBER 12 AWARDS DINNER FOR JIM MURRAY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION

2006 Murray Scholars to be honored at La Quinta Resort & Club, The Waldorf Astoria Collection

Who Is Jim Murray???

LA QUINTA, Calif. [October 24, 2006]

In his May 1, 1997, column, Jim Murray wrote of Tom Dreesen: Dreesen is as integral a part of the successful golf tournament - or sports charity promotion, generally - today as any most valuable player or Masters winner. If you count the benefits he has performed without fee, he has contributed more to charity than the Rockefellers.

On Sunday evening, November 12, at the La Quinta Resort & Club, The Waldorf Astoria Collection, Tom Dreesen will emcee the eighth annual Jim Murray Invitational Golf Classic's Murray Scholars' Award Dinner.

The 2006 journalism scholarship winners are Jason Acunzo, Trinity College-Hartford (Murray's alma mater); Timothy Bontemps, St. Bonaventure University; John W. Cox, University of Florida-Gainesville; Jae Haley, Wake Forest University; Emily Ortman, Ball State University; Orr Shtuhl, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Megan Garber, Columbia University.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a first-time winner and St. Bonaventure University continues its unbroken record with seven consecutive Murray Scholars.

Wake Forest welcomes its second Murray Scholar, Ball State University embraces its third scholarship recipient, and University of Florida-Gainesville lays claim to four Murray Scholars. Trinity College and Columbia University have annual JMMF scholarship recipients.

As of this year, 49 Murray Scholars have each received a $5,000 scholarship.

Excitement is building as the buzz about town is who is the special mystery guest attending the awards dinner this year?

Linda McCoy-Murray, Jim's widow and president-founder of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation notes, "We miss Jim and his columns that were filled with incredible humor and insightfulness. Not only does his legacy live on through our Murray Scholars, we're taking our mission to yet another level with the debut of the long-awaited one-man play on Jim's life, An Evening with Jim Murray: The Wit and Wisdom of the World's Greatest Sportswriter."

Jim's early passion to become the next Eugene O'Neill will add yet another dimension to his life's story.

On Monday, November 13, 2006, SilverRock Resort in La Quinta will host the eighth annual Jim Murray Invitational Golf Classic.

Longtime friend, Arnold Palmer, is the honorary chairman of the event for the eighth consecutive year.

Jim Murray continued his written praise for comedian and friend Tom Dreesen. "Dreesen became America's sports comedian. He emceed Mickey Mantle dinners, Billy Martin's retirement, NFL alumni dinners. But golf was his passion. He was the pro's pro. Other guys were masters of the one-iron, Dreesen, the one-liner."

For more information, please call the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation (760) 771-8972, or email jimmurrayinvitationalgolf@yahoo.com. .

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