Within 2 days the Tour de France kicks off. The Tour starts in Brest on Saturday 5th July and eventually ends at the Champs-Élysées after 21 “étapes”.

Follow all the action at www.letour.fr.
Or in Dutch at www.tourdefrance.nl.

My bet
Winner of the first étape = Gert Steegmans

Ann Wauters, the famous Belgian Basketball player, decided some time ago to build a house close to the city of Kortrijk/Belgium.
In a forest, she “killed” 12 very old trees, just to have a good spot for her house.

The local authorities stopped the construction works in February, but just recently she received the permit to continue the works!!

Article below in Dutch from www.nieuwsblad.be
Ann Wauters mag toch bouwen

BELLEGEM - De stad Kortrijk gaf gisteren dan toch een vergunning voor de bouw van een woning in Bellegembos, eigendom van de bekende basketbalspeelster Ann Wauters en haar vriendin Lot Wielfaert uit de streek van Waregem. De werken werden in februari stilgelegd nadat enkele waardevolle bomen werden gerooid zonder vergunning.

De bouwwerken starten over enkele maanden. De twaalf gevelde bomen moeten worden vervangen door vijftien nieuwe hoogstammen op een andere plaats in de bostuin. De andere hoogstammen moeten behouden blijven.

Making phone calls with the PSP Gaming Console? Is Sony really planning to “tune” the PSP in such a way that it also becomes a mobile phone?
My opinion; Sony will wait at least another year before they will launch an all-in-one PSP2 device => mobile phone, gaming console, smarter design (lighter & smaller) & mobile office!

Read More:
http://gizmodo.com/5020855/sony-patent-hints-at-playstation-phone-possible-mystery-device

After 44 years, Spain takes the European football title ‘Euro 2008′.
They beat Germany with 0-1 with a goal of Torres.

The Spanish Armada played very good football and they really were “one team” (no stars or one-man shows) during the whole tournament.

Die Deutsche Mannschaft played poor football. Ballack, Schweinsteiger, Klose … none of the stars could lead Germany to victory!

Congratulations Spain!

Picture from PS3 Focus

Germany beat Turkey in the last minute of regular play-time by a goal of Philip Lahm.
Both teams played very solid and Turkey was even controlling the game at certain moments, but “die Deutsche Mannschaft” stayed ‘cool’ and finished the game! 
They were definitely worthy semi-finalists .

My bet for the final => Germany - Spain    1-3

 

Golf’s Big Hitters sign on the line as Volvo World Match Play Championship enters new and exciting era

24/06/2008

 Following the signing of a groundbreaking joint management agreement between Volvo, golf’s most experienced and enduring corporate brand and IMG, the leading sports management company in the world a new chapter for the World Match Play Championship is about to be written under Volvo and IMG’s stewardship.

 The newly-named Volvo World Match Play Championship will be transformed into a truly worldwide showcase thanks to a new host country, Spain, a new blue-chip venue, Finca Cortesín in Andalucía, a new ‘champion’s league,’ match play format and the most rigourous and transparent qualification criteria in the 44-year-history of an iconic event that is about to go genuinely global. 

With a total prize fund of €3.25million (approx. US$5million / SEK30million) and the champion’s cheque worth more than a million dollars, the Volvo World Match Play Championship, scheduled for the autumn of 2009 and for an initial three-year period will see 16 of the finest golfers in the world and drawn from every continent on earth going head-to-head in search of one of the most coveted crowns in global golf. 

With match play considered by many to be the purest form of golf, the Volvo World Match Play Championship is certain to be the ‘duel-in-the-crown’ of the circuit and will be a key component in the new European Tour‘Race to Dubai.’ 

As one chapter commences, another concludes with the industry-leading Volvo Masters taking the final curtain in what is sure to be emotive and dramatic fashion with a record €4.25million (approx. US$6.6million / SEK40million) prize fund on offer at Valderrama from 30^th October – 2^nd November 2008. 

Arguably the biggest business name in European golf, Volvo, was today unveiled as the new exclusive title sponsor and joint Management partner of the World Match Play Championship ahead of its 45^th anniversary in 2009 in an innovative initial three-year agreement with IMG, who created the iconic event in 1964. 

Along with a new format and qualification criteria (see attached), the Volvo World Match Play Championship will also move to a new home, the 7,439-yard Par-72 Finca Cortesín Golf Club near Malaga in the Andalucia region of Spain and will see a stellar match play field going head-to-head for a million-dollar-plus champion’s cheque.

Sanctioned by The European Tour and bringing together 16 of the top golfers from every continent in the world, the new Volvo World Match Play Championship, scheduled for Autumn 2009, will offer official prize money of €3,250,000 (approx. US$5million / SEK30million) and together with vital Official World Ranking Points is certain to play an important part in the closing stages of the inaugural Race to Dubai.

Link to the full press release: http://www.volvoinsponsorship.com/pages/news/detail.aspx?id=1654

Link to the official pictures of the Volvo World Match Play Championship - Signing Ceremony: http://www.volvoinsponsorship.com/pages/media/collection.aspx?menuId=9&id=118

Frank De Bleeckere, our best and … sadly our only Belgian guy at Euro2008.

Unfortunately Frank will not be the referee in the finals; he has been selected to do the semi-finals of Russia against Spain.
The referee for the final will be the Italian Roberto Rosetti.

More info on Frank De Bleeckere on www.frankdebleeckere.be (in Dutch)

Archive Picture from Wenjie Picasa webalbum

The Boston Celtics won Game 6 in the NBA Finals and captured their 17th NBA Championship.

Boston Celtics 4 - LA Lakers 2

Picture from www.nba.com

The American rapper Snoop Dogg is coming to Belgium on 20th September, presenting his new album Ego Trippin. He will bring a live band with him.

More info on www.snoopdogg.com

Picture from www.nieuwsblad.be

==> Dutch article below

Snoop Dogg komt naar Vorst Nationaal

 

De Amerikaanse rapper Snoop Dogg komt weer naar België. Op 20 september staat hij in Vorst Nationaal.

Snoop Dogg brengt een liveband mee om zijn nieuwe album, ‘Ego Trippin’, voor te stellen. Vorig jaar gaf de hiphopper al een optreden in Vorst, samen met P. Diddy, en in 2005 stond hij op de wei van Werchter.

Tickets voor het optreden kosten 35 euro en kunnen vanaf nu besteld worden via Proximus Go For Music: 0900 2 60 60 - www.proximusgoformusic.be.

New Volvo in Sponsorship Portal Launched Volvo Event Management launches its new global portal, www.volvoinsponsorship.com and brings Sponsorship - to Life. Dedicated to providing the most comprehensive coverage of Volvo’s global, regional, national and local sponsorship portfolio, in sports, in the environment and in culture, www.volvoinsponsorship.com delivers news, views, information and results from all points of the compass. From prestigious professional golf championships such as the Volvo China Open and the Volvo Masters to the worldwide enthusiasm of the Volvo Masters Amateur, the sponsorship portal augments tournament site-specific websites, giving a flavour of the on-course drama, meets the men and women at the centre of the stories with exclusive insights behind the scenes. Then there is the sport of sailing; the Volvo Ocean Race, Volvo’s flagship round-the-world race, setting sail in October 2008 on a seven-team, nine-month, 37,500nm, four-continent 10-country, 11-port ocean odyssey sets sail from Spain on October 4th. www.volvoinsponsorship.com will give non-sailors a notion for the ocean, news on the crews, the gossip on the grapevine and reports from the ports as well as looking to the future with news and views from the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships. The Volvo-sponsored Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the Gothenburg Opera both strike the right chord with Volvo’s cultural campaign and www.volvoinsponsorship.com will hit all the high notes from the concert halls and opera houses at home in Gothenburg and abroad. And it’s ‘Green for Go,’ with Volvo’s environmental initiatives, the Volvo Environment Prize, the most coveted ecological award on offer and its junior equivalent, the Volvo Adventure with the youth of the world finding environmental improvement simply eco-logical and www.volvoinsponsorship.com gets to the heart of the environmental action. The very best of the rest comes from Volvo’s support for Swedish motorsport, burning eco-fuel of course, exhibitions, conferences and awards around the world, equestrian excellence at the annual Göteborg Horse Show, featuring the full sponsorship spectrum from Volvo. Along with its new URL, www.volvoinsponsorship.com sports a fresh new logical layout, ‘byte-sized’ bits of essential information, news and views, diary dates, vital statistics, digital downloads of text, pictures and video content and logical links to websites at the heart of the action. And surfing on the new sponsorship portal will be rewarding too; become Silver, Gold or Platinum member by logging-on and learning. The longer on-line, the greater the gifts you get, collecting your choice of Golf, Sailing or Business benefits. Commented Steven Lefebvre, New Media Manager at Volvo Event Management in Brussels, “The new sponsorship portal provides a global platform with which to pull all the strands of Volvo’s various sponsorship activities together.” He added, “With our portfolio of dedicated event-based websites such as www.volvochinaopen  www.volvomasters.com, www.volvooceanrace.org etc, attracting millions of sport-specific aficionados to their in-depth coverage, we are endeavouring to reflect the broader and more diverse elements of Volvo’s worldwide sponsorship activity and offer a different perspective for those engaging with us either for the first time or in a broader way.” www.volvoinsponsorship.com - Bringing Sponsorship to Life!

www.volvoinsponsorship.com