Tennis Players Showing Tough Croatian Grit

Following an unexpected Davis Cup victory in 2005 and a successful start to the 2006 campaign, Croatian tennis fans had much to be happy about. Still, we had little to look forward to, at least for the spring clay court season.
Croat tennis players have long been known for their powerful serves and huge ground strokes, a style that greatly contrasts with the loopy shots and baseline speed needed for success on clay. For this reason, not much was to be expected out of the Croats. However, at the 2006 French Open, the foremost clay court tournament in the world, the Croatians went well represented.

Entering Roland Garros 2006, Ivan Ljubicic was not only Croatia’s #1 ranked tennis player, as he has been since the retirement of legend Goran Ivanisevic, but he was also the 4th-ranked player in the world. Despite his #4 seed at the tournament, “Ljubo” was not predicted by many to reach the semifinals- he had historically not done well on clay, as his game is predicated upon his huge serve and power. However, Ivan was granted a friendly draw.

Ljubicic defeated his first round opponent, Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, in dominant straight-set fashion. Through to the second round, Ivan had already advanced further than the previous year, and was then set to face Spaniard Oscar Hernandez. After getting through, 6-3 6-7(7) 6-1 6-2, Ivan was pitted against Argentina’s Juan Monaco in the third round. Although Monaco is a well-known claycourt specialist, Ivan was still considered the favorite to win the match. However, Ljubicic lost the first two sets and appeared ready to bow out of the tournament. But Ivan fought back, and showing tough Croatian grit, he defeated the Argentinean, delighting his fans. Ivan had rallied from two sets down to win in five, grueling sets, and in doing so, had reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for only the second time in his career and for the first time at Roland Garros.

Facing another clay court specialist in the fourth round, Ivan next played Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain, who took out 15th seed David Ferrer in the third round. Ivan’s stellar clay court play continued, as he took out the Spaniard in four sets. Ivan had now reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, where he was set to play another unseeded player, hometown favorite Julien Benneteau. In the quarters, Ivan quickly dispatched of the unheralded Frenchman, 6-2 6-2 6-3. Despite losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, Ivan Ljubicic put together an unbelievable two weeks of tennis. He made his nation proud in reaching the semifinals for the first time in his career.

What made this past French Open so amazing was not just the success of the #4 player in the world. It was the simultaneous success of the #12-ranked player in the world and Croatia’s #2, Mario Ancic. In this French Open, Mario put his name alongside the top names in tennis on a surface on which he had not found much success in the past. Ancic struggled through the first round, but prevailed, defeating Australian Nathan Healey in four sets. Next up was Paul Capdeville of Chile, a solid clay court player, whom Ancic defeated in straight sets. He was later hit with a $3000 fine for getting into a tiny post-match scuffle with the Chilean, which the chair umpire had to break up. Just like last year, Mario was through to the third round of the French Open.

In the third round, Ancic absolutely demolished Albert Montanes of Spain in straight sets, and set up a fourth round encounter with Montanes’ countryman and the #7 player in the world, Tommy Robredo. Robredo had been on an absolute tear during the clay court season, winning the Tennis Masters Series Hamburg and entering the French Open as a threat to take home the trophy. Mario, typically known as a hard court or grass court player, shocked many by taking the first set off of the Spaniard. However, Robredo fired back and took the next two sets in a rather convincing fashion. After the fourth set went in favor of the man from Split, both players fought off cramping and exhaustion in the fifth. After taking a 5-2 lead and squandering it, Mario Ancic finally captured the match, 6-4 4-6 6-2 6-4 7-5, over Tommy Robredo. In doing so, Ancic proved to the world not only that he is a formidable opponent on all surfaces, but that Croatian tennis is here to stay, as our top two players reached the quarterfinals of the

French Open. Although Mario would lose to the #1 player in the world, Roger Federer, in the quarterfinals, his French Open run was one to be remembered.

With his amazing achievement at the 2006 French Open, Mario Ancic vaulted himself to #9 in the world rankings. For the first time in memory, not one, but two Croats are in the top ten of tennis! And it is not that two Croats made the quarterfinals that is so amazing- though it is truly an accomplishment to behold- but it is that two Croats made the quarterfinals of the French Open. On the surface on which we were not supposed to have success, we had the best success we have had since 2001, when Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon. And even then there were zero Croatians in the top ten, let alone two.

With last year’s Davis Cup victory and the still-more-recent World Team Championship triumph, Croatian tennis was at its new zenith. However with the recent results at the French Open, a new pinnacle has been reached. Only better things can be expected at the upcoming Wimbledon Championships, on the surface on which we are supposed to succeed. Thanks to Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic, who made the semifinals and quarterfinals of the French Open respectively, it has never been a better time to be a fan of Croatian tennis.

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-06-14 15:47

Croatia's fans lit flares and celebrated at the end of their 1-0 defeat to Brazil in their opening World Cup match at the Olympiastadion on Tuesday to show just how proud they were of their team.

Croatia fans hold flares as they cheer during Group F World Cup 2006 soccer match between Brazil and Croatia in Berlin.[Reuters]

Croatia coach Zlatko Kranjcar said afterwards that they always knew that this would be a game they would probably lose -- but that wins over Japan and Australia in their remaining two Group F fixtures should be enough to see them through.

"We always thought we might well find ourselves in this position after the first game so it's no surprise and no real disappointment," he said. "We were perhaps unlucky not to get a point but we know what we have to do to qualify now."

Victory in the next two matches cannot be taken for granted of course, but if Croatia play as well against Japan and Australia as they did against Brazil, the odds are probably on them taking all six points.

Croatia had far the better of play for about 20 minutes at the start of the second half and only some outstanding saves by Brazilian goalkeeper Dida stopped them reaping reward for inventive midfield play and direct attacking.

They probably could have even afforded to be rather more adventurous against Brazil and if Dado Prso had played in a more central role in the Croatia attack rather than trying to cut in from the wings, he might have ended the game with a goal or two.

Croatia are desperate to do well in these finals after flopping out at the first-round stage in 2002 following their semi-final appearance on their debut in 1998.

WELL ORGANISED

Kranjcar's team is well organised and proved against the world champions they could not be intimidated. One brilliant tackle in the second half by Robert Kovac summed up their speed of thought and their commitment.

Kranjcar's son Niko had a fine game in his usual attacking midfield role and went close with a header late in the game when Croatia looked as though they were easily capable of securing a draw.

Captain Niko Kovac, who failed to finish the game after picking up a rib injury following a heavy challenge from Brazil's Ze Roberto towards the end of the first half, agreed with his coach on what their priorities were now.

"We have to win both of the other games. We knew that before but now it's reality," he said. "Now we all need to concentrate on that."

He said he would know after training later on Wednesday whether he would be fit in time for the next game against Japan on Sunday in Nuremberg.

http://chinadaily.com.cn/sports/2006-06/14/content_616950.htm

Emil Milihram wins C1 World White Water Championship

Emil Milihram of Croatia on his way to win the C1 race of the World White Water Championships on the Tepla River in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, Wednesday, June 14, 2006. (AP Photo/CTK, Ivan Babej)

Raznolikost je baza napretka u prirodi

Intervju Ivana Djikica

http://www.croatia.org/crown/oldphotos/DIKIC_Intervju_Playboy_2006.pdf

Lesik Prezimena 1948

Trazi se knjiga koja se zove Lesik Prezimena, a tiskana je prvi put u Hrvatskoj 1976. Obuhvaca sva Hrvatska prezimena. Ako tko vidi takvu knjigu u antikvarijatu, molim neka mi se obrati na letters@croatianworld.net

Nenad Bach

p.s. U sunakladništvu Matice hrvatske i, čini mi se, Instituta za jezik i jezikoslovlje, a rađena je na temelju popisa pučanstva iz 1948. (komentar)

Congressman Taped Taking $100,000, FBI Says

Op-ed at the bottom of the page
 

According to Court Papers, He Hid Cash in Foil in Freezer
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, AP

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (May 22) - Allegedly scamming a Virginia businesswoman could prove to be a major mistake for a Democratic congressman from New Orleans.


The FBI revealed Sunday that Rep. William Jefferson, under investigation for bribery, was videotaped accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant whose conversations with the lawmaker also were recorded. Agents later found the cash hidden in his freezer, according to a court document released Sunday.

At one meeting captured on audiotape, Jefferson chuckles about writing in code to keep secret what the government contends was his corrupt role in getting his children a cut of a communications company's deal for work in Africa.

As Jefferson and the informant passed notes about what percentage the lawmaker's family might receive, the congressman "began laughing and said, 'All these damn notes we're writing to each other as if we're talking, as if the FBI is watching,'" he told the businesswoman, who was wearing an FBI recording device.

Jefferson has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing.

As for the $100,000, the government says Jefferson got the money in a leather briefcase last July 30 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Arlington. The plan was for the lawmaker to use the cash to bribe a high-ranking Nigerian official -- the name is blacked out in the court document -- to ensure the success of a business deal in that country, the affidavit said.


All but $10,000 was recovered on Aug. 3 when the FBI searched Jefferson's home in Washington. The money was stuffed in his freezer, wrapped in $10,000 packs and concealed in food containers and aluminum foil.

Two of Jefferson's associates have pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges in federal court in Alexandria. One, businessman Vernon Jackson of Louisville, Ky., admitted paying more than $400,000 in bribes to the lawmaker in exchange for his help securing business deals for Jackson's telecommunications company in Nigeria and other African countries.

The new details about the case emerged after the FBI searched Jefferson's congressional office on Capitol Hill Saturday night and Sunday. The nearly 100-page affidavit for a search warrant, made public Sunday with large portions blacked out, spells out much of the evidence so far.

The document includes excerpts of conversations between Jefferson and an unidentified business executive from northern Virginia. She agreed to wear a wire after she approached the FBI with complaints Jefferson and an associate had ripped her off in a business deal.

Jefferson's lawyer, Robert Trout, said in a statement that the prosecutors' disclosure was "part of a public relations agenda and an attempt to embarrass Congressman Jefferson. The affidavit itself is just one side of the story which has not been tested in court."

The affidavit says Jefferson is caught on videotape at the Ritz-Carlton as he takes a reddish-brown briefcase from the trunk of the informant's car, slips it into a cloth bag, puts the bag into his 1990 Lincoln Town Car and drives away.

The $100 bills in the suitcase had the same serial numbers as those found in Jefferson's freezer.

While the name of the intended recipient of the $100,000 is blacked out, other details in the affidavit indicate he is Abubakar Atiku, Nigeria's vice president. He owns a home in Potomac, Md., that authorities have searched as part of the Jefferson investigation.

The Jefferson investigation has provided some cover for Republicans who have suffered black eyes in the investigations of current and former GOP lawmakers, including Tom DeLay of Texas, the former majority leader.

Republican Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California, a Vietnam-era jetfighter ace, was sentenced in March to more than eight years in prison for accepting bribes on a scale unparalleled in the history of Congress.


5/22/2006 03:33:31

Watch Video: FBI Raids Jefferson's Office

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060520203409990002&ncid=NWS00010000000001

Op-ed

This example is here, on this website, just as a testimony that we should not have illusions of how does the world operate. It is happening all over the world. Moral authority is silence or doesn't have a microphone. Civilized society should be civilized enough that once someone is caught doing things like this, lives as a poster boy for all of those who have temptations of such sort. As the world progresses, we see exactly opposite. People are being rewarded for stealing. Will someone with the microphone speak out, or is it up to us people, to do more and not let them go free? Once the crime is certified as a benefit and not as a shame, you lower the standards for all of us.

Nenad Bach,

New York, June 14, 2006

OLD CROATIAN LETTERS

The aim of this web page is to collect old Croatian letters from all over the world, in order to reveal the life and spirituality of Croats. These letters are of interest for various scientific disciplines related to Croatian Studies - linguistics, sociology, ethnology, history, psychology, economy, etc. We expect that this web will result in a written monograph in the near future. All submitted letters will be kept in our archives, but we retain the right to select those to be published on the web.

I express my deep gratitude to prof.dr. Zvonko Bencic from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, for his suggestion to create this web page (2006), and to collect the letters. The first letter on the list below is from 1908, sent from the USA to his relatives in Istria.

Persons working actively on this project are: Zvonko Bencic (Zagreb), Darko Zubrinic (Zagreb), and Nenad Bach (New York).

For those wishing to submit their letters, the following is necessary:

a) to send the letter typed as HTML (preferable), DOC, or TXT document, with related comments

b) to send the facsimile (and eventually the related photos)

to darko.zubrinic_AT_gmail.com (change "_AT_" to "@"), or to letters_AT_croatianworld.net (Nenad Bach, NY, USA)

LIST OF SUBMITTED LETTERS:

1. Petar Bencic, USA - Istria, 1908, in Croatian

Croatia - its History, Culture and Science

Soros out of Croatia

As of June 1, 2006, Open Society Institute closed its offices in
Zagreb, Croatia. OSI Croatia was active for 14 years spending $55
millions on development of civil society, education, public health,
media, art, culture, and judiciary. OSI Croatia board of directors
chairperson, Slavica Singer, affirmed OSI board's belief that
Croatia's civil society is capable and self-sustainable within
parameters of European democratic standards

Looking For Relatives of Simon Macan Sisul

Mrs., moan my English is not the best one, I wait for You you help to look for the birthplace me of my grandfathers in the Croatia, apparently is of some town in dubrovnik, Gruda--- ragusa__ pula--- civaca single it I do not have its year of approximate birth and its name, him dare those data p; Simon Macan Sisul 1863-1868 if You not dispne of the possibility please digame to that direcion of email or page Web I can accede, I write to him from Chile thanks thank you very much Macan family nemesio

Two Pots