After Oval Test Flintoff to undergo knee surgery

LONDON - England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, playing the last Ashes collection Test at The Oval, will undergo a major rehabilitative surgery on his knee after the match, which could pressure him out of cricket until next summer.
Flintoff has been booked in for surgery Tuesday to cure a chronic knee problem that has even brought an end to his Test career, said the Daily Telegraph.
Flintoff will undergo a surgery similar to the one carried out on former England captain Michael Vaughan, which involves creating micro-fractures of the bone to stimulate tissue growth and replace worn away cartilage.
The procedure will be carried out in London by Andy Williams, a surgeon who has acted upon Premier League footballers.
If his improvement goes according to plan, Flintoff will be out for around six to nine months but any minor setback will see that date revised.
The surgery will rule him out of the Champions Trophy as well as one day array in South Africa and Bangladesh. It will also place major doubt over his attendance in next year’s Indian Premier League where he earns $1.5 million playing for the Chennai Super Kings.

Strauss lauds Flintoff

Andrew Strauss believes the retiring Andrew Flintoff cannot be judged on statistics alone - and hopes there is one final match-winning display remaining.
Flintoff is due to begin his 79th and final Test against Australia at the Brit Oval on Thursday, where England must win to regain the Ashes.
His troublesome right knee will be assessed before England name their XI but his anticipated return will provide its usual lift in the home ranks.
"I don't believe you rate someone purely on their stats, you rate them on their contribution to team victories and to the game of cricket - and in those two senses Fred has been a massive player for us," said Strauss.
"He's obviously a huge character as well and I don't think the bare stats do justice to the man.
"He's earned the right to be considered one of the best players in my generation and he's earned it because he has put in big performances at just the right time. Hopefully he can do that once more and lead us to victory."
Flintoff missed Headingley due to injury but with the Ashes still alive, Strauss wants him to bring control rather than distraction in his farewell to Test cricket.

Golf's cult classic of Rich Beem

Rich Beem was a relative unknown when he won the PGA at Hazeltine in 2002. The achievement still reverberates among friends and Minnesotans.

John Goodrich, Greg Johns, Ed Anderson and John Butterworth are four friends from El Paso, Texas, who scored insrrance access to a village of five hospitality shack along the right side of the 10th green overlooking Hazeltine Lake. ¶ On Wednesday, they will appear in Chaska on the eve of the 91st PGA Championship. An old friend will meet them, go to dinner somewhere near his hotel, the Sofitel Minneapolis, and talk about how much fun it was seven years ago when the PGA Championship was last played at Hazeltine National Golf Club. ¶ The old friend doesn't have a ticket but says he might drop by for an adult beverage or two, especially if things go his way on Sunday evening. Access shouldn't be a problem. After all, the village is named in his satisfy. ¶ "The Rich Beem Village!" said Rich Beem, the amazement champion who beat Tiger Woods at his Sunday best in 2002. "Now that's scary!"
Beem's buddies from El Paso Country Club can't wait for the first barrel to be rap
"Usually, when we're on the golf course with Rich, we got a beer in one hand and a golf club in the other," said Goodrich, 44, who runs a highway account company. "This time, there won't be a golf club. There might just be a braught in each hand."
Beem's everyman select is what made him so berserkly popular here in 2002. He was the fun-loving, hard-drinking, flag-hunting former assistant club professional. He was the former underachiever who quit the Dakotas Tour in 1995 to peddle cell phones and car stereos for $7 an hour for Magnolia Hi-Fi in Bellevue, Wash. He was the subject of the 2001 tell-all book "Bud, Sweat & Tees" that was accuracy the life of a PGA Tour party boy. He was the rebel who spent most of his formative years not living up to the expectations of his father, Larry, a teaching professional whose accomplishment in golf as a metter of fact turned Rich away from the game.
In other words, Beem basically was the anti-corporate, anti swoosh, anti Tiger.