What's the lookout for the lockout? By Madeleine, Antoine, Pierre & Maxence

The NBA championship is in a lockout. The reason is the high salaries of the players. The NBA owners think that too many clubs lose money due to their players’ high salaries. The average salary of an NBA player is around $5 million per year.

The NBA players earn more money than any other sports players in the USA. So what are they complaining about? In our view, all this money is the mark that the NBA is now just a form of business with the TV rights, the brands and the commercial earnings generated by this sport. It’s a big deception for American fans.

But this lockout has also had some benefits for France. Indeed, the French NBA players like Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Nicolas Batum have come back to France and play in the Pro A which is the French basketball league. The level of the Pro A has improved due to this lockout. It's a promise of some great matches and spectacle !

This lockout will not be worked out, as this year’s season is nearly over...

We think the players could at least all agree on a “small” decrease, like about $500000... If all the players agreed, it would mean a lot of money gained for NBA owners and the end of this long and controversial crisis. All the more so as the NBA gives better wages than in sports like baseball, soccer, ice hockey, or even American football. It's a paradoxical situation when we consider that baseball and football are more popular sports!

Sprint king! By Pierre, Maxence & Nathan

Cavendishes it out!

The 2011 UCI (International Cycling Union) Road World Championships took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from the 19th to the 25th of September.

There were two sorts of championships, in different age categories, the Road Race and the Time Trial in:

• Men’s
• Women’s
• Men’s Under 23
• Men’s Juniors
• Women’s Junior

There were over 1,200 contestants for only 30 medals. The most important events were the Men’s Time trial and Road Race of course, with all the famous cycling pros.

The Time Trial was won by Tony Martin, a 26 year-old German. The last two years, he had failed to get to the top step of the podium. Already German Champion, he finally won the five-striped-shirt.

The second important event was the Road Race, won by Mark Cavendish, the world's best sprinter. The British cyclist, the same age as Tony Martin, has completed an irresistible ascent to finally hold the world sprinter title. He started as a pro in 2005. His on-going fights with Philippe Gilbert for the final sprints during this year’s Tour de France have interested more than one spectator.

Mark Cavendish and Tony Martin have ridden side by side from 2008 to last summer in the Columbia-HTC Highroad team. In fact, Cavendish joined the British Sky team, right after his victory as best sprinter in the 2011 edition of the Tour de France.

We lost the game, but victory was ours!

On 23th October the final of the Rugby World Cup was played out, the XV de France versus the All Blacks.

The French team provoked their opponent during the "Haka" with a "V" formation (for "Victoire") which cost them a fine!

The All Blacks did a try and scored a penalty. France scored a try and transformed it. The All Blacks won 8 points to 7.

Maybe France didn’t deserve to be in the final but they did us proud! The French team gave their all during the match. For sure, next time, we will win!

There was criticism of the referee's leniency towards the All Blacks..