■ Olympics
Beijing touts `safe' Games
Beijing's already tight security will be stepped up for the 2008 Olympics with paramilitary troops, electronic surveillance and even taxi drivers lending a hand. Security will play "an overarching role" at the games, the official China Daily newspaper said. "We do not want to turn Beijing into a fortress, but a place with an auspicious and peaceful atmosphere that will make athletes, coaches and visitors feel relaxed and safe," Qiang Wei, the city's deputy Communist Party secretary, was quoted as saying. The effort will involve police, soldiers and paramilitary troops, as well as other city workers including bus, subway and taxi drivers, Qiang said. The government says it wants to prevent terror attacks, but security in the capital already is tight in order to prevent any public dissent against communist rule. Chinese authorities will also adopt tactics used last year at the Olympics in Athens, which had "a vast computer surveillance network with thousands of hidden cameras and microphones that analyzed dozens of languages," the paper said.
■ Soccer
China slashes ticket prices
Hoping to build support after a disastrous first season, teams in China's troubled Super League are giving heavy discounts on season tickets while offering fans more chances to interact with players. International Shanghai, one of three Super League teams in China's financial hub, slashed season tickets by half to just 50 yuan (US$6) while newly promoted cross-town rivals, Shanghai Zonbon, are charging just 60 yuan. International launched the new ticket prices this week with a fiesta outside its stadium featuring players singing karaoke and greeting fans.
■ Sumo
Wrestling in pants prohibited
A tussle has broken out in Japan's tradition-bound sumo world over the right to wear pants in the ring. Gargantuan sumo wrestlers generally compete naked but for a "mawashi," an arrangement of wrapped cloth that preserves a bare minimum of modesty. Sumo's amateur association hit upon the idea of allowing shy youngsters to wear "sumo pants," a more substantial garment similar to cycling shorts, to try to boost the dwindling numbers of children taking up the sport, the daily Yomiuri Shimbun said on Thursday. "Pubescent kids are not going to want to take part if they don't look cool," Yomiuri quoted one local amateur sumo official as saying. The sport's professional body, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai, however, has made clear that it will not allow wrestlers in pants to take part in youth tournaments, the paper said.
■ Tennis
Williamses write advice book
Serena and Venus Williams have written a book with advice for pre-teens on such subjects as money and dating. Regarding the latter, their recommendation: Don't rush a crush. "We both really have a lot to say about that," Venus said on Wednesday with a laugh. Titled Venus and Serena: Serving From the Hip: 10 rules for Living, Loving and Winning, the book is targeted at 9-to-12 year olds. "It's a great book for teenage girls who deal with different issues," Serena said. "Growing up, I would have loved to have had such a positive role model to look up to and try to be like and try to emulate. We love having that opportunity to say, `Look, you can be like us, you can be successful and at the same time have high morals and high self esteem and be a very nice person at the end of the day.'" The sisters, who are in Key Biscayne for the Nasdaq-100 Open, wrote the book with Hilary Beard.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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