FOOTBALL
Eagles’ stadium going green
The Philadelphia Eagles will add solar panels and wind turbines at their home stadium, saying on Thursday it will be the world’s first stadium with self-generating renewable energy. The US football club’s joint venture with Solar Blue, a Florida firm that will invest US$30 million in the project over the next year, will also include a duel-fuel co-generation plant at Lincoln Financial Field. The plan, scheduled to be finished in time for the September’s start of next year’s National Football League season, will see 80 spiral-shaped wind turbines attached atop the stadium and 2,500 solar panels installed. Nature gas and bio-diesel fuel will power the co-generation plant.
SOCCER
Work on UK center to begin
Building work on England’s much-delayed National Football Center will begin in January, the Football Association (FA) said on Thursday. The ￡105 million (US$167 million) project, which was first suggested in 2001, has been repeatedly put back because of doubts over funding. The site will be in Burton-upon-Trent, central England. The center, widely expected to be an English version of France’s Clairefontaine academy, is due to be completed in mid 2012 after the FA board agreed to underwrite the project. “St George’s Park will be a world-class facility providing top-class education for future generations of English football coaches,” David Sheepshanks, FA board member and chairman of the National Football Centre board, said in a statement. The center will act as a hub to 1,400 coaches whose job it will be to train a further 250,000 coaches to work in clubs and communities by 2018.
SOCCER
Emenalo moves to Chelsea
Chelsea have named Nigerian Michael Emenalo as their assistant manager, the Premier League leaders said on Thursday. The 45-year-old replaces Ray Wilkins as Carlo Ancelotti’s right-hand man. Wilkins left Stamford Bridge last week for undisclosed reasons. Emenalo joined Chelsea in 2007 and has been working as the club’s Head Opposition Scout. He represented Nigeria as a defender at the 1994 World Cup and played for clubs including Molenbeek in Belgium, England’s Notts County and San Jose Clash in the US.
RUGBY UNION
All Black Simpson dies
Johnny Simpson, a rugged prop who played 33 matches including nine tests for New Zealand in the late 1940s, has died aged 88, family members said. Simpson was a member of the famous New Zealand Army rugby team which toured Britain immediately after World War II, playing in 18 of its 33 matches including those against England, Wales and Scotland which it won. He first played for the All Blacks on their 1947 tour to Australia and toured South Africa with the 1949 team, playing in all four tests. Although the All Blacks lost the series 4-0, Simpson established an acclaimed front row partnership with hooker Has Catley and prop Kevin Skinner. He was an athletic prop who became know as the “Iron Man” for his strength and resilience.
SKELETON
World champ Staehli dies
Switzerland’s Gregor Staehli, the reigning world skeleton champion, announced his retirement from the sport on Thursday. Staehli, 42, was forced to pull out of this year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver due to a thigh injury. As well as three world titles, in 1994, 2007 and last year, the Swiss also has two Olympic bronze medals from 2002 and 2006.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Ninad Malwade was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
OBJECTIVE REACHED: ’Now for us, it’s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we can ramp up,’ the Atlanta Hawks’ C.J. McCollum said after the game The Atlanta Hawks on Friday secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own. C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who came into the contest at sixth in the East and still in danger of falling into the play-in tournament that would see the seventh-through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson scored 18 points apiece, and Dyson Daniels added a triple-double of 13
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