PhillyYardyVibes

New England Patriots looked dominant on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. Do you think the Baltimore Ravens have the personnel to match up with Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski? How can they slow them down? Their much malign defense seemed to be improved with return of Jamaican born safety Patrick Chang.

Tags: Denver Broncos, jamaica, New England, nfl football, patrick chang, Patriots Playoffs

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — Austion ‘Jack’ Warner has promised that he will reveal the details of corruption within FIFA that would “turn stomachs”, perhaps finally delivering his vow two months ago that he would unleash a tsunami on the shady dealings of the world governing body of football.

The former FIFA vice-president said in a letter to the Trinidad Guardian newspaper yesterday that he will speak out also about his role in the sport’s world governing body and the changes he sought while he served on the executive committee.

“FIFA has tried to muzzle me with threats of a worldwide suspension,” he wrote.

“They have said that they will close down the FIFA Development Office in Trinidad by year end. They have advised that they will terminate my son’s 2012 contract at the end of this year. They have retaken the World Cup TV rights, a matter for which they have not heard the last. They have refused to give me any of my 29-year pension. They continue to do such things like revealing a video in the hope that they can embarrass me to lie down on my belly.”

He asserted: “Never, I repeat, never, regardless of the consequences.”

Warner, the former CFU and CONCACAF president, seemed to have been incensed by the release last Thursday of a video recording in which he told CFU officials it was acceptable to receive payments from candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam ahead of the election for FIFA resident last June.

His comments came just three days after FIFA handed down a swathe of suspensions and reprimands to Caribbean Football Union officials over the cash-for-votes scandal that prompted Warner’s resignation and the world body to impose a life ban on Bin Hammam.

“I will talk about the bitter elections for the FIFA presidency in 1998, when Sepp Blatter faced his most telling rival in Lennart Johansson,” wrote Warner.

“We took him on a worldwide crusade begging for support for him, and he won.”

Warner added: “That was the first time I met the present deputy chairman of FIFA Ethics Committee, Petrus Damaseb, at the time, the president of the Namibia FA.

“I will tell the world what gift Bin Hammam gave to him then, which was not a bribe then as he has ruled today.”

Warner, the Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Works and Infrastructure, also disclosed that he never knew what Blatter’s salary was during his time at FIFA.

“In spite of serving on the finance committee for over eight years, I was never able to determine the quantum of money given to him for the office of FIFA president,” wrote Warner.

Warner also accused FIFA of institutional racism. He noted that Joao Havelange was the only non-European to rise to the seat of power in the game.

“I will reveal the circumstances under which I told Blatter that blackness in football must not be only on the field of play but also on the field of the FIFA administration,” Warner said.

“I will talk about the Zionism, which probably is the most important reason why this acrid attack on Bin Hammam and me was mounted.”

Warner also wrote: “Three (FIFA presidents) were English, one was Belgium, the incumbent is Swiss and two were French. Is it that people of colour cannot administer football? Or is it that only Europeans possess the skill to do so? Is this why Platini is being groomed as heir apparent?

“For the last FIFA election, the last count before the election showed that Blatter had 90 votes and Bin Hammam had 85 in a 209 FIFA membership.”

The newspaper said it would carry Warner’s disclosure letter in Today’s edition.

Tags: fifa, football, jamaica, soccer, Warner

Tags: bolt, Brussel, diamond league, Memorial, van Damme

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Usain Bolt made a cautious start in his first 100 metres since his disqualification at the World Championships last month, and still ended up winning in a season-best 9.85 seconds at the Zagreb World Challenge yesterday.

Bolt, who false-started in Daegu to end his hopes of defending his world title, shaved 0.03 seconds off his previous fastest time this year — 9.88 at Monaco in June — on a warm, still night.

“It was a poor start,” said Bolt, the world and Olympic record-holder. “I kind of lost concentration and just went through the line. It was OK, I suppose, but I could have done better, especially with the weather like that.”

Kim Collins of Saint Kitts and Nevis ran a season-best 10.01 seconds to finish second, ahead of Trinidad’s Richard Thompson at 10.03.

There was standing room only at the 61st Boris Hanzekovic Memorial, where Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and club official Emilio Butragueno arrived in time to see Bolt in action. Madrid kick off their Champions League campaign at Dinamo Zagreb today.

“It was wonderful, the crowd here,” Bolt said. “I loved that they were excited and that the fans come up to me. I’m always grateful for that.”

However, security had trouble controlling the crowd as “Boltmania” took hold when he celebrated with delirious fans.

“It’s not as bad in Jamaica, where they see me every day,” Bolt laughed.

The Jamaican star’s news conference was cut short when too many journalists tried to force their way into the room.

The appearance of local favourite Blanka Vlasic in the women’s high jump also delighted the home crowd, although she eventually succumbed to world champion Anna Chicherova.

Both cleared two metres, with Chicherova declared the winner after Vlasic — who was carrying a leg injury — missed on the first attempt.

“It was important for me to clear two metres today. It will be difficult to improve this season,” Vlasic said. “I’m delighted that the fans were treated to a spectacular meet because I practically grew up in this stadium.”

In the men’s 100 hurdles, Cuba’s world record-holder Dayron Robles beat world champion Jason Richardson for the second race in a row.

Robles finished first at the World Championships but was disqualified for impeding Liu Xiang of China, giving Richardson of the US the gold.

Richardson, who was also beaten by Robles at the Weltklasse in Zurich last week, set a personal best of 13.04 seconds, but Robles won in 13.00. David Oliver of the US was third in 13.20.

Carmelita Jeter claimed the women’s 100 in 11.00. The American was pushed hard to the line by Schillonie Calvert of Jamaica, who finished in 11.13, with Bulgaria’s Ivet Lalova third in 11.33.

“Hopefully, I’ll come back next year. I’ve enjoyed myself so much so far,” Jeter said.

Calvert won the 200, setting a personal best to clock 22.55 ahead of fellow Jamaican Sherone Simpson, 22.95, and Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie of the Bahamas, 22.97.

In the women’s 100 hurdles, world champion Sally Pearson followed up her success at the Weltklasse in Zurich to claim the gold in 12.67.

“Relief more than anything. I came into this meeting a bit tired,” Pearson said.

Lashawn Merrit of the United States claimed the men’s 400 in 45.20 seconds after a slow start, finishing ahead of compatriot Greg Nixon (45.73) and Trinidad’s Renny Quow (45.95).

Jamaica’s Novlene Williams Mills set a meet record of 50.31 seconds to win the women’s 400.

Tags: bolt, jamaica, Zagreb

ZURICH, Switzerlad (AP) — Yohan Blake is enjoying the extra attention that comes with being 100 metres world champion and main attraction at the Weltklasse meeting today.  Because Blake’s training partner Usain Bolt skips the Diamond League finals event in Zurich, he has centre stage for his first race since he helped Jamaica set a new 4×100 relay world record in Daegu, South Korea.

“Anybody would kill to be in my position, I guess,” the 21-year-old Blake said yesterday, holding court with reporters ahead of the Weltklasse meet.

“My ranking is number one, so I want to keep it that way. It’s a wonderful feeling, but I know it’s not going to be easy.”

Relishing being “the main guy at a press conference”, Blake knows his path to gold was cleared by Bolt’s disqualification for an infamous false start.

Blake’s winning time of 9.92 seconds — and personal best of 9.89 — also leave him behind Bolt’s 9.58 world record in the public’s imagination.

“(Usain) is the big man so you will always get that, but I’m getting credit where I’m due,” he said, adding that “when Usain Bolt was my age, he wasn’t running times I have run”.

Blake has not always enjoyed full credit from Asafa Powell, the former world record holder who will race at Weltklasse for the final time this season after missing the ‘Worlds’ through injury.

Powell suggested Blake was just a “boy” after beating him in the Jamaica National Trials in June.

“I know I’m not a boy. I’m 21, I’m a big man,” Blake said yesterday, saying his relationship with Powell was limited to “hi, and bye”.

“He has his own path and I have my path,” the world champion said.

Powell was more generous yesterday, acknowledging Blake had stepped up to the top ranks.

“He’s there, he’s won the World Championship,” said Powell, who ran a world-leading 9.78 at Lausanne in June, before being sidelined by a hip flexor problem. “It’s still very sore. But I’m here to compete,” he said.

Powell needs to run in the seventh and final 100 metres of the Diamond League season to qualify for his victory in the season-long standings.

Bolt is skipping the meet — dubbed the ‘world championships in two hours’ — having earlier cited his “strenuous schedule” in Daegu.

Still, Weltklasse organisers have attracted the holders of 19 worlds gold medals, 18 silvers, and 15 bronze to come direct from Daegu to compete at the Letzigrund.

In addition, three world-record holders, 13 Olympic champions and 17 world leaders this season, including Powell, are in the Zurich line-ups.

Weltklasse offers quick rematches of several worlds medal showdowns.

Kirani James, the 19-year-old from Grenada, will line up in the 400 metres against the man he dethroned by just 0.03 seconds in Daegu, Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt of the United States.

Jason Richardson of the US can show he is 110 metres hurdles gold medallist on merit against Dayron Robles. The American was unable to celebrate victory on the track as Robles, the Cuban world-record holder, crossed the line first but was later disqualified for holding back Liu Xiang of China in the adjoining lane.

Pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva is on another recovery mission in Zurich after placing just sixth in Daegu.

Two years ago, Isinbayeva also flamed out at the ‘Worlds’ in Berlin then came to Weltklasse and cleared 5.06 metres, setting her 27th and most recent world record.

Isinbayeva will face world champion Fabiana Murer of Brazil in a strong line-up.

All eight worlds finalists in the women’s 800 metres, including silver medallist Caster Semenya of South Africa, will meet again.

Tags: blake, jamaica, Sprint, World Championship

VERONICA CAMPBELL-BROWN won gold for Jamaica in the women’s 200 metres, leaving Americans Carmelita Jeter in silver and reigning champion Allyson Felix in bronze at the IAAF world Champion in Daegu, South Korea today.   Campbell-Brown ran a strong bend and determinedly held off the challenge of Jeter to finish in a season’s best time of 22.22 seconds. Jeter finished in 22.37 and Felix in 22.42.

Also running for Jamaica, Keron Stewart finished fifth in 22.70 and Sherone Simpson eighth in 23.17.

Tags: Daegu, jamaica, south korea, track and field

TRACK and field fans around the world were left in shock yesterday when the IAAF one-strike rule forced Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, out of the prestigious 100-metre sprint final at the World Athletics Championships being held in Daegu, South Korea. But Yohan Blake kept the Jamaican flag flying when he took the gold.

In a stunning few seconds, Bolt’s showboating turned into real-life despair when he jumped the gun and was led away from the track before teammate Blake won gold ahead of American rival Walter Dix.



Blake, despite winning the race and becoming the youngest ever 100m World Champion at age 21, was left disappointed. “I can’t find words to explain it. Usain Bolt has been there for me. I feel like I want to cry,” he said. “I’ve been trained by one of the best coaches but I stayed cool and caught him (Collins). I felt I would win the race for Bolt.

“Definitely I wasn’t focusing on beating Usain,” Blake said. “I was just focusing on finishing in the top three.”

“I have nothing to say right now. I need some time,” the AFP news agency reported Bolt as saying after the race.

“He’s human, isn’t he? I always knew he was human,” said his coach, Glen Mills. “He will pick himself up. He’s a champion,” the Associated Press (AP) reported Mills as saying.

His night done, Bolt gathered his stuff, slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed down the tunnel that leads out of the stadium.

He wouldn’t talk, glaring at anyone who got too close or tried to ask any sort of question as he walked up an inclined path.

Clearly miffed, Bolt went through a fenced gate that leads to the warm-up track, typically off limits to all but the competitors.

Once there, he went over to a group of friends and coaches, throwing down his backpack, taking a swig of bottled water, dumping some on his head and then tossing it aside. He sat down for a second before jumping up and heading onto the track.

Bolt lined up in Lane Six — one spot away from his lane assignment in the final — waited a second to compose his thoughts and took off down the runway. He travelled about 100 metres, turned around, jogged back and went again.

Four times he repeated that. Four times he paused at the starting line.

He was getting back on the horse again.

AP also reported that after his cool-down and a quick massage, Bolt trudged across a grass field to an awaiting vehicle, ready to pull away with the star inside. Before he could reach the safety of the BMW, though, he was confronted by a few reporters, eager to get his take on the costly mistake.

“Looking for tears? Not going to happen,” said Bolt, whose agitation was beginning to subside. “I’m OK.”

Enough to run the 200 metres?

“You’ll see on Friday,” he said, referring to the start date of the race.

Change the false start rule?

Silence.

And then the car ushered him away, leaving others to discuss the situation.

While everyone had been wondering what Bolt would do to his world record of 9.58 seconds, it was Blake who won his first 100 title with a time of 9.92, the only racer to break 10 seconds in the final.

Dix took silver in 10.08 and Kim Collins of Saint Kitts and Nevis was third in 10.09.

“I didn’t really think they were going to kick him out,” Dix said. “How can you kick Usain out of the race?”

Even as the final went ahead, Bolt was the centre of attention, and for once in his golden career he was not play-acting. Instead of beating the clock, he beat the starting gun.

Three steps into in his race after the starting gun, Bolt’s face turned into a primal scream. And in one instinctive move he started pulling off his Jamaica shirt, needing no one to tell him he had made the biggest error in his career.

He was shown the red card and led to the sideline.

He gritted his teeth in self disgust, and threw up his arms in desperation. Hands over his head, he walked away before slamming the blue stadium wall.

All dreams of a third golden triple in as many major championships were gone, and he had no one to blame but himself. One year ahead of the London Olympics, the World Championships showed him as human instead of an infallible sporting superstar.

At the 2008 Olympics, he performed beyond expectations by getting three sprint gold medals and as many world records. One year later at the World Championships in Berlin, he did the same with three more titles. Only because his Jamaican 4×100 relay team ran the second fastest race in history was he denied another three world records.

Bolt’s error will again raise questions about the rule change in 2010 that cut out the allowance for one false start. In the semi-finals, world indoor sprint champion Dwain Chambers was also eliminated because of false start.

Tags: blake, bolt, Daegu, jamaica, powell, track and field, World Championships

DAEGU, South Korea (AFP) — Asafa Powell, the fastest man in the world this season over 100 metres and defending champion Usain Bolt’s biggest rival, will miss the event at the world championships, his agent confirmed yesterday.

The 28-year-old Jamaican has failed to recover from a niggling groin injury that also saw him skip the London Diamond League meet earlier this month, Paul Doyle told AFP.

“He’s out of the 100m but he hopes to be back for the 4x100m relay,” which will be raced on the final day of competition on September 4, Doyle said.

The men’s 100m kicks off on the opening day of the Daegu worlds, with the final being run on Sunday night.

“He’s still suffering groin pains from the Budapest meet (in July). He pulled out of the London meet (August 5-6) and has not recovered sufficiently to take part in the 100m,” Doyle said.

“He now has nine days to get ready for the relay.”

Powell’s withdrawal from the 100m comes as devastating news for sports fans who have revelled in the move back to prime form from the affable Jamaican who held the world record between June 2005-May 2008.

It also accompanies the pull-outs of American Tyson Gay (injury) and Jamaican Steve Mullings (doping), effectively depriving Bolt of running against his three biggest rivals on the world stage.

Powell clocked a world season lead of 9.78 seconds at the Lausanne Diamond League in early July, dipping under the 9.8sec mark for the eighth time in his career.

Only Bolt (five times with a world record best of 9.58sec) and Gay (five times with a best of 9.69sec) have run faster, while another Jamaican, Nesta Carter, has also managed to time 9.78sec once in his career.

“We expected him to run here in Daegu but it was too short,” Doyle said. “We took the decision today. He is upset but he knows there is nothing he can do.

“He’s got to now concentrate for next year and the Olympics. It’s just bad luck, nothing else. At those speeds, you ask a lot of your body.”

Powell was earlier a no-show at a Jamaican team press conference and teammate Michael Frater let slip that something was awry.

“I didn’t come expecting to run the 100m but unfortunately Asafa couldn’t make it,” revealed Frater, who initially failed to book an individual berth for the 100m but was included in Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team.

Frater’s teammates Yohann Blake and Nesta Carter, who will both race the 100m, then remained mum after persistent questioning over the former’s gaffe.

“I don’t think anything’s been decided,” Frater eventually added.

Jamaican team official Grace Jackson said that no decisions had yet been taken pending a “technical meeting”, and Bolt also said that any withdrawal was news for him.

“Asafa’s out?” he asked. “This is the first time I’m hearing about it so I can’t answer that question.”

Tags: asafa powell, Daegu, jamaica, south korea, track and field, usain bolt

DAEGU, South Korea (AP) — Usain Bolt will put his famous “Who faster?” taunt to the test again at the World Championships. So far, it has worked every time it has mattered most.

Ever since his stunning world records and gold medals in the 100 and 200 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and his repeat at the 2009 Berlin World Championships, the Jamaican sprinter has turned into one of the true global superstars in sports.

So when the championships open Saturday (Friday night Jamaica time), most of the attention will focus on Bolt. Not that he minds. As usual, he is already making light of the pressure and expectations.

“I am always confident. I am unbeaten this year and aim to defend all my titles in Daegu,” Bolt told The Associated Press in an e-mail exchange.

On top of his individual gold medals, he also helped Jamaica win titles in the sprint relays at Beijing and Berlin.

Anything less than a haul of nine gold medals from Beijing and two World Championships would be a disappointment for him ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.

Yet he is in some need of another overpowering show at the 53,000-capacity Daegu Stadium, because his statistics over the past two years have not completely matched his braggadocio.

When it comes to “who faster?” in the 100 in 2011, Bolt is not on top of the list. He is not even the top Jamaican. His compatriot Asafa Powell holds the leading time of 9.78 seconds, with Bolt posting the sixth-fastest time of 9.86 — way off his world record of 9.58.

He is not worried, though, having been in similar positions before.

Two years ago, Tyson Gay was fastest ahead of the World Championships but when it came to the biggest match-up of the competition, Bolt blew everyone away with a world record.

“I think it will be the same as Berlin. Some people ran well in the early season but it is the championships that count,” Bolt said. “We always train to peak at the major championships. My coach sets out the programme with this as the goal.”

Gay had been hampered by a sore groin in Berlin, and injury caught up with him even before the championships this year. The American pulled out of the 100 metres at the US nationals in June because of a hip injury.

Bolt was troubled by a bad back last year, and even if his times have been less than exceptional since, he says it no longer bothers him.

“The back injury was last year. I haven’t had any problems with it this year,” he said. Just don’t count on world records this year.

It leaves Powell as the main challenger to Bolt, but the former world record holder has been notoriously pressure prone when it comes to big events. Bolt concedes, however, there is no underestimating Powell this year.

“Asafa has always been a good athlete. He has been running fast for many years and deserves a lot of respect for his achievements,” he said.

Bolt’s domination in the 200 one year after coming off his injury is far less contested, with a world-leading time this year of 19.86, also still far off his world record of 19.19. In the 200, his closest challenger is also Jamaican, 21-year-old Nickel Ashmeade.

It also highlights another subtheme of the championships — the Jamaican sprint domination over the Americans. Since Beijing, the relays have underlined that.

With Gay out, and Michael Rodgers accepting a provisional doping suspension after testing positive for a banned stimulant he says he ingested by accident, the duel looks lopsided again coming into the championships.

If anything, the depth of the Jamaican team looks even better than years past, said Bolt. “This year, Jamaica will still have a very strong team,” he said. “So it will be even harder for everyone else.”



Tags: bolt, Daegu, jamaica, south korea, World Championships

USAIN Bolt has added another record to his already comprehensive list.  Bolt is the first Jamaican to have over five million fans on Facebook, adding 300,000 in less than two months.  Up to June 16, his fan list was just about 4.6 million, a week after his 19.86 seconds clocking in Oslo. Bolt has since run in Paris, Monaco, and Stockholm where he has won the 100 and 200 metres, with creditable performances. Stockholm was a ‘big’ winner for Bolt, where he finally won an event with a 20.03 clocking in the 200 metres. He had previously lost in Stockholm in 2008 and 2010 to Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay, respectively.

The United Kingdom is still the number one country with the highest number of fans 773,425, USA ranks second with 521,993 and India – 400,521. In terms of cities, Rome, Mumbai and London are the top three.

Home country Jamaica is number 12 on the list with Kingston as the eighth top city in the world. Facebook is reporting there are 90,000 fans from Jamaica on the network who are fans of the track and field star.

The 18-24 male age group has 33 per cent of his overall fan base, while the 13-17 male is second with 29 per cent. The top female group is the 13-17, representing eight per cent of his overall fan base.

Bolt is set to defend his titles at the World Championships which begins in Daegu on Saturday, August 27.

Tags: bolt, Jamaican, record