Category: Sports

Stampeders fall to Roughriders ó again
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have a redemption opportunity.
The Calgary Stampeders have to wonder why they canít beat Gang Green when it matters.
For the fourth time in five seasons, the Riders have eliminated the Stamps from the post-season, this time with a 20-16 win at McMahon Stadium in the West final.
The Riders, who lost last yearís Grey Cup at McMahon on the infamous 13th man penalty, get to play the Montreal Alouettes against next Sunday in Edmonton.
The Stamps got close to getting the lead in the fourth quarter when Burke Dales sent a booming punt to Riders returner Ryan Grice-Mullen.
He bobbled it and the ball ping-ponged off a couple of players, including Wes Lysackís foot, before Jerrell Freeman fell on it in the endzone and saved the touchdown.
The key turning point came in the third quarter. Stamps defensive end Justin Phillips pulled the ball loose from Wes Cates and recovered it, but the Riders challenged the call.
After a long review, it was overturned. The Riders kept the ball and drove down the field for a Cates four-yard touchdown run.
That put the Riders up by six (after a third Burke Dales single) heading into the final minutes.
Discipline again cost the Stamps, as Romby Bryant was flagged with objectionable conduct after getting a 36-yard gain.
The Riders grabbed momentum just before halftime.
After a long scoring drive, capped by a six-yard touchdown reception by Chris Getzlaf, the Riders defence came up with a big play.
With pressure in his face, Burris threw a screen pass to Romby Bryant, but James Patrick stepped in front of it and returned it 50 yards into scoring territory.
Durant then hit Cary Koch, who made a beautiful grab behind the coverage of Brandon Smith, and the Riders led 14-11 at halftime.
Penalties plagued the Stamps in the first half. Burris took an intentional grounding penalty, Brandon Browner knocked down Weston Dressler on a crossing route and Dwight Anderson took objectionable conduct on the touchdown pass.
The Stamps jumped out to a 11-0 lead thanks to a punt single by Burke Dales, a long drive for a field goal and a major off a turnover.
Malik Jackson jumped in front of a pass intended for Getzlaf and took it down to the Ridersí 25-yard line.
Arjei Franklin caught a 25-yard touchdown pass to get the Stamps on the board.

Halladay pitches first playoff no-hitter since ’56
PHILADELPHIA ñ Roy Halladay spent his whole career waiting for this start, wondering what it would be like to pitch in the playoffs.
It was better than he ó or anyone else ó could have predicted.
Halladay threw the second no-hitter in postseason history, leading the Philadelphia Phillies over the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 in Game 1 of the NL division series on Wednesday.
“It’s surreal, it really is,” Halladay said. “I just wanted to pitch here, to pitch in the postseason. To go out and have a game like that, it’s a dream come true.”
Don Larsen is the only other pitcher to throw a postseason no-hitter. He tossed a perfect game for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series against Brooklyn. The 54th anniversary of Larsen’s gem is this Friday.
Halladay took the Year of the Pitcher into October. The excitement spread beyond Citizens Bank Park ó the last two outs were shown on the video board at Target Field, where the Twins were preparing to play the Yankees, and Minnesota fans cheered.
The All-Star right-hander, who threw a perfect game at Florida on May 29, dominated the Reds with a sharp fastball and a devastating slow curve in his first playoff start.
The overmatched Reds never came close to a hit. Halladay allowed only one runner, walking Jay Bruce on a full count with two outs in the fifth, and struck out eight.
“To get a no-hitter in this fashion, in your first postseason game, you’ve got to put it right up there,” Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard said.
Halladay threw 104 pitches, 79 for strikes. This was the first no-hitter against the Reds since 1971, when Philadelphia’s Rick Wise beat them by the same 4-0 score.
“It’s no fun out there,” Reds slugger Joey Votto said. “It’s like trying to hit nothing. He’s an ace among aces.”
Halladay spent 12 seasons with Toronto, far from the postseason. A trade last December brought him to the defending two-time NL champions, and gave him this chance.
“This is what you come here for,” Halladay said. “It’s a good team, they know how to win. … It’s been a great year, a fun year, we obviously have a ways to go.”
With a sellout crowd standing in the ninth and chanting “Let’s Go, Doc!” Halladay got a loud ovation when he jogged to the mound to start the inning.
Ramon Hernandez popped out to second baseman Chase Utley for the first out. Pinch-hitter Miguel Cairo then fouled out to third baseman Wilson Valdez.
Halladay then retired Brandon Phillips on a tapper in front of the plate to end it. Catcher Carlos Ruiz pounced on the ball, getting down on his knee as the ball rolled near Phillips’ bat, and made a strong throw for the final out.
“If I was catching, I probably would’ve picked up the ball and bat and threw them both,” Phils manager Charlie Manuel said.
Halladay pumped his fist into his glove as Ruiz rushed to the mound. Just like catcher Yogi Berra did with Larsen, Ruiz started to jump into Halladay’s arms. Unlike Berra, the 5-foot-8 Ruiz didn’t wrap up his pitcher in a bear hug.
“I felt like we got in a groove early,” Halladay said. “Carlos has been great all year, he helps me get into a rhythm early, throwing strikes.”
Phillies aces Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels ran out of the dugout side-by-side to congratulate the other member of Philadelphia’s Big 3. Pretty soon, everyone in a Phillies uniform was part of the victory party.
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins made the toughest play to preserve the no-hitter, going deep in the hole and making a strong throw to retire Votto in the fourth.
Pitcher Travis Wood hit a sinking liner to right that Jayson Werth caught in the third. Pinch-hitter Juan Francisco hit a hard grounder up the middle in the sixth, but Rollins scooted over and made it look easy.
There were five no-hitters in the majors this year as pitchers dominated. But five no-hit bids got broken up in the ninth inning, too.
Halladay became the fifth pitcher to throw two no-hitters in the same year. He joined Nolan Ryan (1973), Virgil Trucks (1952), Allie Reynolds (1951) and Johnny Vander Meer (1938).
The last time a pitcher came close to a no-hitter in the postseason was quite a while ago. Boston’s Jim Lonborg went 7 2-3 innings against St. Louis in the 1967 World Series before Julian Javier broke up it with a double, STATS LLC said.
The Phillies led the majors in wins (97) for the first time in franchise history, captured their fourth consecutive division title and are trying to become the first NL team in 66 years to win three straight pennants.
They are prohibitive favorites in this best-of-five against the NL Central champion Reds, who are making their first postseason appearance since 1995.
Game 2 is Friday at Philadelphia.
The Reds led the NL in average (.272), homers (188) and runs (790). But they couldn’t do anything against Halladay, who won 21 games and is a strong candidate to win his second Cy Young Award.
The 33-year-old Halladay topped the NL in victories and led the majors in innings, shutouts and complete games. He was at the top of his game from the get-go in Game 1.
A determined, intense Halladay got ahead of hitters and worked quickly. He threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of the first 18 batters.
“It was great managing,” Manuel joked. “He was very good. He had a tremendous feel. He sold his pitches well.”
Halladay even did it at the plate. He ignited a three-run, two-out rally in the second with an RBI single.
On the opposite side, 27-year-old Edinson Volquez looked like a postseason rookie. He never seemed to get comfortable on the mound, taking his time between pitches, tugging at his cap and long dreadlocks and breathing deeply. At one point, Hernandez, from his crouched position behind the plate, motioned for him to calm down.
Volquez allowed four runs and four hits in 1 2-3 innings. The hard-throwing right-hander was 4-3 in 12 starts this season after returning from elbow surgery.
Halladay was so eager to join the Phillies that he passed up a chance to test free agency after this season and signed a $60 million, three-year extension to complete a trade. Halladay probably would’ve received the richest contract ever for a pitcher if he held off, but he wanted to play in Philadelphia.
There was much talk down the stretch about Halladay’s inexperience in the postseason. The Phillies also have Oswalt and Hamels. Both pitchers have been dominant in previous playoff games, but Halladay got the ball and didn’t disappoint.
Halladay got his first strikeout in the second, fooling Scott Rolen on an 85 mph changeup. He caught Rolen looking at a fastball on the outside corner to start the fifth, and fanned him again on a 79 mph changeup in the seventh.
The Phillies gave Halladay all the runs he would need in the first.
Shane Victorino sliced a one-out double down the left-field line. He stole third and scored on Utley’s sacrifice fly to right. A fired-up Victorino slid headfirst barely ahead of Bruce’s strong one-hop throw, got up and patted plate umpire John Hirschbeck on the behind on his way to the dugout.
Ruiz drew a two-out walk in the second and Valdez bounced an infield single that shortstop Orlando Cabrera fielded on the second-base side of the infield. Halladay then hit a hard liner to left that fell in ahead of Jonny Gomes’ sliding attempt. Ruiz scored to make it 2-0. After Rollins walked to load the bases, Victorino chased Volquez with a two-run single.
With the crowd waving their white-and-red “Fightin’ Phils” rally towels, Victorino fouled off consecutive 3-2 pitches before lining a hit to left-center for a 4-0 lead.
The Phillies got swept by the Reds in the 1976 NLCS. Philadelphia won a franchise-record 101 games that season to snap a 25-year playoff drought. But the Phillies ran into the Big Red Machine, which swept through the postseason to win its second consecutive World Series title.
It’s a reversed situation now. The Phillies ó call them the New Red Machine ó are perhaps in the middle of a dynasty, while Cincinnati is the young team on the rise.
Notes: Former Phillies LHP Scott Eyre, a member of the championship team in ’08, threw out the first pitch. … Phillies 3B Placido Polanco was scratched with a sore back. He expects to play Game 2. … The Phillies swept a tight four-game series in Philadelphia heading into the All-Star break, winning by scores of 4-3, 9-7, 1-0 and 1-0. … Halladay hit .141 (13 for 92) this season.

Morrow comes one out short of no-hitter
Brandon Morrow was trying to join Dave Stieb in the Blue Jays record book Sunday afternoon and, in a strange way, he did.
With Morrow one out away from matching Stieb as the only Jays pitcher to throw a no-hitter, Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria singled off the glove of Toronto second baseman Aaron Hill to break up the bid.
The right-hander rebounded from that disappointment to strike out Dan Johnson and get the final out of the game, preserving Toronto’s 1-0 win and a three-game weekend sweep.
Stieb tossed his no-hitter in a 2-0 win over the Indians at Cleveland on Sept. 2, 1990 but, before he accomplished that feat, three times he lost no-hitters in the ninth inning, one on a hit by Baltimore’s Jim Traber, one on a hit by Cleveland’s Julio Franco and the other on a hit by New York Yankees’ Roberto Kelly.
Morrow knows that feeling now. He struck out 17 batters, walked a pair and allowed one other baserunner on an error by first baseman Lyle Overbay.
Morrow had started the ninth by inducing a lazy fly ball from Jason Bartlett. After a walk to Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford lined out to Travis Snider in left field.
That brought Longoria to the plate. A ball and a strike later, with Hill shaded to his right, Longoria slashed a grounder into the hole between first and second. Hill dove, got his glove on the ball, but had no chance for a play, even if he had held it.
“I did everything I could and couldn’t come up with it,” said Hill. “Wish I could get an error for it but, unfortunately, it is what it is.”
There was no question in Morrow’s mind. “Fastball down and away and he put a good swing on it and punched it through the hole,” he said. “It’s a hit, for sure.”
With runners now at first and third, manager Cito Gaston visited the mound, allowing Morrow to get his feet back under him. The no-no was gone but the game hung in the balance.
“I just said: ‘You’ve got one more in you?’ And, of course, he said yes,” Gaston said. “That was great. I wanted him to finish that game. The pitch count was up and that was the only thing I didn’t like about it.
“I wanted to let him finish because of what he had done. If we were going to lose it, let him lose it.”
With Morrow’s 137th pitch, the most he’s ever thrown in a game, he fanned Johnson to end it. If there were any sense of a letdown, Morrow’s icy demeanour didn’t betray it.
“I was excited,” he said, without betraying that emotion, either. “It’s my first complete game, first shutout. Those things combined are more than enough to overcome the missed no-hitter. That would have been a great feat, but I’ll start with a complete game, one-hit shutout with 17 strikeouts.”
The other hero in this game was Vernon Wells, whose duck-snort single blooped into right field in the first inning and delivered Yunel Escobar with the only run of the game.
Wells also ended the sixth inning with a backhand, leaping catch against the wall in centre to snare a sure double by Zobrist, for the moment preserving the no-hitter. Wells dislocated the big toe on his right foot on the play and will probably miss a couple of games.
“In that situation, you go as hard as you can,” said Wells. “You’ve got to make the play. I made the catch, hit the wall and then I told (left fielder DeWayne Wise): ‘I think I broke my toe’ and he thought I was kidding. We were running in and I was hoping it would pop back in. My toe just hit the wall the wrong way.
“I have to get another X-ray (Monday) and then, as long as it’s not fractured, I’ll just tape it up and get going as soon as possible.”
The Rogers Centre is often criticized for its morgue-like atmosphere but, throughout this weekend, and particularly Sunday, the place was electric. It was not a particularly large crowd — 22,313 — but it was noisy and responsive, rising to the moment.
In the end, Morrow’s reach for history fell just short of his grasp but, as was the case for Stieb, there are other days on the horizon.

‘Baseball’ filmmaker backs belated honors for Rose
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. ñ Ken Burns makes sweeping documentaries on subjects including baseball. But he was concise in assessing whether Pete Rose should be in the sport’s Hall of Fame.
Rose, who agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989 that stemmed from gambling, should be honored after he dies, Burns told the Television Critics Association on Wednesday.
“He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. But he doesn’t deserve to know he’s in the Hall of Fame,” Burns said. “But that’s just one person’s opinion.”
Burns, whose films include “The Civil War” and “The National Parks,” appeared at the association’s summer meeting to promote PBS’ “The Tenth Inning,” a follow-up to his 1994 series “Baseball” that also aired on public TV.
The filmmaker said his reluctance to revisit a documentary subject wavered when his beloved Boston Red Sox won the 2004 World Series after a long drought.
But the decision was cemented by the “giant shadow of steroids,” as well as issues including the sport’s growing ethnic diversity and the effect of big money, he said.
As Burns put it, “2004 made me think about it, steroids made us do it.”
“The Tenth Inning” proved to be a challenging narrative to construct because of the drug issue, Burns said.
In examining a glorious season, he said, the film had to recapture the joy but be mindful it was “setting traps” for the subsequent exploration of performance-enhancing drugs and their effect on the sport, players and fans.
The four-hour, two-part “The Tenth Inning” tracks America’s national pastime from the early 1990s to the present. It touches on the devastating 1994 strike, the growing importance of Latino and Asian players, baseball’s ballooning profits, the exploits of Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds and others, and revelations about drug use.
Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, managers Felipe Alou and Joe Torre and players Pedro Martinez, Omar Vizquel and Ichiro Suzuki are among those interviewed in the film.
“The Tenth Inning,” directed by Burns and Lynn Novick, will air on Sept. 28 and 29 on public TV stations.
A companion book ó an updated, expanded edition of “Baseball” by Ken Burns and Geoffrey C. Ward ó will be published in September, PBS said. The new documentary will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in October.

Lakers edge Celtics in Game 7, win 16th title
LOS ANGELES ñ Purple and gold confetti raining down upon him, Kobe Bryant hopped up on the scorer’s table, shook his fists and extended five fingers.
When he hopped down, Boston’s legendary Hall of Fame center Bill Russell was waiting to shake his hand.
A Game 7 classic ó and this time, it finally went the Lakers’ way.
Beating Boston for the first time in a Game 7, the Lakers came up champions again after trailing in the last quarter of the last game of their season.
Kobe Bryant, the finals MVP, scored 23 points despite 6-of-24 shooting and the Lakers won their 16th NBA championship Thursday night, dramatically rallying from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Boston Celtics 83-79 in Game 7 of the NBA finals.
Bryant earned his fifth title with the Lakers, who repeated as NBA champions for the first time since winning three straight from 2000-02.
“This one is by far the sweetest, because it’s them,” Bryant said. “This was the hardest one by far.”
“I wanted it so bad, and sometimes when you want it so bad, it slips away from you. My guys picked me up.”
Ron Artest added 20 points for the Lakers, who shot terribly while trailing for most of the first 3 1/2 quarters. Yet they reclaimed the lead midway through the fourth quarter and hung on with big shots from Pau Gasol and Artest.
“Well, first all I want to thank everybody in my hood,” Artest said in an ABC interview right after the game. “I definitely want to thank my doctors … my psychiatrist, she really helped me relax a lot.”
With their fifth title in 11 seasons, the Lakers moved one championship behind Boston’s 17 banners for the overall NBA lead.
Amid the confetti and streamers after the final buzzer, Magic Johnson rushed the court to congratulate Bryant, who now has the same number of titles, and to hug Artest, the only new addition to the Lakers’ championship roster from last season. Artest has been a liability for much of the postseason, but the former head case came up with a remarkable game on the Lakers’ biggest night, playing sturdy defense along with his scoring.
Paul Pierce had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who just couldn’t finish the final quarter of a remarkable playoff run after a fourth-place finish in the Eastern Conference. Kevin Garnett added 17 points, but Boston flopped in two chances to clinch the series in Los Angeles after winning Game 5 back home.
After three quarters of mostly terrible offense, the Lakers tied it at 61 on Artest’s three-point play with 7:29 left. Bryant’s free throws 90 seconds later gave the Lakers their first lead of the second half, and the Lakers went up by five points before Bryant and Sasha Vujacic hit free throws in the final seconds to keep Los Angeles ahead.
The Lakers will relish this title because they took it from the Celtics, their greatest rivals, with fourth-quarter poise and defense. The teams have met in 12 NBA finals, but the Lakers won for just the third time.
Exactly two years to the day after Boston beat the Lakers by 39 points to clinch the 2008 title, Los Angeles got revenge for perhaps the most embarrassing loss of Bryant’s career ó even if he did little more than grab 15 rebounds for most of the night.
But forget how it looked, because history will. Bryant even did something Jerry West and Magic Johnson never could: He beat the hated Celtics in Game 7 of the finals.
The Celtics had never lost a seventh game in the finals. Despite nursing a lead through most of the night while holding the Lakers to ridiculously low shooting percentages until the final minutes, Boston couldn’t close it out on the coast, becoming just the seventh team to blow a 3-2 finals lead after winning Game 5.
Los Angeles had lost a seventh game to Boston four times previously ó but those teams didn’t have Bryant, who’s just one title shy of Michael Jordan’s six rings after winning his second title without Shaquille O’Neal, his partner in the first three.
With that fourth-quarter escape act, Bryant and fellow five-time champion Derek Fisher even earned the right to celebrate a title at home for the first time since winning their first rings in 2000.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson won his 11th title overall, his fifth in Los Angeles ó and perhaps the last for the winningest playoff coach in NBA history. Weary of the regular-season grind and facing a likely pay cut with the Lakers, Jackson hasn’t determined his future, though he previously said another title would make him more likely to chase an unprecedented fourth threepeat next season, when he’ll be 65.
With his hands already full, maybe Jackson will follow Russell’s lead and put that 11th championship ring on a chain around his neck ó and Bryant isn’t likely to settle for just one handful of rings.
The Celtics had much more poise from the opening tip in Game 7, playing vicious defense that forced Los Angeles to miss 21 of its first 27 shots. Bryant and Gasol were a combined 6 for 26 in the first half while the Lakers made just 26.5 percent of their shots, and only Ron Artest’s 12 points and relentless effort kept the Celtics’ halftime lead to six points.
The Lakers are the first team to rally from a 3-2 deficit to win a finals since Houston did it in 1994, beating the New York Knicks. Boston did it twice to the Lakers, including an infamous 1969 finale in which thousands of celebratory balloons never were released from the Forum rafters in Inglewood.
Staples Center had no such problems, unleashing a downpour of streamers and confetti when the Lakers finally finished it off. Although Los Angeles stumbled to the brink of elimination for the first time in these playoffs last weekend in Boston, Bryant’s teams still are spectacular finishers: They’ve closed out their playoff opponents on the first try 10 times while winning three straight Western Conference titles over the last three years.
Bryant further cemented his place in the NBA’s highest circles by leading the Lakers to back-to-back titles, something no other NBA superstar has accomplished since he and O’Neal did it nearly a decade ago. He also picked up a unique bit of Lakers credibility by sending home the Celtics in a Game 7, which West failed to do in three tries and Johnson couldn’t manage in 1984.
NOTES: Home teams improved to 14-3 in Game 7 in the finals. No road team has won a title in Game 7 since 1978. … The Lakers are 14-1 in a seventh game at home, losing only the 1969 finale to Boston. … Garnett nearly flattened Jack Nicholson when he chased a loose ball into the front row in the second quarter, but the Lakers’ most famous fans got back up smiling. Other fans near courtside included Jake Gyllenhall, Kirsten Dunst, Ryan Seacrest, Timbaland, director Todd Phillips and George Lopez in purple-and-yellow plaid pants.

Germany beats 10-man Australia 4-0 at World Cup
DURBAN, South Africa ñ Germany scored two goals in each half and Tim Cahill was sent off as three-time champion Germany beat Australia 4-0 Sunday in Group D of the World Cup.
Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose scored in the first 30 minutes as Australia coach Pim Verbeek’s defensive tactics backfired.
Thomas Mueller and Cacau also scored against an overwhelmed Australian defense in the second half after Cahill was red-carded in the 56th minute for a late tackle on Bastian Schweinsteiger.
The Germans’ dominant win, played in front of 62,660 fans at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, came without injured captain Michael Ballack.
Earlier Sunday, Asamoah Gyan scored on a penalty kick to give Ghana a 1-0 win over Serbia in the opening Group D match.
Germany had not lost an opening game in the World Cup since a 2-1 defeat to Algeria in 1982. It never looked like that string would be snapped on a warm evening in Durban.
Podolski started the rout by ending a slick passing move in the eighth minute and Klose headed in his 11th career World Cup goal in the 26th.
A stunned Verbeek sat on the bench shaking his head while Joachim Loew, in his 50th game as Germany coach, punched the air in celebration.
Hoping to hold out for a draw, Verbeek used Cahill as a forward and packed his midfield. But with Cahill isolated up front instead of controlling the midfield, Australia had no answer to Germany’s swift passing and running game.
Any slim hope Australia had of coming back evaporated with Cahill’s 56th-minute ejection.
Klose missed two more good chances before Mueller made it 3-0 in the 68th minute, dragging the ball back to avoid Scott Chipperfield’s lunge and firing a low shot in off the post.
Cacau rounded off the scoring in the 70th, just two minutes after coming on for Klose.

World Cup opening ceremony with happy noise
JOHANNESBURG ñ The first World Cup ever held in Africa opened Friday in a dazzling burst of joy, color and noise ó and just a tinge of sadness.
Before a jubilant, horn-blowing crowd in Soccer City, the spectacular stadium between Johannesburg and Soweto, hundreds of African dancers in vivid greens, reds and yellows paraded onto the field for the opening ceremony of the monthlong tournament.
Most of the fans were in the yellow jerseys of Bafana Bafana ó the host country’s team ó which was playing Mexico following the pageantry.
The elation was tempered by news that Nelson Mandela, the revered anti-apartheid leader and former South African president, would not attend the ceremony. The 91-year-old Mandela is frail, and decided not to come after his 13-year-old great-granddaughter was killed in a car crash on the way home from Thursday night’s World Cup concert.
Several other icons of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa were on hand ó including Mandela’s former wife, Winnie, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who at one point was dancing in his seat to the music.
Former South Africa President F.W. De Klerk, who shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela for negotiating an end to white-minority rule, also was present, organizers said.
Other VIPS included the presidents of South Africa and Mexico ó Jacob Zuma and Felipe Calderon ó and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.
It was not an occasion for those who like it quiet. Many of the fans came equipped with vuvuzelas ó the plastic horns which emit a loud and distinctive blare. Incredibly, the din from the horns was briefly drowned out by the overflight of military jets just before the ceremony started.
The public address announcer then begged the crowd to ease up on the horns so the global television audience could hear the music. The plea met with limited success.
An all-star cast of musicians, including South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela and American singer R. Kelley, performed. Cast members brought out large placards with the flags of the 32 nations competing in the tournament, holding them high as a final burst of fireworks ended the show.
Soccer City, which seats more than 90,000, wasn’t yet full at the start of the ceremony. Thousands of fans were stuck in traffic jams on roads leading to the stadium ó regaled along the way by groups of dancing, chanting young people in Bafana shirts and by vendors selling the multicolored South African flag.

Wait’s over in Chicago
PHILADELPHIA – When the soaring moment arrived, it was a year less three days from the last springís crushing defeat…and several agonizing, bizarre seconds.
Chicago Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa and the Chicago Blackhawks got their Stanley Cup; Hossa after a three-year odyssey and the íHawks after a 49-year year drought.
Hossa helped the íHawks end those years of empty springs Wednesday night with a 4-3 win at the Wachovia Center over the Philadelphia Flyers, giving the Blackhawks their fourth Stanley Cup and ending Hossaís nomadic journey in search of Cup glory.
ìThis is unbelievable. I canít describe it. When I held the Cup, so many things went through my mind,î said Hossa, who was the second íHawk to lift the Cup after captain Jonathan Toews. ìSo much hard work, so many games over the last three years. I finally got it. Iím so proud of these guys.î
ìI thought he was a monster out there. You couldnít get the puck off him,î said íHawks coach Joel Quenneville.
Hossa and the rest of the íHawks had to wait for a few seconds before realizing they had won the game and the Cup as a strange, delayed-reaction scene unfolded at the Wachovia Center.
A shot by íHawks forward Patrick Kane at 4:50 of the first overtime ended Game 6 with a goal almost no one but Kane saw go in the net. Kaneís shot from along the goal line slipped under the stick of crouching Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton and just inside the post, lodging under the pad inside the net.
ìI saw it go right under his stick and through his legs,î said Kane. ìI just threw a shot at the net. It was a lot like (Sidney) Crosbyís goal at the Olympics. I think I was the only one who saw it go in.î
There was confusion as the play continued, the players looking for the puck, Kane galloping to the other end of the ice in celebration.
It was a sweet moment for Hossa, who was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins two years ago by the Atlanta Thrashers at the trade deadline and lost to the Detroit Red Wings in the 2008 final.
He left the Penguins as a free agent to sign with the Wings only to see the Penguins comeback back from a 3-2 series deficit last year and win Game 7.
ìIím so happy to be on the other side now,î said Hossa, who said he plans to take the Cup back to his native Slovakia this summer.
ìIím going to put it in front of the apartment where I grew up and play some hockey with my friends,î he said.
In the end, the íHawks simply had too much for the Flyers, who made history with their comeback from a 3-0 deficit in the second round against the Boston Bruins, but couldnít find a way to cope with the íHawks deep forward group. Chicago won despite not getting a goal in the final from Toews, whose strong performance in the first three rounds won him the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.
Toews said he had made the decision to give the Cup to Hossa at the morning skate.
ìHe said to me, ìI donít want to talk too much about it, but if we win, Iím going to give it it you. I said, ëThat sounds great,íî said Hossa. ìIt shows his character. He knows what I went through.î
Now the íHawks, who have enjoyed a stunning rival which has seen them go from the depths of the league to its peak in about four years, will have something for which a couple of generations of hockey fans have been waiting for almost 50 years, a Stanley Cup parade.
ìThe party in Chicago,î said Quenneville, ìis going to be all-world.î

MLB still deciding whether to review ump’s call
NEW YORK ñ Major League Baseball was still deciding Thursday morning whether to review the umpire’s blown call that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game.
Commissioner Bud Selig has the power to reverse umpire Jim Joyce’s missed call that came with two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday night in Detroit. Joyce ruled Cleveland’s Jason Donald safe, then admitted he got it wrong.
Selig would likely consult with his top advisers before making such a ruling. St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa says the call should be overturned.
Joyce was scheduled to be back at work Thursday afternoon, umpiring at home plate in the game between the Tigers and Indians.
In 1991, a panel headed by then-commissioner Fay Vincent took a look at the record book and decided to throw out 50 no-hitters for various reasons.
The instantly infamous play, which had social networking sites all abuzz, will add to the argument that baseball needs to expand its use of replays. As of now, they can only be used for questionable home runs.
Galarraga bitterly sipped a beer minutes after the blown call negated his place in baseball history. An apology and hug changed his attitude.
Joyce, in tears, asked for a chance to apologize after the Tigers beat the Indians 3-0.
“You don’t see an umpire after the game come out and say, `Hey, let me tell you I’m sorry,'” Galarraga said “He felt really bad. He didn’t even shower.”
Galarraga, who was barely known outside of Detroit a day ago, and Joyce, whose career had flourished in relative anonymity, quickly became trending topics on Twitter. At least one anti-Joyce Facebook page was created shortly after the game ended and firejimjoyce.com was launched.
“I worked with Don Denkinger, and I know what he went through, but I’ve never had a moment like this,” Joyce said.
Denkinger didn’t have to deal with the wrath of fans on Twitter or Facebook. Denkinger helped tilt the 1985 World Series by blowing a call as a first base umpire, and that followed him throughout his career.
Joyce has been calling balls and strikes and deciding if runners are out or safe as a full-time major league umpire since 1989. He has been respected enough to be on the field for two World Series, 11 other playoff series and a pair of All-Star games.
A split-second decision he made will probably haunt him for the rest of his career.
Joyce emphatically signaled safe when Cleveland’s Jason Donald clearly didn’t beat a throw to first base for what would’ve been the last out in Armando Galarraga’s perfect game for the Detroit Tigers, setting off a chorus of groans and boos that echoed in Comerica Park.
Chuck Klonke, the official scorer Wednesday night with nearly three decades of experience, said he would not change the disputed play to an error from a hit to give Galarraga a no-hitter.
“I looked at the replay right after it happened, and Miguel Cabrera made a good throw and Galarraga didn’t miss the bag so you couldn’t do anything but call it a hit,” Klonke said Thursday morning. “I watched the replay from the center-field camera, which some people thought showed Galarraga might’ve bobbled the ball, and I didn’t see it that way at all. I have 24 hours to change a call, but I wouldn’t consider it.
“End of story.”
Not quite.
The story has transcended sports, becoming a topic on NBC’s “Today” show Thursday morning and among parents dropping off their kids at the bus stop.
It’s rare for an umpire to acknowledge a mistake in one of the few sports that relies heavily on the human eye, but Joyce did to reporters and later to Galarraga.
“It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the (stuff) out of it,” Joyce said, looking and sounding distraught as he paced in the umpires’ locker room. “I just cost that kid a perfect game.”
Leyland was livid during the game when he charged out of the dugout to argue the call and got in another heated discussion with Joyce after the final out.
Later, though, Leyland tried to give Joyce a break.
“The players are human, the umpires are human, the managers are human,” Leyland said.
Galarraga tried to calm his nerves with a beer after the game after almost getting to celebrate the first perfect game in franchise history.
He was vying for the third perfect game in the majors this year, including Roy Halladay’s gem last Saturday night. He seemed to do his job for the 27th out along with first baseman Cabrera on a play teams work on often in spring training.
Donald hit a grounder in the hole between first and second, Cabrera fielded it and threw to first, where Galarraga caught the ball at least a step ahead of Donald, replays showed.
“I feel sad,” Galarraga said.
Cabrera said he didn’t want to talk about it and Donald answered questions from reporters after a long soak in the tub.
“I didn’t know if I beat the throw or not,” Donald said. “But given the circumstances, I thought for sure I’d be called out.”
The Tigers huddled around one of the two big-screen televisions in their clubhouse, standing stoically and silently as the play was shown over and over.
“I know I played in a perfect game,” Detroit shortstop Ramon Santiago said. “In my mind, on June 2, Armando Galarraga threw a no-hitter. I’m going to get a ball signed by him.”

Who you callin’ NY?! Super Bowl 2014 is in Jersey
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. ñ It’s a geographical fact: The 2014 Super Bowl will be played in New Jersey ó not in New York.
One could be forgiven for not realizing that, however, based on the media coverage of the National Football League’s decision to hold Super Bowl XLVIII at the new Meadowlands Stadium.
“Greatest city gets greatest sports event,” read the cover of the New York Daily News. It’s doubtful the headline writers were referring to East Rutherford, just 10 miles from midtown Manhattan but most assuredly in New Jersey. “Super Bowl XLVIII will be outdoors ó in New York!” screamed the inside headline. That prompted several letters to the editor, including one from Bloomfield resident J. Andrew Smith that said: “Earth to New Yorkers: The teams are yours. The stadium is ours.”
Within moments of the announcement, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie went on the offense as sportscasters gushed over the first Super Bowl to be held “in the New York area.”
“Those comments would come from the geographically challenged,” Christie said, watching the announcement May 25 at Redd’s Restaurant in Carlstadt, the nearest bar to the new stadium.
“I’m looking out that door, and it’s New Jersey, and I look where that stadium is, and it’s New Jersey, and when everybody gets on the train or in their cars or on buses, they’re going to be coming to that game in New Jersey,” he said.
Patrons at Redd’s, which was packed with television news crews and football fans gathered around the TV sets in hopes of seeing themselves on the news, let out a collective groan when the networks lead with live shots of fan reaction ó from Times Square. One newscast made a blink-and-you-miss-it reference to New Jersey at the end of the broadcast, saying, “fans across the river were celebrating the news as well.”
“Us New Jerseyans are very sick of everyone always talking about New York, New York, everything happening in New York,” said Carlos Echeverry, owner of the Fabulous Stylz barber shop in East Rutherford. “It’s unfortunate for the New Yorkers that they don’t have a stadium out there, but thank God for New Jersey ó we’ll have the Super Bowl here.”
Meadowlands Stadium, which replaces Giants stadium, is home to the NFL’s Giants and Jets, both of which have New York ó not New Jersey ó in front of their team names. They’re the only teams in the league that carry the name of one state but play in another (and, no, you can’t count the Kansas City Chiefs, which play in Missouri, not Kansas).
The Super Bowl brouhaha is once again pitting the Garden State against the Big Apple.
They have feuded over ownership of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, the birthplace of baseball and, in one of the weirder spats, which state was the source of a mysterious syrupy smell that wafted over New York City several times over the years. The smell ultimately was traced to a factory in New Jersey.
Now, even the NFL brass has been emphasizing New York City’s connection to the 2014 Super Bowl.
“We promise the greatest game in the greatest venue in the greatest city,” Giants co-owner Steve Tisch said the day after the announcement.
Such comments have not gone unnoticed by New Jersey football fans.
U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg wrote a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell asking him “to ensure that the NFL appropriately describes the site of the game as `New Jersey/New York’ and not simply `New York.'”
“The reality is that the Super Bowl will be played in New Jersey, and the NFL’s marketing, promotion, and events should reflect that fact,” Lautenberg wrote.
Christie, joking that he’d invited New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to sit with him at the game, said: “This is not a competition between us and New York. What this is, though, is New York is going to have to live with the fact that, when the game comes up, they’re going to say, `Live from East Rutherford, New Jersey.'”