Category: Sports

Twins complete comeback, 6-5 over Tigers in 12th
MINNEAPOLIS ñ The Metrodome erupted in a jet-like roar as Carlos Gomez zoomed home with the winning run to finish off an AL Central race ó and a thrilling tiebreaker ó that didn’t want to end.
Minnesota wouldn’t quit, while the Detroit Tigers finished their historic fade. And there was little time for the Twins to celebrate, because the New York Yankees were waiting.
Alexi Casilla singled home the winning run with one out in the 12th inning and the Twins rallied for a 6-5 victory Tuesday night, completing a colossal collapse for the Tigers.
“This is the most unbelievable game I’ve ever played or seen,” Twins shortstop Orlando Cabrera said.
How was that for bonus baseball?
As Gomez scored from second ó well ahead of a late throw from right field ó Homer Hankies spiraled. The Twins celebrated and scrambled: They had 21 hours to get ready for Game 1 of the AL playoffs at Yankee Stadium against New York ace CC Sabathia. He’ll face rookie Brian Duensing.
The Tigers will head home instead. They became the first team in history to blow a three-game lead with four games left.
“I guess it’s fitting to say there was a loser in this game because we lost the game, but it’s hard for me to believe there was a loser in this game,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “Both teams played their hearts out. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”
The Twins overcame a seven-game gap in the final month, went 17-4 to pull even on the final weekend and won their fifth division title in eight years.
“We just feel like we have nothing to lose, man,” outfielder Denard Span said.
Both teams had chance after chance to end it earlier, and each club scored in the 10th. Casilla was thrown out at the plate to end that inning by left fielder Ryan Raburn after tagging up.
The Tigers thought they’d taken the lead in the 12th. But with the bases loaded, plate umpire Randy Marsh ruled that Brandon Inge was not hit by a pitch by Bobby Keppel. The replay appeared to show the pitch grazing Inge’s billowing uniform.
“I did not have the ball hitting him. We looked at replays, too, and the replays we’ve looked at, to be honest with you, were inconclusive,” said Marsh, the crew chief.
Said Inge: “No matter what we did, it seems like it wasn’t meant to be. This is the best game, by far, that I’ve ever played in no matter the outcome.”
It was the first AL tiebreaker to go to extra innings, making up for Minnesota’s disappointment last year when it lost 1-0 in Chicago to the White Sox in an AL Central tiebreaker. Had the Twins lost, it would’ve been the final baseball game at the Metrodome. Instead, the Twins get the Yankees ó New York was 7-0 against Minnesota this season.
“We’re not afraid. I can guarantee you that,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Said Yankees manager Joe Girardi: “We’re not going to have to face questions like ‘Can you beat them?’ like we’ve had to answer during the course of the year. Once the playoffs start though, it’s a new series and we know the importance of each game. You can pretty much throw everything else out the window.”
A day after Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers at the Dome ó “Monday Night Football” is what delayed this tiebreaker for a day ó the Twins pulled off a Tuesday Night Frenzy.
Gardenhire and Leyland made so many moves for defense and relief that the lineups and pitching staffs were depleted by the end.
Tigers reliever Fernando Rodney (2-5) worked his longest appearance of the season, getting the last two outs of the ninth. But he didn’t have enough to get out of the 12th. The Twins rushed out of the dugout in celebration even before Gomez reached the plate, and their comeback from a seven-game gap with 20 to play was complete.
Joe Mauer, who heard thunderous “M-V-P!” chants from the largest regular-season baseball crowd in Metrodome history throughout the game, led his team on a sprint around the warning track as they slapped hands with fans in the first rows.
“One of the best games I’ll ever play in,” Mauer said.
Keppel, Minnesota’s eighth pitcher, loaded the bases with one out in the 12th. After the non-call on Inge, second baseman Nick Punto then scooped Inge’s grounder and fired home in time to get the runner on the force. Then Keppel struck out Gerald Laird to squelch that rally.
Twins closer Joe Nathan found trouble in the ninth when consecutive singles put runners at the corners, but he got a strikeout and a line-drive double play to end that threat. The four-time All-Star gave two huge pumps of his right arm as he spun to thank his defense and run to the dugout, preserving the tie.
Inge’s two-out double in the 10th gave the Tigers a 5-4 lead, but Michael Cuddyer sliced a triple past Raburn in left and scored on Matt Tolbert’s bouncing single through the middle in the bottom of the inning.
On the potential winning sacrifice fly, though, Casilla strayed a bit too far from third and was thrown out by Raburn trying to score to end the inning. The split-second Casilla needed to retouch the base might have cost him the run.
He more than made up for that mistake later.
According to sports researcher STATS LLC, only three teams since 1901 have blown a three-game lead in the standings with four games left. The Houston Astros lost three straight games to Los Angeles in 1980, but they recovered to defeat the Dodgers in a tiebreaker game for the NL West. Milwaukee lost three in a row to Baltimore in 1982 to force a tie, but beat the Orioles in the final regular season game to win the AL East.
After splitting four in Detroit last week ó a loss in the series finale Thursday would’ve given the division to the Tigers ó the Twins came home for the final scheduled series in the bubble needing a sweep of the Kansas City Royals and did just that.
So with 54,088 fans in attendance, the place was erupting with noise and excitement. The chants for Mauer, who wrapped up his third batting title, were deafening. Leyland even told his players before the game to think of the loudest experience of their life and multiply it by four to anticipate the decibel level for this game. Dome ball came in handy again, on a day when the city was drenched by cold rain.
Rookie starter Rick Porcello pitched well beyond his 20 years for the Tigers, and Miguel Cabrera made up for a miserable weekend ó on and off the field ó with a two-run homer against Scott Baker in the third inning that made it 3-0. The crowd chanted “al-co-ho-lic” right before Cabrera went deep, a rude reference to the first baseman’s fight with his wife after he came home late and drunk.
The Twins crept back, though, and Orlando Cabrera’s two-run homer in the seventh gave them a brief lead that Magglio Ordonez ended with his leadoff homer in the eighth.
“We were dead and buried a couple times, and our team just kept coming back,” Twins general manager Bill Smith said.
NOTES: This was the ninth tiebreaker game in baseball history, and the third straight year with a 163rd game. Only two of them went to extra innings. … Seven members of the Metrodome’s cleaning and maintenance crews were honored on the mound before the game for the work of those groups in converting the field back and forth from baseball to football in light of Monday’s Packers-Vikings game.

Cox to retire as Braves manager after next season
NEW YORK ñ After 50 years in baseball, Bobby Cox figured the only way he would ever give up managing was to pick a specific time and announce it publicly.
So that’s what he did Wednesday, revealing his plans to retire as manager of the Atlanta Braves after next season.
Now comes the hard part: sticking to it.
“There is a little bit of relief once you come to grips with announcing it,” Cox said. “I’ve never lost the love to manage, period. But you have to make a decision. At my age, you have to make a decision. Somebody a little younger can start up.”
The 68-year-old Cox, a four-time Manager of the Year, agreed to a one-year contract extension for 2010, the Braves announced before Wednesday night’s game against the New York Mets. He will start a five-year consulting agreement to advise the team in baseball operations after he steps down as manager.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Braves slugger Chipper Jones said.
During an illustrious career on the bench, Cox has guided Atlanta to 14 consecutive postseason appearances (1991-2005) and the 1995 World Series title.
“They asked me to come back, and I said I would do it for one more year, and we’ll announce the retirement along with it. It’s the only way I think I’m ever going to walk away from the game, is to go ahead and say I’m going to, and then I’ve got to,” Cox said. “There’s no turning back now ó win, lose or draw.
Whatever happens next year is going to be it.”
A cigar-smoking baseball lifer, Cox managed the Braves from 1978-81, switched to manage the Toronto Blue Jays from 1982-85, then returned to manage Atlanta in 1990. He led the Braves to five NL pennants and a record 14 straight division titles from 1991-2005.
“He’s one of the greatest ó not only managers, but people,” Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre said in Washington. “He’s a Hall of Famer.”
Cox began Wednesday with 2,408 regular-season wins as a manager, fourth behind Connie Mack (3,731), John McGraw (2,763) and Tony La Russa (2,550). Cox and Joe McCarthy are the only managers with six 100-win regular seasons.
“Bobby’s one of the best ever,” Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland said in Cleveland.
Braves general manager Frank Wren said he won’t start thinking about a successor for Cox until an appropriate time next season. Both men said Cox will have input.
“He’s been the one constant through the entire run that we’ve had over the last 20 years,” said Jones, who has played for Cox his entire career. “It’ll be a sad day, a sad day when he leaves.”
Still feisty, Cox has been ejected seven times this season, extending his major league record to 150.
“What you can always say about Bobby is that he always gets the best out of his players and that he’s a class act,” umpire Ed Rapuano said in Cleveland. “You could toss him, but the next day all was forgotten.”
Jones said the Braves will have added incentive next season to send Cox out a winner. But the 37-year-old third baseman added that he’s not sure he’ll stick around long enough to play for a different manager.
“I’m just glad he’ll be around for one more year,” Jones said.
Wren said the agreement was reached last weekend while the Braves were playing Philadelphia, but Cox didn’t want an announcement to take the focus off that series. The team had decided to reveal the news when it returned home to Atlanta next week, but Wren said all the public speculation and false information about Cox’s future persuaded the club to make an announcement Wednesday.
Cox’s entire coaching staff will be retained next season, too.
“We know we’re growing older. I know Bobby feels like he’s still capable. His mind is as good today as it will be five years from now. But there’s a demand of pressure and energy on his job. We all come to that point,” Braves president John Schuerholz said at a Turner Field news conference in Atlanta.
“He’s comfortable with this. It’s his plan. He’s at peace managing a team next season to a championship level,” Schuerholz added. “He’s handled the highs and lows better than any other manager in baseball I’ve ever seen.”
Cox said his role as adviser likely will include visiting Braves farm clubs to offer advice, evaluations and perhaps even hands-on instruction. He said it’s a job he’s excited about.
Still, many in baseball have a hard time imagining anyone besides ol’ No. 6 in the Braves’ dugout.
“He may change his mind. Bobby loves the game. It’s in his blood,” La Russa said in Houston before his Cardinals played the Astros. “He always had his team ready to play.”
Mets manager Jerry Manuel called Cox “an icon in the sport.”
“Managers look to try to attain that level of status that he has,” Manuel said. “I think that’s unfortunate for the Braves ó probably fortunate for everybody else in the division.
“He’s had a tremendous, tremendous run. He has really set the bar tremendously high over there. So anybody that steps in there will have some big, big shoes to fill as far as stability and strategy.”
Cox said the person he consulted most about the decision was his wife, Pam, and he acknowledged she was happy about it.
“She’s been after me for quite awhile,” Cox said with a smile.

Leafs acquire Kessel from Bruins
TORONTO – Brian Burke is turning to Phil Kessel to help speed up his rebuilding of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs general manager finally acquired the rights to Kessel after months of talks with the Boston Bruins, sources told The Canadian Press on Friday.
Burke is betting the farm that Kessel is a big step in the Leafs’ rebuilding. In return for the rights to negotiate with the restricted free agent, Toronto sent a first and second round pick in the 2010 NHL draft to Boston, along with another first-round pick in 2011.
Kessel scored 36 goals and added 24 assists in 70 games with Boston last season.
The 21-year-old restricted free agent, who is in the last year of his entry-level deal, failed to negotiate an contract extension with Boston in the off-season.
The Bruins picked Kessel fifth overall in the 2005 draft.

Jays open 2010 season in Texas
It will all start in Arlington for the 2010 Blue Jays.
Major League Baseball announced next season’s schedule on Tuesday, and Toronto is slated to begin its 34th campaign against Texas at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The two clubs will get it going Monday, April 5, then have an off-day and wrap up the first series of the season over the following couple of days.
It will mark the first time the Blue Jays and Rangers open up together since ’01 — when Toronto beat Texas, 8-1, in Puerto Rico — and the first time the Blue Jays start a season in Texas since 1990, when Nolan Ryan was the winning pitcher in a 4-2 Toronto loss.
The Blue Jays, 25-8 all-time on Opening Day, will be starting a season on the road for the third time in the past four years.
After that three-game set, Toronto will play three in Baltimore against the Orioles, then come to Canada for its first home series at Rogers Centre. That will begin Monday, April 12, when the Blue Jays play four against the White Sox, three against the Angels and three against the Royals.
Interleague Play will kick off at Rogers Centre in mid-June, when the Blue Jays host the Giants (June 18-20), Cardinals (June 22-24) and Phillies (June 25-27). Toronto will also go on the road to face National League West teams in the D-backs (May 21-23), Rockies (June 11-13) and Padres (June 14-16).
The Blue Jays most famously beat the Phillies in the 1993 World Series, and over the past two years, they’re 6-3 against them during the regular season.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, will be making a stop in Toronto for the first time since the Blue Jays took two of three in ’05.
As usual, the Blue Jays will play 18 games each — nine home and nine away — against the division-rival Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles and Rays. They’ll also play at least one home and one road series against each of the remaining AL teams. In addition, the Jays will host two series against the Twins while going on the road for two series against the Indians and Angels.
The Red Sox will first come to town April 26-28, and the Yankees will follow June 4-6.
On the road, the Blue Jays will make their first stop at Fenway Park May 10-12, and they’ll be at Yankee Stadium for the first time for a three-game series starting July 2.
The final four series will see the Blue Jays host the Mariners (Sept. 21-23), Orioles (Sept. 24-26) and Yankees (Sept. 27-29) before wrapping up the regular season with a four-game road series against the Twins Sept. 30-Oct. 3.

Favre back yet again
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Brett Favre’s latest retirement lasted all of three weeks.
The three-time NFL MVP has done about-face for the second time in as many years and will play for the Minnesota Vikings this season.
If the wait for Favre’s decision seemed never-ending, it was resolved Tuesday in a few short hours: the 39-year-old jumped on a team plane in Mississippi and was picked up at the St. Paul airport by coach Brad Childress himself. The two drove to the team’s practice facility, where Favre waved to hundreds of cheering fans.
No less than 90 minutes later, Favre was on the field in his familiar No. 4 jersey with purple shorts and a purple helmet, a vision that has had Packers fans cringing about for months. He shook hands with a few of his new teammates and quickly began throwing as fans peeked through the security fence to catch a glimpse of the superstar.
Shortly after practice began, the Vikings confirmed the agreement that seemed so inevitable all summer, only to be held up July 28 when the man who holds every major NFL career passing record told Childress he wasn’t ready to play, citing a lack of confidence in his beat-up body to hold up over an entire season.
Childress and Favre were expected to discuss the change of heart at a news conference later Tuesday.
Childress a few weeks ago said he had not planned to pursue Favre after he said he was staying retired. And yet here comes Favre, once reviled by a Vikings fan base that hustled to welcome him to town.
“I don’t have any problem rooting for one of the greatest quarterbacks ever,” said Phil Setala, a 23-year-old from Minneapolis who was at practice proudly wearing a purple No. 4 jersey.
Even the governor chimed in.
“It’s going to be good for the team. It’s going to be good for the state. It’s going to be exciting,” a giddy Gov. Tim Pawlenty said after a speech.
Last month, Favre explained his decision by saying he had to be “careful not to commit for the wrong reasons.”
“I’m 39 with a lot of sacks to my name,” he said.
He has a lot of interceptions to his name, too, more than any other quarterback in NFL history. The last time Favre appeared in the playoffs – a bitter loss at Lambeau Field by the Packers to the Giants in the NFC championship game following the 2007 season – he put up one of his worst performances in recent memory.
Now the question becomes how Favre will fit in with a team that’s already done with the grind of training camp, not to mention how his health will hold up so soon after he questioned it. Favre had arthroscopic surgery to fix his throwing shoulder in May.
The Vikings got an encouraging performance in their preseason opener last week from quarterback Sage Rosenfels, who has been competing with Tarvaris Jackson for the starting job, but neither of them have been consistently sharp in practice this month.
And neither is anywhere in Favre’s league. His zinger of an arm and toughness in the pocket are a combination few possess. With an offence he claimed this summer he could operate in his sleep, Favre seems to fit well with Minnesota – especially given the Vikings’ problems finding a reliable quarterback since Childress took over in 2006.
The Vikings have Pro Bowl players all over their roster, with reigning NFL rushing leader Adrian Peterson in the backfield and a dominant defensive line. No matter who’s behind centre, they ought to be in position to defend their NFC North title.
To win the conference, and perhaps that elusive Super Bowl, they’ll need stability at the sport’s most critical position.
Favre has wrestled with retirement for most of this decade and the will-he-or-won’t-he saga became an annual off-season drama for the Packers, his longtime home. In Green Bay, the latest news elicited a few shrugs, little more.
A few months after Favre’s tearful goodbye news conference in March 2008, Green Bay traded him to the Jets when he tried to come back, only to learn the Packers were committed to Aaron Rodgers. Favre started strong in New York, but faded down the stretch amid problems with his throwing arm and, with another “I’m done” announcement, headed for his second retirement.
The Jets released him from his contract right after the draft and soon after, the Vikings were openly expressing interest. Favre spent the summer working out in Mississippi and led everyone to believe he was on his way back to the NFL until last month.
“It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made,” Favre told ESPN then. “I didn’t feel like physically I could play at a level that was acceptable.”

Jays GM sets loose deadline for Halladay trade
TORONTO – J.P. Ricciardi set a loose deadline of next Tuesday for completing a Roy Halladay trade, sending potential suitors a clear message that if they want the ace right-hander they had better ante up soon to get him.
The Toronto Blue Jays general manager also turned up the posturing by saying “at this point it’s probably unlikely we’ll trade Doc,” after both he and Halladay recently pegged the chances for a deal at “50-50.”
“If we don’t have him traded by the time his last start gets here it’s probably not going to get done,” Ricciardi said before Tuesday’s series opener with the Cleveland Indians.
“As you get closer and closer to the deadline, no-one’s really stepped up yet and at that point I think time starts running out on you. And, like I’ve said, we’ve got to be highly motivated to move him. We haven’t been highly motivated yet.”
Ricciardi said some sort of cutoff is necessary in order to give the teams enough time to tie up all the loose ends a deal of such magnitude brings, from physicals for all the players involved to appropriate signoffs from ownership.
Halladay also has a full no-trade clause so his approval will be needed, as well. He has two starts remaining before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, Friday at home versus Tampa Bay and July 29 at Seattle.
Ricciardi added that he’d like Halladay to pitch against the Mariners with some type of resolution to the matter, but next Tuesday is not a drop-dead date by any means.
If the Blue Jays and another team are making progress at that point, talks could extend right up to the last minute July 31. However, if no preliminary work is in place by then, talks aren’t likely to get started then or afterwards.
The Blue Jays are seeking a high-end package of prospects that includes elite young pitching for the 2003 Cy Young Award winner. They’re more likely to get it now rather than if they wait until the off-season.
“History tells you if a guy has more service time for a team, he’s probably going to be more valuable to that team at that point,” said Ricciardi. “If the off-season comes and someone feels the same way and wants to blow you away, I guess you can get something but history tells you having a guy for a year and a half is more important than having him for a year.”
Halladay, who is making US$14.25 million this season and is due $15.75 million in 2010 before his contract expires, has been on the open market for a couple of weeks now.
The Philadelphia Phillies are considered the favourites to land him, with Boston, Milwaukee, San Francisco, the Yankees, Dodgers and Angels all in the mix to varying degrees.
Asked how many teams had expressed serious interest, Ricciardi declined comment, offering only, “there’s been enough.”
Ricciardi also hinted that if Halladay is moved, the stripping down of the team won’t end there. Shorstop Marco Scutaro, catcher Rod Barajas and infielder John McDonald will all be free agents after the season while third baseman Scott Rolen, first baseman Lyle Overbay and closer Scott Downs are all signed through 2010.
“Everything feeds off if we do something with Doc,” said Ricciardi. “The first thing we’re concentrating on is if we’re going to trade Doc, obviously. If we are trading him, then we’d be open to doing other things.”

Sakic hangs ’em up And Retires after 20 NHL seasons
DENVER – Stoic Joe Sakic finally cracked, allowing for a rare show of emotion.
Delivering a speech that had kept him up most of the night fretting, the longtime Colorado Avalanche captain broke down, his voice betraying him as he stared into a room packed with family, friends and teammates – even the governor of the state.
Sakic officially hung up his skates Thursday, ending his standout 20-year career. Try as he might, he simply couldn’t get through his prepared speech without choking up.
“So many great memories,” Sakic said, fighting back tears.
The pride of Burnaby, B.C., Sakic had hoped to play one more season, possibly culminating his career by suiting up for Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
His body simply wouldn’t allow it.
Sakic missed most of the 2008-09 season with an aching back that required surgery to repair a herniated disk. He tried to make his way back onto the ice before the end of the season, but couldn’t.
That’s when he suspected his career was finished.
“I didn’t think I could be the player I wanted to be,” said the 40-year-old Sakic, who has been the face of the franchise since the team moved to Denver in 1995. “I always said to myself that the minute I thought I’d slipped, and not be the player I wanted to be, it was time for me to go.”
Sakic announced his retirement in the same room of a Denver hotel where John Elway did. Only fitting, since both were icons in the Mile High City.
“We can’t put into words what he meant to this franchise and to our hockey fans,” Avalanche president Pierre Lacroix said.
Sakic’s No. 19 sweater will also be retired, getting raised to the Pepsi Centre rafters during a ceremony at the season opener, which is not yet scheduled.
It will be just the third in the 14-year history of the Avalanche, joining Patrick Roy (33) and Ray Bourque (77). The organization also retired four when they were the Quebec Nordiques.
“He’s such a great leader. He made the team top-notch,” Paul Stastny said.
Sakic once played alongside Paul Stastny’s father, Peter, the two on the same power-play unit in Quebec.
“He was a complete player and one of the greatest in history,” Peter Stastny said in a statement.
Sakic certainly had an impressive resume.
He wore the captain’s “C” for 16 straight seasons and guided the team to Stanley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001, won league MVP honours in 2001, was a 13-time all-star and led Canada to an Olympic gold medal in 2002.
Sakic also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship in 2001, showing his true character by handing the Stanley Cup over to Bourque after winning the title and letting the longtime defenseman hoist the trophy.
It was a moment that friend and longtime teammate Adam Foote mentioned in his speech Thursday.
“A humble superstar that you are, you stood back, you let a gray-bearded, 22-year seasoned veteran, who was waiting patiently like a young boy on Christmas morning, hoist his first Stanley Cup,” Foote said.
“That class act of yours might go down in history as one of the NHL’s most memorable moments that united the entire hockey world.”
Foote will remember Sakic as much for his class as his clutch play on the ice.
So will Lacroix, who choked up repeatedly when giving his speech. Sakic waited to announce his retirement until Lacroix was healed following complications from a knee replacement surgery.
“My family and I are privileged to know you. We’re better people because of that,” Lacroix said. “You make everyone around you so much better.”
Known for his lethal wrist shot and precision passing, Sakic leaves the game among the NHL’s career scoring leaders. He’s eighth in points (1,641), 11th in assists (1,016) and 14th in goals (625).
He was never an intimidating presence – he’s only five-foot-11 and 195 pounds – but made up for it with determination and intelligence.
There are only four players in league history that have scored more points with one franchise than Sakic: Gordie Howe (1,809) and Steve Yzerman (1,755) with Detroit, Mario Lemieux with Pittsburgh (1,723) and Wayne Gretzky with Edmonton (1,669).
Sakic was originally taken by Quebec with the 15th pick in the 1987 draft. He made his NHL debut on Oct. 6, 1988, picking up his first assist against the then Hartford Whalers. Two nights later against New Jersey, he scored his first goal.
That would be a familiar occurrence for the quiet superstar.
“I’m sad to see him leave the game,” former teammate Peter Forsberg said in a statement. “I’m glad I got the chance to play alongside him for many years … He’s a very classy person and a great team leader.”

Casting call: 4,500 performers sought for Olympic ceremonies
Olympic organizers in Vancouver are looking for 4,500 dancers and performers and athletes to volunteer in the televised performances for the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games next February.
“We’re looking for people with all types of performance skills and levels of ability who want to play a part in sharing Canada with the world,” said David Guscott, the executive vice-president of celebrations and partnerships with the 2010 Olympic organizing committee, known as VANOC.
The ceremonies inside BC Place will be broadcast around the world and are intended to tell the story of Canada to an estimated television audience of 3.5 billion.
“Previous experience isn’t a requirement, but taking quick action is. This is the one and only call for participation,” he said.
VANOC is also looking for about 1,000 volunteers to help backstage at the ceremonies. Applications can be filed online at the VANOC website.
All performers must be 17 or older by May 1, 2009 to apply, although possible opportunities for performers younger than this are still being considered.
“Above all, we’re looking for volunteers with lots of personality, a positive attitude, tons of energy, and a willingness to perform on a stage in front of thousands of people live and billions more around the globe.”
Auditions will start in May and candidates will be notified this summer if they have been successful. Rehearsals will begin in November and continue until the Feb. 12 opening of the Games, including over the December holiday period.
Rehearsals will be held twice a week and each volunteer performer will rehearse for more than 100 hours to prepare for their role.
It will be the first time in Olympics history that the ceremonies will be staged at an indoor venue.
They are being produced by Australian David Atkins, who also produced the ceremonies for the Summer Games in Sydney in 2000.
The federal government is spending the $20 million to cover the majority of the cost.

ESPN facing job cuts, hiring freeze
NEW YORK – ESPN’s top executive told employees that he’s instituting a hiring freeze and won’t give any raises to top executives as one of television’s most successful enterprises feels the effect of the economy.
ESPN and ABC Sports chief George Bodenheimer said he expected 200 jobs will be cut within the next year, mostly positions currently unfilled.
The moves come despite what Bodenheimer called a record year for ESPN in 2008, although the company doesn’t release financial details. Cable television’s top sports franchise showed its muscle by outbidding everyone in November for the rights to televise college football’s Bowl Championship Series for four years starting in 2011.
“The economy is worsening,” Bodenheimer said, “and ESPN and our business partners – especially some of our major advertisers – are feeling the impact more acutely than at any point in our lifetime.”
He spoke to ESPN employees Wednesday through a company computer connection, and his message quickly became public.
The company is not ruling out layoffs, although the vast majority of job cuts will come through not filling open jobs, a spokesman said. Bodenheimer said he’s ordering a review of operations over the next few months to find ways to save money.
Although top executives won’t see raises, Bodenheimer told the troops that some merit raises will still be available to lower level staff.
He also said the company will make key investments both in the U.S. and internationally. ESPN and partner ABC are expected to be bidders later this year when the rights to televise the 2014 and 2016 Olympics goes up for auction.
“Our goal remains to come out of this period stronger,” Bodenheimer said.

Rickey runs to the Hall, As Henderson, Rice get elected
BOSTON – Down to his last at-bat, Jim Rice made it into the baseball Hall of Fame.
The former Boston Red Sox slugger was elected to the Cooperstown shrine on Monday in what was to be his final year of eligibility, getting seven votes more than needed. He is the third player elected by the baseball writers in his final year, joining Red Ruffing (1967) and Ralph Kiner (1975).
“I don’t think it matters what ballot I was on as long as I got in. That was the key thing right there,” he said in a conference call. “Everything was timing, because my numbers have not changed over the last 22 years. The only thing I can say is I’m glad it’s over with. I’m in there and they can’t take it away.”
Rice will join career stolen bases and runs scored leader Rickey Henderson at the July 26 induction ceremony. Also to be honoured are former Yankees and Indians second baseman Joe Gordon, elected last month by the Veterans Committee, as well as broadcaster Tony Kubek and writer Nick Peters, the winners of the Frick and Spink awards, respectively.
Rice received 412 votes of the 539 ballots cast for 76.4 per cent, topping the required 75 per cent. Last year he was 16 votes shy, sending him back to the members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for a 15th and final time before he would be relegated to the Veterans Committee.
“It’s about time,” said former teammate Fred Lynn, who edged Rice for the 1975 rookie of the year award. “Throw out the statistics. Jimmy was the dominant force in his era. That’s really all you can say when you’re trying to compare guys that played in the ’70s and ’80s to the guys that are playing now. … In his heyday, Jimmy was a feared hitter.”
Henderson, who received 94.8 per cent of the votes, appeared in 72 games for Boston in 2002. Rice and Henderson will be the 20th and 21st left-fielders to be inducted and the first since Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski, who preceded Rice in the shadow of the Green Monster and entered Cooperstown in 1989.
Rice joins Yaz, Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr as the only Hall of Famers who played their entire careers for Boston. “It was long overdue,” Yastrzemski said.
From 1974-89, Rice batted .298 with 382 home runs and 1,451 RBIs, earning eight all-star selections and finishing in the top five in AL MVP voting six times. He won the award in 1978 when he batted .315 with 213 hits, 46 home runs, 139 RBIs, a .600 slugging percentage and 406 total bases – the only AL player to top 400 since Joe DiMaggio in 1937.
“It was the most dynamic offensive year that I have every played with anybody,” Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley said.
Rice drove in 100 or more runs eight times when runs were more scarce than today, batted over .300 seven times and topped 200 hits four times. He is the only player in major league history with at least 35 homers and 200 hits in three consecutive seasons (1977-79).
He helped Boston reach the World Series in 1975 and 1986.