MIAMI (Reuters) – Sportswear company Nike Inc (NKE.N) have sold their ownership stake in the United Soccer Leagues, the sport’s second organisation in the United States.
Nike inherited the USL structure when they bought British company Umbro in 2007. On Thursday, NuRock Soccer Ho.ldings LLC, an Atlanta-based company, said they had purchased the league from Nike.
NuRock said in a statement that Nike and Umbro would continue as sponsors of the league but gave no immediate details of any agreement.
Nike’s rivals Adidas (ADSG.DE) have a long term sponsorship agreement with the top professional league in North America, Major League Soccer (MLS).
USL, founded in 1986, comprises a first and second division, an Under-20 and Under-23 league and a women’s league as well as various youth teams playing in the Super Y-League.
The leagues include teams from the United States, Canada and the Caribbean and, while clubs have been successful in regional competition, the league does not enjoy the profile or status of MLS.
“Our vision for USL is to become the most competitive and profitable pyramid of soccer leagues in North America,” said Rob Hoskins, chairman of NuRock.
(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by John Mehaffey; To query or comment on this story email [email protected])
(South Africa’s Caster Semenya, right, wins the gold medal in the women’s 800 m final at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin)
BERLIN (Time) — Caster Semenya was greeted by a rapturous crowd on Tuesday when she returned to her native South Africa after claiming the women’s 800-m gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin. But speculation surrounding the legitimacy of her title continues to rumble on after a British newspaper revealed that doping officials had found the 18-year-old athlete’s testosterone levels to be three times as high as those normally expected in a female.
On Tuesday, The Daily Telegraph reported that the hormone tests had been carried out in South Africa before the World Championships and that the results had contributed to the decision by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to request a detailed gender-verification test of the athlete. Semenya came to the world’s attention after winning the African Junior Championships in Mauritius and then the World Championships by a massive 2-sec. margin.
Responding to speculation that Semenya is a man, South African officials defended their champion on Tuesday, calling for the matter to be dropped. “It’s very simple: she’s a girl,” said Leonard Chuene, president of Athletics South Africa.
Gender disputes in athletics can be very complicated, however. In his paper “Intersex and the Olympic Games,” Rob Ritchie, a urological surgeon at Oxford University, notes that in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta — the last Games in which all female athletes were subjected to gender testing — eight female athletes were found to be genetically male. Seven of them had androgen-insensitivity syndrome (AIS), a condition in which a genetic male is resistant to androgens, the male sex hormones that include testosterone. In such cases, the testes never descend from the abdomen and the genitalia may resemble female genitalia.
Genetic males with AIS produce testosterone like normal males, but their bodies are insensitive to its effects. So people with AIS often have high levels of testosterone as the body produces more to try to exert its actions. For this reason, Semenya’s high testosterone levels could be in keeping with an AIS diagnosis.
“It’s very difficult to say whether AIS confers an athletic advantage,” Ritchie says. Those who have complete AIS, despite being genetically male, display fewer signs of the presence of testosterone than the average female, who produces and absorbs a small amount of the hormone. There is such a condition as partial AIS, however, in which a person has some sensitivity to testosterone and so develops masculine features — such as larger muscles — alongside feminine features.
Olympic officials do not consider AIS to necessarily confer an advantage. The seven genetically male athletes with AIS at the Atlanta Olympics were allowed to compete as women. However, the incidence of AIS in Atlanta — seven cases among 3,000 athletes — compared with the rate in the general population, which is 1 in 20,000, suggests that partial AIS can boost athletic ability, Ritchie says. “But,” he adds, “it’s never been proven that women found to be genetically male have any physical advantage above what might otherwise be seen in the extremes of genetically female women.”
Because gender and its relationship to athletic advantage can be such a complex matter, the International Olympic Committee and the IAAF now use a comprehensive evaluation by a panel of specialists to determine whether an athlete can compete as a woman. The IAAF’s evaluation of Semenya will include an endocrinologist, a gynecologist and a psychologist. Whether Semenya is genetically male will be only one of the factors considered. The test will also likely include a psychological profile to see whether she feels herself to be a woman.
Even if the IAAF rules Semenya ineligible to compete, Ritchie says, that does not mean she is a cheat. It is quite common for neither an individual with AIS nor her parents to realize that she is genetically male. Indeed, AIS is sometimes diagnosed at fertility clinics only when women seek help because of their inability to become pregnant. “If this girl turns out to have AIS, it’s not her fault,” he says. “As those with AIS often are, she was brought up as a girl by her parents, which was the right thing to do.”
Test results for Semenya are not expected for several weeks. A diagnosis of AIS can be extremely difficult for a young person, says Ritchie, who adds that it is a “complete mess” that the IAAF leaked reports of Semenya’s gender test to the media before the results are known. On Sunday, IAAF president Lamine Diack admitted that the affair could have been treated with more sensitivity. “It should not even have become an issue if the confidentiality had been respected,” he said. “There was a leak of confidentiality at some point, and this lead to some insensitive reactions.” Semenya has already overcome an incredible challenge by becoming a world champion. But as a result of the poor handling of what should have been a very private test, no matter the results, the most difficult stretch of her life may yet be ahead of her.
NEW YORK (AP)—It happened so fast, Eric Bruntlett needed a few moments before he realized he had just ended a game with an unassisted triple play.
Bruntlett became the second player in major league history to get the final three outs on his own, accomplishing the feat Sunday to preserve the Philadelphia Phillies’ 9-7 victory over the New York Mets.
“I didn’t know how to react. I didn’t know what to do,” Bruntlett said. “The ninth inning was wild. The whole game it seemed was strange.”
Indeed, it was a stunning end to a crazy game that included an inside-the-park homer after the ball got stuck under the outfield wall.
Bruntlett turned the 15th unassisted triple play in big league history—the second that ended a game. Detroit Tigers first baseman Johnny Neun also turned the trick on May 31, 1927, completing a 1-0 victory over Cleveland, according to STATS LLC.
“We picked a good time,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.
With runners on first and second in the ninth inning and a run already in, Jeff Francoeur(notes) hit a line drive up the middle that appeared headed toward center field for a single. But both runners were stealing on the 2-2 pitch, so Bruntlett was in perfect position as he moved over to cover second base.
He caught the liner easily, stepped on second to double up Luis Castillo(notes) and then turned to tag Daniel Murphy(notes) for the third out. Murphy tried to backpedal away from Bruntlett, but had nowhere to go.
“Frenchy hit it on the screws,” Murphy said. “It happened so fast there was nothing I could do.”
After bolting out of the box, a frustrated Francoeur stopped in his tracks and threw down his helmet with both hands.
“What a bizarre ending. I don’t know what happened there. The game’s over, so I’m happy with that,” Lidge said. “That was pretty exciting. That’s definitely not the way you draw it up.”
The Phillies raced onto the field to congratulate Bruntlett after his rare play secured Lidge’s 25th save in 33 chances.
It was the first unassisted triple play since Cleveland second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera(notes) turned one in the fifth inning on May 12, 2008, against Toronto.
Bruntlett, who made one of two Phillies errors earlier in the inning, started at second because All-Star Chase Utley(notes) was rested.
Another Phillies second baseman, Mickey Morandini, turned an unassisted triple play in 1992.
It was the first time the Mets were involved in such a play.
“Even with the runners going I did not expect him to be there. The only place he could catch the ball was where he was,” Francoeur said. “To end the way it did was a little disheartening.”
Angel Pagan(notes) hit the inside-the-park shot and added another homer for the Mets, handed yet another befuddling defeat. New York has found improbable ways to lose all year: Murphy dropped a fly ball in left field, Ryan Church(notes) missed third base while rounding the bag, Castillo flubbed Alex Rodriguez’s(notes) ninth-inning popup at Yankee Stadium.
Of the 15 unassisted triple plays in big league history, all but one came during the regular season. Cleveland second baseman Bill Wambsganss accomplished the feat in the 1920 World Series against Brooklyn.
New York Mets’ Angel Pagan… AP – Aug 23, 4:43 pm EDT
The Citi Field crowd of 39,038 stood and cheered as Martinez walked to the plate in the Phillies’ road gray-and-red uniform, a jarring sight for sure after he spent the previous four years with the Mets.
“The ovation, that’s exactly the response I expected because of the mutual bond I have here,” Martinez said. “I respect them and I love them.”
Martinez worked the count to 3-0 and Mets manager Jerry Manuel came out to remove Perez, bothered recently by a tender right knee that sidelined him earlier this season. The move got a loud ovation, and Perez (3-4) was soundly booed as he walked off the field having thrown 47 pitches—20 strikes—and getting just two outs.
The 37-year-old Martinez then gave up Pagan’s inside-the-park homer leading off the first.
Pagan’s drive to left-center briefly got stuck under the padding of the wall. Center fielder Shane Victorino(notes) threw his hands up, looking for a ground-rule double, as Pagan slowed into third, but second base umpire Rob Drake allowed play to go on and Pagan raced home for his first career inside-the-park homer.
New York Mets’ Jeff Franco… AP – Aug 23, 4:38 pm EDT
Charlie Manuel said the issue wasn’t covered when the umpires went over ground rules before the game.
“They never talked about that,” he said.
Martinez (2-0) never lived up to the $53 million contract he signed with the Mets after 2004, winning just 32 games and missing the 2006 playoffs with one of many injuries, including major shoulder surgery that limited him to just five starts in ’07—all during the September collapse.
The wiry three-time Cy Young Award winner was not offered a contract after going 5-6 with a 5.61 ERA in 20 starts for the Mets last year—a trying season in which his father died.
He labored through six innings—and hit an RBI single—while giving up four runs and seven hits in his third start with the Phillies after signing with them as a free agent on July 15.
NOTES: Pagan’s inside-the-park homer was the 25th in Mets history, and second leading off a game. Charlie Neal hit the other one in 1963 at the Polo Grounds against Philadelphia. … Charlie Manuel was ejected in the ninth after umpires reversed a call. … Francoeur bruised his left thumb while making a diving catch. X-rays were negative.
Japanese trading houses are in talks with Ethiopian coffee exporters to resume purchases of beans from the Horn of Africa country, a year after imports were slashed when several contaminated shipments were discovered.
“Some Japanese businesses are seriously negotiating with Ethiopian businesses for the resumption of imports to Japan,” Kinichi Komano, Japan’s ambassador to Ethiopia, said in an interview today at his office in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Japan curbed imports of Ethiopian coffee last year after shipments were seized between April and June by Japanese customs officials and found to contain “abnormally high” pesticide residues in the beans. Japanese imports of Ethiopian coffee plunged to 8,000 metric tons in 2008, from 29,000 tons a year earlier.
Ethiopia is Africa’s biggest coffee producer. Japan had previously purchased about 20 percent of the country’s exports, making it Ethiopia’s third-largest market after Germany and Saudi Arabia, according to the Trade Ministry.
Mocha beans from Ethiopia are highly regarded in Japan for their distinctive flavor and last year’s ban forced coffee shop owners to seek new blends.
Kenya Electricity Generation Company (KenGen) has distanced itself from an Ethiopian hydroelectric dam project on the Omo River that experts believe could wipe out Lake Turkana.
Yesterday, KenGen Public Relations Manager Mike Njeru said their mandate is to generate, not to buy electricity.
He said they were, therefore, not involved in allowing Ethiopia to build a hydroelectric power dam across River Omo. The river is the lake’s main tributary.
“KenGen does not feature anywhere in this matter because we generate and sell power to Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC). Actually, like Uganda’s Owen Falls Damat Njija, another project on the Ethiopian side would be a competitor to KenGen.”
Yesterday, The Standard reported project to construct a dam across River Omo in Ethiopia.
Initiate dialogue
The story threw experts into a spin, saying such a scheme would destroy Lake Turkana’s ecosystem.
Efforts to reach KPLC were futile.Head of public relations at National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) Ruth Musembi responded in an email saying: “The Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act upholds the principle of international co-operation in managing environmental resources shared by two or more states. Nema will co-ordinate relevant ministries and the Kenya Wetlands Forum to initiate dialogue with Ethiopia.”
A Ministry of Water official Rossella Njaya said they were concerned with the new development.
“Consultations have been going on between the two countries even before it was highlighted in the media,” she said.
Ms Njaya said the ministry had expressed their concern and requested a joint committee between the two countries.
“We agree the project can bring problems to Kenya. We have appointed three experts to be on the negotiation committee,” she said.
Pressed to be more specific, she said: “Perhaps the right person to comment on this is the minister. But she is out of town.”
Politics and music have not always mixed well in Ethiopia. But governments change — and the music survives, and evolves. A fine example is a new project that highlights the work of Ethiopian musicians today.
Before we get to the big thing out of Ethiopia today, first a quick rewind to the origins of Ethio-funk. Sure, some of Ethiopia’s super-cool pop music in the 60s was a bit derivative. But there were also some great jazz players in Addis Abeba who were wholly original.
When Mengistu Haile Mariam took over in 1974, his Derg military government imposed an all-night curfew that lasted for years. It effectively killed the nightclubs in the Ethiopian capital. But singers and bands managed to keep their chops alive — not with audiences. But for each other in small, secretive recording studios.
By the time Mengistu was pushed from power in 1991, Ethiopia’s music scene found itself basically starting from scratch. The traditional azmari singers — wandering troubadours — the artist you’re hearing now for example, had never gone away.
Azmari gathering places began to come alive again in the mid-90s. Younger up-and-coming musicians made themselves known, and began gigging and recording again. Today, between the artists who kept active in the Mengistu years and the newer ones, Addis has begun to recapture some of its former musical prowess.
This track “Azmari Dub” shows a new face of Ethiopian popular music. It’s part of a new music project titled A Town Called Addis. Nick Page is the producer. He’s from the UK and is a frequent traveller to Ethiopia. For this project, Page goes by the name Dub Colossus. And the CD logically is titled “Dub Colossus in a Town Called Addis.”
That’s Ethiopian vocalist Sintayehu Zenebe.
Dub Colossus brought her and four other rising Ethiopian singers and instrumentalists into Peter Gabriel’s Realworld studio in Britain. Dub Colossus comes from a reggae background, but he’s also had interest in all manner of global musical idioms over the years. In a recent promotional video, Nick Page (aka Dub Colossus) explained why he was a champion of Ethiopian music.
“Addis is a very vibrant and exciting musical scene that has an awful lot to offer and needs some kind of exposure.”
With “Dub Colossus in a Town Called Addis,” Nick Page is doing his part to re-elevate Ethiopian music. And it taps into that time-tested tradition in Ethiopia of fusing local sounds with those of the outside world.
PRI’s “The World” is a one-hour, weekday radio news magazine offering a mix of news, features, interviews, and music from around the globe. “The World” is a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston.
Kenya Electricity Generation Company (KenGen) has distanced itself from an Ethiopian hydroelectric dam project on the Omo River that experts believe could wipe out Lake Turkana.