olympics
Candidate hopeful anti-gay laws won’t impact ’14 Games
LONDON – IOC presidential candidate Ng Ser Miang says the Olympic body is engaged in “quiet diplomacy” with Russian leaders to make sure next year’s Winter Games in Sochi are not affected by the country’s new anti-gay legislation.
Ng, an IOC vice president from Singapore, says the International Olympic Committee is in talks with “the highest authority” in Russia to avert any problems for athletes and visitors.
He predicts there will be a “good solution” and the issue will be resolved “to the satisfaction of all.”
Ng says Russia has invested heavily in the Sochi Olympics and will want to make sure the games are a success. He says calls for a boycott are “misplaced.”
Ng is one of six candidates to succeed Jacques Rogge, who steps down as IOC president next month.
auto racing
Petty’s comments about Hamlin cause angry response
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Kyle Petty, the driver-turned-analyst with the unfiltered opinions, has angered someone new.
Petty didn’t mean to make Denny Hamlin mad with his televised comments before Sunday’s race at Pocono. Hamlin, who saw the segment on Speed, tweeted before the race “Kyle Petty is a moron,” and still was venting about Petty after crashing out 14 laps into the race.
Turns out, Hamlin had every right to be upset. Petty admitted to The Associated Press on Monday he had misinterpreted previous statements made by Hamlin, and the opinion Petty presented pre-race about Hamlin was incorrect.
Actually, that’s not the bone of contention at all.
The issue at hand is that Petty has found his voice to be the loudest and most polarizing in a sport filled with NASCAR “partners” often too timid to ruffle any feathers. Nobody wants to land on the wrong side of a driver, a crew chief, a team owner or NASCAR itself. And with the hours upon hours of programming to fill, it’s sometimes just easier to stay on good terms.
That’s not who Petty is, and he’ll never play that game.
soccer
Dempsey’s return to MLS made formal Monday
SEATTLE – For the past few seasons playing in England, even as he participated in a Europa League final with Fulham and was on the verge of a Champions League berth at Tottenham, Clint Dempsey felt the pull to come back to America grow stronger.
He didn’t want to be an aging player on the back side of his career when he finally made the decision to return to Major League Soccer.
That pull was at the heart of Dempsey’s decision to have his representatives reach out to MLS in late July and start the process that was finalized over the weekend when Dempsey signed with the Seattle Sounders as their newest designated player.
Dempsey formally was introduced on Monday. He said the Sounders “moved mountains” to make his transfer from Tottenham to Seattle a reality.
NHL
Coyotes secure a new owner and will stay in Phoenix
GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Phoenix Coyotes spent four years looking over their shoulders as numerous potential owners came forward then fell away.
Rumors of relocation cropped up, the team supposedly headed back to Winnipeg, where it originated, or to someplace new like Seattle.
Finally, after all the fits and starts, distractions and innuendo, the Coyotes finally have an owner – and a home.
IceArizona completed its purchase of the franchise from the NHL on Monday and got approval from the league’s Board of Governors, keeping the Coyotes in the desert for the foreseeable future.
Completion of the sale triggers a $225 million lease agreement for Jobing.com Arena reached last month by the city of Glendale and Renaissance Sports and Entertainment, managing partner of IceArizona.
Associated Press
