PFT: NFL urges union to see scope of bounty probe

Reuters

As the Canadian Football League approaches its annual Canada Day launch to its regular season, let?s fill some space on a slow (relatively speaking) Saturday and look back in time at a series of preseason games once played between teams from the NFL and CFL.

While recently perusing the Official 2011 NFL Record & Fact Book (the 2012 version should be coming out soon, and like a total dork I actually look forward to getting it), I noticed at page 531 a full list of the league?s International Games.

From August 1950 through August 1961, teams from the NFL and CFL played six times during the NFL preseason, in Canada.? (For the Canadian teams, the games were exhibitions played during the CFL regular season.)

It started in 1950, when the Giants beat the Rough Riders in Ottawa, 27-6.? The following year, the Giants thumped the same team in the same town, 41-18.

The series resumed eight years later, when the Chicago Cardinals clobbered the Argonauts, 55-26, in Toronto.? In 1960, the Steelers slammed the Argonauts in Toronto, 43-16.

The exercise ended the following year, with a pair of contests played three days apart.? On August 2 in Toronto, the Cardinals (which had since moved to St. Louis) cold-cocked the Argonauts, 36-7.? On August 5, the Bears bested the Alouettes in Montreal, 34-16.

But the Canadians saved a little face three days after that.? In the one and only AFL-CFL game, the Tiger-Cats took apart the Buffalo Bills in Hamilton, 38-21.

In the past 51 years, no NFL team (or AFL, during the league?s remaining years of existence) has ever again played a CFL team, in Canada or elsewhere.? It?s unlikely that it will ever happen again.? Still, every time you hear the name ?Tiger-Cats? remember that they own the bragging rights over the Bills and, in turn, the league that absorbed the Buffalo franchise in 1970.

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London 2012 Olympics: Hotel prices fall as visitor rush fails to materialise

Last month the four-star Radisson New Providence Wharf Hotel, three miles from the Olympic Park, was showing the cheapest rate of ?594, for a double or twin room, for the Games period.

But similar rooms are now available during the Olympics for between ?210 and ?306.

Industry experts hope say the price cuts will attract an increased number of visitors.

It is thought these are more likely to come from the rest of the UK and northern European countries. than the US and Asia, as the short-notice makes it harder for them to plan a holiday in London in time.

Seamus Maccormaic, a senior director with Hotels.com, one of the country?s leading hotel booking sites, said: ?We predict that we will now see an increase in the number of domestic visitors to London during the Games period, especially those who have managed to get tickets.

?They will be taking advantage of the fall in room rates to book one or two night stays, allowing them to attend the Games and also spend some time in London.

"Others will just want to be in the capital, perhaps go to the Olympic Park with day tickets and soak up the fantastic atmosphere there will be over the Games period.?

As part of the bid to stage the 2012 Games, Locog had reached agreements with hotels to provide it with more than 40,000 rooms, representing more than 600,000 room nights during the period.

Part of the deal was that the organising committee promised to return any unwanted rooms back to the hotels so they could sell them in time for games.

The rooms, at more than 200 hotels, range from five-star to budget accommodation.

At the same time hoteliers have begun to offer discount rates in an attempt to encourage people put off by what is the high cost of accommodation in London compared to previous years.

Mr Maccormaic added: ?A lot of hotels, small, medium and large, have held back until now in the hope of attracting visitors at premium rates. But they are now starting to put rooms onto the market at much lower rates because they found they just could not fill them. That means there are some fantastic bargains to be had at the moment.?

Studies have shown that an estimated 294,000 tourists were likely to visit London from overseas during the Games period, with a further 587,000 day overnight visitors from the rest of the UK.

On top of that it was estimated that around 5.5 million day trippers would descend on London during the two weeks of the Olympics and 12 days of the Paralympic Games.

The Oxford Economics think-tank had forecast that ?650 million in tourist spending was likely to be generated during the five year period after the Games.

But there had been fears the high price of hotel rooms would put many thousands of visitors off coming to London during the games.

Martine Ainsworth-Wells, director of marketing communications, London & Partners, the former London Tourist Board, which said its own estimates matched Hotel. Com?s figures, welcomed the price cuts, saying it would boost visitor numbers to the capital.

He said: ?We?ve known for years that business patterns do change during an Olympic year due to the nature of hotel rooms being allocated to sponsors and media first ? the people who contribute hugely to the cost of the games and then released at a later date.

?With LOCOG?s recent releases, hotels can now manage their remaining availability and ensure that visitors coming to London throughout 2012 will have a positive and enjoyable experience which will make them want to return for future years to come.

"With over 100,000 hotel rooms in the capital, we have always been confident that there would be plenty of room for everyone.

?The beauty of London is that it?s a shot hop away from some of its core markets in Europe and that makes late bookings entirely possible for visitors that want to come to the capital this summer.?

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Fierce storms rake Washington area

Powerful thunderstorms closed out a third consecutive day of sweltering heat in Washington Friday, downing trees, and knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses, as winds gusted to 60 mph and higher.

Around 8 p.m. last night about 35,000 homes and businesses in Montgomery and Prince George?s Counties and the District of Columbia had lost electricity.

A large proportion of them were in northern sections of the District, and in the Langley Park/Hyattsville areas of Prince George?s County. Many homes in Bethesda and Potomac also lost power.

A tree fell across the southbound lanes of the Baltimore Washington Parkway near Route 450, and a huge tree toppled in Takoma Park, in a tangle of leaves and branches.

This all came on one of the season?s hotter days, as temperatures before the storm reached 97 degrees at Reagan National Airport.

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Column: LBJ gets a better seat among NBA's greats

Some of the NBA's greatest players ever didn't need to see a championship ring to count LeBron James in their ranks.

In what amounts to a game of "musical chairs" ? and that's what ranking "the greatest anything" comes down to ? a few sounded prepared to give up their seats. But if James wants to occupy the last one, if it's important to him to be the best of the best, the ring he picked up Thursday night better not be his last. He has a lot of ground to make up.

Michael Jordan, who stubbornly kept trying to win a championship by himself, got his first ring in his seventh season in Chicago and won six before he retired ? the second time. Ever competitive, he still refuses every offer to comment on any other player, let alone compare them to you-know-who.

Oscar Robertson, who made a career setting up teammates to succeed, squandered a decade trying to win in Cincinnati, then moved to Milwaukee and partnered with a young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to get his first and only title. He couldn't have been more complimentary about James.

"He's getting smarter, he's only 27 and still too sensitive to what people think about him. He'll get over that and if nothing else, it stops the 'when are you ...' talk," Robertson said. "Then he won't give a damn what they say. That's when we'll see real LeBron come out."

It's been an article of faith in sports that sooner or later, the "next one" will come along. If not in this era, then the next, or the one after that. Robertson was the original "big guard," a threat to score, hand out assists and grab rebounds, the only player in league history to average a triple-double over the course of a season. But he played the game at roughly 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds for 14 seasons, retiring in 1974.

James is 6-8 and 250, with much the same skill set, and a RoboCop physique to boot. Considering how many individual awards he's already piled up in nine seasons ? MVPs, scoring championships, All-Star selections and record-book entries ? his accomplishments might one day dwarf all those of guys who played the same spot on the floor.

That means Jordan, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant, each of whom won multiple championships. Think back to the day when the argument over best-ever was confined to the dominant big men: Bill Russell, who won 11 titles in Boston, versus Wilt Chamberlain, who won two. And if it comes down to rings, Clyde Drexler, another big guard voted onto the "NBA's 50 Greatest Players" honor roll, wonders whether James will ever get his due.

Like James, he came up short several times in the postseason in Portland, then moved to Houston alongside Hakeem Olajuwon and won his only championship.

"I'm one of those guys who says you can't view team sports the same way you view individual sports. If he gets you 30-plus points, 10 rebounds a night and I'm his teammate and I miss two free throws at the end of the night, is he a great player or not? And does he have to rely on other people for that judgment?" Drexler said, without waiting for an answer. "No.

"The guy has an unbelievable resume, he's the most unselfish, hard-working guy on the court and if you're a fan of the game, you can't help but love the way the guy plays the game. So here's one way to look at it. Before 'The Decision,' he was one of the most revered athletes' on the planet. After 'The Decision' ? and it wasn't the best way he could have handled that situation, but it's over ? people just, just sort of threw him down the stairs.

"I know what Michael (Jordan) said about playing against your rivals instead of with them. But when I got to Houston and started playing with Hakeem, frankly, I needed a lighter load. I knew I wouldn't have to work as hard.

"With LeBron, the expectations were outsized once he said he was going to Miami," Drexler said finally. "He met those once. We'll find out how much he's got left."

The funny thing about success for guys that good is that it cranks up expectations instead of easing them. What marked Jordan as special is that every offseason, after the cigars were extinguished, the champagne ran out and the trophy was passed around, he went back to work turning a weakness ? left-handed dribble, mid-range jump shots, developing a fadeaway to avoid blocked shots ? into a strength.

It's that trait that Magic thinks will ultimately decide how far James continues climbing the ranks. Noting James was already a deadly scorer, a top-shelf passer and as tough a rebounder as he needed to be, Johnson said his improved post-up game ? following extensive offseason training with Olajuwon ? had already established James as "the most unstoppable force we have in the NBA."

"Before, my biggest knock on LeBron was he was just playing off his God-gifted talent," Johnson said during a conference call before Game 5. "He was just the best athlete. But he didn't play with his head to match that. Now he's playing with his talent and with his head, and wow, watch out. This guy is going to set the league on fire for a long time. ... I know there was an earlier question about how dominant has his performance been. We look to see this from LeBron for years and years to come."

We'd better.

After all, he promised "not two, not three, not ..." well, you get the idea.

___

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and follow him at Twitter.com/JimLitke.

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Cyprus President: Our economy is doing well

We should not cause panic to the Cyprus market about our economy, he added.

President Christofias has claimed that Cyprus economy is doing well, saying that if it is deemed necessary to apply to the EU support mechanism, it will be done because of the banking sector.

Christofias said that the Government is trying to avoid applying to the support mechanism, adding if required, this will be officially announced and substantiated.

We should not cause panic to the Cyprus market about our economy, he added.

He added that "our economy is doing well, and our efforts to tackle the fiscal deficit and public debt are also going well and we have positive results"

"Unfortunately we have the problem with the banks, or rather with one of the banks which we are trying to address in a number of ways", he pointed out.

He called on the opposition to tone down its criticism for "unity on the home front".

Commenting on remarks by the opposition about taking measures for the economy without any prior briefing, President Christofias explained that the Cabinet had not yet taken any decision and assured that both the parties and unions will be briefed and take part in the dialogue about economic measures.

We are preparing measures, this is true, and we will have a dialogue", he added.

He also expressed the view that the country needs tranquility as well as unity of actions and goals.

Asked about efforts to secure a loan from Russia, he said "we will let you know the results soon, either positive or negative, we do not know yet." ??Copyright Famagusta Gazette 2012 All comments are now moderated

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Amanda Nejat, Danville Mother, Banned From Nordstrom After Leaving Infants In Car (VIDEO)

A mother of 11-week-old twins has been banned from the Nordstrom in Pleasanton, Calif., after authorities discovered she left her infant children locked inside her SUV while she shopped.

Amanda Nejat, from Danville, Calif., was arrested in February after a woman discovered the children inside the car and called the police. She has pleaded no contest to the crime on Wednesday.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO)

According to the Contra Costa Times, the judge also barred the new mother from leaving her children unattended and required her to take 26 parenting classes and attend counseling.

Nejat, 46, refused to comment to the media.

The incident unfolded at Pleasanton's Stoneridge Mall on February 8 after a women discovered the two crying infants in the back seat of Nejat's Cadillac Escalade. Pleasanton Police Officer Larry Cox told Danville Patch that based on security footage, it appeared Nejat had been inside Nordstrom for at least 40 minutes.

Cox said that Nejat originally told authorities she had to use the bathroom, and later admitted she returned some items to Nordstrom. Her infants were unharmed and released to the custody of their father.

Nejat's criminal conviction expunged if she follows the terms of her agreement for two years. For more, take a look at CBS News' video report on the case below:

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Florida man defends dinosaur's import

NEW YORK?? A Florida dealer of fossils who acquired the remains of a dinosaur that the government plans to seize says he is "not some international bone smuggler" and that he risked his finances and reputation to put together the skeleton to promote a love of science in others.

Eric Prokopi, 37, struck back Thursday at the U.S. government's account of the Tyrannosaurus bataar fossil it seeks to hand over to Mongolia.

"I'm just a guy in Gainesville, Florida trying to support my family, not some international bone smuggler," he said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press.

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He said transforming chunks of rocks and broken bones "into an impressive skeleton took thousands of hours and every penny my wife and I had, but it was fascinating."

"We were thrilled and couldn't wait to share him with the world, and hoped it would inspire others to see the magic of paleontology and develop a love of science and appreciation of nature," Prokopi said.

Prokopi contested government claims in papers it filed in federal court in Manhattan this week that the skeleton was brought from Great Britain to Gainesville in March 2010 with erroneous claims that it had originated in Great Britain and was worth only $15,000. It was sold at auction last month for more than $1 million, though the sale is contingent upon the outcome of litigation.

A judge earlier this week said the government could seize the 8-foot-tall, 24-foot-long skeleton from a Queens art storage facility because it appears the government will succeed in its claims. The skeleton was scheduled to be picked up Friday. Prokopi accused the government of caving to the will of Mongolia, saying he hoped "the American legal system will uphold the American laws and not sacrifice my rights and freedoms to please a foreign government out for a political trophy."

The commercial paleontologist said that the U.S. government wrongly claimed he misrepresented what was being imported and its value.

"I can wholeheartedly say the import documents are not fraudulent, a truth I am confident will be brought to light in the coming weeks," he said. "The value was declared much lower than the auction value because, quite simply, it was loose, mostly broken bones and rocks with embedded bones. It was not what you see today, a virtually complete, mounted skeleton."

Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for government lawyers, declined to comment Thursday.

Prokopi said and his wife hoped the skeleton would be bought by a museum or collector who would put it in a public forum, but the controversy that erupted caused museums to back out of the sale.

Prokopi also challenged assertions by experts that the skeleton had to originate in Mongolia, saying it was true that they are mainly known to come from the Gobi desert of Mongolia, "but they've also been found elsewhere, and it's certainly possible a new locality with complete specimens was discovered in another country."

He said they were "stunned by some of the public's reaction to the sale because commercial paleontology and private collectors are a vital part of bringing some of nature's most precious treasures to museums worldwide."

Prokopi also challenged claims by some experts that the skeleton was collected poorly.

"I believe this specimen was expertly excavated, and the only damage that was done was caused by the elements," he said. "The claws and some teeth had weathered away and some teeth had slipped out before burial. I believe this specimen was expertly excavated, and the only damage that was done was caused by the elements."

He said claims by experts that it had been unearthed in the last 17 years could not be trusted.

"Other than the diggers, there is no way for anyone to know for certain when or where the specimen was collected," Prokopi said.

He defended commercial paleontology, saying the business was "full of intelligent, passionate people who love paleontology, not bone smugglers just looking to steal from important scientific research."

He said he was "headed toward total financial ruin" because the lost sale of the dinosaur had "irreparably devastated my family financially, it has cost several people their jobs, taken an emotional toll on my life and two young children and damaged my reputation as a commercial paleontologist."

Prokopi added: "If it weren't for people like me, some of these bones would just turn to dust and none of us would ever get to see or study them."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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