Lagos Set For Independence Wrestling Tourney

Arrangements have been concluded by the Nigerian Ultimate (Pro) Wrestlers Federation in conjunction with the Ultimate (Pro) Wrestling Promotion to organize a wrestling championship in Lagos as part of activities marking the country’s 54th independence anniversary. Tagged “ultimate Independence Slam”, the competition is slated for October 12 at the Old Basket ball pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos and will feature some of the best wrestlers from Nigeria and the West African sub- region. Leading the team of wrestlers that will participate in the championship is Power Lee “Mr. Peace”, the Nigerian National Heavyweight champion. Other wrestlers who will be part of the action filled championship are; Flying Dan Ko who will slug it out with Powerful Okoko while Mr. Sharpman will team up with Lion Zion against the pairs of Stone Coder and Major Ariba in a tag team fight. Lady Joy from Jos will square up against Tina Terror in an all women encounter with Hot Tempo, Strong Bone Erujeje, Sakabula, Black Heritage, Super Apama all showing their skills on the mat. There will also be an international contest between African Top Class Middleweight Champion, Aliking the “Action disaster” of Nigeria and Hulk Power of Benin Republic while the grand finale will feature a title defense by Nigerian national heavyweight champion, Power Lee. Speaking on the championship, national heavyweight champion, Power Lee noted that the body decided to organize the tournament to announce its presence in wrestling promotion in the country as well as spice the independence celebration for Nigerians. “We have deemed it fit to host this long awaited championship to register the presence of our organization and to also bring our fans together once again after a while. “Independence is an annual event that is so important in the life of any nation and I will be defending my title on that day against either the first or the second contender to the title and I am ready as I have trained hard for the title defense.

News: South Sudan factions agree on federal govt

MEDIATORS say South Sudan's warring factions have agreed on the installation of a federal system of government in South Sudan. THE regional body IGAD, which is mediating peace talks in Ethiopia, announced on Tuesday that the structure and functions of a transitional government of national unity have been "mostly agreed on". Mediators said, however, that the parties are yet to agree on when to introduce federalism in the world's newest country. Representatives for the rebels want immediate implementation but the government favours a 30-month transitional period before the next administration can be formed. South Sudan was plunged into violence last December after the government accused the ousted vice president of launching a failed coup. Thousands of people have since been killed in violence pitting government forces against renegade troops.

UCL: " Against Juvenrus, It's a final," Says Simeone

El Cholo' Simeone has said prior to the game against Juventus, a crucial fixture in their group, that "it's a final, just like the Valencia game will be". A partner for Mandzukic: "Not every game is the same. He could be partnered by Raúl Jiménez, Griezzmann, Cerci… We have several options of how we can line up in attack". Juventus: "They've always been competitive. As opponents it is difficult to figure out their weaknesses. They're fast at the back and we'll need to be at a very high level to face them". Cerci: "He could feature because he's in the squad. I still haven't given the list to the players, but he's one of the options". Tévez: "He's an extraordinary player. The closer he plays to the goal the better his return. It's difficult to keep on top of him. You can't give him time to think or let him get on the ball". He returned to the dugout for the last league game and his presence in the dugout is important for the team's energy: "The relentless approach to the game, the high pressing and the effort that the players put in was what made it a complete game, that was key". Gabi's fitness: "We'll wait until tomorrow morning's training session. If he's not at 100% then he won't play. Mario, Saúl or Koke would be the alternatives". Relationship with Juventus: "I have a lot of respect and admiration for them. They are a huge club and they have a history of having great players. They work very hard and are very competitive". What he expects from Juventus: "I don't expect a Juve side keeping things tight at the back and playing on the counter-attack. They like to press high with Tévez, Llorente or Morata. They like to play in and around the box and they'll try to play as close as possible to goal". Read more: Simeone: "It's a final" - MARCA.com

JOKES:Akpors And The Bank Loan

Agencies Akpors walks into a bank in New York City and asks for the loan officer. He tells the loan officer that he is going to Italy on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000. The bank officer tells him that the bank will need some form of security for the loan, so the Akpors hands over the keys to a new Ferrari. The car is parked on the street in front of the bank. Akpors produces the title and everything checks out. The loan officer agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. The bank’s president and its officers all enjoy a good laugh at akpors for using a $250,000 Ferrari as collateral against a $5,000 loan. An employee of the bank then drives the Ferrari into the bank’s underground garage and parks it there. Two weeks later,akpors returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41. The loan officer says, “Sir, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multi-millionaire. What puzzles us is why you would bother to borrow $5,000?” Akpors replies: “Where else in New York City can I park my Ferrari for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return? One word for Akpors this time?

What Sweeping Floors After His NFL Career Taught Terry Crews About Pride

-Agencies Terry Crews spent most of the 1990s shuffling around several NFL teams, but once that was over, he was back to square one. He had enough savings for six months, then it was "gone and done," and Crews had to decide what he was truly willing to do to support his family. "I was arrogant. I had a sense of entitlement," he told HuffPost Live's Nancy Redd on Wednesday. "I was like, 'I'm an NFL football player, this is beneath me.' And my wife was like, 'Okay, honey, but we're not eating. We need some food.'" So he finally took the job he thought was beneath him, and it changed everything. "The first job I ever got after the NFL, I picked up a broom and I was sweeping factories. Let me tell you what happened while I was sweeping. I was like, 'This is horrible, I can't do this.' But all of a sudden as I kept sweeping, something happened in my brain. I said, 'Wow, I'm actually willing to do everything to succeed,'" Crews said. "I said, 'Wait a minute. This is the flip side. You have to be willing to be here to get there." And that mindset has stuck with him ever since. "I never feel like I made it. It's always like I am an ordinary guy from Flint, Michigan, who hit it big. And that's just the thing. I am no different than anybody else out there," he said. "The thing about America is if you live in America, you can start over. You can do it."

Zimbabwe submits bid to host 2017 African Cup Of Nations

-Agencies Zimbabwe has formally submitted a bid to host the 2017 African Cup of Nations, the first attempt by the troubled country to host a major sports event since its contentious co-hosting of the cricket World Cup over a decade ago. The Zimbabwe Football Association said it lodged the African Cup bid papers on Monday at the Confederation of African Football headquarters in Cairo to meet Tuesday's deadline. "We are confident the document is sound enough to persuade the continental mother body to grant Zimbabwe the right to host," ZIFA spokesman Xolisani Gwesela said. He said ZIFA was not distracted by "the negativity and pessimism from other quarters." There are serious doubts over Zimbabwe's ability to host the 16-team event. The southern African country is experiencing dire economic problems, resulting in the complete collapse of its currency and the adoption of the U.S. dollar in its place. The regime of longtime President Robert Mugabe has also been accused of human rights abuses. Zimbabwe's co-hosting of cricket's world showpiece in 2003 resulted in England's team boycotting games there, while some Zimbabwe players used the opportunity to protest against Mugabe's regime. An all-African football tournament would likely be less politically charged, but Zimbabwe faces a big challenge to convince CAF that it has the infrastructure — it needs at least four suitable stadiums — to host the Cup of Nations. CAF already had to re-start the bidding process for the 2017 continental championship after conflict-torn Libya withdrew as host because of security and organizational concerns. Ethiopia has stated its intention to bid for 2017, while Algeria, Kenya, Ghana and Mali have expressed interest. Zimbabwe submitted a solo bid after failing to agree on joint bids with Zambia and Botswana. Zimbabwe's sports minister said this month that it might seek financial help from initial host Libya. The next Cup of Nations will be in Morocco in January and February. Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Guinea will host in 2019, 2021 and 2023 respectively.

Sports/Football Messi, Barcelona top AP global football poll

Lionel Messi's 400th and 401st Barcelona goals helped him edge out teammate Neymar by a point to take leading player honors in The Associated Press global football poll on Tuesday. Messi's milestone strikes came in his team's 6-0 thrashing of Granada, where Neymar scored a hat trick. That result lifted Barcelona back on top of the team vote, with English Premier League leader Chelsea in second after winning 3-0 against Aston Villa. "The numbers which help depict Lionel Messi's career are startling; two goals scored on Saturday, five for the season, and 401 in his career. He is just 27," Chris Tait of The Herald in Scotland said. Chelsea received praise for its fast start from Ubiratan Leal of trivela.com in Brazil. Jose Mourinho's side has five wins and a draw in the Premier League. "It's remarkable how quickly Chelsea have put the pieces in place for this season," Leal said. "The way Diego Costa, Willian, and Oscar get along on the pitch make people think that the Brazilian team could have been much better in the World Cup with proper planning and managing." Costa scored his eighth goal of the season in Chelsea's victory over Villa, and was fifth in the player vote. Five goals in two games ranked Cristiano Ronaldo only third, despite spearheading a brutal Real Madrid attack. Madrid was fourth in the team vote, while Ronaldo scored four goals in a 5-1 rout of Elche, and followed with the second goal in a 2-0 win over Villarreal. "Over its past four games, Real Madrid has outscored its opponents 20-4," Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in the United States said. "I'm not sure which is the more impressive number, scoring 20 goals in four games, or outscoring opponents by 16 goals." Juventus beat Atalanta 3-0 away for its fifth straight win, and is the third highest team. Carlos Tevez, who scored twice in for Juventus, was a position behind Ronaldo in fourth place in the player poll. Roma was the other Italian side in the top 10, polling ninth. Like Juventus, it has five league wins from five after beating Verona 2-0 at home on Saturday, but it was second in Serie A on goal difference. Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich was fifth, after two wins in a week against Paderborn (4-0) and Mainz (2-0). Atletico Madrid thrashed Sevilla 4-0 to rank sixth, its midfielder Koke ninth after capping his influential performance with a goal. Manchester City was eighth, and Edin Dzeko voted seventh in the player rankings after scoring twice in the 4-2 victory over Hull. Elsewhere, Albin Ekdal entered the poll in sixth after a hat trick in Cagliari's shock 4-1 win over Inter Milan at the San Siro. Marseille was seventh after following a 5-0 away win against Reims with a 2-1 victory against St. Etienne in the French league, ands Southampton was tenth, alongside its striker Graziano Pelle. Pelle scored a bicycle kick goal in a 2-1 win against Queens Park Rangers, keeping his side second in the Premier League. ___ AP Global Football 10: Players: 1. Lionel Messi, 94 points. 2. Neymar, 93. 3. Cristiano Ronaldo, 69. 4. Carlos Tevez, 62. 5. Diego Costa, 56. 6. Albin Ekdal, 54. 7. Edin Dzeko, 43. 8. Mario Goetze, 38. 9. Koke, 32. 10. Graziano Pelle, 29. Teams: 1. Barcelona, 100. 2. Chelsea, 88. 3. Juventus, 82. 4. Real Madrid, 80. 5. Bayern Munich, 66. 6. Atletico Madrid, 58. 7. Marseille, 48. 8. Manchester City, 41. 9. Roma, 40. 10 Southampton, 25.

Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Pete Sampras among sport’s all-time stingiest stars

CHEAP champions. Sport has seen a bunch of them. They make millions and millions of dollars. Sometimes hundreds of millions. But don’t expect them to spend a cent of it if they don’t have to. Below, we list the tightest of the tight. Two of them are apparently billionaires. MICHAEL JORDAN THE Chicago Bulls legend still features at the pointy end of Forbes’ annual rich lists more than a decade after his playing career came to an end. Jordan’s one of the billionaires we mentioned, but according to his old friend and now foe Charles Barkley, His Airness is “as cheap as they come”. “I always give homeless people money and [MJ will] always slap my hand and say, ‘If they can ask you for spare change they can say, ‘Welcome to McDonalds, can I help you please?’ PETE SAMPRAS IN his book, “Open”, Andre Agassi recalled a time when he went to a restaurant with long-time rival Pistol Pete. As they were leaving, Agassi claims he asked the valet how much 14-time grand slam champion Sampras (career prize money: $43.28 million) had left as a tip. “One dollar,” was the reply. Agassi also famously called out Sampras over his tightness during a charity tennis match. TIGER WOODS IT’S 1996 and Tiger Woods has just won his first pro tournament, the Las Vegas Invitational. He walks into the press room and leans over, looking at a story being written by a journalist, who asks, “Like it?” “I like this,” Woods responds, pointing to the mention of the $297,000 winner’s cheque. Eighteen years later, Woods is a billionaire. And he didn’t get there by spending money, according to his late father Earl Woods. “That’s one of the first things to know about Tiger — he’s tight. Very tight,’’ Earl Woods said. Tiger also once topped a list of the Top 10 Cheapest Celebrity Tippers. Once he allegedly took back $5 after realising he’d already made a tip earlier in the evening. KIEREN JACK ADDING a bit of Aussie flavour to the list is Sydney Swans star Kieren Jack. Just last week, coach John Longmire embarrassed the Swans co-captain in a press conference. Jack was in danger of missing last weekend’s Grand Final loss against Hawthorn for rough conduct, but was hit with an $1800 fine instead. “He’s extremely disappointed it’s cost him $1800,” Longmire joked. “He’s very careful with his money. He might have taken the game (suspension), he ummed and aahed about it. “He’s copped $1800 and is disappointed but I’m sure he’ll get on with it.” Jack admitted the stories of him being tight were true and says he got it from his dad, rugby league great Garry Jack, who is also a tight-arse. “The thing is, most of it is all true, but a lot of it is all old,” Jack told mX. “As a first-year rookie player I was not on a lot of money and living out of home, so I had to find ways to save a dollar. It’s escalated from there and they’ve made up a lot of stories along the way and I’ve got an old man who is a notorious tight-arse, so it hasn’t helped my cause.”

Want To Be Stinking Rich? Major In Economics

WANT to guarantee yourself a steady, well-paid career? Major in engineering. Want to take a shot at striking it rich? Then major in economics. At least, that’s how I’d sum up the findings of a new report and interactive tool from the Hamilton Project, which looks at how the value of a college degree changes depending on your major. This is already a pretty well-explored subject. But the Hamilton study is especially nifty, because instead of calculating what the “typical” college graduate can expect to make over the course of a career, like many researchers do, it shows a whole range of potential outcomes, from the fifth percentile of earners up to the 95th percentile. And of the best-paid graduates in all fields, economics majors rake in the most. To start off, here’s the sort of graph you’re probably used to seeing. Using data from the Census Bureau, which began asking college graduates about their majors in 2009, it shows the annual income that the median college graduate in four common majors can expect to make in each year of her career. Of the group, English grads make the least, business majors do a bit better, while engineering and econ grads jockey for the top spot. (Quick note: These numbers cover only graduates without advanced degrees. We’ll come back to the grad-schoolers in a bit.) Now check out how the view changes when, instead of tracking median graduate, we look at all graduates. The graph below depicts the range of lifetime earnings that graduates in each major can expect to make. Up until about the 57th percentile, engineers make the most. But then the earnings curve for economics grads basically goes parabolic. At the 95th percentile, they can expect to earn more than $3 million more during their lifetime than an engineering grad. Does the outcome change if you start factoring grad school into the equation? Nope. Brad Hershbein, one of the study’s authors, confirmed for me that “at the 95th percentile and above, economics outearns every other major,” whether or not graduates have gone on to earn advanced degrees. For those with just an undergraduate degree, economics becomes the top-paid major at the 92nd percentile, passing engineers who specialise in energy and extraction technology (basically, kids who go to college in order to learn how to drill oil out of the ground). When you factor in Americans with graduate degrees, as in the graph below, econ becomes the top-paid major at the 94th percentile, where it passes biochemistry and molecular biology, which produce lots of doctors. I’ve thrown the energy engineers and history buffs onto the graph as extra points of reference. So why are econ grads so good at making it rain? Part of it is that the finance and consulting industries like recruiting them, not necessarily for their specific skills, but because they consider the major a basic intelligence test. Granted, we’re probably not seeing the effect of Goldman Sachs or Private Equity salaries in these charts, since they only stop at the 95th percentile of earners — but banking is a big industry, and it pays well. There’s also an element of self-selection. Plenty of engineers have the math skills to hack it at a bank (film fans may recall Stanley Tucci’s speech about how he once built a bridge in Margin Call), but choose a slightly less lucrative but probably more fulfilling career path. Not everyone wants to spend a career turning money into more money. No matter how well it pays. So why are econ grads so good at making it rain? Part of it is that the finance and consulting industries like recruiting them, not necessarily for their specific skills, but because they consider the major a basic intelligence test. Granted, we’re probably not seeing the effect of Goldman Sachs or Private Equity salaries in these charts, since they only stop at the 95th percentile of earners — but banking is a big industry, and it pays well. There’s also an element of self-selection. Plenty of engineers have the math skills to hack it at a bank (film fans may recall Stanley Tucci’s speech about how he once built a bridge in Margin Call), but choose a slightly less lucrative but probably more fulfilling career path. Not everyone wants to spend a career turning money into more money. No matter how well it pays. This article originally appeared on Slate and was republished with permission.

Sports/Football Brazil women clinch: sixth Copa America

Brazil clinched their sixth women's Copa America title after a 0-0 draw with Colombia in the final football match of the tournament. The result at Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa here saw Brazil finish the round-robin final phase with seven points, ahead of Colombia (five) Ecuador (three) and Argentina (one), reports Xinhua. It is the sixth time Brazil have won the tournament, having also taken the title in 1991, 1995, 1998, 2003 and 2010. Brazil and Colombia progress directly to next year's World Cup in Canada while Ecuador will play off for a berth against a team from the CONCACAF region. The Alberto Spencer award for the competition's top scorer went to Brazil's Cristiane Rozeira de Souza Silva with six goals - See more at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/sports-news/football/brazil-women-clinch-sixth-copa-america/article1-1269610.aspx#sthash.7KEgEaNS.dpuf

Sports?Football: 'It's a major blow For Enyimba's Title Aspiration', Ikhana Dubs Derby Draw In Aba

Enyimba manager Kadiri Ikhana has admitted that Sunday's goalless draw with rivals Heartland is a major blow to the title aspirations of his team. The Aba side failed to beat Heartland for the first time in Aba since 2009 and saw the points difference between them and leaders Kano Pillars extended to six. A clearly dispirited Ikhana told EnyimbaFC.net: "This is not a good result for us. We really needed to win today to remain in a good position but now that is not the case." "I must admit that this is a major blow to our campaign and our ability to win the league. We know that every point now is crucial so this is a painful result for us, but it could easily had been a defeat so we must look at it with some regret, but mainly with hope." The former head coach of the Falcons stressed that the remaining games of the league were significant to his team's title ambitions. "We have dropped points at home so this means every remaining match of the season is a must win. Luckily we still have quite a number of matches to play so we must continue to work hard and get better results," he said. "There is still hope, but it just means we are now under more pressure." "No, that is not true," he stated. "It's a strategy we have used in the past and still went on to score and win. I do not believe that it was responsible. After all, if we had scored any of the late chances we had, we would not be having this conversation now. "This is not a matter of poor strategy or tactics, we were just unlucky. You could see that despite the changes we made, we still had plenty of chances. So that is not correct. Some games can be like this. What we just need to do is to continue to work hard and get maximum points in the next matches." Quite interestingly, Kadiri Ikhana did not once mention the wet conditions of the afternoon throughout the post-match interview. Enyimba have 44 points after Sunday's draw and slip to fourth on the log. They travel to Crown FC for a Matchday 30 tie.

Americans Are The loudest Sports Fans In The World

-Agencies Guinness World Record: Kansas City Chiefs fans set new mark for crowd noise at Arrowhead Stadium AMERICA has once again proven that its fans have the loudest mouths in sport. Football fanatics at a Kansas City Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium set a world record for the loudest outdoor sports venue on Tuesday. They recorded a decibel reading of 142.2 to easily surpass the mark set at a home game of NFL rival Seattle last season (137.6). To put that in perspective a concert is normally around 105 decibels, thunder is about 120 decibels and a jet at about 30m off the ground is 140. Stadium staff handed out 36,000 pairs of earplugs to protect fans from long-term hearing loss. The whole occasion had everyone fired up. From the fans . And even Guinness World Records official Philip Robertson, who was on hand to verify the mark. The closest we’ve come here in Australia was when Port Adelaide fans had a crack at the record during a game at Adelaide Oval this season. But the peak reading of 109.1 decibels fell a long way short.

Bill Gates tops Forbes US rich list

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has topped Forbes' latest list of the 400 richest Americans for the 21st straight year. The list, released on Monday, was largely unchanged for 2014 and showed the rich getting richer. The combined wealth of those on the list rose 13 per cent to $US2.29 trillion ($A2.48 trillion), helped by a stronger US stock market. Gates' net worth totalled $US81 billion, up $US9 billion from 2013. Investor Warren Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, remained in second place at $US67 billion. Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison also kept his No. 3 spot with $US50 billion. Brothers Charles and David Koch, co-owners of Koch Industries Inc, stay tied for fourth with $US42 billion each. There were 27 new members of the list, including WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum in the 62nd spot. Facebook announced plans to buy the mobile messaging app for $US19 billion in February. The biggest gainer is Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, No. 11, whose net worth grew $US15 billion since 2013's list to $US34 billion. The net worth of America's wealthiest people has risen in the years since the financial crisis, widening the gap between the exceptionally well-to-do and the rest of the country. The average net worth of a Forbes 400 member is $US5.7 billion, up from $US5 billion in 2013. TOP 10 PEOPLE ON 2014'S FORBES 400 LIST: Bill Gates, $US81 billion Warren Buffett, $US67 billion Larry Ellison, $US50 billion Charles Koch, $US42 billion David Koch, $US42 billion Christy Walton & family, $US38 billion Jim Walton, $US36 billion Michael Bloomberg, $US35 billion Alice Walton, $US34.9 billion S. Robson Walton, $US34.8 billion AP Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/bill-gates-tops-forbes-us-rich-list-20140930-10nu8y.html#ixzz3EnZPNRM3

Campos FC Owerri wins Imo U-13/ U 15 Youth League

Campos FC Owerri wins Imo U-13/ U 15 Youth League Campos FC Owerri have emerged double champions of the Imo youth league after winning both the Under-13 and Under 15 categories concluded in Owerri recently. In the Under- 13 category, Campos beat Imo Academy side by 5-0 and however met a much tougher opposition as the Under 15 finals as the game was decided on penalty shootout won by Campos. For their gallantry, Campos FC carted home a total N70, 000 and two trophies as prize money for the double victory. Team coach Obinna Ekezie noted that the players had from the onset of the competition proved they were bound for glory giving that 20 teams took part in the competition. Campos FC owner, Patrick osuji, who was full of praise for the players, pledge he would continue to fund the team as a means to empower the youth in the state and his part contribution to development of the game at grassroots level. He later hosted the team to a victory party “I am happy because they played and won the league while I was away. They have been wonderful” he said. Imo State is in South- East Nigeria

Sports:Jack Hale, 16, Clocks 10.44 In The 100m Sprint To Break Australian National Under-18 Record

HE’S Australia’s new fastest kid. Jack Hale, a 16 year old schoolboy from Tasmania, yesterday lit up the track at a meet in Hobart, setting a remarkable time of 10.44 seconds in the 100m sprint. Hale’s mark broke the national under-18 record set 23 years ago and was also a new Tasmanian men’s open record — that’s all ages. Previously known for his ability as a long jumper, Hale is now eyeing off a future in the pin-up event on the track. He credits his new-found speed to introducing box jumps into his training. “I’ve started doing them about three months ago and I’ve been doing them three times a week, weighted box jumps, I think they have really helped me ” Hale told the ABC. Already linked to Athletics Australia’s under-age training program for long jump, Hale has been hopeful of a place at the 2015 World Youth Championships but is now also tipped to qualify for the 100m. Junior high performance manager Sara Mulkearns said Hale’s record was a surprise. “We didn’t think he was that quick,” she told AAP. “With that performance, based on recent (international) results, he’d be looking at a fourth place at world juniors.” Originally published as Meet Jack Hale — our fastest kidd me,” Hale told the ABC.

Sports: Golden State Warriors New Stadium Looks Like A Toilet Bowl

THE NBA’s Golden State Warriors have been quick to flush this design for their new stadium after it was widely canned on the internet — and rightly so. The 18,000 seat arena set to be built in San Francisco would probably be better suited for intrastate rival Sacramento Kings, because it looks like a throne. This design was quickly canned. Picture source: SocketSite This design was quickly canned. Picture source: SocketSite Source: Twitter The release of the designs created an uproar on Twitter, including this clever post which referenced Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson — who are known as the Splash Brothers because of their three point shooting ability.The Warriors were quick to remind everyone the drawings are not the final product. “I guess that’s the perils of the internet,” Warriors spokesman PJ Johnston said of the reaction. “First impressions are first impressions. We’re confident though that when this design is further refined and really comes together, people will not only see what we’re trying to accomplish like with the raised bayfront deck, but they will definitely see a more nuanced and beautiful rendering that will frankly just better showcase the design that than these do.” We hope so, because right now these plans rank alongside the Al-Wakrah sports stadium — which is being built for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — as the most unfortunate stadium design in recent years.

LaLiga: Ronaldo Is Mr inCRedible

There's just no stopping Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese forward has been the undoubted star of Real Madrid's magical week, scoring eight of the 18 goals that 'Los Blancos' have amassed in the last three games (against Basel, Deportivo and Elche). Ronaldo was absolutely deadly again in Tuesday night's match, taking his tally to seven goals in 72 hours. In just three days he has streaked miles ahead in the La Liga scoring charts, with a whopping 12 goals in just eight league appearances this season. With 187 goals in 169 La Liga matches, the former Manchester United man has now surpassed Real legend Carlos Alonso González (better known as 'Santillana') to break into the top ten scorers in Spanish top-flight history. In all competitions, Ronaldo now boasts 265 goals in six seasons in Madrid and if he continues to be so prolific, Raúl's club record of 323 goals won't last much longer. The Elche game also marked the 13th straight Bernabéu league fixture in which Cristiano has got on the scoresheet, not to mention the third time he has netted four times in a single encounter - Racing Santander and Sevilla were his previous victims - and the 25th occasion on which he has scored three or more goals for 'Los Blancos'. Simply inCRedible. Read more: Mr inCRedible - MARCA.com

Ryder Cup: Sir Alex Ferguson called in to fire up Europe team

Sir Alex Ferguson was called in by Paul McGinley to motivate the Europe team here last night, while Tom Watson enlisted one injured veteran from the US army and one from the US Marines. And so the Ryder Cup kept to its script. The former Manchester United manager's appearance in the blue and gold team room had, by Ferguson's request, been a closely guarded secret, with European Tour officials denying knowledge until Monday evening, when rumours emerged of the Scot's involvement. Ferguson, however, spoilt his own surprise when he was spotted yesterday at the PGA Centenary Course during the first official practice session. McGinley had no choice but to admit it after many in the 45,000 sellout crowd had seen the Old Trafford director walking around with a European Tour official. "He's a guy that I played with in the J.P. McManus pro-am about 15 years ago and that I've seen now and again over that time, and when I became captain I asked him," the Europe captain said. "Of course he was more than willing to help. But the one thing he asked me to do was keep it really quiet. Walking around [the course] is not keeping it quiet, is it? We wanted a bit of a surprise for the players but I guess it's not a surprise." Indeed, it was not. Not with the excitement rising among the players as the word went around. Rory McIlroy, a huge Manchester United fan, is close to Ferguson, with the golfer taking advice from Britain's most successful manager after his infamous Masters meltdown in 2011. The pair have kept in touch since, with Sir Alex ribbing McIlroy for the suit he wore when parading the Claret Jug at the Theatre of Dreams last month. McGinley's vice-captain, Sam Torrance, sought counsel from his fellow Scot when he was captain in 2002 and Ferguson's comments about the team ethic stuck with McGinley. "Although I'm a West Ham fan, I've always loved the way his teams played and there's a number of things that he's dealing with that he was particularly good at that I think he'll be a particularly strong fit," McGinley said. "We have met a number of times over the last few months for lunch. He has asked me a lot of questions. He is a big fan of golf, but not everyone who will be in the room is a Manchester United fan, so it should be interesting." McGinley has long said he will stick to the "template", which he believes has been crucial in shaping the recent spell of Europe domination, in which the US have been defeated in five of the past six matches. In 2010 at Celtic Manor, Colin Montgomerie invited in Welsh rugby legend Gareth Edwards to provide some inspiration and those such as Lee Westwood remarked how valuable they had found it. Montgomerie also had Severiano Ballesteros make a speech over a speaker phone to his team. The Spaniard died the next year. Two years ago at Medinah, Jose Maria Olazabal employed the services of the former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola. "This is part of the template. It's not something we're doing differently, and I think there's a lot to be gained," McGinley said. "The whole idea tonight is not to be a headmaster telling them what to do. He's very aware of that. This is very relaxed. This is a conversation. "There will be questions coming back at him. They all love football and a chance to spend a bit of time with one of the greats doesn't come around very often, particularly somebody they all admire. In my dealings with him, he's been absolutely fantastic and I know he'll be great with the players." McGinley had already utilised several motivational techniques this week, with Graeme McDowell revealing that the team were shown a film on Monday night charting the history of the European Tour and how the Ryder Cup team so dramatically turned around their dismal record. McGinley has also posted uplifting quotes around the team room, the most memorable of which is the message his old coach Bob Torrance used before his players went out on to the course: "Happiest days of your lives". Yet, if McGinley is merely following tradition with Ferguson then so, too, is Watson. At his press conference he refused to divulge the identities of his "special guests" who will talk to the team but David Feherty, the former Europe Ryder Cup player turned TV analyst, revealed it was two members from the charity Wounded Warriors, with which he is closely involved. "He has got two wounded soldiers with him that are going to be with the players in the team room, one army and one marine," Feherty said. "I know both of them, and they are two of the most inspirational people that you could ever be around." At Celtic Manor Corey Pavin invited the Iraq veteran Maj Dan Rooney to address his team, while in 1999 Ben Crenshaw invited the then governor of Texas, George W Bush, into the team room to read an address from the Alamo. The team were four points down at the time heading into the singles and legend has it that when Bush had finished his powerful recital, David Duval ran out of the room screaming: "Let's go out and kill them!" Yes, the next few days promise to be fun. The Telegraph, London Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/golf/ryder-cup-sir-alex-ferguson-called-in-to-fire-up-europe-team-20140924-10l5gt.html#ixzz3EEyZ9QWt

SportsL:Kenya's 7s Squad, Board Embroiled In Wage Dispute

As in footbal in major events involving African countries, Kenya has dropped ten players from their squad for the IRB world series opening tournament in Australia in a dispute with the national board over pay and contracts. The players, including wingers Collins Injera and Horace Otieno and back-rower Biko Adema, were reportedly unhappy that the board had agreed to draw up performance-driven contracts without consulting them. They also demanded to be paid appearance fees and bonuses before taking part in the annual Safaricom tournament which gets underway at the Kasarani stadium in Kenya on Friday. "We have been accused in the past of running a team that is not competition hungry and that some of the players were underperforming at the top level," Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) chairman Mwangi Muthee said. "That's why we have offered these performance-driven contracts to ensure that the selected players are at the top of their game to be considered. "There is a lot of talent coming through, who are arguably putting their claim in the lucrative Sevens squad. It will be unfair to lock them out," added Muthee. Kenya will enter three teams in the three-day competition including the defending champions, Shujaa. Other participating countries include Australia, Argentina, Fiji, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament will be used to pick the final squad to play in the IRB Sevens world series, which opens at the Gold Coast Sevens in Australia early next month. Kenya coach Paul Treu said the decision to drop the experienced players and replace them with upcoming ones would not affect his team's performance in the world series, which also counts as a qualification for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. "It is going to be tough to replace players such as Horace Otieno and Collins Injera who have played over 40 tournaments. But we cannot force anyone to come for practice," the South African-born coach told reporters. "We have had to make a choice to pick new players who are committed to the squad, and you never know, they may surprise us in the world series. "We are committed to become one of the four top teams to earn automatic qualification for Rio. That's our target," Treu said. AFP Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/kenyas-7s-squad-decimated-in-wage-dispute-20140924-10lmwl.html#ixzz3EEwtoSJL

Ghana Black Stars Captain,Asamoah Gyan Denies He Murdered Rap Artist Castro

-Agencies IN one of the most bizarre sports stories of the year, Ghanaian national team captain Asamoah Gyan is being forced to deny he murdered a missing rapper. The former English Premier League player will hold a press conference in Ghana at 11pm tonight (AEST) to address rumours he ritually sacrificed local rap artist Theophilus Tagoe, popularly known as Castro. Castro and his girlfriend were reported to have drowned after a jet ski accident while holidaying with Gyan and his brother after this year’s World Cup. Despite a police search, their bodies have not been recovered, leading locals to suspect foul play. We’re not exactly sure how they arrived at the conclusion Castro was sacrificed by Gyan for black magic purposes — potentially for financial gain — but the theory has gained enough steam for Gyan to call the press conference. Gyan will also address a court case instigated by a local reporter, who was reportedly savagely beaten by the footballer’s brother for daring to ask questions about the Castro rumours. Daily Graphic newspaper journalist Daniel Kenu has accused Gyan’s brother, Baffour, and another man of slapping and punching him after he asked Gyan to clear the air on “this allegation that you sacrificed Castro for whatever reason”. So, we’ll wait to hear from Gyan, whom Socceroos fans may remember for converting the penalty awarded against Harry Kewell at the 2010 World Cup. He was man of the match in the 1-1 draw, which sealed the Socceroos’ exit from the tournament. Australia v Ghana 2010 World Cup

Liverpool, Middlesbrough penalty shootout joins list of other epic finishes from the spot

-Agencies LIVERPOOL and Middlesbrough completed an epic 30-kick penalty shootout in the League Cup last night — the Reds eventually winning 14-13 to progress to the last 16. Both goalkeepers scored in the shootout at Anfield, which saw all 22 players still on the field make a trip to the spot before Boro’s Albert Adomah fired wide. “I don’t have words to explain my feelings now,” Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka said. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before.” But there are others who have. Here’s a compilation of some of the more bizarre shootouts in football history. THE LONGEST ... The world record for most penalty kicks was made in the final of the 2005 Namibian Cup. An astonishing 48 spot kicks were taken before KK Palace prevailed 17-16 over Civics. A number of players on each side had to take three spot kicks in the shootout. THE MOST ACCURATE ... A Hampshire Senior Cup game between Brockenhurst and Andover Town last year saw an incredible 29 penalties taken before someone missed. The 30th penalty was saved, allowing Brockenhurst to win 15-14. THE WORST ... Switzerland made some unwanted history at the 2006 World Cup, failing to convert any of their penalties in a round of 16 shootout against Ukraine to lose 3-0. The result meant the Swiss became the first nation to be eliminated from the World Cup without conceding a goal after they progressed from Group G with an undefeated record. THE FUNNIEST ... In January, 1998, a pair of under-10 sides in England — Mickleover Lightning Blue Sox and Chellaston Boys — faced off in a cup game. After finishing 1-1 in regular time they took a remarkable 66 penalties — and the Blue Sox won 2-1. THE MOST EMOTIONAL ... We’ll take any excuse we can to run this vision of John Aloisi sending Australia to the World Cup with this penalty agains Uruguay in 2005. It never gets old. John Aloisi penalty

My First Goal Of TheSeason Means A Lot To Me, Says Amanfor

Enyimba forward Chimezie Amanfor has revealed to the club's website that scoring the opening goal in his side's 4-0 triumph over Bayelsa United on Matchday 27 of the Nigeria Premier Leagueis worth a gold to him. Amanfor had put Enyimba ahead in the 44th as the six-time champions Nigerian scored twice in each half to stun a poor Bayelsa United side. Speaking to EnyimbaFC.net after the game, Amanfor said it was one goal and one game he would remember for a long time. "I don't get the chance to score a lot of goals because I usually come in from the bench in the second half," Amanfor said. "But I started this game and I thank God for giving me the opportunity to prove myself and what I can do if I play for longer periods." "I will remember this game for a long time because I scored and my team won by a large margin, it's not easy," Amanfor beamed. "My team mates all played well today and without them we won't be talking about a win today, not to mention a 4-0 win at that. It means a lot to me and I give God all the glory." The goal was Amanfor's first league goal of the season. The club next meets rivals Heartland of Owerri in an Eastern derby in Aba on Sunday.

Enyimba: We proved the stuff of champions over Bayelsa, Says Ikhana

Kadiri Ikhana, Technical Adviser of Enyimba, has spoken the team's 4-0 victory over Bayelsa United as the stuff of campions. h The Aba based team, who were in a masterclass for from start to finish made means meat of their opponent who conversely had no answer to the game plan of the home side. Kadiri Ikhana who was critical of the team's performance in their one nil defeat at Akwa United on Matchday 26 was evidently pleased after the game on Sunday and called it the stuff of champions. "We have been champions before," he told EnyimbaFC.net. "We have the mentality of champions and this game today is the stuff of champions. A game you play with purpose and belief. We started the first ten minutes a bit slowly but we picked up quickly and played the second half really good." "This shows that on a good day, we can play good football and score good goals." Ikhana however refused to be drawn into the tight title chase, saying until the very end, every team in the top half of the table stood a good chance and for him, it was about the next result. "It's about the next result, that's what I believe. We lost on Wednesday, now we have won today so it's just about the next result and not about the end of the season. Of course we want to win the league just like any other team, but at this time it's the next three points that matter. "I do know however that Enyimba has got good players who are capable of getting good results, so I am optimistic that we can give a good account of ourselves." Enyimba are third on the table with 43 points following the win.

Sports: The world’s most controversial female athlete

-Agencies Hope Solo, US women’s goalkeeper, is the most controversial female athlete in the world HOPE Solo has embraced the spotlight during her storied soccer career, but she can’t be enjoying the headlines she’s been making lately. First were the revelations she’s been charged with assaulting two members of her family — at a time when the topic of domestic violence couldn’t be more relevant in the US. Then the 33-year-old goalkeeper became one of the latest celebrities to fall victim to the photo hacking scandal, with naked photos of her appearing on various social media sites on September 20. But it’s the assault charges which have led some to call for Solo’s immediate removal from the US women’s team. According to police and court documents covered by the Seattle Times, Solo was drinking at her sister’s house in late June when she started arguing with her 17-year-old nephew. The nephew told police the beef became physical and Solo punched him in the face, before also turning on her sister when she tried to intervene. It’s led some to compare her situation to those of NFL players Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson, who have been stood down by their teams while dealing with their own assault cases. So far US Soccer, the US Olympic Committee and Solo’s personal sponsor, Nike, are standing by her. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Her attorney, Todd Maybrown, painted Solo as the victim, saying she was hit over the head with a broom during the scuffle. “Hope is not guilty of any crime,” Maybrown told the Associated Press. “In fact, our investigation reveals that Hope was assaulted and injured during this unfortunate incident.” Solo and her family have always been media fodder. Her father spent time in jail for kidnapping Solo and her brother when they were children, and later wound up living on the streets. In November 2012, Solo’s husband — former NFL player Jerramy Stevens — was arrested for allegedly assaulting her. Then there were the claims in Solo’s best-selling autobiography that her partner on the television show Dancing with the Stars slapped her during filming. Hope Solo slap claim

Life:Pastor Gets Rival Gang Members To Put Down Guns And Pick Up Basketballs

*The NBA Notices A midday basketball game on Chicago's South Side brought together an unlikely group of people Saturday. Churchgoers, NBA stars, community leaders and gang members all gathered for the third annual Chicago Peace League Basketball Tournament. "At first nobody wanted to work with us. Everyone thought it was going to be a disaster," the tournament's organizer, Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina church, told The Huffington Post. The tournament is the culminating event for St. Sabina's Peace Basketball League, which brings in members from factions of The Black Disciples, Killa Ward, The Black P. Stones, The Gangster Disciples and other local gangs. Members play alongside one another as teammates, working toward a common goal of peace. Pfleger and his congregation are among Chicago's most active anti-violence activists, with St. Sabina holding weekly peace walks and vigils for victims of gun violence. During one of the weekly Friday night vigils in 2012, Pfleger decided to bring a peace-oriented basketball league to the neighborhood. "One particular night we were out walking with our church folk, and Isiah Thomas happened to be out with us," Pfleger said. The NBA Hall of Famer and Chicago native told Pfleger, "Hey, I'm in," and the Chicago Peace Basketball league was born. Chicago Bulls star Joakim Noah also participates in the tournament, Pfleger said. Noah volunteered as a coach for Saturday's game and has done outreach over the years with members of the league. Other NBA players also showed up Saturday to help coach or support the players; Noah's Bulls teammates Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson, as well as Chicago natives Jabari Parker of the Milwaukee Bucks and Will Bynum of the Detroit Pistons, were among them. NBA referees also volunteered for the games. “The NBA players talk about how [the men] can build peace in the community,” Pfleger said. "Basketball has tremendous power because it helps build relationships, and the ball became the driving force, not gang divisions." Despite a crowded facility packed with rival gang members (or those at risk of being recruited into gangs), Pleger said there's never been an incident in three years of hosting the league or the high-profile tournament. In fact, Plfeger said the surrounding community in St. Sabina's Auburn-Gresham neighborhood has seen a "drastic" drop in violence since the league began. "We’ve seen the relationships improve," he said. “Around the area of St. Sabina, kids see it as a place of safety, a sanctuary,” Thomas told NBA.com. For each game during the two 12-week league sessions, Pfleger says there are speakers who talk to the young men about everything from conflict resolution to money management to self-esteem, and that players also share meals together. "In the past three years, hundreds [of participants] have gone through and got GEDs, about six are off to college. Others are going to city colleges," Pfleger said. "A guy who got shot last year this fall went off to Alabama State." Pfleger also said St. Sabina has even hired some of the players and has helped others find jobs. Members from the church find out what the young men need, be it jobs, social services or education. “My consistent belief is 95 percent of these men just want an option," Pfleger said. "Five percent may just want to be shooters, want to be gangster. But the rest? Give them an education, get them a job." A 30-year-old participant named Charles, who played the game wearing an electronic ankle monitor, told the Sun-Times, “I was in a state of shock playing with these guys, because we spend all this time trying to hurt each other." Charles, who told the paper he's no longer active in a gang but was involved before going to jail, added, “This was more than a feel-good moment. It’s bringing us closer.”

Men travel to 19 countries in one day, setting a new world record

A TRIO of friends from Norway has smashed a previous world record by travelling to the most countries in one day. The extreme travellers Gunnar Garfors, 39, Tay-young Pak, 42, and Øyvind Djupvik, 38, made it to 19 countries in just 24 hours, surpassing the standing record of 17 countries, Norway’s The Local reports. The record-setting journey commenced in Greece at midnight on Sept 22., then the group travelled northwest passing through Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Switzerland, and ended in Liechtenstein just before the 24-hour period was up. “Now we need to celebrate for 24 hours as well,” Garfors said after completing the remarkable trip. “It has been a fantastic journey. “We crushed the old record with two countries, and we are extremely happy with ourselves. We even had time to spare, but the weather conditions [were] just too bad to continue towards our 20th country, Italy.” To get around quickly, the group used both rental cars and took two commercial flights from Skopje, Macedonia to Beograd, Serbia and from Wien, Austria to Dusseldorf, Germany. The trio and a group of fans also catalogued the journey on social media using the hashtag #recordrun. This wasn’t their first try. They had previously attempted the record in May, but only managed a tie with the previous record holders, a group of four friends who passed through 17 countries in 24 hours in 2012. “I don’t like sharing. Not world records, at least,” Garfors wrote in a blog post on his personal website ahead of the record attempt this weekend. “The route is all brand new, we have put even more planning into the project this time and we have experience. The experience of failure. Can’t beat that.” This time around, the men proved resilient.“Everything went smooth, besides from some bad weather in Switzerland, and some trouble with a rental car in Greece before the start of the race,” Garfors said in. “Now we have been on the road and should be tired, but setting a new world record feels like winning the lottery and we wonder if we should continue to travel for 24 hours more.” They might need a nap first.

Industry:Rockefellers Turn Back On Crude Oil, invest Elsewhere

THE Rockefellers, the first family of oil, are divesting from fossil fuels in a fresh boost for the fight against climate change ahead of a UN summit. Britain also pledged new aid to tackle deforestation, a key contributor to climate change, a day after tens of thousands marched around the world to urge world leaders to do more to address the environmental crisis. In an announcement timed a day ahead of the climate summit, an alliance of private institutions, individuals and local governments with a total of more than $US50 billion ($A54.1 billion) of assets announced in New York that they were divesting from fossil fuels. Among them was the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, an $US840 million endowment run by John D. Rockefeller’s descendants, which said it would reduce exposure to fossil fuels as much as possible and end all investments in coal and tar sands — two of the dirtiest forms of energy — by the end of the year. John D. Rockefeller was once the world’s wealthiest person as the founder of Standard Oil — whose descendant, ExxonMobil, is a frequent foe of climate initiatives. “We can no longer continue feeding our addiction to fossil fuels as if there is no tomorrow, for there will be no tomorrow,” South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu said as he welcomed the announcement in a video message. While the divestment is small compared with the vast size of the fossil fuel industry, campaigners hailed the announcement, which came a day before world leaders including US President Barack Obama hold a summit on climate change at the UN. “Climate change is the defining issue of our time. Now is the time for action,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a conference with business leaders. Apple chief Tim Cook, days after launching the iPhone 6, travelled to New York to pledge that the tech giant would prioritise low-carbon growth. “We have to look at ourselves and ask ourselves — are we going to be the first generation that leaves the next one worse off?” Cook said.

Serritslev Wants $.7m To Coach Ghana Black Stars

Danish tactician Flemming Serritslev is ready to take less than the reported $70,000 Milovan Rajevac is demanding for the vacant Ghana job. The former Danish national team coach who was shortlisted alongside Rajevac as the final two for the Black Stars technical director job is among 32 applicants vying to replace Kwesi Appiah. “Flemming is demanding less than the $70,000 Rajevac wants if he is given the job and is also prepared to stay here in Ghana unlike the other applicants who don’t want to stay and work,” a close source within the FA told Goal Ghana. “The man has a very rich CV, he is also very fluent in English and if he is given the job it will save the country additional cost of hiring an interpreter.” He added: “The Danish man has seen it all with the Danish national team and reached the highest level as well as also been on Uefa and Fifa coaching committees. He has also coached in Africa before and knows the terrain.”

Pain and discipline, that’s what makes manual cycling such a joy

IT would be pretty easy to be a ­purist and condemn the motorised bicycle out of hand. I mean, what’s the point of a bike if your own two legs aren’t powering it? This is a machine that demands effort and delivers rewards: the joy of cruising merrily downhill after the pain of getting up it; the delight of speed as your legs spin faster. A good quality, well-maintained bike is silent and sleek, and mind-bogglingly light when you consider all of its machinery. Your Fifi la Beaujolais is hardly a greyhound on wheels, Ean, and I hate to tell you but she is a little stinky. Riding behind the belching Fifi is a bit like tailing a two-wheeled lawnmower, complete with the fumes but without the aroma of freshly cut grass. You have mounted an admirable argument for the benefits of motorised cycling but I cannot help but conclude there is one overriding motivation for your ­vehicle of choice: laziness. Yes, cycling up hills hurts. It makes you gasp for air. It makes you sweat. And no, there aren’t that many of us who jump out of bed in the morning and proclaim that we can’t wait to feel the poison of lactic acid hammering through our veins. But the reason most people jump on a bike instead of hooking up a petrol-powered engine to their cycle frame is the same reason most people make their bed in the morning. It would be easier to just leave the covers scrunched up, ready to get scrunched up again that evening, but a little bit of discipline in life will get you a long way. Discipline pushes you to get on your bike for a pedal-powered commute when you’d rather just take a taxi and still have time to eat a croissant. I’m not totally dismissing the motorised bike crowd. Forums on cycling are full of people talking up the benefits of electric bikes. There’s quite a big difference between a modern e-bike, powered by battery, and the petrol-powered Fifi la Beaujolais, mind you. For one thing, many e-bikes are pedelecs, or pedal-powered, meaning the electric assistance kicks only in if you’re actually expending a bit of effort, unlike your throttle-powered bike. Lots of the e-bike lovers fall into one of two categories: lovers of cycling who have suffered injury, or commuters who ride as much as 100km a day. If you’re doing that every day, a bit of help up the hills is reasonable. But Ean, I know where you live and it is 7km from where you work. You have no physical disabilities. You may find it a bit cold and miserable cycling home in the dark in the middle of winter but you need to slap on a hi-vis vest, turn your LED lights to flash mode and push some pedals at high rotation. I promise you’ll be warm soon.

Sportinglife: Mike Tyson In ‘Superhero’ Act

THE Baddest Man on the Planet clearly has a good side. Boxing legend Mike Tyson came to the rescue of an injured motorcyclist after a crash on a Las Vegas interstate road last week. Attorney Stephen Stubbs said his client, 29-year-old Ryan Chesley, was on Interstate 15 in Las Vegas on Tuesday night when a taxi cut him off and he went down. Stubbs said Chesley was lying on the ground when he looked up and saw Tyson, who was yelling at people not to touch Chesley. Stubbs said Chesley snapped a cellphone picture of Tyson, who vanished from the scene “like some kind of superhero” when paramedics arrived. Mike Tyson’s assistant, Steve Lott, said Tyson received a handwritten thank you note and a fruit basket from Chesley on Friday. Chesley broke bones and tore ligaments, but has been released from the hospital. The incident comes just weeks after Tyson unleashed an expletive-filled rant on live TV in Canada. Tyson was appearing on the cable news channel CP24 when the host, Nathan Downer, asked him about his recent meeting with Toronto’s scandal-plagued, cocaine-smoking mayor Rob Ford. Ford recently returned to work after a stint in rehab, and is seeking re-election. “Some of your critics would say, ‘There’s a race for mayor. We know you’re a convicted rapist. This could hurt his campaign.’ How would respond to that?” Downer asked. “It’s so interesting, you come off like a nice guy,” Tyson replied, stewing over his answer for a few moments before insulting Downer with some foul language. “Hey, come on. We’re doing live TV now,” Downer said, throwing up his hands. “I don’t care. What are you going to do about it?” the retired boxer responded. “Is it nervewracking for you to do something like this, or is it more nervous for you to box?” Downer asked after a few more uncomfortable exchanges, clearly trying to ease the tension. “It’s more nervewracking to be in here talking to a rat piece of s**t like you,” Tyson answered. Tyson served three years of a six-year sentence in the 1990s for raping a teenage beauty-pageant contestant. In a tweet after the incident, Downer said it was unfortunate his question hurt Tyson’s feelings and that it wasn’t his intention.

Sports: FIFA ToDiscuss Concussion Rule

A proposal allowing for a three-minute stoppage if a player suffers a suspected concussion will be discussed this week by FIFA's Executive Committee. The guidance comes from FIFA's medical committee, following a meeting on Monday in Zurich, and will be presented at the Executive Committee's meeting on Thursday and Friday. It follows several incidents during this summer's World Cup of players attempting to play on after suffering head injuries. A FIFA press release read: "The incidents at the World Cup have shown that the role of team doctors needs to be reinforced in order to ensure the correct management of potential cases of concussion in the heat of competition. "Following recent discussion with team doctors and confederations, the FIFA Medical Committee agreed at a meeting held yesterday in Zurich to submit a proposal to the FIFA Executive Committee in order to improve the protocol. "Under the proposal, whenever a suspected incident of concussion occurs, the referee will have the ability to stop the game for three minutes, allowing the relevant team doctor to complete an on-pitch assessment and decide if the player has suspected concussion. "The referee will only allow the injured party to continue playing with the authorisation of the team doctor, who will have the final decision." UEFA will adopt similar new rules with immediate effect and FIFA's chief medical officer Michel D'Hooghe expressed hope at the recent Soccerex convention in Manchester that the global governing body could implement the proposal as soon as October 1. Germany's Christoph Kramer played on in the World Cup final with a head injury before being eventually being substituted, while Uruguay's Alvaro Pereira and Argentina's Javier Mascherano also returned to the field after being knocked out during matches. In the Barclays Premier League, Tottenham sparked a parliamentary debate by allowing goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to play on against Everton last season after suffering a concussion. Lloris later admitted he was wrong to do so and the league responded by tightening guidelines to allow club doctors to overrule players and coaches in such decisions, assisted by an independent doctor in the tunnel should the need arise.

Blatter Condoles Nigeria On Death Of Ntriero

FIFA president, Sepp Blatter has expressed his deepest sympathy to NFootball Federation over the death of former Super Falcons’ Head Coach,. Ntiero Effiom. In a letter addressed to Maigari the NFFpresident, Blatter noted that late Ntiero Effiom was “an outstanding coach and will be remembered for his various accomplishments and the contributions he made to the women’s game in Nigeria . “Allow me on behalf of FIFA and the worldwide family of football, to extend my deepest condolences to the football community of Nigeria , and most importantly to his family, friends and loved ones. “We hope that in some way, our words of support may help bring a little bit of peace and solace in this time of sadness.” Ntiero last coached the Falcons to the FIFA Women World Cup in China in 2007.He was coach of Calabar based Pelican Stars who topped the Nigeria weomen league a number of times.

Lifestyle:Alaskan journalist Charlo Greene quits live on air

It could have been a scene from Anchorman. At the end of a typical evening news report on Alaskan network KTVA, television journalist Charlo Greene spectacularly quit her job live on air. "F--- it, I quit," she said. Her announcement followed a story on the Alaska Cannabis Club, a "collective" that "connects medical marijuana cardholders in need to medical marijuana cardholders with green". The aptly named Ms Greene revealed at the end of the story that she was the club's owner and, as such, was left with little choice but to leave her job. "Now everything you heard is why I, the actual owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club, will be dedicating all of my energy for fighting for freedom and fairness which begins with legalising marijuana here in Alaska. "And as for this job, well, not that I have a choice but, f--- it, I quit." Leaving her stunned colleague to tell viewers, "alright we apologise for that….we'll, we'll be right back". Her employer was also left fumbling an apology on Twitter. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/alaskan-journalist-charlo-greene-quits-live-on-air-20140922-10kl9j.html#ixzz3E8svvVAO

Controversy as Spain name female Davis Cup captain

Tony Nadal, the uncle and coach of Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal, has caused controversy in Spain by questioning the decision of the Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET) to name Gala Leon as the captain of the David Cup team. Gala Leon becomes the first woman captain in the Davis Cup after she was named as the replacement for Carlos Moya, who stepped down after Spain's recent defeat to Brazil saw them relegated to the second tier of the competition, where Spain has enjoyed huge success in recent years. Gala Leon had been named Sporting Director by the RFET in July this year and her promotion to replace Moya is in many ways a natural progression, although speaking on Spanish national radio, Nadal did not share that opinion. "It surprises me for several reasons. First of all because she is someone we don't know on the men's tennis circuit and it is a problem for her to not have the knowledge of how they play on that tour. I don't think she really knows the players, at least she doesn't know Rafa," he commented, before adding: "there is a logistical problem that is difficult to resolve, because in the Davis Cup you spend a lot of time with the teams in the dressing room and a woman shouldn't be a stranger to those she is managing." "For a Davis Cup team to be captained by a woman... don't get me wrong, because I have nothing against a woman coaching a player," commented Nadal. Rafa's coach added that it was surprising that Gala Leon had been named so quickly after Spain's relegation to the second division given that there are around 8 months until the next Davis Cup tie, "Normally before someone was named the President of the Federation used to advise the players to find out if they agreed or not and that was not the case this time," he said. Meanwhile Gala Leon's appointment was welcomed elsewhere with Andy Murray 'tweeting' "Congrats to Gala Leon Garcia for becoming first female Spanish Davis cup captain today... hopefully first of many... is that a first across all countries in the 114 year history of the competition?"

Qatar view: It's ‘A Racist Bid To Snatch World Cup'2022’

*Qatar forms unified voice to hit back hard at claims 2022 World Cup will be moved due to excessive heat FIFA Executive Committee member Theo Zwanziger’s view that the 2022 World Cup will ultimately be moved has, predictably, not gone down particularly well in host country Qatar. To recap, Zwanziger gave an interview to Sport Bild in which he said the soaring temperatures in Qatar that can reach up to 45C in summer would endanger the welfare of players and fans. “I think that at the end of the day the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar,” Zwanziger said. “Doctors say, and I had insisted on this point in the protocol, that they cannot guarantee that a World Cup can be held in summer in these conditions.” Zwanziger also rebutted the argument that cooling technologies could alleviate any problems. “The World Cup involves not only stadiums. There are fans coming from the four corners of the world who will be concerned by the heat. “The first incident putting a life in danger will be subject to an investigation. And that, nobody in the FIFA Executive Committee would want to reply to.” In a leader column in The Peninsula entitled “A racist bid to snatch the World Cup”, the paper’s editor-in-chief delivered an impassioned defence of Qatar’s right to host the tournament. “The problem of heat in Qatar is being sensationalised,” he wrote. “The US, in 1994, hosted a World Cup with high temperatures of above 45 degrees, Italy in 1934 hosted the Cup in the sizzling heat of above 40, and temperatures were high when the Cup was played in Mexico in 1970 and 1986. “There is nothing impossible if there is a dream and the will. Technology is capable of changing the hot weather conditions as it is capable of changing many other things. But technology cannot stop racist ideologies that seek to deny the right of people in this region to host the biggest soccer event in the world.” Elsewhere in The Peninsula, Nasser Al Khater of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy of the event was similarly dismissive about Zwanziger’s comments. “The only question now is WHEN not IF. Summer or winter, we will be ready,” Al Khater said in a statement. “We have proven that a FIFA World Cup in Qatar in the summer is possible with state-of-the-art cooling technology. We have demonstrated our cooling works in outdoor areas beyond stadiums. This summer we welcomed fans in Doha to an open-air Brazil 2014 Fan Zone with temperatures cooled to a comfortable 22 degrees Celsius. “The evolution of environment-friendly cooling technologies is an important legacy for our nation, region and for countries with similar climates, promising to expand the reach of major sporting events to countries where it was never thought possible before.” Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary-General of the Qatar 2022 Organising Committee, told Die Welt newspaper that he was “sure that the 2022 World Cup will take place in Qatar”. “No, I’m not worried,” he said. “Firstly because there’s no basis to lose the World Cup. And secondly because it’s the first World Cup in the Middle East. “When people think of this region, it’s rather in terms of conflict. The World Cup will be an occasion to unite peoples. It will leave a positive heritage.” The Gulf Times noted the encouraging words from German club Energie Cottbus and South Korean team Pohang Steelers on their recent visits to the Middle East country. Pohang Steelers vice president Lee Jae Youl reportedly described Qatar as: “The centre of the world and a prime location for a World Cup.” Felix Selle, assistant coach of Energie Cottbus, was also quoted as saying the country is “a short distance from many places, and many direct flights come to Doha. Qatar should seize the moment come 2022.” The article said it will become the first ever “compact” World Cup, in which fans will be able to watch more than one match a day and stay in the same accommodation throughout the event. Perhaps alleviating growing fears, Doha News said the judge in charge of the corruption investigations into the 2018 and 2022 World Cups doesn’t have the power to strip hosting rights. “German Hans-Joachim Eckert said he only has the power to sanction individuals who are found guilty of bribery or corruption, and that any decision involving the host countries themselves would be up to FIFA’s ruling executive committee or its congress of 209 federations.” Ethics investigator Michael Garcia will provide a report for Eckert, who heads the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s ethics committee and hopes to draft his judgment in March 2015. That’s also when FIFA is expected to decide on a final date for Qatar to host the 2022 event. Because of the excessive heat in June-July, a task force is looking at January/February 2022 as a potential slot despite the possibility of a clash with the IOC’s Winter Olympics. November/December 2022 is the other possible winter option. Originally published as Qatar view: ‘A racist bid to snatch World Cup’

Sports:Luke Shaw In LVG’s Bad Books?

He may be pressed into service simply out of necessity but Luke Shaw is obviously still not in Louis van Gaal’s good books. And former United coach Rene Meulensteen takes it one step further, saying the Dutchman simply ‘doesn’t rate him’. With Manchester United labouring defensively against Leicester, the $55 million recruit from Southampton sat impassively on the bench, awaiting for a call to arms that never came. Meulensteen admitted he was ‘very surprised’ Shaw had not played yet. “Van Gaal would have been informed by the club that they were putting this bid in for Shaw because he’s an up-and-coming player,” he said. “He’s got a good left foot and a lot of pace. He’s got a lot to learn to get to a Man United level though.” But with injuries and suspension - let alone poor form - set to bite hard for the visit of West Ham this weekend, Shaw looks likely to make his debut - but nothing can be certain with van Gaal. Shaw has endured a tumultuous start to life at Old Trafford and still seems to be in the doghouse after he pulled aside by van Gaal during the club’s pre-season USA tour and told he was ‘unfit.’ “I think he (Shaw) needs to be fit and he is not very fit, therefore he can’t perform what I want. He has to be fit first and to train individually,” Van Gaal said in July. At least Shaw has one fan. Fellow United defender Johnny Evans said last week he ‘will become the world’s best left back’.

Sports:QATARSTROPHE Is When The Beautiful Game Turns Ugly

— with wire agencies *Qatar World Cup 2022 drama explained!Death. Bribery. Searing heat. One of the world's biggest sports is embroiled in controversy, and the situation is only getting worse. So, what next? WHAT’S THE LATEST? IN AN interview with Sport Bild Plus, Theo Zwanziger, a German member of football’s world governing body FIFA, controversially declared: “I think that at the end of the day the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar.” Zwanziger cited scorching summer temperatures, which can reach upward of 45C, as the reason Qatar would lose the right to host football’s global showpiece. “Doctors say, and I had insisted on this point in the protocol, that they cannot guarantee that a World Cup can be held in summer in these conditions,” he said. While Qatar has reportedly developed stadium cooling systems, Zwanziger added: “The World Cup involves not only stadiums. There are fans coming from the four corners of the world who will be concerned by the heat. “The first incident putting a life in danger will be subject to an investigation. And that, nobody in the FIFA Executive Committee would want to reply to.” WHAT IS QATAR SAYING? THE head of Qatar’s World Cup organising committee, Hassan al-Thawadi, told Die Welt newspaper he was “sure that the 2022 World Cup would take place in Qatar”. “No, I’m not worried,” al-Thawadi said. “Firstly because there’s no basis to lose the World Cup. “And secondly because it’s the first World Cup in the Middle East. “When people think of this region, it’s rather in terms of conflict. The World Cup will be an occasion to unite peoples. It will leave a positive heritage.” The Qatar 2022 World Cup committee also released a statement, which read: “Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022, despite comments of FIFA executive committee member Dr Zwanziger, which reflect his personal opinion and not that of FIFA. “The only question now is when, not if. Summer or winter, we will be ready. We have proven that a FIFA World Cup in Qatar in the summer is possible with state-of-the-art cooling technology. “We have demonstrated that our cooling works in outdoor areas beyond stadiums. This summer we welcomed fans in Doha to an open-air Brazil 2014 Fan Zone with temperatures cooled to a comfortable 22 degrees Celsius.” THE CONTROVERSIES DRAMA has plagued FIFA’s awarding of the World Cup to Qatar in 2010, with reports some 4,000 migrant workers will lose their lives by the time the event rolls around due to the working conditions and extreme hit. Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper has also alleged that former Qatari football boss Mohamed Bin Hammam paid more than $5.6 million to gain support for the emirate ahead of the vote. Qatar has strongly denied the allegations. FIFA’s ethic committee is to announce in early 2015 the results of its investigation into the attribution of not only the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, but also the 2018 edition to Russia. FIFA President Sepp Blatter also said publicly in May that the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar was a “mistake”. WHAT IS THE MOST LIKELY OUTCOME? FIFA is looking at the option of shifting the tournament to January/February 2022 or November/December 2022. It would be unpopular option because of disruption to the domestic seasons in Europe and around the world. However, it does make the most sense at this stage.

Spots: EPL:Man City Keen To Keep Chelsea In Check

Stung by a last-minute defeat in the Champions League, Manchester City will attempt to make up ground in the Premier League title race when they host leaders Chelsea on Sunday. A 90th-minute strike by former player Jerome Boateng condemned City to a 1-0 loss at Bayern Munich on Wednesday and left Manuel Pellegrini's side without a victory in three matches. Chelsea can open up an eight-point lead over the champions if they pull off a repeat of their 1-0 win at the Etihad Stadium in February. City midfielder Fernandinho says it is a game that his side must win. "We have to win this game because we have had a [2-2] draw against Arsenal and a [1-0] loss at home to Stoke. We have to recover points to think about the top of the table," the Brazilian said. Chelsea are gunning for a fifth consecutive league victory, but their momentum took a blow in Wednesday's 1-1 draw at home to Schalke. A breakaway goal by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar earned the German side a point after Cesc Fabregas had put the hosts ahead. Chelsea captain John Terry has urged his team to cut out the defensive errors that have seen them concede six goals in their first four league outings. "The first four league games, we've been killing teams off. We didn't do it [against Schalke], but it was disappointing to concede the way we did, from a counter-attack from our own corner," Terry told the club website. "It was our corner, we were attacking, and we got caught on the break. It shouldn't happen. It's the second time already this season it's happened." City will restore Sergio Aguero to their starting XI and seven-goal top scorer Diego Costa will return for Chelsea after the two players started their respective sides' Champions League openers on the bench. Arsenal also endured punishment at German hands in the Champions League, losing 2-0 at Borussia Dortmund, and have drawn their past three games in the league. On Saturday Arsene Wenger's side visit Aston Villa, who climbed to second place in the league table with an impressive 1-0 victory at Liverpool in their last game. Liverpool survived a scare in the Champions League, winning 2-1 at home to Bulgarian newcomers Ludogorets Razgrad thanks to a 93rd-minute penalty by captain Steven Gerrard. With Daniel Sturridge sidelined by injury, Liverpool have been labouring in front of goal, but ahead of Saturday's trip to West Ham United, manager Brendan Rodgers has urged their fans to show patience. "I remember this time last year I was asked if we were going to score enough goals and we ended up with 101 [league] goals," he told a press conference on Thursday. "We've had to bring in a lot of new players because of the demands of the Champions League, so that naturally takes time." Having seen their side crush Queens Park Rangers 4-0 last weekend, Manchester United's supporters will hope their team confirm their return to form at promoted Leicester City on Sunday. Manager Louis van Gaal must decide whether to hand a first start to new signing Radamel Falcao, who came off the bench in the latter stages of the win over QPR. Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has rather less pleasant quandaries to ponder after his team slithered to the foot of the table following last weekend's 4-0 loss at Southampton. AFP

Sports:Mardenborough Grows From Gamer To Formula One Racer

Jann Mardenborough is one of the hottest young talents in European motor racing. The 23-year-old Brit is a race winner in the formula one-supporting GP3 series – the same category that launched Valtteri Bottas and Daniil Kvyat to F1 stardom. Yet four years ago he'd never sat in a racing car or even raced a go-kart. The only racing he'd done was on computer games. If you think computer games are for kids to waste time on, you're wrong. A partnership between Nissan and Playstation's Gran Turismo game, dubbed GT Academy, has been turning gamers into real-life racers for the past seven years. The idea is simple: find the best gamers in an online contest; take fastest to a racetrack to put them to the test in real cars; pick a winner and put him in a real race. The first winner, in 2008, was Spaniard Lucas Ordonez who has gone on to make a successful career for himself racing Nissan's sports cars. His list of achievements already include two podium finishes at the Le Mans 24-hour race in a prototype car and a promising test in a V8 Supercar. But it is Mardenborough who has emerged as the real star of the project thanks to his potential to push the boundaries of what the program can achieve. A successful sports-car racing career with Nissan's various projects – which in 2015 will include an outright assault on the Le Mans 24 hours with an LMP1 racer against Audi and Porsche – is the easy option, but his age coupled with his success in GP3 has people asking if he could make it all the way to formula one instead. Nissan, which backs his racing, originally placed him in the European formula three series in 2013 to try to speed up his learning curve for prototype sports-car racing (Nissan runs cars in the second-tier LMP2 category that are similar to formula cars). But he has exceeded expectations with his natural talent. He was promoted to the GP3 series to drive with the Arden team, owned by Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner, and signed up by the reigning F1 champions to a development program. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/jann-mardenborough-has-the-right-stuff-to-go-from-gamer-to-formula-one-racer-20140918-10inrk.html#ixzz3Dlep3PlB

Alibaba Founder Jack Ma's Road To The Top

China's richest man celebrated his 50th birthday last week in the United States and expects his company will last twice as long, plus two years. Jack Ma will emerge from the float of his company, Alibaba, with a paper fortune of about $US14 billion ($15.6 billion), vaulting him into the ranks of tech billionaires like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. Revealing his ambition - and a love of numbers common in China - Ma says Alibaba will last 102 years so the internet empire he founded in 1999 can span three centuries. Under Ma's maverick leadership, the 15-year-old firm has already bridged a period of extraordinary change in global trade and the Chinese economy. In a nation with little e-commerce but plenty of Communist Party bureaucrats he raised a still-growing giant whose US initial public offering this month could be the largest in history. His rags-to-riches journey is just as spectacular. A scrawny Ma, just over 5 feet tall, was rejected by KFC and other employers in his hometown of Hangzhou in east China. He believed in the internet's business potential when few other Chinese did. Outlandish ideas earned him the nickname "Crazy Jack Ma." No one thinks he's mad now, even when dressing in wild wigs and lipstick for his annual meeting where he serenades a stadium full of Alibaba employees. Ma's readiness to make fun of himself, and speak his mind, stands in contrast to China's often conservative corporate barons. Charismatic and energetic, this former teacher has become an inspiration to millions across China. He flunked at math but loved English, and countless books and DVDs sell his business lessons in every airport lounge. Ma - whose net worth is $US21.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index - now stars in the coming-out party for China's private sector onto the world stage. He praises and uses Western management techniques but also quotes regularly from Chairman Mao Zedong. He is a fan of China's kung fu novels and made those legends part of his company's culture. He travels the world with a tai chi trainer. Jack Ma, whose Chinese name is Ma Yun, was born in 1964 into a markedly different China. Communist Party campaigns dominated daily life. His parents performed a type of musical storytelling that was banned during Mao's devastating Cultural Revolution, from 1966 to 1976. Ma's grandfather, a local official under the Nationalist Party that Mao defeated, was persecuted as an enemy of the Communist revolution. Ma and his relatives all suffered at that time, wrote Chinese author Zhang Yongsheng in a 2009 biography. Like most Chinese parents back then, Ma's father beat him growing up. But there were childhood pleasures, too. He liked collecting and fighting crickets, an ancient pastime that Mao also banned. Ma developed an expert ear, able to distinguish the type and size of cricket just by the sound, his friend and personal assistant at Alibaba, Chen Wei, wrote in his 2013 book on Ma. Starting at age 12, Ma says he awoke at 5 am to walk or bicycle to Hangzhou's main hotel so he could practice his English with foreign tourists, who started trickling into the country after Mao's death in 1976. He did this for nine years and acted as a free tour guide to many, befriended several and later visited one family in Australia. Those experiences opened his eyes. "I realised what they told me was quite different from what I had learned in school or heard from my parents," Ma told Xiao-Ping Chen, a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, in an interview published last year. After twice failing the national college entrance exams, Ma entered what he called "Hangzhou's worst college." Graduating in 1988, Ma married his college sweetheart and taught English at a local college for five years, earning $15 a month. During that time, he also applied for, and failed to land, jobs at a local KFC, a hotel and the city police. Determined to enter business, Ma set up a translation company, but he still had to peddle goods on the street to get by. He traveled to the United States in 1995 as a translator to help a Chinese firm recover a payment. The attempt failed, and the American who owed money pulled a gun on him, Ma says. But a friend in Seattle showed Ma the internet, and an idea began brewing. Ma noticed there was not a single online listing for "China" and "beer," unlike those that popped up for American and German beer. He returned to China and set up a listing site that he later sold to the government. After working in Beijing for an internet firm under the Ministry of Commerce, Ma returned home to Hangzhou to pursue his dream. With the help of more than a dozen friends who pooled their resources - just $60,000 - he founded Alibaba, a business-to-business online platform. The company now makes more profit than rivals Amazon.com and e-Bay combined, as China's burgeoning middle class are big spenders online, and small companies rely on Alibaba and its online payment system. Ma seized opportunities as China was transforming into a market economy. At the time, the internet was first being promoted, and small, private businesses struggled to get loans and had to compete against government-protected state firms, said economist Feng Pengcheng, director of the China Research Center for Capital Management at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. "The business model Ma Yun created in China suited the Chinese market. It might be a failure in the US market, but it's so successful in China," Feng said. "What's more, Ma Yun is good at cooperating with other talents. His company culture and his personal charm attracted employees, and his slogans are uplifting," he said. For a billionaire so outspoken on company and business issues, Ma says little about his family and manages to keep his private life quiet and scandal-free. Ma and his wife Zhang Ying have a son, an undergrad at the University of California-Berkeley, where Ma had audited classes. A black-and-white photo of a young Ma with his older brother and younger sister went viral this month in China's cyberspace, as many people were unaware their richest citizen even had siblings. "Ma Yun's lifestyle is very simple and modest. His hobbies are still tai chi and kung fu novels," Chen, his friend and assistant, said last week from Boston, while accompanying Ma on Alibaba's US roadshow before the IPO. "I don't think he has changed much, he is still that old style. After the IPO, I am sure his lifestyle will be simpler. He won't change," Chen said. In his book, being published in English this month, Chen said Ma enjoys meditation in the mountains, playing poker with friends and writing his own kung fu fiction. By Ma's own account, he believes in both Buddhism and Taoism, and follows many tenets of Confucianism. "My father said if you were born 30 years ago, you'd probably be in a prison, because the ideas you have are so dangerous," Ma told Charlie Rose in a 2011 TV interview. Despite such bravado for a Western audience, Ma has always been careful in China to avoid statements and actions that could jeopardize his business. If China ever did permit open elections, Ma could become a popular candidate for top office, said Duncan Clark, a Brit who is a Beijing-based technology consultant. "He is the opposite of stuffy and canned. He's funny, creative and a compelling speaker. I often thought he has another career in stand-up comedy," he said. Ma resigned last year as Alibaba's CEO, but he clearly remains in charge as the firm's executive chairman. He has hinted at exploring more "cultural" pursuits, such as film-making, education and environmental protection. "One issue facing China is that people's wallets are bulging, but their heads are empty," he told Hong Kong's South China Morning Post last year. Ma also promises more philanthropy, including what may be China's largest charity foundation. Expect to hear plenty more from maverick Ma. MCT Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/china/alibaba-founder-jack-mas-road-to-the-top-20140919-10j3pa.html#ixzz3DldRbZuy

Independence: Scotland Votes No!

Scotland has voted 'No' to independence – but the United Kingdom still faces the biggest political revolution in centuries. Outside No 10 Downing Street, barely hours after the referendum result was known, Prime Minister David Cameron promised that "English votes for English laws" would accompany the delivery of promised new powers over income tax and welfare to the Scottish Parliament. Under Mr Cameron's proposed plan Scottish, Welsh or Northern Ireland MPs would no longer have the right to vote in Westminster on laws that did not affect their nations. This change in the basic structure of the Union would be negotiated alongside the new powers that were pledged to Scotland in the last desperate days of the referendum. But it is expected to spark a new, fierce row over what this means in practice - how the British government is chosen, how a budget is passed and whether it requires a separate English parliament. Upvotes: 5:33pm: And so the final result seems to be YES 45% and NO 55%. Dundee, Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, and West Dunbartonshire were the only councils who voted yes. Every other council voted no. 5:17pm: Sterling has roared back to life, soaring to a two-year high against the euro and a two-week peak against the US currency, as traders took comfort that the Scottish referendum would fail to break-up the United Kingdom, reports BusinessDay's Jared Lynch. On Friday, Australian time, the currency had leapt 0.9 per cent against the US dollar to $US1.6526, and climbed 0.6 per cent against the euro. "Sterling is well supported on the vote, and this is having an impact on the crosses," said Hamish Pepper, a currency strategist at Barclays Capital in Singapore. However Westpac currency strategist Sean Callow said it would take a brave investor to bet on further gains. He said traders began selling sterling about $US1.66 and it was close to clawing back its losses. "This time next week probably nobody is going to be talking about Scotland," Mr Callow said. 5:06pm: David Cameron's statement on the referendum (see the full version here): The people of Scotland have spoken. It is a clear result. They have kept our country of four nations together. Like millions of other people, I’m delighted. As I said during the campaign, it would have broken my heart to see our United Kingdom come to an end. And I know that sentiment was shared by people, not just across our country, but also around the world - because of what we've achieved together in the past and what we can do together in the future. So now it is time for our United Kingdom to come together, and to move forward. 5:00pm: And from the BBC on why the No vote was inevitable: They were always the favourites The Scottish feel British The risk factor They stemmed the Yes surge The economy Upvotes:2 Downvotes:1 Copy Link 4:56pm: An interesting read from the Telegraph, London on why the Yes vote lost: Alan Cochrane of the London Telegraph says the battle was lost two weeks ago when a YouGov poll showed the Yes vote clearly in front. 'All hell appeared to break loose. The value of the pound nose-dived, billions were wiped off the value of major British firms and Osborne announced that a timetable for extra Holyrood powers would be announced immediately.' 'This, plus the emergency drafting in – or more likely he drafted himself in – of Gordon Brown more than did the trick. In a series of barnstorming speeches, filled with Old Time Religion from the former prime minister, now fully rehabilitated with the man who threw him out of Downing Street, appeared to work especially in the Labour heartlands. 'The No side took the lead in the polls again, albeit a narrow one, and as Referendum Day approached there was everything to play for.' Upvotes:4 Downvotes:0 Copy Link 4:44pm: A lesson on how to lay out a ballot paper ... 4:43pm: So what happens now? The BBC have come up with a few ideas on what's going to happen next: - More power to Scotland - Party differences within the Scottish Parliament - Negotiations with UK political parties - What now for the Scottish National Party? 4:34pm: Pro-independence Scots have reacted with universal disappointment in Sydney, reports Eryk Bagshaw. The phrase, "I'm devastated," was echoed by Scots young and old. Ex-patriot Scot's in Australia have been overwhelmingly in favour of independence, not a single "no" voter was in sight at the official referendum party at the Arisaig bar in Surry Hills. "That's why we lost, everyone's here" remarked 30-year-old Scott Christopher Dunn. "Every time a yes vote comes through it gives you that little bit of hope," said 24-year-old Hayleigh Anderson. . With defeat conceded, the crowd roared into "we shall not be moved," and Pam Hanlon-Schafer wept. "I am absolutley devastated," she said. 35-year-old Robert Welsh was in a similar state of distress, "I'm bloody gutted." he said. But the biggest declaration came from 33-year-old Scottish engineer, Gary Asoclini. "I was ready to go back to a re-born Scotland if we voted yes," he said. "Now I wan't to burn my passport." 4:16pm: UK Prime Minister David Cameron is speaking outside Downing Street. He foreshadows an extraordinary constitutional revolution for the UK - "English votes for English laws" - an end for the ability of Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish MPs to vote in Westminster on laws that do not affect their nations. It will be negotiated in parallel with Scottish devolution, he said.

News: Sorry! Is Your Name Xi Or First Eleven? News Anchor Sacked Over 'Eleven Jinping' gaffe

Pronouncing foreign leaders' names is a headache for newsreaders the world over but it has proved the downfall of one Indian newscaster, who mistook the visiting Chinese president's name for the Roman numeral XI, calling him "Eleven Jinping" on air. The blunder occurred late on Thursday night in a report by India's public broadcaster Doordarshan on President Xi Jinping's high-profile first state visit to India. Local news site Quartz on Friday quoted Doordarshan chief executive Jawahar Sircar as saying the newscaster had been sacked and steps had been taken to avoid a repeat of such an incident. "We've taken action plus (we are) upgrading systems", Sircar tweeted. The broadcaster did not immediately return calls for comment. Doordarshan, once the only choice for television viewers in India, has suffered a steep decline in influence since private television channels began airing in the early 1990s. The blunder is an embarrassment for the government of India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who rolled out the red carpet for Xi, spending his 64th birthday hosting a dinner for the Chinese president in a luxury riverside tent in his home city Ahmedabad. AFP

Sports:Coaching Castilla without the official qualifications: Zidane Is In Soup

It all boils down to Zizou allegedly violating the rules by assuming the role of head coach of Real Madrid Castilla without being in possession of the necessary qualification. The debate over Zidane's coaching credentials has taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks. On 30th August, MARCA reported that the RFEF Coaches' Committee intended to monitor the situation with the Frenchman following a complaint filed by the schools director of the Centro Nacional de Formación de Entrenadores (National Coaches' Training Centre, CENAFE). It all boils down to Zizou allegedly violating the rules by assuming the role of head coach of Real Madrid Castilla without being in possession of the necessary qualification. What started out as merely a monitoring exercise has now led to an investigation being opened by the Federation's Competition Committee that could see the Frenchman and even Real Madrid itself landed with a ban. Zidane and Real could face stiff penalties. Article 104 states that such violations carry the punishment of a ban for four to 20 games, or one to six months. The initial CENAFE complaint has been added to with a report sent to the Competition Committee by the Coaching Committee. Read more: Zidane in hot water - MARCA.com

Sports: "There is no relationship with Ronaldo", Says Mourinho

*Vows To Work For Real Again José Mourinho spoke with Portugal's TVI about his time at Real Madrid and how things stand with Ronaldo. "There is no relationship. He plays for Real Madrid and I am Chelsea manager. We do not tend to meet in the street." Mourinho has recently criticised CR7 for failing to put the ball into the back of the net during the penalty shoot-out in 2012, which denied Real their Champions League final, added that, "there is no relationship, but there are memories. I remember the good times and the bad times. I must remember a kid who is a goalscoring machine, who helped me to be champion, to win the Copa and the Supercopa," he said. "Probably I also helped him". "We all helped each other, mutually, to make history, winning the title with 100 points against the best Barcelona team in history. Of Cristiano Ronaldo the player I keep the best memories and I wish him the best in his career, more with Portugal than with the club," he joked. The manager also let it be known that for him at least, a return to the Benrabéu is not out of the question: "What if you could return again and join Madrid ? Yes, definitely. It was an experience as a man and as a coach that I would repeat again without thinking twice." That said, he admitted that he wouldn't do things in exactly the same way as he did back then: "If a coach can think and self-criticise, as I do, then the decisions that are made will not always be the same. Not only at Real Madrid but with all clubs." Read more: Mourinho: "There is no relationship with Ronaldo" - MARCA.com