Warmer weather heats up lobster landings off Cape Breton

By Chris Hayes - Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Fishermen around Cape Breton were looking at weather as a factor when it comes to lobster landings this year.

Steve Wadden - Cape Breton Post

The lobster season in eastern Cape Breton wrapped up on Thursday, but the work is far from over for many fishermen like Herman Wadden of Main-a-Dieu, who spent the day laying out his gear to dry on Friday.

Leonard LeBlanc said warmer water had lobsters on the move in an area off western Cape Breton where he sets his traps.
“We had a very good year,” he said. “The weather was excellent for the lobsters to move, the water was warmer.”
LeBlanc, who as president of the Gulf Nova Scotia Fishermen’s Coalition represents about 146 fishermen from Margaree Harbour to Pleasant Bay, said he went around in a T-shirt most of the time.
“The catch was excellent.”
LeBlanc said he personally landed about 17,000 pounds over the May 2-June 30 season, which would be a 30 per cent increase over last year.
Larger landings made up for prices that remained at $4.75 a pound, which was slightly lower than last year, he said.
“I think everybody is very satisfied with their season.”
Glace Bay fisherman Herb Nash said weather played a part in his lobster landings in the season that started on May 12 and wrapped up Thursday.
Landings started out strong in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 pounds a week for the first three weeks, dropped to around 1,000 a week for four weeks that followed, before rebounding to end the season.
Fishermen in the harbour operating a single vessel probably ranged from 10,000 to 16,000 pounds over the season, he said.
“Our season wasn’t bad, we can’t complain about it,” he concluded.
Landings dropped off when the wind was blowing from the ocean toward the land, making for colder temperatures and higher swells, he said.
“This easterly wind, the wind is the wrong way, the water gets cold and nothing crawls,” he said.
“When it comes off the land it’s good, and when it’s on the land you starve to death.”
Nash said he believes fishermen elsewhere along Cape Breton’s eastern shore had worse landings than those in Glace Bay.
Fishermen in his area were getting $5 a pound until near the end of June, when the price dropped to $4.50.
The cost of lobster fishing is going up when bait, fuel and wages for helpers are added in, he said.
“Most people, their expenses are $600 to $1,000 a day.”
Nash also has a snow crab boat that is currently fishing near Sable Island and landing in Glace Bay.
Catching his crab quota is not a problem, said Nash.
LeBlanc was ready to start fishing snow crab Friday morning in an inshore fishery that ends on Sept. 13. He expected landings to be bountiful and for fishermen to catch their quotas before the end of the season.
As Cheticamp fishermen loaded their boats Thursday to prepare for the start of crab fishing season, representatives from the Workers Compensation Board, Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Advanced Education were on the wharf urging them to wear personal flotation devices and take heed of safety at sea in general.
LeBlanc, who was taking part with the officials, said there are too many drownings that could be avoided if fishermen wore the flotation devices.

chayes@cbpost.com

New York Cosmos return to NASL for 2013

The New York Cosmos, who once featured star player Pele, are returning after a 30-year absence. (Photo: AP)

July 12, 2012, 3:11 pm

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK -- The New York Cosmos are back.
After a nearly 30-year absence, the Cosmos joined the North American Soccer League on Thursday. The team will begin league play in the 2013 season.
The former Cosmos team in the late 1970s featured soccer great Pele, who helped raise awareness of soccer in the United States. He led the Cosmos to the 1977 NASL championships in his third and final season.
NASL commissioner David Downs says the plan will "reunite the Cosmos, Strikers, Rowdies and several markets with ties to the NASL's early days."
The Cosmos ownership group is led by Seamus O'Brien. The team will announce details on its stadium, ticket sales and players at a later date.
The NASL includes professional teams in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

PSU board: No timeline for removing Paterno's name or image

By Jack Carey, USA TODAY

By Gene J. Puskar, AP

DUNMORE, Pa. – While the monuments to and imagery of the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno continue to be in evidence on the State College campus, PSU Board of Trustees chair Karen Peetz said Friday there is no need for a timeline or deadline on decisions about whether the school will remove Paterno's image and name.
Former FBI director Louis Freeh's report on the child sex abuse scandal at the school said Paterno's inaction toward Jerry Sandusky's crimes helped conceal Sandusky's activities, further clouding the image of college football's winningest coach, who died in January.
Paterno's name is on a campus library he and his wife, Sue, donated to years ago. There is a bronze statue in his likeness outside Beaver Stadium. Even the university creamery has an ice cream flavor, "Peachy Paterno" named after the coach.
"We feel honoring coach Paterno is a sensitive issue," Peetz said after a meeting of the school's Board of Trustees on PSU's satellite campus outside Scranton, Pa. "It's going to take a lot of dialogue with the community. We want to be reflective and take our time. There's not a timeline or deadline. That's not necessary. It's going to take a lot of discussion."
PSU president Rodney Erickson said some talks have been held about "some modest renovations" to the Lasch Football Building, where some of Sandusky's assaults took place, and he said there have been substantial security updates there and at other athletics facilities.
The board and the administration have each set up task forces to review the 119 recommendations the Freeh report contained, and Peetz said she would like to have a structure in place by the board's September meeting for tackling the recommendations.
"As a parent," she said, "the report showed everyone is responsible for everyone else's children."
The NCAA has launched an investigation of the athletics department in the wake of the scandal, and Erickson said: "We'll have an opportunity to talk with the NCAA over the course of the next couple weeks. The immediate task is to begin to respond to the Nov. 17 letter I received from (NCAA) President (Mark) Emmert.
Now that the Freeh report has been completed, the school is in "better position" to respond to the NCAA, Erickson said.
Also Friday, trustee Ira Lubert, who chairs a subcommittee on legal matters and liability, told the board that the school thus far has three civil lawsuits pending against it for the failure to protect children from being sexually assaulted, and he said others can be expected.
The school is attempting to resolve any suits "in a fair manner" and will be in contact with attorneys for the plaintiffs, he said.
Additionally, Lubert said, former assistant coach Mike McQueary has filed a writ of summons with the intention to file a whistleblower lawsuit against the school. McQueary, who was not retained by new coach Bill O'Brien, said he witnessed Sandusky assaulting a boy in a university shower room in 2001 and told Paterno the next day. Paterno told then-athletics director Tim Curley and university vice president Gary Schultz of the incident but did not go to law enforcement authorities.
"We do not believe Mr. McQueary's claims have any merit," Lubert said.

'The veil has been lifted on professional football this week'

By Richard Conway BBC Sport

 

There were cheers from John Terry's supporters in the public gallery when the "not guilty" verdict at his trial was read out in Court One at Westminster Magistrates' on Friday.

Terry was impassive throughout chief magistrate Howard Riddell's judgement and, upon hearing that his name had been cleared, stood up and immediately exited the dock without comment.
Within minutes he was leaving court as an innocent man, his reputation intact, his ordeal finally over.
But it had taken 10 months for Terry's case to reach this stage.
In the intervening period it caused a chain reaction which eventually led to him being stripped of the England captaincy.
That led to Fabio Capello leaving his position as England manager in response to what he saw as interference from his employers.
The sport has also had to grapple with the key question of how prevalent racism is within its ranks.
For example, Anton Ferdinand, who Mr Riddell agreed had been "brave" in giving evidence to the court, had to endure taunts and chants from fans for the majority of last season over his role in the incident.
Police also investigated a case of "malicious communication" when it is believed a bullet was sent in a letter to QPR's training ground addressed to him.
The Football Association will now restart its own investigation into the events of 23 October 2011 at Loftus Road , with Terry facing the prospect of having to clear his name for a second time.
The FA halted its investigation once the police began their own inquiry.
But Terry's case was not the only incident of alleged racism that the football authorities had to deal with last season.
The FA handed out an eight-match ban to Liverpool's Luis Suarez after it found he had racially abused Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during a Premier League game between the two sides last October.
The Terry case therefore assumed a greater significance when set against the backdrop of concerns of a resurgence of racism, something that many felt the game had left behind long ago.
And according to anti-racism campaigner Paul Elliott, a former Chelsea player who now works for the Kick It Out organisation, Terry's case - even with a not guilty verdict - shows there is work to do.
"[Terry's case] highlighted the re-emergence of such issues [as racism in football] and we have to attack that with vigour, with education at the grassroots," he said.
"It's not helped the game. It's a sorry day for football, make no mistake about that."
The veil has been lifted on life within professional football this week.
And what has been exposed is playground taunting, name-calling and abuse that would appear to be the norm between opposing players over the course of 90 minutes.
John Terry has walked free, his reputation intact, having been cleared of any wrongdoing.
But the process by which English football has arrived at this point in its development has left many uncomfortable at what has been revealed - and asks tough questions over how football will respond.

Golf's Scottish Open tees off at Castle Stuart links

 11 July 2012 Last updated at 19:48 ET

Luke Donald has returned to Castle Stuart to defend his title

Golf's Scottish Open has got under way at the Castle Stuart links course, near Inverness.

Last year's championship was cut from 72 to 54 holes following torrential downpours.
A report later released by Highlands and Islands Enterprise suggested the event still managed to contribute more than £5m to the Scottish economy.
About 43,000 people attended the competition over the three days when play took place.
It was won by world number one player Luke Donald, who has returned to defend the title.
Financial company Aberdeen Asset Management announced in March that it would sponsor the Open for the next three years.
The event had been without a sponsor since last year when Barclays withdrew its backing. It had sponsored the tournament for 10 years.
A pro-am event was held at Castle Stuart on Wednesday ahead of the professional championship.
The Ryder Cup trophy will also be on display at the course during the Open.
European and US teams will compete for the trophy at Medinah Country Club, in Illinois, in September.

Some Penn State players stand by former coach

Penn State tailback Silas Redd still stands by his former coach Joe Paterno. Defensive tackle Jordan Hill does, too.

By GENARO C. ARMAS

AP Sports Writer

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. —

Penn State tailback Silas Redd still stands by his former coach Joe Paterno. Defensive tackle Jordan Hill does, too.
Redd, Hill and the rest of the Nittany Lions are trying to weather another stormy period after former FBI Director Louis Freeh's investigation of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal concluded that Paterno and three other top school officials concealed allegations against his former defensive coordinator.
Most Nittany Lions, before a player-organized charity event Friday, said they didn't watch the news conference Thursday about the probe, but had at least heard of the findings.
Nearly all the Nittany Lions declined comment about the report itself, trying to refocus attention for the "Uplifting Athletes" charity event for which they had gathered to raise money for the Kidney Cancer Association.
"It has nothing to do with us," Redd said about the findings. "We're just talking about this event and this season."
But Redd said his opinion of Paterno, the coach that recruited him to Penn State, hadn't changed. He said Paterno, in his view, remained "the best college football coach of all time."
Some newspaper columnists and former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden have said the statue should be taken down - but not Redd.
"Because I feel he did a lot more good than bad for this university," he said.
Hoping to take a picture at the statue in cap and gown when he graduates, Hill said he would be sad if the statue was removed. His opinion of Paterno hasn't changed, either.
"I'm still a big supporter of coach Paterno and he is one of the reasons that I'm here," he said. "All you can really say is no man is perfect at all."
Now that Freeh's findings have been released, Penn State can now concentrate on answering the NCAA's own inquiry into the scandal. President Rodney Erickson has said the school plans to respond to questions about institutional control and ethics in the coming weeks.
It's possible the NCAA could then launch a formal investigation which could lead to sanctions.
Whether that could include the so-called "death penalty" - where a program is shut down - seems unlikely, at least for now. It has happened just once, against SMU back in the 1980s. Current NCAA rules limit the penalty to colleges already on probation that commit another major violation.
"When that time comes, if it comes, then we'll worry about that," Hill said. "Right now, our eyes are looking forward to what's coming up."
Linebacker Michael Mauti said he read the report, but like others, said "it wasn't his place to talk about it."
"All we can do is show up for work and prepare for the season. All we can do is this right here," said Mauti, a redshirt senior and defensive leader, as he gestured out to field where the offense vs. defense competition was being held. "Stay together."
It's a familiar refrain for players since early November, when school trustees fired Paterno days after Sandusky was arrested.
Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien took over as head coach in early January. Two weeks later, Paterno died of lung cancer.
In June, Sandusky was convicted of 45 criminal counts. And this week, Freeh's long-awaited report placed blame on Paterno and three other high-ranking school officials for concealing allegations against Sandusky in 1998 and 2001 to avoid bad publicity for the school and program.
The Paterno family has said the late coach would not cover up allegations, and that they hoped to release a comprehensive response to put conclusions in a different context and offer a "complete picture."
"I don't think it's really my place to say," Mauti said when asked about criticism of Paterno's legacy. "You can't really take away what he's done ... I don't worry what other people say. I know what he's meant to me and meant to my family."
Once they got into the event, the roars from a field sounded as if it were a football scrimmage. The offense beat the defense in a tug-of-war to take a round in the annual charity competition, which had been scheduled for Friday for months.
"I hope all the stuff that's been going on doesn't cast a shadow over what we're doing out here today," quarterback Matt McGloin said. "This is something we've put on each and every year and I don't want everything that's happened to effect what we've done out here today."

Mickelson Moves Up in Scotland: A Fan’s Take

By Dwight Crisp | Yahoo! Contributor Network

Just when you thought Phil Mickelson was going to miss yet another cut prior to the British Open he comes up with a stellar round. Mickelson came out on day one of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Inverness, Scotland and shot a lackluster 1-over par 73. This put Mickelson in a tie for 123rd position after the first round. In my mind I thought Mickelson would likely miss the cut and have some extra practice time ahead of the Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes that begins on July 19. It also occurred to me that Mickelson wasted his time jumping through hoops in order to get a late invite to the field and play at the Scottish Open.
However, Mickelson had a surprise for me and for others. Round two was a very different day. Phil came out of the gates ready to play and posted an 8-under par 64. Gone were the bogeys and the double bogey from the first round. In their place came only birdies and an eagle as Mickelson carded a clean round. This was Phil Mickelson's best round of competitive golf since the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. You remember, that was the one for which Tiger Woods had a front row seat. That round, also a 64, capped Mickelson's lone PGA Tour victory in 2012. In case you have forgotten, you may read my take on that round here.

This latest round at the Scottish Open could not have come at a more opportune time. Now Mickelson has the opportunity to hang around in Inverness and play the weekend at the Scottish Open to try to fine tune his game for the Open Championship. Golf is a game of confidence and a little confidence would surely help Mickelson. He will be in a position to try to make a run at the leaders as Mickelson will begin the third round five strokes behind Francesco Molinari and Alexander Noren.
Looking ahead to the Open Championship, few expected Mickelson to finish as well in the 2011 Open Championship as he did (he was one of the runners-up to Darren Clarke). Likewise, I do not think very many people expect much from Mickelson in 2012. However, he may yet have a surprise for them as well.