U.S. Olympic Committee to Promise American Made Uniforms by 2014

Ralph Lauren / AP Photo

The U.S. Olympic Committee will change its policy so that U.S. Olympic uniforms are made in the USA by the next Olympics, in 2014.
Ralph Lauren is the official maker of the Olympic uniforms and made the pledge in a statement.
“Ralph Lauren promises to lead the conversation within our industry and our government addressing the issue of increasing manufacturing in the United States and has committed to producing the Opening and Closing ceremony Team USA uniforms in the United States that will be worn for the 2014 Olympic Games,” according to the statement from the Ralph Lauren Corporation.
But nothing will be done about this year’s uniforms, which were made in China.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was happy with the move.
“When America’s best athletes are representing our country on the world stage, we should be representing the best of American-made goods,” she said in a statement. “The pride of our Olympic athletics goes hand in hand with the pride of American innovation and manufacturing. While I am disappointed our athletes will not be dressed head to toe in Made in the USA this year, I greatly appreciate the USOC and Ralph Lauren have heard our voices and worked to correct this mistake going forward. I look forward to cheering on Team USA.”

Good News And Not So Good News On China

Kenneth Rapoza, Contributor

Covering Brazil, Russia, India & China.

I know, everybody loves the Apocalypse.  But sadly, the Chinese economy is not heading for a hard landing, with second quarter GDP growth coming in at 7.6 percent, far above the 7 percent and under considered by economists to constitute the start of a China crash.
But while China’s economy is firing on, let’s say, all two cylinders instead of all four, there’s a mix of good news and bad news regarding the world’s No. 2 economy.
The headline macro data released Friday showed the second quarter growth was less than the first, which came in at 8.1 percent. That was to be expected, though the numbers were a little under consensus estimates of 7.7 percent for 2Q.  Then there’s China’s industrial production (IP) figures. Growth slowed a smidgen to 9.5 percent in June from 9.6 percent in May, lower than the market consensus yet again, which was 9.8 percent. Fixed asset investment (FAI) growth for the first half rose surprisingly to 20.4 percent year over year from 20.1 percent in the first five months, as the Chinese government does what it can to stimulate the economy as Europe’s woes continue to pack a punch on China exporters.

Retail sales growth for June slowed slightly to 13.7 percent, better than the market consensus 13.4 percent.
Growth in approved investment for new projects rose by 23.2 percent in June from 22 percent in May, which suggests public investment growth will pick up further in the coming months. Second, property market transactions rose strongly, which should help to mitigate the downside risks of property investments in the second half. Third, new loans and money supply growth — what bankers are putting into the market through short term debt — were both upside surprises. Loans are on the upswing.
This data release will reinforce the view among some major investment banks that GDP growth bottomed in the second quarter and will rebound, albeit slowly, in the second half.
Although everyone loves a rip-roaring good time with end-timers, the market has been overly pessimistic on China’s growth outlook. This is not a Western democracy.
“We believe the government is becoming less tolerant of an economic slowdown,” said Zhiwei Zhang, an analyst at Nomura Securities in Hong Kong.  The government of Beijing changes hands next year. The last thing they want is to shift gears when the economy is going to hell in a handbasket.  They won’t allow it.  Zhang said he believes Beijing policy makers will be supportive of growth going forward.
“We are approaching the important Communist Party meeting in October where the leadership transition is expected to take place. We expect the pace of policy easing to accelerate,” he said.
On Friday, Nomura said that it revisted the China 2012 GDP forecast down to 8.2 percent from 8.4 percent and its 2013 GDP forecast down to 7.9 percent from 8.2 percent.

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.