Spanish Basketball in Hot Water Over Ad

Players for the Spanish men’s and women’s basketball teams posed for a pre-Olympic newspaper advertisement in popular Spanish daily Marca, in which they are pictured pulling back the skin on either side of their eyes to narrow them.

Britain’s The Guardian newspaper says the men’s and women’s teams are pictured making the gesture in separate ads taken out by a courier company that sponsors the Spanish Basketball Federation.

The ads, which feature the players in full uniform on a basketball court decorated with a picture of a dragon, are part of a campaign aimed at supporting the Spanish basketball teams at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Among those making the pose in the men’s ad are Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon, Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol, as well as Portland Trail Blazers rookie Rudy Fernandez.

The Spanish men’s team defeated Greece 81-66 in its opener on Sunday, while the women’s team earned an 85-62 win over New Zealand on Monday.

Bryant Jersey Top Seller in China

For the second consecutive season, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers had the top selling NBA jersey in China. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, members of the 2008 NBA Champion Boston Celtics, moved into the top five on this year’s list.

Garnett, who had the most popular jersey in the U.S. this season, moved up to second this year in China. The Houston Rockets’ Tracy McGrady ranked third for the second consecutive season. Pierce, The Finals MVP, whose jersey was not in the top 10 last season moved up to fourth. The Denver Nuggets’ Allen Iverson dropped from second on last year’s list to fifth to round out the top five. China’s Yao Ming from the Houston Rockets, ranked 10th on the list, down from six last year.

The rankings are based on sales from retail stores throughout China for the 2007-08 season.

Source: NBA.com

Opening Ceremony Scandal: Singing Was Dubbed and Fireworks Enhanced

The girl in the red dress with the pigtails, called Lin Miaoke, 9, and from a Beijing primary school, has become a national sensation since Friday night, giving interviews to all the most popular newspapers.

But the show's musical designer felt forced to set the record straight. He gave an interview to Beijing radio saying the real singer was a seven-year-old girl who had won a gruelling competition to perform the anthem, a patriotic song called "Hymn to the Motherland".

At the last moment a member of the Chinese politburo who was watching a rehearsal pronounced that the winner, a girl called Yang Peiyi, might have a perfect voice but was unsuited to the lead role because of her buck teeth.

So, on the night, while a pre-recording of Yang Peiyi singing was played, Lin Miaoke, who has already featured in television advertisements, was seen but not heard.

"This was a last-minute question, a choice we had to make," the ceremony's musical designer, Chen Qigang, said. "Our rehearsals had already been vetted several times - they were all very strict. When we had the dress rehearsals, there were spectators from various divisions, including above all a member of the politburo who gave us his verdict: we had to make the swap."

Officials have already admitted that the pictures of giant firework footprints which marched across Beijing towards the stadium on Friday night were prerecorded, digitally enhanced and inserted into footage beamed across the world.

Source: Associated Press

Canadian Football Activists Plan Demonstration Against NFL and Bills

On Thursday, a small group of Canadian football activists plans to march on Rogers Centre as a demonstration against the National Football League and the Buffalo Bills, who open their unprecedented eight-game series in Toronto that night.

Rogers Communications Inc. will pay the Bills $78-million over the next five seasons for the chance to create that experience in Toronto, and it has been suggested the deal could become the first step down the path to permanent relocation. That suggestion has worried a number of CFL insiders.

Fewer than 2,500 tickets remain for Thursday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to Adrian Montgomery, general manager of the Bills in Toronto series. Tickets ranging in price from $134 to $184 were still being listed on Tourism Toronto's Web site late yesterday afternoon.

Source: National Post

Report: Springsteen to Play Super Bowl Halftime Show

Bruce Springsteen will reportedly play the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIII.

The New York Post cited a source as saying Springsteen, the creator of such hits as "Born in the USA" and "Born to Run," will take the field at halftime of the February 1 contest in Tampa.

Springsteen would become the fifth straight veteran rock and roll act to play the Super Bowl halftime show following Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Paul McCartney was the first to follow Jackson. The Rolling Stones were next, followed by Prince and Tom Petty.

Canada Plays Key Role in Breaking of Swimming Records

Top swimmers in Beijing are using the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit. In developing the suit, Speedo turned to ANSYS Inc., an American-based company whose office is in Waterloo, Ontario.

ANYS Inc. helped come up with the engineering software used by the swimsuit giant to develop its suit.

The synthetic suit was introduced in February, 2008 and since then close to 60 world records have been set by athletes wearing it.

Phelps and his three American teammates wore the LZR Racer suits during their dramatic victory over France in the 4x100-metre relay Monday. The American men broke the world record with their winning time of three minutes 8.24 seconds.

The software simulated the flow of water over the suit and the swimmer’s body. It helped Speedo figure out how water was going to flow around a swimmer’s body and where it was going to create areas of high or low water resistance. Then they could modify their swimsuit design based on that information.

Formula One auto racing and America’s Cup yacht racing as well as some Olympic rowing, sailing and cycling teams are using the software to help improve their athletes’ or team’s performances, he said.

NASA researchers and developers, the Australian Institute of Sport and fashion designer Comme des garcons were also involved in the development of the suit, which took several years and costs about $500.

Source: Canadian Press

Kenya Considers Olympic Bid

Kenya is considering bidding for the 2028 Olympic Games, according to the country’s vice president, Kalonzo Musyoka.

According to Games Bids, Musyoka said that a bid would be in line Vision 2030 – time fame in which the country is expected to have attained the status of a developed nation.

The vice president said that he regretted that no African country had so-far hosted the Games, despite being active members of the Olympic family.

Source: Kenya Broadcasting Corporation