■BASEBALL
Ordonez earns US$18m
Detroit Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez has earned US$18 million with a fifth-inning groundball. The at-bat on Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals was Ordonez’s 1,080th plate appearance since the start of the 2008 season, the number that he needed to automatically trigger his US$18 million contract option for next year. The option will make the contract that began in 2005 worth US$93 million over six years. The appearance was also Ordonez’s 455th of this year. If Ordonez comes to the plate 1,080 times this year and next year, he will activate another US$15 million option for the 2011 season.
■OLYMPICS
Canada language plan saved
The Canadian government will foot more of the bill for bilingual services at next year’s Vancouver Winter Olympics. Federal Heritage Minister James Moore announced US$7.7 million in new funding for the Olympics just hours after reports raised concerns that the organizing committee was out of cash to meet the commitment. Federal official languages commissioner Graham Fraser said in his report that without additional funds, it would be difficult to provide all public information about the games in both official languages of French and English. “This money will go to translation services, to interpretation services, to permanent signage in and around all the Olympic sites in Vancouver as well as to medal ceremonies to ensure that they’re officially bilingual. And this is an important investment into the 2010 Games,” Moore said in Ottawa.
■ATHLETICS
Highway named after Bolt
The Jamaican roadway along which the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt crashed his car in April will be renamed in his honor. Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding told parliament on Tuesday that Highway 2000 would be called the Usain Bolt Highway. The road connects Kingston in the east with Montego Bay in the far west of the country. Golding also announced that the country’s fourth-highest honor, the Order of Jamaica, would be conferred on the 23-year-old sprinter. Bolt will also be appointed an ambassador-at-large and will be accorded full diplomatic status.
■FOOTBALL
Eagles add Vick to roster
The Philadelphia Eagles elevated Michael Vick to the team’s 53-man roster on Tuesday, a move that allows the quarterback to practice with them. The Eagles released receiver Hank Baskett to make room for Vick, who is eligible to play on Sept. 27 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Vick was to begin practicing with the NFL team yesterday, though he cannot play in Sunday’s home opener against the New Orleans Saints. The Eagles were heavily criticized by animal rights activists for signing Vick less than a month after he finished serving 18 months in federal prison. A month later, Vick’s jersey is the fourth-highest seller in the NFL behind Brett Favre, Jay Cutler and Troy Polamalu. The league rankings are based on sales from April 1 to Aug. 28.
■BASKETBALL
Warriors’ Jackson fined
Golden State’s Stephen Jackson was fined US$25,000 by the NBA on Tuesday for saying he wanted to be traded. Jackson, who averaged a team-best 20.7 points per game last season, told Dime Magazine last month that he wanted out and had told the Warriors front office as much. Players are not permitted to make trade requests publicly.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
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