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Hong Kong bans Tibetan flags at Olympic event

Tibetan flags will be banned from all Olympic equestrian events in Hong Kong under rules aimed at heading off political propaganda and protests inside competition venues, organizers said Friday. The crackdown guidelines apply to flags representing countries and regions without athletes in the events.

Breaking Ground as the First Native North American Professional Team Owner

In May, Styres paid $5.5 million to buy a 60 percent controlling share of the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League, and an undisclosed price for the Americans. He says he thinks he is the first individual American Indian - known in Canada as First Nations people - to own a major professional sports franchise. The Mohegan Tribe owns the Connecticut Sun of the W.N.B.A. "He's one of the truly successful First Nations entrepreneurs in Canada," said Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, an aboriginal advocacy organization representing 630 communities. "It's made it possible for him to give back to his community in a very significant way."

Cost of oil, gas is totally bogus for surfers

"We all think about oil in our cars, but very few of us really consider the fact that every little piece of manmade equipment around you is oil-based, and surfing's no different," said Mauro, who's seen the price of some surfboards double to $750 or higher. "The price of a surfboard, it used to be something where it was pretty digestible. Now, it's like, whoa, OK, I've got to put some serious thought into this."

A Few Words About Golf With Condoleezza Rice - D.C. Sports Bog

I'm sick of politics - time for summer pursuits! I think it's fascintating that Condi plays golf, though not as well as she plays the piano: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/arts/music/09tomm.html?pagewanted=1

Beijing Turns Green Before the Olympics

From shopping to driving to eating, Beijing residents are rearranging their lives to help save the environment just in time for the Olympics Games this August.

The Associated Press: Algae bloom is China latest Olympic nightmare

Algae bloom is China's latest Olympic nightmare

By CARA ANNA - 13 hours ago

QINGDAO, China (AP) - China's latest Olympics nightmare is a vast algae bloom that covers one-third of the sea where the world's best sailors are supposed to be competing in just over a month. Athletes call it the blob, the carpet, the fairway.

"We almost think of it as land," said Carrie Howe, a member of the U.S. team and her three-person squad's unofficial algae remover. During practice, she dips her hand into the goo three or four times an hour to remove it from the rudder.

When it collects shaggily on the boat's tow rope, she and her teammates refer to it as "the dog." They've named it Hickory...

Secret Factories for 2010

Organizers of the 2010 Olympics refuse to tell the public where gear for the games and Olympics-branded products are made, though critics say such secrecy makes it far harder to expose sweatshops in the Olympic supply chain.

Big Brown will run Belmont with Steroids

Steroids are legal in 28 of the 38 U.S. states where horse racing is held, including the 3 states holding Triple Crown races, and their use is prevalent. The Triple Crown with an asterisk? Or should they all have asterisks? In any case, regular steroid use in horse racing is wrong and should be stopped.

Testosterone gene could offer men competitive edge in sports: study

The headline for the story is a wee bit on the misleading side because it says the gene could offer men a competitive advantage. In fact what it really COULD offer is an edge to men who cheat. A significant difference. CBC Radio also managed to suggest possbile racial discrimination because the genotype is more prevelant in Asian men, so if you're doing well and happen to be Asian, the suggestion is you might be cheating. Nevertheless it is an interesting example of how a person's genotype reacts with our environment and medicine.

Vancouver Olympics security cameras raise privacy concerns

The RCMP plans to install hundreds of closed-circuit television cameras for security during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, CBC News has learned. Under the plan, cameras would be placed at approximately 100 Olympic sites, including both athletic and public celebration venues.

Eight Belles a casuality of inbreeding

The facts are irrefutable. In 1960, the average U.S. racehorse made 11.3 starts per year. The number has fallen almost every year, and now the average U.S. thoroughbred races a mere 6.3 times per year. Almost every trainer whose career spans the decades will acknowledge that thoroughbreds aren't as robust as they used to be.

Chinese Clash With Protesters at Seoul Torch Rally

Thousands of young Chinese assembled to defend their country's troubled Olympic torch relay pushed through police lines on Sunday, some of them hurling rocks, bottled water and plastic and steel pipes at protesters demanding better treatment for North Korean refugees in China. Two North Korean defectors living in South Korea poured paint thinner on themselves and tried to set themselves on fire in an attempt to protest what they condemned as Beijing's inhumane crackdown of North Korean refugees, but the police stopped them, according to witnesses and the police.

Patrick Becomes First Woman to Win a Major Auto Race

Danica Patrick became the first woman to win a major auto race on Sunday, using successful fuel strategy to capture an IndyCar Series event in Motegi, Japan. She won the race by nearly six seconds over Helio Castroneves, the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

globeandmail.com: Vancouver Olympics could be protest target: Fontaine

Canada's top native chief says the Vancouver Olympics are a potential target for First Nations protest much like Beijing has been a flashpoint for Tibet supporters. Phil Fontaine says native leaders will use whatever chance they can to focus governments on aboriginal poverty. That includes the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Mr. Fontaine says thousands of Canadians who've marched in support of a free Tibet should be "outraged" at the abysmal state of native living conditions in their own backyard.

Athletes who take Tibet stand 'face Olympic cut'

Athletes who display Tibetan flags at Olympic venues - including in their own rooms - could be expelled from this summer's Games in Beijing under anti-propaganda rules.