| Economy fuels surge in group sales for Reds The Cincinnati Reds’ playoff-contending season has helped push attendance up 12 percent this year through Sept. 7, even as Major League Baseball’s total attendance is off 1 percent. So it should be no surprise the Reds have seen group sales explode. What might be surprising is the kinds of groups and promotions. Group sales have jumped about 25 percent from a year ago, said Dave Ziegler, the Reds’ director of group sales. Sales were increasing in March, before the season started, he said, with bookings for larger groups than in the past. feeds.bizjournals.com |
'I was dead against playing fourth ODI' • Spinner did not want to play after Butt accusations• 'I wasn't alone, plenty of other players had strong reservations'The England spinner Graeme Swann has revealed that he and several of his team-mates were "dead against" playing in Monday's fourth one-day international against Pakistan at Lord's following Ijaz Butt's allegations of match-fixing against Andrew Strauss' side.Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, claimed that England players had received "enormous amounts of money" to lose the third game of the five-match series at The Oval last Friday, allegations that the home side have strongly denied.Butt's comments came in the wake of allegations of spot-fixing and charges under the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption code against three Pakistan players. Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt have denied any wrongdoing, while the ICC are also investigating scoring patterns during the tourists' innings in that third ODI at The Oval.Swann, who was yesterday named in England's Ashes squad, admitted the saga left him not wanting to take the field.The 31-year-old told the Sun: "I couldn't wait for those games to end and get the hell out of there. It was a dreadful experience and one I never want to experience again."In fact, I didn't want to play at all in the one-dayer on Monday. I won't lie about that – I was dead against playing. And I wasn't alone, plenty of other players had strong reservations."But Straussy, who has been brilliant throughout this episode, persuaded us the best thing we could do was get on with it as a team and make sure we won the series. He was proved to be right."The Nottinghamshire bowler also backed the England and Wales Cricket Board and Professional Cricketers' Association's decision to demand an apology from Butt over his allegations, confirming they will take legal action if one is not forthcoming."I want to say I agree 100% with the decision to send a letter on behalf of the England team demanding an apology from PCB chairman Ijaz Butt. If we do not receive a satisfactory response, we will start legal proceedings," Swann said."Mr Butt's comments were as offensive as they could possibly be. They went against everything I stand for as a professional sportsman."We felt powerless as players because as soon as somebody says something like that and it is read by cricket followers, our name is sullied. You can't go around accusing people and pointing fingers with completely unsubstantiated claims."Graeme SwannEngland cricket teamCricketguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Jeff Garcia, Daunte Culpepper set to face off in UFL's biggest game ever Jeff Garcia is having a ball, and that's because he's playing ball football, that is. He had hoped to continue an NFL career that began in 1999 ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Vikings rank eighth in popularity The Minnesota Vikings are the eighth-most-popular team in the NFL, according to a survey released Tuesday. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Magic interested in NFL team in LA By 2010-10-21T16:17:58ZLOS ANGELES (AP) -- Magic Johnson tells the Los Angeles Times he would be interested in bringing an NFL team back to L.A., but he hasn't had any talks with the league.... hosted.ap.org |