Terror Vision

Theres nothing like a New Years resolution you can actually keep.

Just ask Chicago mom Andrea Guthmann, who resolved to embrace new challenges. So, just before the holidays, she took a ski lesson at Park City Mountain Resort , her first foray on the slopes in more than a decade. Shes already planning a return trip with her husband and kids.

Youre never too old to challenge yourself, said Guthmann, 44, the mother of three, whose spirit of adventure landed her a spot on this years panel of Snowmamas, the go-to site for making trips to the slopes easier and more fun for moms of all ages.

January is National Learn a Snow Sport Month and more than 200 resorts are pulling out all the stops for families and offering free or discounted ski, snowboard, and cross-country ski and snowshoe lessons for beginners. At the same time, Liftopia, the largest online marketplace for discounted lifts and mountain activities, has created a new deal engine app for the iPhone and iPod touch. Its especially gratifying to see resorts aiming at girls and women who typically drop out of snow sports before becoming accomplished skiers and riders.

Vail Mountain, the countrys largest ski resort, has just announced Ski Girls Rock, a new program inspired and designed by Olympic gold medalist and World Alpine Ski Champion Lindsey Vonn. Exclusively for girls age 5 to 15, the program runs during selective weeks this ski season. The small classes ($279 a day, including lifts and lunch) led by female coaches will focus not only on skills but on empowering girls through sport.

At Park City Mountain Resort, meanwhile, where Snowmamas.com started and where no class has more than five students, theres a new two-hour Ladies Club thats just an hour shorter than a regular group lesson but half the price ($55 to $60, depending on season). And like Vonns initiative, its designed to be about more than skiing. There are a lot of multi-day womens ski and snowboarding clinics out there, but nothing like this.

This is giving women a couple of hours for themselves, explains Mary Flinn Ware, the director of the Park City Mountain Resort childrens ski school who piloted this program last spring. Taught by women coaches, the program is designed to show women, whatever their ability, places on the mountain they didnt know existed and where they can feel comfortable. They can also get the 411 from the coaches on everything from kid-friendly restaurants to where to book a massage.

We want more women to be on the mountain having a good time whatever their level, said Flinn Ware. We want to take care of them after theyve taken care of everyone else.

Sounds good to me! Women quit snow sports because they dont want to chase after hard-skiing spouses or kids. They quit because they dont have the energy after getting everyone else in their family situated. They quit because theyd rather vacation somewhere that requires less work on their part. Now trips to the slopes can be more fun for mom and more affordable, especially with all of the Learn a Snow Sport deals.

Look for packages from major websites like www.ski.com that will save you significant bucks if you book air, lodging and lifts together. Look for kids ski-free packages. Steamboat in Northern Colorado has long been an innovator for families with Kids Ski Free, Kids Fly Free and Kids Rent Free programs. If you are all beginners — maybe opt for a new-style girlfriends trip — Alta Ski Areas First-time Skiers package includes four two-hour lessons, four beginner lift tickets and four days of rental equipment, all for $179. (At many resorts, a lift ticket alone costs nearly $100.)

In Vermont, Ski Vermont is touting an unprecedented $29 package for first-time skiers and snowboarders at several resorts across the Green Mountain State. The lessons, based on availability, will be available on non-holiday dates for the entire month of January. All of the deals arent in January, either. Go to Aspen/Snowmass in March and April and kids ski and ride free, as long as an adult is buying a lift ticket.

At Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Ore., the largest ski resort in the Cascade Range, kids 18 — yes 18! and under, can ski free, if an adult in their family purchases a multi-day ticket. And for $199 you or your kids get five lessons, five rental packages and five lift tickets. Students 18 and under get a free season pass; adults get a free 12-day pass.

At Park Citys gargantuan Canyons Resort families who book their trip at one of the official lodging properties of Canyons Resort get accommodations, lifts, and a resort credit of up to $200 per night and access to off-slope adventures (zip-line anybody?) — all starting at $311 per night for a family of four, less than what lift tickets alone might cost. Several states also offer passports for kids of certain ages, which allow them to ski free — fourth-graders in New York; fifth-graders in Colorado and Vermont; fourth- and fifth-graders in New Hampshire, fifth- and sixth-graders in Utah, and fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders in Maine. Just make sure to fill out the paperwork in advance.

No worries if someone in your family faces special challenges, either. There are many adaptive programs around the country, including the National Sports Center for the Disabled in Winter Park, Colo.; the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center also in Colo.; the National Ability Center in Park City, Utah and Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports. As for Andrea Guthmann, shes looking forward to a spring trip with her kids to Park City. Even a few tumbles in her lesson couldnt dim her enthusiasm. Im excited, she says. Thats the spirit. See you on the slopes.

Click here for more from Taking the Kids, and also follow taking the kids on www.twitter.com, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.)

Had England enjoyed a successful World Cup, then cracks might have been papered over and appearances maintained. In fact, it was less a campaign, more a protracted train crash.

English rugby gets one chance every four years to take centre stage, to win the hearts of a football-obsessed nation. That chance was recklessly squandered by a combination of stumbling ineptitude and, in certain quarters, swaggering oafishness.

No converts were made, no friends were won as the sport was casually betrayed. It was a curiously repellent spectacle.

Meanwhile, the Welsh spent the week radiating good humour. They drifted around the same hotel, opening doors for old ladies, smiling at children, thanking the waiters for their service. Sunny days would find them sitting outside the neighbouring Depot bar, their table awash with innocent drinks. Even Andy Powell, celebrated driver of late-night golf carts, could be seen sucking fruit juice through a straw and pretending to enjoy it.

The gods of the Welsh game looked on with approval. The nonpareil Gerald Davies remarked: They all seem nice lads. They go to functions and people ask them to give a song, being Welsh and all that. And they stand up and sing. I rather like that. Being sociable and being successful, theyre not mutually exclusive, are they?

By this time, England had departed, leaving a sour legacy of boorish pranks and frowning hostility. Many players understood the damage which had been done, others were deluded to the end.

On arrival in London, the scrum-half Ben Youngs dismissed Manu Tuilagis ferry jump as a bit of banter which had attracted attention because were in the public eye. Precisely.

There will be reviews, of course; there usually are. One will be conducted by Rob Andrew, the great survivor, the Gloria Gaynor of his game.

Andrews status at Twickenham is currently uncertain and his report, being internal, is unlikely to carry weight. The other, an external report led by Fran Cotton, is designed to reveal uncomfortable truths and recommend substantial reform. It is fair to say that expectations are not excessive.

The Football Association will investigate allegations that Manchester United defender Patrice Evra was racially abused by Liverpools Luis Suarez in the match at Anfield.

Evra is reported to have told media in his native France on Saturday evening that Suarez directed racist insults at him during the 1-1 draw at Anfield. The FA then confirmed to Press Association Sport that they are examining the claims after referee Andre Marriner was also made aware of them.

A statement from the FA said: The Football Association have this evening been made aware of an incident that is alleged to have occurred during the Liverpool versus Manchester United fixture at Anfield. Referee Andre Marriner was made aware of an allegation at the end of the fixture and subsequently reported this to the FA. The FA will now begin making enquiries into the matter.

After a week of controversy over one aspect of this sport, it was absolutely fitting that a representative of its most important component rose gloriously above any human ill-feeling and bickering. The horse is at the heart of it all and, right now, one horse in particular. Here yesterday, on the most valuable racing fixture ever held in this country, Frankel delivered a performance for the ages. A champions day indeed.

With pleasing irony, Frankel is an athlete who barely needs to be touched with a whip, such is his superiority. Yesterdays effortless victory under Tom Queally in the #163;1 million Queen Elizabeth II Stakes brought his unbeaten roll to nine. He may be a one-trick pony all his four Group 1 wins this year have been over a mile but it is some darned fine trick.

And one fully appreciated by the 26,000 who witnessed the latest execution. There were cheers for Frankel and his trainer Sir Henry Cecil even before the race, as they came into the parade ring and the ovation at the business end started inside the final furlong, as the colt, having cut down his pacemaker Bullet Train at will, surged four lengths clear after two token reminders from Queally.

Hes used to catching Bullet Train and going past, the rider said. Its what he does when hes working on the gallops. He knows to go when Tom says go and when I did today he was electric. Id lost my bit of cover earlier than Id have liked but hes now grown-up enough to know he didnt have to tear off like mad. I couldnt fault him at all.

Frankel, who carries the colours of his breeder, the Saudi Arabian prince Khalid Abdullah, was followed in by Excelebration and Immortal Verse, two top-class three-year-old milers in their own right, and the son of Galileo now has only the immortals Sea-Bird, Brigadier Gerard and Tudor Minstrel above him by the ratings bible Timeform.

He will get the chance to prove himself the best-ever next year, when he is due to expand his portfolio over further. My only worry today was that his long season might have caught up with him, Cecil said. We werent really trying to catch pigeons, just get the job done. Im now looking forward to having a winter over him and next year hell get a mile and a quarter easily.

Frankel was the jewel in yesterdays crown, the inaugural British Champions Day, underwritten by the Qatari investment company Qipco. And there were other sights to delight both old racing lags and the hoped-for newcomers to the experience: the master class in riding from the front given by Jamie Spencer on Fame And Glory in the Long Distance Cup, coupled with the skill of trainer Aidan OBrien in getting the five-year-old back to his Gold Cup-winning best; the confirmation of under-rated Oaks heroine Dancing Rain as one of the best of her sex in the Fillies and Mares Stakes; the continued upward mobility of Deacon Blues in the Sprint.

The tarnish came after the days richest contest, the #163;1.3 million Champion Stakes. After Christophe Soumillon had produced French raider Cirrus Des Aigles for a perfectly-judged three-quarter length victory over So You Think and Snow Fairy to take the near #163;600,000 first prize, he was judged in breach of the controversial new rules over the use of the whip.

Soumillon was deemed to have hit Cirrus Des Aigles, who gave his trainer Corine Barade-Barbe her greatest success, six times in the final furlong, one more than now permitted. He picked up a five day-ban and lost his riding fee plus his percentage of the prize-money, some #163;52,000.

The rider was, understandably, furious, and in the heated aftermath announced his decision to challenge the punishment in effect the greatest fine ever levied by Britains racing authorities in the European courts.

I tried to count, said the Belgian, but I could not see the marker; there were sponsors poles by the rails. You cant do everything look for the marker, look for other horses, count the times you use the whip and ride a finish.

If I had hit the horse 10 or 11 times I would accept it, but for such a small thing it is not right. It would not happen in any other sport for such a small mistake. I will take a good lawyer and see what we can do.

The reward may not have been Soumillons yesterday, but few could begrudge a first at the top level to Cirrus Des Aigles, who has being plying his trade in the best company for three years worldwide and is a fine flag-bearer for his small stable. I knew he could do it, Barande-Barbe said, and I trusted him. He has given me some marvellous adventures andas long as he likes racing he will continue to do it.

Roberts said: That defeat is very hard to take, especially as it was clear to everyone there was no malicious intent in Sams tackle.

He went in low and the guy toppled back but he never drove him into the ground so a red card was extremely harsh.

I had a word with Sam after the game. We talked through what happened and he was devastated but I told him that sometimes s**t happens and to keep his chin up. Hes a great guy and a strong character who will come through this. He has been an outstanding leader and theres not one person in the changing room who would point the finger at Sam. We win and lose together.

Steve [Jones] hit the post, Leigh [Halfpenny] was half a metre short with kicks. We lost Adam [Jones] to injury early on and then Sam but theyre all ifs and buts. These are the fine lines at this level and professional sport can be brutal a times.

6 days ago 

SHANGHAI — Sixteen-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer could slump to his lowest ranking in more than eight years if Andy Murray wins the Shanghai Masters, ATP officials confirmed on Saturday.

The Swiss great is missing from Shanghai and will therefore garner no points, at the same time losing all his 600 points earned for finishing as runner-up last year in the 12-month rolling rankings.

Murray, on the other hand, would earn 1,000 points should he defend his Shanghai Masters crown on Sunday, which would mean he would leapfrog Federer into third place in Monday’s new weekly rankings.

The last time Federer was ranked lower than number three was way back in June 2003, the month before he won his first Grand Slam at Wimbledon, which signalled the start of a period of astonishing dominance in the sport.

He held the number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks.

A win for the current British world number four would see Federer slip behind Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Murray, facing the extra pressure of points to defend as the reigning champion at the ATP World Tour Finals.

Such a slide down the rankings for Federer would give ammunition to those who believe the Swiss, at 30, has seen his best days, with 2011 his first year without a Grand Slam since 2002. He has won just one title this year, in Doha.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.
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Not everything is Barca and Real Madrid here in Spain, he told CNNs World Sport.

There are a lot of players not earning so much money and, of course, if they dont pay you in twelve months, well, you have to get a loan from the bank.

I think its ok what the players are doing now.

If agreement cant be reached Friday morning, the strike will go ahead as planned and the start of the Spanish season will be delayed for the first time since 1984.

Matthew Norman: Rafael Nadals coach sounds more like Uncle Toni Soprano

If the extracts from Rafael Nadals autobiography published by Telegraph
Sport in recent days here were captivating by any standards, let alone
those of the sporting memoir, they also came sprinkled with unusual
poignancy.

The brawl broke out one night after Mr Biden, who is in Beijing on a four-day visit to discuss US-Chinese economic relations, attended a Georgetown game against another Chinese club. That game, which Georgetown won, passed without a problem.

The games are part of a China-US Basketball Friendship Match in Beijing, The Washington Post reported. The Hoyas intended to continue with the rest of their 10-day trip in China, including other scheduled matches in Shanghai.

Goodwill gone

Just as many of Chinas Asian neighbours say its increasing aggression is to blame for trouble in the South China Sea, some Hoyas fans took to Twitter to accuse the Chinese team of starting the tussle.

All that goodwill Yao Ming garnered for Chinese people in USA, GONE, tweeted a person with the username of JAIMECITOU, referring to the recently retired Chinese basketball star. Not first time Chinese Team fought on court … Disgrace.

Another user called cgallaher3 said: All out brawl at a basketball game in China. This is why the NBA wont expand there.

After an estimated half-dozen individual altercations on the court, some Chinese onlookers joined the fracas, The Washington Post reported late on Thursday.

As the brawl spilled beyond the court, an unidentified Bayi player pushed Georgetowns Aaron Bowen to the ground before repeatedly punching the sophomore guard while sitting on his chest, the paper said.

Tonight, two great teams played a very competitive game that unfortunately ended after heated exchanges with both teams, coach John Thompson III said in a statement on Georgetowns website. We sincerely regret that this situation occurred.

We remain grateful for the opportunity our student-athletes are having to engage in a sport they love here in China, while strengthening their understanding of a nation we respect and admire at Georgetown University.

Mr Bidens office declined to comment and calls to the China Basketball Association went unanswered.

A staff member from the news office of Chinas General Administration of Sports told Reuters: I personally heard about it this morning when I surfed the internet, but our office leaders are on a business trip, so we have no comments and any information to publish so far.

The US team will visit cultural sites, take part in basketball clinics with Chinese students and play four exhibition matches against teams from the Chinese National Basketball Association.

The players will also participate in the Nike Festival of Sport in Shanghai.

Reuters

The minister for sport, Hugh Robertson, said hosting the World Athletics Championships would be a wonderful legacy from London 2012.
Photograph: Paul Harding/Action Images