| California partners with Brownsville for soccer team
California is now partnered with Brownsville in a co-op varsity soccer team. However, the California School Board voted Nov. 15 to allow California to form its own soccer team next year. The co-op was originally formed because California didn't have enough players to form a complete team, which requires about 22 players. Terri Doman, a California School Board member for four years, said when the co-op began, it was with the understanding that when California had enough players to form a team, it would move back to California and play for its own school. The next step California needs to take in order to form its own team is to secure the approval of the WPIAL. Since WPIAL already approved the co-op team for another two years, California needed to send a letter stating that it has formed its own team.
25 million reasons they're in trouble
GORDON Brown suffered a seismic shock to his premiership yesterday, as it was revealed that the privacy of half the UK's citizens had been compromised. The Prime Minister listened solemnly as his Chancellor, Alistair Darling, laid bare a bureaucratic bungle on an unprecedented scale. .
Scarborough
Friday, Nov. 30 FREE HEALTH TALK about Type 2 diabetes, St. Paul's Community Services for Seniors, Bridlewood Centre, 3020 Bridletowne Circle, English session, 10 to 11:30 a.m., Cantonese session, 1 to 2:30 p.m. Call 416-493-3333 for more information. Monday, Dec. 3 INTERNATIONAL DAY OF People with Disabilities, Variety Village, 3701 Danforth Ave., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Discussions, information booths, displays and demonstrations, refreshments. Pre-registration is required. Call 416-338-4756. Wednesday, Dec. 5 ONTARIO MARCH OF Dimes holds employment seminar for people on the Ontario Disability Support Program. Learn about job placement, job coaching, resume and interview skills. Scarborough Centre for Employment Accessibility, 3478 Lawrence Ave., E., Unit C006, 1 to 4 p.m.
Fans are losers in NFL Network impasse
The NFL knew it had something special when its scheduling formula spit out a Packers-Cowboys matchup this season. While the league could never have anticipated they would rank as the top teams in the NFC, it did know the value of tradition and could document each team's enormous drawing power on national television. So when the schedule maker divvied up 2007 games among the league's television partners, it decided the Packers-Cowboys would not go to Fox, the network of the NFC, or the prime-time packages on NBC or ESPN, a trio which anted up $2.41 billion in rights fees this season. Instead, the NFL delivered the game to its own fledgling NFL Network, which will deliver the game to only one-third of the country. It's part of the league's plan to help transform an ugly duckling into a cash cow.
Knights in national spotlight
With the Rutgers women's basketball team playing nationally or regionally televised games at least twice a month all regular season, I started thinking about what these big games can do not only for the Scarlet Knights program, but also the sport of women's basketball as a whole. RU plays on the big stage 12 times this year, including three of the five games that the Knights have played so far this season. The increased exposure is due to a few factors: the team's heightened profile following last season's finals appearance and the fact that 12 of the Knights games are against preseason Top 25 opponents. In fact, the Dec. 30 game versus Temple on ESPNU is the only televised matchup that does not involve one of the aforementioned ranked opponents. Playing in to both the toughness of RU's schedule, as well as the increase of TV time for the Knights, is the strength of a Big East Conference that sent eight teams to last year's NCAA Tournament.
Canadian Olympic athletes to be paid for medal wins
Canadian athletes that reach the podium at any future Olympic Games will be financially compensated up to $20,000 per medal, officials said Monday. The new Athlete Excellence Fund was announced in Ottawa by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC). Canadian athletes will receive $20,000 per gold medal won at any Olympic Games, said the COC. Silver winners will be compensated $15,000 per medal and bronze winners will earn $10,000. "We've had a program of subsidizing athletes in the past but we've never recognized the medal wins with specific dollars," COC president Michael Chambers told CTV Newsnet on Monday. He said countries like the U.S., Australia, England, France and Spain already give their athletes money if they win at the Olympics.
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