GARY, Ind. (AP) - Kent State is heading to the super regionals for the first time in school history - but not without some controversy.
Evan Campbell blasted a disputed three-run homer in the eighth inning of Kent State's 3-2 victory over Kentucky. The ball cleared the right-field wall of the U.S. Steel Yard, but not a yellow line above a chain link fence that sits atop the wall.
Video shot by a Lexington TV station clearly showed the ball didn't clear the chain link fence, and assistant crew chief Travis Katzenmeier said after the game that the ball wouldn't be ruled a home run "if it didn't hit anything beyond the fence." The ball hit the chain link fence, fell to the top of the concrete wall and then bounced back into the field of play.
The umpires didn't discuss the play after first-base umpire Ken Durham signaled the home run, and Kentucky coach Gary Henderson didn't argue the call at the time. But Henderson began his postgame press conference by asking Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart: "What can I say about the umpires?"
"I didn't have a clear vision, but my thought was that he couldn't miss it," Henderson said. "My initial thought was that he couldn't have missed three calls. The law of averages is staggering for that to happen. I should've been up there (talking to the umpires)."
Henderson was clearly frustrated by two calls from Durham earlier in the game that involved close plays at first base, both of which went against the Wildcats.
The victory extended Kent State's winning streak to 20 games, the longest active streak in the NCAA, but the controversy overshadowed the anticipated rematch from Friday night's 21-inning affair as well as the Golden Flashes' first NCAA regional title in school history.
The Golden Flashes (44-17) reached the Austin Regional final last season, but lost two consecutive games to Texas.
The feeling on Sunday night was in stark contrast to what Kent State experienced last season.
"This goes down as the biggest win in Kent State history," coach Scott Stricklin said. "We're taking the next step and it's what we talked about 365 days ago after we lost in Austin. We've exceeded our expectations. It's an unbelievable feeling. I can't describe how proud I am."
Campbell's home run was the first in more than 64 innings at the Steel Yard and it was the first big offensive play in a game that was surprisingly dominated by starting pitching. Both teams were cautious throughout the weekend with their pitchers after playing the 21-inning marathon Friday night, but starters Tyler Skulina (Kent State) and Chandler Shepherd (Kentucky) didn't allow a run through their first seven innings of work.
Kentucky reliever Alex Phillips entered the game after the Golden Flashes got two on in the eighth inning and Campbell blasted the first pitch he saw to the top of the right-field wall.
"I didn't think it was gone when I first hit it," Campbell said. "There were other balls that were hit further than that during this tournament that didn't go out. I saw it bounce, but I didn't see where it went."
Kentucky right fielder Cameron Flynn watched the ball sail over his head and went to make a play on the ball when it came back onto the field.
"I thought it hit the guard rail and came back," Flynn said. "I turned around to get the ball and the umpire called a home run. It bounced back, below the yellow line."
The Wildcats (45-18) rallied to add two runs in the eighth inning, but fell short in their bid to continue the winningest season in program history.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Source: www.msnbc.msn.com
London Olympics 2012: Shawn Johnson Retires From Gymnastics - International Business Times
"It's been a constant fight. It came down to there wasn't enough time left to heal," Johnson said. "I couldn't push myself any further. My knee physically wouldn't let me do anymore."
Although it was quite a difficult decision for Johnson to retire just weeks ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, Johnson appears upbeat. She plans to attend the games and root on her former teammates, as well as her training partner Gabby Douglas, who is expected to make the team.
She also plans to attend college in 2013, but is still deciding between Vanderbilt and Stanford. Beyond that she doesn't know exactly what she'll do without gymnastics in her life, but she's excited about the possibilities.
"It's hard to accept that the one thing you had your entire life is no longer there," she said. "I'm scared to death to know what the future holds. It's a road I never thought about. I'm excited as well, ready to start the new journey."
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Source: www.ibtimes.com
New East Kent Access Road causes traffic hell for drivers - Kent News
East Kent Access Road
By Marijke Cox, Reporter
Sunday, June 3, 2012
10:05 AM
Drivers report long delays caused by new traffic lights and road system
Hellish traffic jams, huge delays and frustrated motorists – so is the new East Kent Access Road worth the £86m it cost to build?
Long-suffering drivers who for years have faced congestion coming in and out of Thanet had hoped problems would be over once the new road network – expected to help boost the east Kent economy by improving access – was completed.
But little more than an hour after it was fully opened by transport minister Norman Baker last week, drivers were bumper to bumper, stuck for long-periods in the sweltering heat as motorists attempted to navigate their way around the new network.
And despite hopes it was simply teething problems, the congestion has continued, with drivers reporting long delays over the past week.
It is being blamed on the introduction of traffic lights at the Lord of the Manor roundabout, which control traffic from the new road which is linked to another part of the access road near the old Richborough power station site.
The junction coming from the old Cliffsend road, however, has no signals meaning drivers have to try and dart out and cut into traffic controlled by the new lights.
In addition, more lanes have been added, but these cut down into single file, resulting in a bottleneck.
A Kent County Council spokeswoman blamed the problems on traffic continuing to use the old road by the Viking ship in Cliffsend instead of the new one running parallel.
“It is intended that the majority of traffic will use the new road,” she said.
“As drivers become accustomed to the new layout and change their route, it is expected that the junction will begin to operate as planned.
“The timings of the traffic light signals are based on predicted traffic flows and as traffic settles down to a regular pattern they will be adjusted.
“We will continue to monitor the flows and any queues over the coming days with a view to making any adjustments in the next few weeks.”
Drivers have reported queues stretching past the Viking ship, and what should be five minute journeys taking as long as half an hour.
One frustrated driver Samantha Smith, who uses the road system every day to get to and from work, called it a “nightmare”.
“Normally I would get to the roundabout and there would be three or four cars in front of me – last week I had a 20 minute wait to get from the Viking ship to the roundabout,” she said.
This distance is about half a mile.
She said: “Coming back into Ramsgate along the new road puts you into two lanes, but as soon as you are across the other side it is straight back into one lane, meaning everyone is trying to cut in front.
“(It’s an) absolute nightmare, as people haven’t got a clue which lane to be in or what lights to look at.
“I have now been using the new road both ways, but it is still a nightmare with sitting halfway round the roundabout with the lights on red, with no cars actually going, and traffic just backing up behind, stopping other cars being able to move.”
Other drivers have told KoS the situation is unbearable and instead of improving access has turned the traffic hot-spot – one of the main routes into Thanet from Dover and London – into a no-go area.
The new road and junction changes were built by KCC with £81.25m funding from the Department for Transport and £5.75m from KCC.
It formed part of a programme of improvements, with almost five miles of the A256 and A299 upgraded to dual carriageway and changes at the Lord of the Manor junction.
The East Kent Access Road scheme was developed to improve access to boost economic growth and help create new jobs in the area.
Transport minister Norman Baker joined KCC leader Paul Carter and MP for South Thanet Laura Sandys for the opening last week.
At the time Ms Sandys said the road would see journey times greatly reduced.
She stressed it would show investors east Kent is open for business.
But with the current problems faced by drivers – who also struggle with severely congested traffic just up the road outside Westwood Cross shopping complex – it is yet to be seen whether this will be the case.
A KCC spokeswoman stressed it would not be beneficial to make adjustments to the traffic light timings at this early stage to try and tackle the problem.
“In the meantime we will ensure that there are temporary signs in place stating that the new road is open to try to encourage vehicles to use this excellent new road,” she said.
Source: www.kentnews.co.uk
Rich Greeks rush to London - DAWN Group
AS the eurozone lurches from crisis to crisis and Greece teeters on the brink of default and exit from the euro, the number of wealthy European property buyers in London has surged. Greeks, Italians, Spaniards and even the French are desperate to convert their euros into bricks and mortar in the British capital.
There are three main safe havens now, said David Adams, managing director of Mayfair estate agents John Taylor — gold, the Swiss franc and London property.
Upmarket estate agency Savills has seen web searches from Greece jump by 50 per cent compared with six months ago. Searches from France are up 16 per cent, from Spain 10 per cent and from Italy nine per cent.
Lucian Cook, director of residential research at Savills, said: “A lot of the early recovery in the housing market [since the first wave of the credit crisis] was triggered by foreign exchange plays, but in recent times this has been replaced by a safe haven effect.”
Prices for prime central London properties have risen nearly 50 per cent since a post-credit crunch low in March 2009 and have just hit a record high — more than 12 per cent above their previous peak in March 2008 — according to estate agency Knight Frank.
Even the falling value of the euro in recent weeks, hitting four-year lows against the pound and so making property purchases more expensive, has failed to put off wealthy Greeks and other euro buyers desperate to park their money somewhere safe. London has always been popular for its liberal legal and tax regimes. Continued interest from Middle Eastern and Asian, in particular Chinese, investors in central London is also pushing prices higher. Gary Hersham, managing director of Beauchamp Estates, a specialist in luxury property, has had several inquiries from Greek buyers over the last six months. He expects a significant jump after the forthcoming Greek election. “You need to phone me back after the elections on 17 June, then we’ll see what happens — we’ll see a hell of a lot of people [moving from Greece to London].”
Hersham said Greeks have been long attracted to historic London properties in Mayfair, Knightsbridge and South Kensington, but interest has grown from other countries. “I’ve also seen a lot of Italians and quite a few Spaniards,” he said. “Italians have lost faith in how Italy is governed and are escaping the country. Lots of French people are also escaping [Francois] Hollande. Our French office has taken lots of instructions since the election.” France’s new president has said he intends to raise taxes on the wealthy.
Richard Davies, the head of residential property at upmarket estate agents Chesterton Humberts, said: “Italian and Spanish buyers have been noticeably active in the London property market since the first cracks in the eurozone started to show back in 2009. In 2010, Berlusconi introduced a tax incentive that encouraged a lot of Italian buyers into London.
In some offices, one in four sales was made to Italians. Since then, there has been a steady stream of eurozone buyers, many of whom work as professionals in the City. Before the budget, there were some noticeable purchases of blocks of flats in Kensington by Italian buyers.”
Theodore Angelopoulos, a Greek shipping magnate, bought the Old Rectory in Chelsea in 1990, which until recently was London’s largest and most valuable residential property. It is thought to have been the first property in London to go for more than GBP10m.
Nigel Lewis, property analyst at PrimeLocation.com, where traffic from Greece has surged by 40 per cent in a month, said: “Greeks are in the top five euro nations [buying in London].” — The Guardian, London
Source: dawn.com
London orchestra to mime Games opening - ABC Online
Updated
There is outrage in London about the decision by Olympic Games organisers to have the London Symphony Orchestra mime its performance at the opening ceremony.
It has emerged the world renowned orchestra will pretend to perform while a recording made six weeks ago blasts out of the stadium speakers.
Considered to be one of the best orchestras in the world, it was awarded the contract for the 2012 Games.
But when the athletes walk in to the stadium in front of a worldwide audience of 4 billion people, the orchestra will in fact be pretending.
Twitter has been abuzz with outrage.
"What a bloody joke," one person said, "The London Symphony Orchestra told to mime at games opening."
"You'll see the London Symphony Orchestra at the Olympics, but you won't hear it - how ridiculous, what a farce," another posted.
The decision was made by the London Games organising committee, which is worried about the acoustics and the uncertainties of the British weather.
"Due to the complexity of everything involved in staging the ceremonies, it's not possible for all the music in all the shows to be live," a committee spokesperson said in a statement.
"There will be live musical elements, but many of the songs will be recorded to track in advance of the shows.
"This is standard practice for an event of this scale, and the performers have no issue with it."
The music to blare out of the stadium at the opening games ceremony was recorded at the famous Abbey road studios.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra operations director Lou Oppenheim says the decision to pre-record the music is not unreasonable.
"Performances such as the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games are incredibly complex from an operational perspective," she said.
"The inter-relationships between a whole lot of different elements, including the musical elements, the pyrotechnics, the announcements, the lighting of the cauldron - everything has to be done to split-second timing."
Ms Oppenheim says a whole lot of different things can influence what can happen with the timing which is calculated to the tenth of a second.
"The wonderful thing obviously, the audiences will be still hearing the sounds of the fabulous London Symphony Orchestra, so it's not as if they're miming to, you know, another orchestra," she said.
"But if that's what's happening I would understand that that's possibly why that might be the case."
What might come as a surprise to many is that the Sydney Symphony Orchestra mimed its performance at the opening of the Sydney Games in 2000, and the backing tape was recorded, in part, by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Ms Oppenheim says live outdoor performances are difficult to manage and it is important that nothing is left to chance.
"I think it's important that we hear orchestras in the best fantastic light and if they've actually had to make a call that that's the way they've got to do it for this, I think you know, some understanding around that and to make sure that all of the elements of the ceremony can come together as smoothly as possible," she said.
Topics: music, olympics-summer, england
First posted
Source: www.abc.net.au
Sussex Cricket League round-up: Roffey go second - wscountytimes.co.uk
Current Sussex League Champions Hastings Priory lead the table again this season having won three games in succession.
Roffey are now in second place following an impressive win at home to Horsham with Preston Nomads close behind, they won by seven wickets at home to lowly Bexhill on Saturday.
The bottom two clubs are Worthing and Eastbourne, neither has won so far this season.
Brighton and Hove won the toss and batted first at Hastings to set a moderate 225 for 9 declared of which Patrick Spencer hit 67 and Michael Rippon 40.
For the home side Josh Poysden took 3 for 66 and Mick Glazier 3 for 47.
Sussex player Kirk Wernars then cracked 92 not out, David Draper made 56 and George Campbell 35 to take Hastings to victory at 227 for 4 from just 39.3 overs.
Horsham posted 249 for 6 declared at Roffey with 67 from Tom Johnson and 32 from John Burroughs as Matt Davies took 3 for 46.
But then Josh Fleming made 98 and Chris Plaister 60 to take Roffey to a three wicket win at 252 for 7 despite leg-spinner Michael Munday grabbing 5 for 73.
It was easy for Preston Nomads at home to Bexhill who they dismissed for just 106 in 41.5 overs as Carl Simon took 4 for 30 amd Matt Hobden 3 for 34.
Nomads cruised to 109 for 3 in 29.2 overs with Stuart Faith 34 not out.
Darryl Rebetts has taken over the Worthing captaincy from Michael Gould and made his first ever League century, 101 not out, in his first game in charge but he still finished on the losing side.
Worthing made 247 for 5 declared with Stuart Carter (47 not out) sharing an unfinished sixth wicket stand of 106 with Rebbetts while Michael Gould made 31, Craig Fowle with 3 for 78 in 22 overs was the pick of the visitors’ bowling.
East Grinstead won the game by three wickets with two balls to spare as they posted 251 for 7.
Aussie Danny Irvine, in his first game in England, made 70 and teenager Nathan Bailey his his first ever League fifty as he was out for 90! For Worthing, still without a win since tgheir promotion last year, Benn Challen took 4 for 64 in 18.4 overs.
Eastbourne finished 17 runs short of the total posted by visitors Chichester with four wickets standing and, like Worthing, are still seeking their first win of the season.
Simon Hasted made 51, Mark Bamford 48 and Chris Kirkham 38 in a Chichester score of 259 for 7 declared.
Sussex protégé, 17 year-old Calum Jackson hit 109 and Matt Green lent support with 35 in an Eastbourne total of 242 for 6, for the visitors Aussie Adam Zampa took 3 for 85.
Three Bridges have made a strong start in their quest to regain their Premier League place having won three successive games to lead the table ahead of Cuckfield and Pulborough.
Batting first at Ifield, Bridges were dismissed for 167 with 41 from James Chadburn and 38 from Joe Cooke as Russell Jacob took 6 for 34.
In reply Ifield tumbled to 107 all out, teenage pace bowler Tim Moses took 3 for 23.
Cuckfield made short work of beating Findon and it was their long serving pace bowler Nick Patterson, grandson of former West Indies skipper Denis Atkinson, who took the bowling honours with figures of 9 for 58 in 22.5 overs as Findon were dismissed for just 114, Glen Bridon with 23 was top scorer.
Cuckfield reached 118 for 3 from 23 overs, Marc Gardner hitting 52 and Sarel Erwee 43 not out.
Pulborough won a relatively low scoring game at Glynde by two wickets after dismissing the home side for 138 of which Dominic Shepheard made 37 as Kuldeep Rawat took 7 for 57.
Ed Barber with 37 not out guided Pulborough home at 141 for 8, there were two wickets each for Dale Tranter and McCaulay England on his debut.
St.James’s enjoyed their first win of the season by a 38 run margin at Haywards Heath.
In a total of 165 all out for the visitors Henry Sims made 70 as Charlie Dowdall took 4 for 25 and Declan Hoare 3 for 33.
Hoare was top scorer for the home side, he made 39 and Ollie Graham 32, as they were dismissed for 127, Mike Edmonds taking 3 for 18.
The game at Goring was abandoned in its closing stages due to bad light with Sidley facing a Goring total of 276 for 4 declared.
In that total Sam Thorns dominated proceedings, he hit 141.
Peter King made 67 and Sam Steel 50 as Sidley came off at 189 for 5, Matt Keen taking 3 for 43.
Crowhurst Park and Crawley are now the joint leaders of Division 3 East. The two clubs experienced contrasting fortunes after close finishes.
Crowhurst Park were beaten by just five runs at Hellingly mainly thanks to a fine all round game from the home side’s Tim van Noort. He scored 71 as Hellingly left Park 197 to chase. Richard Coleman’s 5-58 gave the visitors every chance of winning their fourth game of the season but then van Noort struck again with 5-12 as Crowhurst Park fell short on 191 despite 50 from the in-form Martin Barry.
Crawley won their third game of the season (all away victories) at Burgess Hill by just 2 wickets. Tim Trowbridge (38), Luke Vick (36) and Paul Elphick (30) contributed towards the Hill score of 192-8. Hussain and Genge took 3 wickets each for Crawley before Atif Elahi’s knock of 83 saw the visitors continue their great start to the season winning in the game’s final over despite 4-40 from Joe Maskell.
Ansty are third after being forced to settle for a draw with visitors Henfield 9 wickets down at stumps.
Jon Young struck 106 not out in Ansty’s 229-7. Rob Slaughter countering with 4-88. Henfield finished 204-9 led by Chris Compton’s 59 but they are now the only side in the division without a win and 19 points adrift at the bottom of the table.
Lewes Priory were also frustrated after making most of the running against Keymer & Hassocks.
Imran Khan made 68 and Adam Scott 49 of Priory’s 235-8. Michael Poole (4-83) and Andy Westgate (3-81) both returning creditable figures from long spells.
Michael Johnson made 47 not out, Joe Barnes-Gratton 38 in Keymer’s reply as they closed on 145-7. Tom Sharp took 3-48 for Priory.
Lindfield chalked up their first victory of the campaign at Seaford by 7 wickets. They passed Seaford’s total of 176 with overs to spare. Matthew Wilson-Yelvedon took 4-35 whle Seaford’s Oliver Smith hit 60.
Bognor are still out in front in Division 3 West but were held to a draw by Stirlands.
Things looked good for Bognor when they posted 241-7. Rob Willway made 102 while Struan Cameron fought back with 4-39. Stirlands closed on 199-6 after Sean Heather’s unbeaten 109 thwarted any hopes of a Bognor win.
Middleton are second after a very similar game with Pagham to the already mentioned Bognor match.
They set a challenging 249-6 declared as Ben Hansford struck 133. Wayne Green took 4-64 for Pagham and 51 not out from Graham saw them finish 200-7 but remain bottom of the pile.
Arundel remained third but their visitors Slinfold enjoyed a 5 wicket victory restricting the home side to just 163.Harrison Temple made 54 of these but Hadyn McIntyre 5-47 and Richard Harris 5-49 set up a first victory of 2012 for Slinfold for whom Jonathan Hughes made 55.
Steyning are now fourth after thrashing Littlehampton on their own turf by 9 wickets. Littlehampton won the toss but then saw their afternoon go downhill making just 138. Jordan Farrell top scored with 29 while Tim Humphries bagged 3-37.
84not out from Lee Mottishead and 43 from Hywel Jones completed the rout as Littlehampton still search for their first win.
Billingshurst posted a huge total of 311-3 off just 45 overs as Dhanuska Malpoorachchi (153 not out) and Carleon Brome (103) shared a partnership of 223. Wisborough Green were all out for 194 in response.
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London teen pregnancies hit record low - BBC News
Free condoms have helped teenage pregnancies in the capital reach a record low, NHS London has said.
The was a total of 960 pregnancies among under 18s in London in the first quarter of 2011, according to latest Office for National Statistics figures.
This is the first time the figure has fallen below 1,000 since records began, NHS London said.
"In the last year more than 50,000 condoms have been handed out across the capital," NHS London said.
The number of pregnancies among under-18s fell from 1,158 in the same period in 2010.
The pregnancy rate per 1,000 girls between the ages of 15 and 17 fell by 16% in the first quarter of 2011, compared with the same period the previous year.
This brought the capital in line with the national average of 32.8 pregnancies per 1,000 girls for the first time, NHS London said.
NHS London director of public health Dr Simon Tanner said: "We have worked with primary care trusts in London to develop better sexual health provision for teenagers, to improve access to contraception and education for young people about safe sex.
"We have improved access to sexual health services at further education colleges, working with young people to understand what they need and how we can provide the best service for teenagers."
Havering, in east London, was the borough that achieved the greatest decline in teenage pregnancies - a fall of 46.9% over a one year period.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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