Sports+Media+Update+1

update 1 due: Feb 2 Midnight

=U.S. Men's National Team Match against Egypt Canceled= =By: Annika Dawson=



=
The U.S. Soccer Federation has announced that the match between the U.S. Men’s National Team and Egypt has been canceled due to the current conditions in the country. The teams were scheduled to meet on Feb. 9 in Cairo. =====

**//USA Will Next Face Argentina and Paraguay at Home in March//** CHICAGO (Jan. 31, 2011) – The U.S. Soccer Federation has announced that the match between the U.S. Men's National Team and Egypt has been canceled due to the current conditions in the country. The teams were scheduled to meet on Feb. 9 in Cairo. After exploring other options, the U.S. has determined it will not play a match on this fixture date.

“We were excited about the opportunity to play against Egypt, but due to the current situation all parties agreed it was best to cancel the match,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “We appreciate the efforts of the Egyptian Football Association and the U.S. State Department as we worked through this situation.”

The USA’s next international friendlies will be played in March, beginning with a match against two-time FIFA World Cup Champion Argentina on March 26 in East Rutherford, N.J. Kickoff at the New Meadowlands Stadium is set for 7 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and Univision. Three days later, the U.S. hosts Paraguay at LP Field in Nashville. That match will be televised live on an ESPN network and TeleFutura beginning at 7 p.m. CT. Fans can follow both matches live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and on Twitter @ussoccer.

Tickets for both games are currently on sale through ussoccer.com and by phone at 1-800-745-3000. Tickets for the Argentina game are also available at Ticketmaster outlets throughout the New York/New Jersey area, at the New Meadowlands Stadium ticket office (open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and at the IZOD Center ticket office (open Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.). For the Paraguay game, Ticketmaster outlets throughout Central Tennessee (including Kroger stores) and the LP Field ticket office (open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) will carry tickets.

Both matches fall on international fixture dates, which allow the teams the ability to select a full complement of players. The meeting against fifth-ranked Argentina marks the ninth match in the last four years for the United States against a team ranked in the top five in the world. Visit [|US Soccer] to read original story and for citation purposes.



= SportsMEDIA Technology Delivers New Ticker, Clock & Score Solutions for 2010-2011 NBA Season =

By Amy Liao
February 2, 2011

NBA TV will be using SportsMEDIA’s new Ticker technology to enhance the broadcast of its NBA coverage. The new ticker integrates an updated, dynamic graphics presentation and new capabilities including automated live scoring, breaking news, live in-game statistics and custom movie playouts for all ticker features and teams for the NBA. In contrast to traditional, passive tickers, SportsMEDIA’s new 24-7 ticker platform automatically updates events dynamically based on real-time data intelligence.

For the current NBA season, SportsMEDIA will provide new graphical presentations, which includes the clock and score information. The new graphics enhancements include more sophisticated animation packages and multiple team-specific animated elements. By customizing the graphics presentations, SportsMEDIA helps each network develop a unique personality and energy associated with their NBA broadcasts.

For more information, visit [|http://www.sportsmedia.com]

Super Bowl XLV Match up: Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Kierstin Hill
====The Super Bowl is the most anticipated game of the entire NFL season. This year is no different. These two established powerhouse teams will face each other Sunday February 6 for what is predicted to be a very evenly matched game. The Packers are only predicted to win by less than a field goal, but some feel that is only because of their astonishing post-season appearance. The Steelers on the other hand have been a consistently good team this whole season. The Packers barely made the playoffs by defeating the Bears in the last regular season game and therefore clinching a playoff berth with the wild card spot. The Steelers won their division and were eligible for a first round bye. The Packers are definitely on a high point in their season right now, but the Steelers have played consistently good football since September. Also, this will be the Steelers eighth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, and third within the past five years. The last Packer appearance was in 1997 under Brett Favre.==== ====Last Super Bowl, between the Colts and the Saints, was the most watched television event of all time and this game is predicted to be even more evenly matched. This will be nothing short of a great game.====

For more information on this game, [|Click Here]


=First Round at Torrey Pines, First Round of the year for Tiger Woods= =By Sarah Cole=

Although all eyes were on Tiger Woods and the newest golf “fashionistas,” rookies took the board for round one on the Torrey Pines North course. Top four on the board for round one at Torrey Pines are all under 26 years old.

In first place is a rookie, Sunghoon Kang from South Korea, he shot an eight-under-par 64. Where’s Woods? Woods is in 22nd place, tied with 12 other people, only five shots behind Kang with three-under 69. Kang was able to master the par fives which is what put Woods in 22nd place when he wasn’t able to.

This was Tiger Woods’ first round of the new year and although some had higher hopes, Woods was happy with his game and hopes to do better on the South course in the next round. Overall Woods’ was very optimistic for Fridays round and when mistakes were pointed out in his game he pointed out that they were mistakes with, “easy fixes, move on from there."

[|www.latimes.com]



TENNIS:

** Big Win for China ** by: Daniella Mora-Balbo 

It was an amazing accomplishment for one, Li Na, as the 28-year-old made history by becoming the first Chinese tennis player to reach a Grand Slam final during the Australian Open in January. Li returned to the sport in 2004, after spending two years in college in a media-studies program. She took the rare step of breaking away from the state-run sports system in 2008 and hired her own coach. At the end of the 2010 season, she replaced former coach Thomas Hogstedt with her husband, Jiang Shan. She says her greatest strength is mental. “Right now, I just feel more happy on the court,” Li said. In the absence of defending champion Serena Williams, out with a foot injury, Clijsters has been a favorite to win. She was the only Grand Slam winner to qualify for the women’s semifinals and returns to the Australian Open final for the first time since her loss to Justine Henin in 2004. Li has won four titles in her career and has no experience navigating the inevitable jitters of playing in a Grand Slam final. Yet she is building a steady reputation for incredible comebacks. In Thursday’s semifinal, Li saved a match point against top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and rallied from 5-4 down in the second set to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. The win eliminated one of the tournament’s strongest story lines, with Wozniacki trying to prove she deserves the top-ranking by winning her first Grand Slam final. Li was asked how she overcame the 20-year-old Dane, who has been called a “backboard” and a “wall” because of her unrelenting ability to get balls back into play. “I think Chinese wall (is) more famous,” said Li, whose quick-witted quips have amused the center court crowds in Melbourne. In an on-court interview after her win, Li announced to the packed Rod Laver Arena that her husband—who is also her coach—had kept her up all night because of his snoring. The interviewer then congratulated Li for winning on her fifth wedding anniversary. Li looked stunned. “Is it today?” a wide-eyed Li asked to laughter from the crowd. Then she turned to her husband in the stands and suggested it was still two days away. “I think it’s the 29th?” The matter is still unresolved. In China, where her match was broadcasted live, the reaction was ecstatic. “Li Na has made history!” proclaimed a sports anchor for China’s state broadcaster CCTV. “Such an exciting match! But it really was like a dream.” <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The official Xinhua News Agency said a Grand Slam win by Li “would also inspire a rush of new tennis players in China.”

=

= Ashley Novack = =

<span style="border-bottom-color: #cccccc; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; display: block; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 6px;">By Mark Newman / MLB.com

<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Your odds of being struck by lightning: 1 in 576,000. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Your odds of catching a ball at a Major League Baseball game: 1 in 563. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Your odds of being diagnosed with cancer in your lifetime: 1 in 2 men, 1 in 3 women.If you don't like the odds, Stand Up To Cancer.

= = <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">That is the universal message on this Friday, dedicated as **<span style="color: #000066; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|World Cancer Day] ** everywhere. Major League Baseball is asking all fans to join forces in sharing that link and spreading that message, so that billions of people come together to help Dream Team scientists eradicate a disease that continues to represent the largest single problem in our lifetime. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"In the U.S. alone, one in two men and one in three women will get cancer in their lifetimes. With statistics like that, every single one of use on this planet has a connection to cancer," SU2C co-founder Sue Schwartz said on the eve of this global event. "This year, Stand Up To Cancer's World Cancer Day Facebook campaign is about the world standing together to say, 'We've all had enough. This is where the end of cancer begins.'" <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">If you have a Facebook page, "donate your status" and say who you stand for as you share that link. If you have a Twitter account, tweet that link and include both the #WorldCancerDay2011 hashtag and @SU2C. Sign the **<span style="color: #000066; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|World Cancer Declaration] ** to put the SU2C mission on the global political agenda, and consider a **<span style="color: #000066; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|donation] **. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Go to **<span style="color: #000066; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|MLB.com Stand Up Stadiums] ** and dedicate a virtual seat, suite, base, pitcher's mound or home plate from your favorite ballpark in honor of a loved one. Your donation goes straight to SU2C.**<span style="color: #000066; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Launch a star] ** as a donation. Getting involved is easy. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">It is an ongoing part of the conversation on MLB.com, because (a) MLB is a founding sponsor of SU2C with $30 million committed to date, and (b) 73 million-plus fans can make a difference. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">SU2C, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation aimed at raising funds for collaborative research in the fight against cancer, brought together actors, musicians, athletes and other celebrities to raise money for the cause in a primetime telethon last Sept. 10. During the event, Commissioner Bud Selig and his wife, Suzanne, were honored, as SU2C announced that its first**<span style="color: #000066; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">[|Innovative Research Grant] ** would be awarded in their name. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"It's an incredible event and incredible organization," Commissioner Selig said at the event. "We're very proud to be here. Major League Baseball was one of the original sponsors of Stand Up To Cancer, and we have an ongoing four-year commitment. Of all the things we've done, I think this is the one I'm most proud of." <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"We work day and night trying to look for the greatest therapies, raising money," said SU2C co-founder Rusty Robertson, "and I can tell you that if it wasn't for Commissioner Selig and his wife, Sue -- which we call the Nudge Around The World when she said, 'What are you waiting for, Buddy?' -- we wouldn't be here today." <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"We can attack this devil named cancer and we can beat him, but we need money," added Dodgers legend and colon cancer survivor Don Newcombe, the only player to win a Cy Young, MVP and Rookie of the Year Award, speaking at the telethon. "A program like Stand Up to Cancer needs money, and that's why we're here doing what we're doing." <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Stand Up To Cancer was founded on the principle that there is sufficient knowledge of the basic science of cancer and that technologies are now available to translate this knowledge into real advances in treatment and prevention. Scientists know how cancer begins, progresses and spreads; they are on the verge of life-saving discoveries but desperately need additional funding. The initiative is dedicated to generating those funds from the general public and corporate, foundation and individual donors. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"Major League Baseball fans can put us over the top," Robertson said. "The collaboration between the networks, the network anchors and the scientists was an historical goal, and we have succeeded in doing that. But the opportunity to work with the collaborative effort of 30 Major League Baseball teams ... is unprecedented." <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">The commitment goes far beyond a telethon, and World Cancer Day is another example of the collaboration to make change happen. Game 1 of the previous World Series was dedicated to SU2C. Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry, who lost his son to cancer five years ago, was part of an MLB group that visited the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in San Francisco on the day of the Giants-Rangers opener. A sellout crowd at AT&T Park and a captive global TV audience were educated about SU2C on the video scoreboard and over the FOX broadcast, as fans in unison stood up to cancer. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">MLB and SU2C work together on multiple fronts on a daily basis, at the league office and club levels. The conversation is now ingrained into the baseball culture, through routine conference calls between MLB and clubs, and it will only spread in scope as more teams like the Padres have moved forward with their own SU2C initiatives. The "Stand Diego Padres" initiative included the signing of a large wall at PETCO Park. At the last World Series media day preceding Game 1 at AT&T Park, Giants and Rangers players all signed an SU2C wall, raising awareness and funding. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Naturally, cancer touches the lives of many Major League players themselves, either personally or through the diagnosis of someone close to them. Just consider what has happened to one of the best pitchers in the game today, Boston's Jon Lester. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">At age 22, the Tacoma, Wash., native was diagnosed with anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, and this is what he said in preparing for chemotherapy treatments: <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"It's kind of one of those things you can't describe. [You're] 22 years old, you think you're just going in there for some back pain and you find out you have cancer. I mean, that's pretty shocking, you know, but we've got a positive outlook on it. It's very curable, very fightable, so go from there, take it one day at a time and just fight it the best you can." <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Lester turned 27 last month. He overcame his cancer and returned to MLB excellence in less than a year. He helped the Red Sox win a World Series title in 2007 and pitched a no-hitter in '08. He won 19 games last season and has a combined 50 victories over the last three years. Lester is one of the shining examples of the power to overcome. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Baseball has the power to help spread the message, and on this day, that message is all around the world. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">SU2C co-founder and cancer survivor Laura Ziskin, executive producer of the last telethon as well as producer of "Spider-Man" and other box-office hits, said MLB "was the first significant contributor to Stand Up with us, and they continue to be a lead donor for Stand Up To Cancer. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"That financial support has been crucial for SU2C. Equally important is what MLB has done to help us build a grassroots movement. By engaging fans, Major League Baseball gets the word out in a huge way that all Americans can support the researchers working to deliver new treatments quickly. They have helped enormously with our efforts to convey this key message: Each and every one of us has a role to play in ending cancer, and we are profoundly grateful for that." <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Robertson said baseball fans should know that there are many ways they can continue to join MLB and SU2C in this promising pursuit. <span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.45em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">"I just want to tell everybody that right now, we can only do so much; the rest of it comes from fans," Robertson said. "Can you imagine if 5 million people gave a dollar? Whatever we get pushes a Dream Team like the Pancreatic Dream Team people heard about from Dr. [Daniel] Von Hoff -- the one who said during the telethon, 'That's why we don't sleep.' We have so many others we need to fund. We have to continue to fund these guys, because we are giving more money to more scientists in focusing on our ultimate goal."