05-08-2019, 12:36 AM
SOCHI, Russia -- A Russia in search of global vindication kicked off the Sochi Olympics looking more like a Russia that likes to party, with a pulse-raising opening ceremony about fun and sports instead of terrorism, coddling despots and gay rights. And thats just the way Vladimir Putin wants these Winter Games to be. The worlds premier athletes on ice and snow have more to worry about than geopolitics as they plunge into the biggest challenges of their lives on the mountain slopes of the Caucasus and in the wet-paint-fresh arenas on the shores of the Black Sea. But watch out for those Russians on their home turf. A raucous group of Russian athletes had a message for their nearly 3,000 rivals in Sochi, marching through Fisht Stadium singing that theyre "not gonna get us!" Superlatives abounded and the mood soared as Tchaikovsky met pseudo-lesbian pop duo Tatu. Russian TV presenter Yana Churikova shouted: "Welcome to the centre of the universe!" Yet no amount of cheering could drown out the real world. Fears of terrorism, which have dogged these Games since Putin won them amid controversy seven years ago, were stoked during the ceremony itself. A passenger aboard a flight bound for Istanbul said there was a bomb on board and tried to divert the plane to Sochi. Authorities said the plane landed safely in Turkey. The show opened with an embarrassing hiccup, as one of five snowflakes failed to unfurl as planned into the Olympic rings, forcing organizers to jettison a fireworks display and disrupting one of the most symbolic moments in an opening ceremony. Some world leaders purposely stayed away, but U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and dozens of others were in Sochi for the ceremony. He didnt mention the very real anger over a Russian law banning gay "propaganda" aimed at minors that is being used to discriminate against gay people. But IOC President Thomas Bach won cheers for addressing it Friday, telling the crowd its possible to hold Olympics "with tolerance and without any form of discrimination for whatever reason." Also missing from the show: Putins repression of dissent, and inconsistent security measures at the Olympics, which will take place just a few hundred kilometres away from the sites of a long-running insurgency and routine militant violence. And the poorly paid migrant workers who helped build up the Sochi site from scratch, the disregard for local residents, the environmental abuse during construction, the pressure on activists, and the huge amounts of Sochi construction money that disappeared to corruption. For all the criticism, there was no shortage of pride at the ceremony in what Russia has achieved with these Games. The head of the Sochi organizing committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, captured the mood of many Russians present when he said, "Were now at the heart of that dream that became reality." "The Games in Sochi are our chance to show the whole world the best of what Russia is proud of," he said. "Our hospitality, our achievements, our Russia!" The ceremony presented Putins version of todays Russia: a country with a rich and complex history emerging confidently from a rocky two decades and now capable of putting on a major international sports event. Putin himself was front and centre, declaring the Games open from his box high above the stadium floor. Earlier, he looked down as the real stars of the Games -- those athletes, dressed in winter wear of so many national colours to ward off the evening chill and a light dusting of man-made snow -- walked onto a satellite image of the earth projected on the floor, the map shifting so the athletes appeared to emerge from their own country. As always, Greece -- the birthplace of Olympic competition -- came first in the parade of nations. Five new teams, all from warm weather climates, joined the Winter Olympics for the first time. Togos flagbearer looked dumbstruck with wonder, but those veterans from the Cayman Islands had the style to arrive in shorts. Canada entered midway through the march. Womens hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser carried the Maple Leaf to lead representatives from Canadas 220-athlete team. Its Canadas biggest team ever assembled for a Winter Games. "To represent the best of Canada is such an honour, its chilling," Wickenheiser said. "There is so much excitement." Canada looked sharp in outfits designed by Hudsons Bay, featuring a red coat with toggle style buttons and a black stripe adorning the hip line. The women in the Canadian contingent wore black mock turtlenecks and wool V-neck sweaters, while the men sported a tailored white dress shirt, wool cardigan and red and white striped ties. Black bottoms rounded out the ensembles "I wish our Olympians the best of luck as they take on the world in Sochi," Prime Minister Stephen Harper posted on his Twitter account. Canadas target is to finish first overall in the medal count after finishing third with 26 medals at home in 2010. Not all of Canadas athletes marched into Fisht Olympic Stadium. The mens hockey team hasnt arrived yet, figure skaters are in the middle of the team competition and skiers and sliders are staying too far away from the host city. The smallest teams often earned the biggest cheers from the crowd of 40,000, with an enthusiastic three-person Venezuelan team winning roars of approval as flag bearer and alpine skier Antonio Pardo danced and jumped along to the electronic music. Only neighbouring Ukraine, scene of a tense and ongoing standoff between a pro-Russian president and Western-leaning protesters, could compete with those cheers. That is, until the Russians arrived. Walking in last to a thundering bass line that struggled to overcome the ovations from the hometown crowd, the Russians reveled in all the attention. Their feeling could perhaps best be summed up by Russian singers Tatu, whose hit "Not Gonna Get Us" accompanied them to their seats. Russians place huge significance in the Olympics, carefully watching the medal count -- their dismal performance in Vancouver four years ago is on the minds of many. These Games are particularly important, as many Russians are still insecure about their place in the world after the end of the Cold War and the years since that have seen dominance of the United States and China. International politics were never far beneath the surface. One member of the VIP crowd carrying the Olympic flag was Anastasia Popova, a young televison reporter with the state-owned Rossiya TV channel, best known for her reporting in Syria. Putin and Russian state media have stood strongly behind Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Popovas coverage laid the blame for the Syrian civil war squarely on Syrian rebels. But back to that Russian pride. As Churikova rallied the crowd to scream "louder than ever," she told the fans in their cool blue seats their keepsakes from the night would last 1,000 years. When explaining the show would be hosted in English, French and Russian, she joked that it didnt matter, because in Sochi, everyone "speaks every language in the world." The moment of high pride came at the end, when Russian hockey great Vladislav Tretiak and three-time gold medallist Irina Rodnina joined hands to light the Olympic cauldron. Hes often called the greatest goaltender of all time by those who saw him play, she won 10 world pairs figure skating titles in a row. That was how it ended. At the top, the show -- and the Games -- easily avoided talking about prickly issues even when the women in Tatu took the stage. The duo, who put on a lesbian act that is largely seen as an attention-getting gimmick, merely held hands during their performance on this night, stopping short of the groping and kissing of their past performances. This time? Their lead-in act was the Red Army Choir MVD singing Daft Punks Grammy-winning "Get Lucky." Drew Bledsoe Jersey . Louis Cardinals, the team will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the opening of the SkyDome. Jays legends Jimmy Key and Ernie Whitt, members of playoff and World Series-winning teams of the past, will be on hand for the festivities to look back at what was the beginning of the Jays halcyon years. New England Patriots Jerseys . If one fighter gases, he usually gets beat up pretty bad from that point on. http://www.shoptheofficialpatriots.com/E...ersey/.com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Custom New England Patriots Jerseys . Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton and Kole Calhoun all homered to help the Los Angeles Angels get their first win of the season with an 11-1 rout of the Houston Astros. Kevin Faulk Jersey . The star receiver certainly isnt celebrating it with the Texans mired in a franchise-record 13-game skid.SEATTLE - Seattle Sounders FC return home to face FC Dallas on Monday at CenturyLink Field in the second leg of the clubs Western Conference semifinal series. You can watch all the action on TSN2 beginning at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. The club met three times during the regular season and each game was fairly close, with Seattle winning two one-goal affairs in April and May, while FC Dallas claimed a 3-1 win over Seattle in September. The sides matchup well with FC Dallas young, quick forwards against Seattles sturdy back line, and the first leg of the series was a tight affair with the clubs finishing level at 1-1 at Toyota Stadium. It was the home side the grabbed the lead in the 34th minute when Andres Escobar worked his way past two Sounders into the penalty box and was taken down on the slide by Marco Pappa, resulting in a penalty kick. Michel stepped to the spot and blasted it past the outstretched arm of Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei. Seattle drew level in the 54th minute with some excellent set-piece work. Pappa atoned for his rash tackle earlier by sending a perfect free kick between the FCD back line and the goalkeeper, allowing midfielder Osvaldo Alonso to find some space and nod it down and past FCD goalkeeper Raul Fernandez for his first goal of the postseason. Dallas had a late chance to take the lead in the 90th minute as Fabian Castillo got free down the right flank and forced a superb save from Frei, who parried a quick strike over the crossbar. The draw favors Seattle slightly in Mondays second lleg as the club has an upper hand via the newly-instituted away-goals tiebreaker.ddddddddddddShould the match finish scoreless, the Sounders would advance. Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid said his club played the first leg exactly how they wanted. Were happy with the result, Schmid said. We talked about making sure at the end of game one we put ourselves in a position to win it in game two. Weve always done a good job of being at home in the second game and winning the second game. I think in years past we were maybe a little naive coming into this first series playing away and finding ourselves in a deep hole, center back Zach Scott added. Now with the new away goals rule I thought we played it exactly the way we wanted to. FC Dallas did well to match wits with Seattle stars Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins, holding them both off the score sheet and despite not getting the win, the team was encouraged by the performance. I think it show a lot of our character, FC Dallas defender Matt Hedges said. It didnt look like we had played three games in eight days. Everybody had fresh legs, put in their work and it got us a result. FC Dallas will also get a boost to their lineup as playmarker Mauro Diaz is set to return after missing the first leg due to suspension. We have 90 minutes and we can score there also, said FCD head coach Oscar Pareja. It is what it is. The series is open. The first 90, and its a tie. We will go to Seattle and trying to do what we can do. This team is not afraid to play anyone. Authentic Bills Jerseys Dolphins Stitched Jerseys Cheap Patriots Jerseys Wholesale Jets Jerseys Wholesale Texans Jerseys Cheap Colts Jerseys Jaguars Jerseys Store Authentic Titans Jerseys Authentic Broncos Jerseys Authentic Chiefs Jerseys Cheap Raiders Jerseys Chargers Jerseys Store Cheap Ravens Jerseys Wholesale Bengals Jerseys Cheap Browns Jerseys Steelers Jerseys Store Wholesale Cowboys Jerseys Wholesale Giants Jerseys Authentic Eagles Jerseys Cheap Redskins Jerseys Authentic Falcons Jerseys Panthers Jerseys Store Wholesale Saints Jerseys Authentic Buccaneers Jerseys Wholesale Cardinals Jerseys Cheap 49ers Jerseys Seahawks Jerseys Store Wholesale Rams Jerseys Wholesale Bears Jerseys Authentic Lions Jerseys Cheap Packers Jerseys Vikings Jerseys Store ' ' '