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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Rugby world cup 2011

The 2011 Rugby World Cup will be the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005. The IRB Council eliminated South Africa in the first of two rounds of voting.

It will be the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand,[1] eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1992 Cricket World Cup, 2003 America's Cup and 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. The organisers expect 95,000 visitors from overseas to travel to New Zealand for the event.

The schedule of games runs over seven weeks starting on 9 September 2011. The final will be played on Sunday 23 October 2011, a date chosen because it falls on a long weekend caused by the New Zealand public holiday of Labour Day (Monday, 24 October 2011). The final is scheduled to be played in Auckland at Eden Park.

After speculation that the number of participating teams would be reduced to 16, the IRB announced on 30 November 2007 that the 2011 tournament would again feature 20 teams. Twelve teams qualified as a result of finishing in the top three in each pool in the 2007 tournament. The remaining eight berths were determined by regional qualifying tournaments.

Rugby world cup 2011Bids
New Zealand co-hosted the first Rugby World Cup with Australia in 1987. Originally set to co-host the 2003 tournament with Australia, a disagreement over ground signage rights saw the New Zealand games dropped and Australia became the sole host. Prior to the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand, critics doubted that New Zealand had the infrastructure to host an event of this size. The 2011 New Zealand bid contained plans to enlarge the size of Eden Park and other stadia to help increase the commercial viability of the bid.

Of the three candidates, Japan was widely expected to win hosting rights. It was believed to be the desire of the IRB to move the tournament from the traditional rugby nations such as New Zealand and South Africa. If it were to have been held in Japan it would be the first time a Rugby World Cup had taken place in Asia. With stadia from the 2002 FIFA World Cup, it had the necessary infrastructure already in place. Japan would eventually succeed in its aim to host a World Cup in 2009, when it was awarded the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

The South African bid, led by former national captain François Pienaar, had strong support from their government. It successfully hosted the tournament in 1995. There was belief throughout the rugby union community that the organisation of the Rugby World Cup would be overshadowed by the organisation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Rugby world cup 2011

Rugby world cup 2011 ball
Concerns
In the years between winning the bid and the staging of the event, New Zealand news media and social agencies cast aspersions on the nation's readiness and appropriate use of national funds for sports infrastructure, as has happened with most large, international, quadrennial, multi-location sporting events of recent decades such as the 2012 Olympics, 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2010 Commonwealth Games and 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Concerns were raised about the process of upgrading Eden Park to expand the capacity to the 60,000 required by the IRB. In late 2008 Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully said the remaining consent process might need to be overriden by legislation for the work to be completed on time.

A July 2009 report by the Auckland Regional Transport Authority, released under the Official Information Act, warned of lack of readiness and complacency, despite the fact that "the levels of patron movement and operational standard [needed for the RWC] are in reality significantly above what is currently delivered." The report was dismissed by Michael Barnett, the Auckland Chamber of Commerce CEO and planning co-coordinator for RWC events in Auckland, who characterised it as a case of "a Wellington media organisation us[ing] an outdated report".

The nation's largest hospitality workers' union, Unite, which represents 25% of hotel, restaurant and casino workers in New Zealand, has floated the idea of a strike during the RWC.

Rugby world cup 2011

Rugby world cup 2011Venues
The 13 venues for the 2011 Rugby World Cup were confirmed on 12 March 2009. A number of the venues were redeveloped to increase capacity for the event. The Government considered passing a law bypassing the consent process to allow all the stadiums' redevelopment to be completed in time.

Due to damage to Stadium Christchurch and many other facilities in Christchurch caused by the earthquake on 22 February 2011, it was announced on 16 March that the matches to be played in the city would be relocated. The two quarter-finals scheduled would be moved to Auckland, while the five group matches will move to other centres. Despite setbacks, International Rugby Board Chairman Bernard Lapasset told news outlet Around the Rings that the world cup "will be fantastic because this is not just Rugby World Cup for the New Zealand people. It will be the Rugby World Cup for all countries."

On 10 November 2006, the New Zealand Government announced plans for Stadium New Zealand in Auckland. The proposal was to build the new stadium seating 70,000 on the waterfront. After much public outcry, and lack of support from the Auckland Regional Council, the proposal was dropped in favour of the redevelopment of Eden Park. The redevelopment of Eden Park's Southern and South Western stands was completed during 2010.

Dunedin's new stadium, named Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza, was completed in August 2011 and will be used instead of Carisbrook

Rugby world cup 2011

Rugby world cup 2011Warm-up matches
For Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, the 2011 Tri Nations Series served as the primary preparation for the tournament. In the northern hemisphere, a series of friendlies played in August 2011 replaced the annual tours to the southern hemisphere.

[edit] Draw
Seeding of teams for the 2011 World Cup was based on their respective IRB World Rankings.[20] The top four at the 2007 Rugby World Cup (South Africa, England, Argentina, and France) were not therefore allocated top pool spots, but "the rankings are now very well established and provide us with a credible and succinct way of seeding teams for the rugby World Cup pool draw", according to Rugby World Cup Ltd (RWCL) chairman Syd Millar.[20]

The draw was conducted in December 2008 and used the World Rankings as of 1 December 2008,[21] after the Northern Hemisphere Autumn internationals. The teams were placed into three bands depending on their seedings at the time, with one team from each band in each of the groups. The rankings and bands were therefore: New Zealand (1), South Africa (2), Australia and(3) Argentina (4); Wales (5), England (6), France (7) and Ireland (8); Scotland (9), Fiji (10), Italy (11) and Tonga

The full draw and venues for the tournament were announced on 12 March 2009.[23]

The opening match will see the hosts, New Zealand, take on Tonga. This will be the first World Cup since 1995 in which the opening match does not involve Argentina.

Rugby world cup 2011

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manny ramirez profile and biography

Manuel "Manny" Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a retired Dominican-American professional baseball outfielder. He was recognized for great batting skill and power, a nine-time Silver Slugger and one of 25 players to hit 500 career home runs. Ramirez's 21 grand slams are third all-time, and his 28 post-season home runs are the most by any player in MLB history. He was a fixture in the All-Star Game with 12 appearances including eleven consecutive beginning 1998.

Ramirez was allegedly among a group of 104 major league players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during 2003 In 2009 he was suspended 50 games for violating baseball's drug policy by taking human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a women's fertility drug. According to steroid dealer Victor Conte, hCG is often used to restart natural testosterone production after a steroid cycle.

In 2011 Ramirez was informed of another violation of the drug policy, and he retired from baseball on April 8, 2011, rather than continue with the process entailed by a positive test, which would have included a 100-game suspension.
Career
High school
Ramirez was born in Santo Domingo, and grew up in the Washington Heights section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Ramirez attended George Washington High School, leaving at the age of 19 years old without graduating. He was a 3-time All-City selection in baseball, and as a high school senior was named New York City Public School Player of the Year in 1991, after batting .650 with 14 home runs in 22 games.[9] He was inducted into the New York City Public School Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.

Minor leagues
The Cleveland Indians selected Ramirez with the 13th pick of the 1991 draft and assigned to the Rookie-level Burlington Indians for his professional debut. He was named the Appalachian League MVP and was selected by Baseball America as short-season Player of the Year while slugging 19 homers and driving in 63 runs in 59 games, while leading the league in slugging and total bases.

With the Single-A Kinston Indians in 1992, Ramirez battled injuries but still hit .278 with 13 homers and 63 RBI in 81 games and was named as the No.3 Prospect and the "Most Exciting Player in the Carolina League" by Baseball America.

In 1993, Ramirez was named "Minor League Player of the Year" by Baseball America while combining to hit .333 with 31 homers and 115 RBI in 129 games with the Double-A Canton-Akron Indians and Triple-A Charlotte Knights.

manny ramirez profile and biography

manny ramirez profile

manny ramirez profileIn December 2000, Ramirez signed an eight-year, $160 million deal with the Boston Red Sox, with $20 million options for 2009 and 2010, pushing the total value of the contract to $200 million for 10 years.[12] Ramirez immediately delivered for the Red Sox, hitting .408 in April. His final season stats were a .306 batting average with 41 home runs and 125 RBI. On June 23, Ramirez hit two monstrous home runs against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park, with the second one hitting the very top of the light tower in left field. The length of the home run was officially listed at 501 feet,[13] just short of Ted Williams' record of 502 feet.[14]

Manny only played in 120 games in 2002, due to a hamstring injury that put him on the DL for more than a month from mid-May to the end of June. Despite this, Ramirez won the American League batting title, hitting .349, and his .647 slugging percentage was second in the league behind Jim Thome's .677. Ramirez hit his 300th career home run on August 26 against the Angels' Ramon Ortiz. It was the first of two home runs of the night for Ramirez, as he went 5-for-5 overall.

In the summer of 2003, Ramirez missed several games with pharyngitis. When it became public that he was spotted in a bar (in the same hotel where Ramirez lives) with a close friend, Yankees infielder Enrique Wilson when Ramirez was supposedly too ill to play in the Yankees series, Boston manager Grady Little benched him for one game. Despite his strong play in the 2003 postseason, the Red Sox lost to the Yankees in a seven game showdown in the ALCS. The new Red Sox ownership and management, trying to rid themselves of his massive contract, put Ramirez on irrevocable waivers, thus making him available to any team willing to assume the remainder of his contract. However, all 29 other teams passed on the opportunity to claim Ramirez.

According to the New York Times, in 2003 Ramirez tested positive for performance enhancing drugs from the "survey" drug test, in which MLB players were tested to see if drugs were being used, but faced no penalties or sanction for testing positive.[