Baseball: 2 Indians get a Pirates deal.

Two Indian youngsters chasing the American baseball dream took an important first step when the Pittsburgh Pirates signed them up as non-draft free agents.

Left-hander Rinku Singh and Dinesh Kumar Patel pitched in front of scouts from the Pirates and other Major League organisations on November 12 before being chosen, a statement on the club website www.pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com said.

The players, with shoulder strength gained through their initial training to become javelin throwers, earned a US training stint in May after topping a pitching contest in India, “The Million-Dollar Arm”, which offered the winner $100,000.

Singh, 20, who won that contest and Patel, 19, will now take part in the Pirates’ Minor League spring training next year.

Their promoters hope they can make it as professionals, saying such success would boost baseball in cricket-mad India in the same way that Yao Ming’s move to the NBA created a fan base for basketball in China.

“The Pirates are committed to creatively adding talent to our organisation,” Pirates senior-vice president, general manager Neal Huntington said in a statement on Monday.

“By adding these two young men, we are pleased to not only add two prospects to our system but also hope to open a pathway to an untapped market.”

“We are intrigued by Patel’s arm strength and Singh’s frame and potential. These young men have improved a tremendous amount in their six-month exposure to baseball and we look forward to helping them continue to fulfil their potential.”

The winners of the “Million Dollar Arm” contest were decided on the basis of their ability to pitch at 85 miles an hour (135 kms) or faster for strikes.

The duo from Uttar Pradesh in northern India, trained with University of Southern California pitching coach Tom House, who felt they held some promise.

“I know they can pitch, but we have to teach them how to play the game,” he said. “It is well worth the risk.”

How Financial meltdown is affecting sports across the world

Here is an interesting article I found on Rediff.com. The recent meldown in the financial markets seem to have affected everyone including sports. From the London Olympics to Baseball to football to Formula One, everyone has been affected. Here is what has been happening with various sports

Olympics
The credit crunch could have a silver lining for the hard-pressed organisers of the London 2012 Olympics who can now scale back their grand designs with the full blessing of the public and the IOC.

The slump in property prices, which could damage the chances of recouping money from the athletes’ village after the Games, has also resulted in the number of post-Olympics apartments being reduced from 4,200 to 3,000. The economic downturn could allow the government to play “hard-ball” with the IOC over the scale of the Games and the contractors over price.

Baseball
The sale of the Chicago Cubs may be delayed by the crisis unless owner Tribune Co is willing to accept a lower price for the baseball team.

Basketball
The NBA has been weathering the global financial crisis by cutting the number of pre-season games in Europe this year, Commissioner David Stern told reporters earlier this month.The league was playing only four games in four European cities in 2008, down from seven in six cities in 2007. Stern also announced the league would lay off about 80 employees, or 9 percent of its work force, media reports said.

Golf
Golf seem to be rather insulated from the meltdown according to their governing body.
The PGA said last month golf’s special bond with the corporate world and wide fan base put it in a strong position to ride out the current financial crisis.

Formula One
The FIA, Formula One’s governing body, proposed last week radical cost-cutting measures, including the possible use of standard engines from 2010, to help teams survive the global financial storm.

Former champions Williams, who made a 21.4 million pound ($37.54 million) loss in 2007 and are sponsored by both bailed-out British bank RBS and companies owned by troubled Icelandic retailer Baugur, are now the only team not funded by a manufacturer or a billionaire.The FIA said there is a real danger that in some cases subsidies will cease.

The FFSA (French Motorsport Federation) said last week that it had decided to cancel the 2009 French Formula One Grand Prix for financial reasons. France, who invented the grand prix, was only absent in 1955 from the Formula One calendar.

Football

European football clubs that are not bankrolled by wealthy owners are feeling the pinch from the economic downturn and could suffer further, at least in the medium term, as sponsorship and ticket sales fall.

David Triesman, the chairman of the English FA, has said that English football was collectively 3 billion pounds ($5.23 billion) in debt and that he could not rule out a top club collapsing.

However, English Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said earlier this month that the structure of the game was sustainable despite the global financial crisis.

Some question marks were raised over the future of Manchester United’s record 56.5 million pounds agreement with American International Group after the insurance company’s bail-out by the U.S government.

Fellow Premier League club West Ham United are without a shirt sponsor following the collapse of tour operator XL Leisure Group and promoted West Bromwich Albion has also failed to find a replacement for Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile.

Newcastle United was close to losing its shirt deal with Northern Rock bank, which had to be rescued by the British government, and Lazio, traditionally Italy’s sixth-largest club, were also without a shirt sponsor.