News Tidbits: Sports

Brazil: Rio Wins Right To Host 2016 Olympics

The International Olympic Committee today sent the games of the 31st Olympiad to Brazil's bustling, fun-loving but crime-ridden city of beaches and mountains, romance and slums. The IOC closed its eyes to the risks — the huge projected costs of the Rio Games, the concerns about how athletes will get around and where people will sleep — to focus on the reward of lighting the Olympic cauldron in one of the last corners of the globe yet to be bathed by its light. Chicago was knocked out in the first round — in one of the most shocking defeats ever handed down by the IOC. Bad blood between the committee and its U.S. branch — they've had flare-ups over revenue sharing and lucrative broadcasting rights — proved to be a note of discord. IOC members said the slap to Chicago was more directed at the U.S. Olympic Committee than to the Windy City. Rio beat Madrid by 66 votes to 32. Chicago got just 18 votes in the first round, with Tokyo squeezing into the second round with 22. Madrid was leading after the first round with 28 votes, while Rio had 26. In the second round, Tokyo was eliminated with just 20 votes. Madrid got 29, qualifying it for the final round face-off with Rio, which by then already had a strong lead with 46 votes.

USA: Tiger Woods Is World's First Billion-Dollar Athlete

Tiger Woods has become the first sportsman to break through the billion-dollar earnings barrier, Forbes magazine reported yesterday. The 33-year-old American golfer, who has won 14 majors, reached the latest landmark of his career when he won a 10-million-dollar bonus for his FedEx Cup victory last weekend. Mr. Woods went into the 2009 season on $895 million dollars which included prize money, endorsements, appearance fees as well as money earned through his golf course design business. Even before picking up his end of season bonus, Mr. Woods had earned 10.5 million dollars on the USPGA Tour this year, winning six titles. Mr. Woods has been the top-earning sportsman since 2002 when he took over from former Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher. His most lucrative commercial deal is with Nike, which brings him over 30 million dollars a year. Forbes estimated that retired NBA star Michael Jordan will be the next sportsman to earn a billion dollars.

USA: Annual Rodeo Showcases African-American Cowboy Heritage

The sixth annual Gladewater Black Rodeo in Texas unfolds tomorrow, bringing spectators a history lesson in the heritage of African-American cowboys as well as a mix of competition in bull riding, calf roping, barrel racing, bareback riding and other events (hat tip: BlackElectorate.com). The rodeo is a stop on a tour of the Real Cowboy Association, reputedly one of the largest black rodeo circuits in the South. Black cowboys made up about 25% of Western cowhands in the late 1800s. They gathered the cattle, branded them and took them to stockyards for cattle market buyers.