Come on Andy Murray you can recapture – Fred Perry, Bunny Austin and the golden age of the British game…

At lunchtime yesterday, a steady succession of people paused to have their photo taken next to the statute of Fred Perry. It stands in the shadow of Centre Court, its plinth rising from a small flower bed. “Please do not sit on the plants,” says a sign. “Otherwise you will be sitting on Fred,” it might have added.

Perry’s ashes lie beneath the statue, a three-quarters life-size representation of Britain’s greatest tennis player. The quest to succeed him as a homegrown Wimbledon champion is the greatest saga in British sport.

Fred Perry

Perry’s prime was the prime time of British tennis. In 1933, after Perry and Bunny Austin, the last British man to contest the singles final here, earned Britain the Davis Cup with victory over France in Paris, the pair were met at Victoria station by large crowds who carried them from the train.

The two were gloriously contrasting men of their age. Perry, with his three Wimbledon wins and eight majors, was comfortably the better player. He was the son of a cotton weaver turned politician who moved south from Stockport to further his political ambition. It was this working-class background, and rapid success after taking up the sport aged 15, that made Perry an unpopular figure among members of the Wimbledon hierarchy. He was described as a “bloody upstart” when first picked for the Davis Cup and, after his first Wimbledon win, he overheard a committee member informing Jack Crawford, the beaten Australian, that the wrong man had won.

From 1934, Perry won three successive Wimbledon singles titles. In 1937, he left Britain for the United States and turned professional. Perry based himself at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club, whose members included Errol Flynn and Charlie Chaplin, and revelled in the Hollywood lifestyle.

It was not until 1984, half a century after his first win, that his achievements were recognised at Wimbledon with the statue installed near Gate 5. The building of the roof on Centre Court saw it, and him, moved to its current home.

Bunny Austin

Austin – known as Bunny after a children’s comic strip character – lost twice in the Wimbledon final, in 1932 and 1938. Perhaps his lasting impression on the sport was to become the first man to wear shorts. “I found sweat-sodden cricket flannels were weighing me down, so my tailor ran up some prototype shorts,” he said.

As a public school boy and Cambridge graduate, his background was markedly different to Perry’s but he too was long ignored by the All England Club after being accused of being a “conscientious objector” during the Second World War. His membership was not restored until 1977. Austin died in 2000, five years after Perry.

By Robin Scott-Elliot – http://www.independent.co.uk/sport

Gold medal winners – www.ontrackgb.com – Sports Hospitality

Andy Murray v Bunny Austin: Can Scot emulate 30s British great?

Murray hopes to emulate Bunny Austin when he takes on flamboyant Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga later

Andy Murray is a match away from becoming the first British man to reach a Wimbledon final since Henry “Bunny” Austin in 1938 – a feat which would book his place among the greatest home players of the post-war era.

He was an extremely good looking, red-blooded lad. The girls liked him and he liked the girls”

Jon HendersonPerry biographer

The best male British tennis players, it seems, peak around the same time.

Bunny Austin (1932) and Fred Perry (1934) were both 25 when they reached their first Wimbledon finals, and now Andy Murray has the chance to do the same – at the same age.

The single-minded Perry – who launched his famous polo shirt in 1952 – went on to win three in a row, Austin was thrashed in both of his and Murray, well, we will see.

All three have tasted fame and celebrity, and yet their experiences and place in the history of the game are defined by their eras.

The more class-ridden, amateur past is in many ways unrecognisable from the professional age.

So, how does Murray compare to the last British man to make a final at SW19?

How Murray measures up to golden age of British game
	Bunny Austin	Andy Murray
Vital statistics	Right-handed, 5ft 9in, one-handed backhand, 9 stone.	Right-handed, 6ft 3in, two-handed backhand, 13 stone.
Highest ranking	No 2 – in the 1930s	No 2 – in August 2009. Currently no 4
Prize money	As runner-up in 1932, Austin won £10 – the equivalent of around £500 today. The winner was presented with the Renshaw Cup and a gold medal. Third prize was £5. Tennis writer and author Jon Henderson said some competitors were given tokens for West End shops.	Murray, who is worth around £24m, will pocket £1.15m if he wins on Sunday – a record amount for the tournament. If he loses, he will walk away with £575,000. The overall pot rose 10% to £16.1m this year, the largest jump since 1993.
Wimbledon singles record	Appeared 13 times from 1926-39, winning 56 of 69 matches, and losing 13.	Appeared eight times so far from 2005 – winning 29 of 35 matches, and losing six.
Preferred attire	At the 1933 championships Bunny reached the quarter finals, but found himself weighed down by his “sweat-sodden” cricket flannels, so he asked his tailor to “run up some prototype shorts”. The rest is history. He became the first player to wear shorts in the game.	In 2009, Murray wore the famous logo of his then sponsor Fred Perry, but since then has sported Adidas after signing a three-year deal worth around £15m. Last month he also signed a deal to wear a model of watch made by Swiss manufacturer Rado.
Love life	Met glamorous actress Phyliss Konstam on a Cunard liner in 1929 as he travelled for the US Open. He married her two years later in a society wedding. She starred in Hitchcock films Champagne, The Skin Game and Murder. They had a daughter and a son.	In a long-term relationship with Kim Sears, who is regularly seen in his player’s box. They met before he was a big name, at the US Open in 2005. After a temporary split in 2009, they were reconciled a short time later. Her father is the tennis coach Nigel Sears.
Famous connections	Bunny and Phyliss knew Michael, King of Romania and played social tennis with Charlie Chaplin and the Queen of Thailand. Their friends included author Daphne du Maurier and actor Ronald Colman.	Murray has been cheered on this year by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. He is friendly with a number of boxers – a sport he loves – and is personally represented by entertainment tycoon Simon Fuller.
Style of play	Slim, quick and graceful with fluid strokes.	Classic counter-puncher, low error count, solid serve, great strategist.
School	As a pupil at exclusive Repton School in Derbyshire, he won the under-16s singles in the public schoolboys’ tournament at Queen’s. While still an undergraduate at Cambridge University, he reached the men’s doubles semi-finals in his first year at Wimbledon in 1926.	Attended Dunblane Primary School in Perthshire, and was present when gunman Thomas Hamilton walked in and killed 16 children and one adult in 1996, although not in the same class. Studied at the Schiller International School for athletes in Barcelona.
Early life	Brought up in a large house with servants in South Norwood, he enjoyed a charmed middle-class upbringing. He practised hitting tennis balls against his nursery wall and joined Norhust Tennis Club aged six.	Born in Glasgow, Andy and his brother Jamie were encouraged to play from an early age by their mother Judy, a former coach and current captain of the Great Britain Fed Cup team. Andy first played aged three.
Any controversies?	In the 1930s, Bunny became involved in the Moral Re-Armament movement and was a conscientious objector during the war. His views were not welcomed by the All England Club and his membership was cancelled in 1944 – officially for non-payment of dues. It took 40 years before he was re-instated.

By Peter Jackson – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news

Gold Medal Hospitality – www.ontrack.gb.com

TRAVEL AND TOURISM LARGER INDUSTRY THAN AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING

TRAVEL AND TOURISM

LARGER INDUSTRY THAN AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING

content – http://www.travelio.net

 

The global travel and tourism industry is double the size of automotive manufacturing and roughly one-third larger than chemicals manufacturing.

The global travel and tourism industry is double the size of automotive manufacturing and roughly one-third larger than chemicals manufacturing.

This is according to new research from the World Travel&Tourism Council (WTTC) sponsored by American Express, launched on the eve of WTTC’s 12th Global Summit in Tokyo, Japan.

The research, undertaken by Oxford Economics, shows that the sector’s direct contribution to world GDP of US$2 trillion (2.8 percent) is more than double the GDP of automotive manufacturing and one-third larger than the global chemicals industry. Travel and tourism generates roughly the same GDP as the global education and communications sectors, and about half that of the global banking and financial services industry.
The sector’s total contribution to world GDP (taking direct, indirect, and induced impacts into account) of US$6.3trillion (9.1 percent) in 2011, compares with 8 percent contribution of automotive manufacturing and mining.
Travel and tourism directly contributes more to GDP than automotive manufacturing in every region of the world, three times more in the Americas, and twice as much in Europe. The sector’s contribution to GDP is larger than the chemicals industry in every world region except Asia.
In terms of employment, the importance of the sector is even more pronounced. After education, travel and tourism is the top job creator with an average of 50 jobs generated by US$1 million in spend, this is twice as many jobs as created by financial services, communications, and auto manufacturing.In 2011, 98 million people were directly employed by travel and tourism. This is:

• 6 times more than automotive manufacturing,
• 5 times more than the global chemicals industry,
• 4 times more than the global mining industry,
• 2 times more than the global communications industry, and
• A third more than the global financial services industry.

Taking the indirect and induced employment into account, travel and tourism sustained 255 million jobs in 2011, 1 in 12 of all jobs in the world. This exceeds the jobs impact of automotive manufacturing, chemicals manufacturing, and mining and is slightly less than education, communications, and financial services.Travel and tourism directly sustains more jobs than the automotive and chemicals manufacturing industries combined across every region of the world. Employment by the sector in Europe – reaching 10 million in 2011 – exceeds automotive manufacturing by a factor of three; and in Asia, there are 7 times as many tourism jobs as auto manufacturing jobs and 5 times as many chemicals manufacturing jobs.

In every region of the world, travel and tourism directly sustains more jobs than the financial services, communications, and mining industries.
All sectors stimulate activity across the rest of the economy. In 18 out of the 20 economies analyzed, a new dollar in travel and tourism generates 20 percent more for the wider economy than the average of all sectors. Travel and tourism also outperforms the majority of the key sectors analyzed in terms of generating GDP across the entire economy.
As the 12th WTTC Global Summit in Tokyo kicks off, the research also highlights the importance of travel and tourism in Japan in a special report focusing on the country. The analysis shows that while the industry’s direct contribution to Japan’s GDP is three-quarters the size of the automotive manufacturing sector, travel and tourism directly generates over 80 percent more jobs.
David Scowsill, President and CEO, WTTC said: “These numbers are extremely significant. For over twenty years, the World Travel&Tourism Council has spearheaded global analysis of the economic impact of travel and tourism. WTTC has now taken this research one step further and assessed the role travel and tourism plays in the world economy in comparison to other economic sectors.“The results are extraordinary. Within our industry we have always known that travel and tourism is a vast contributor to economic growth and job creation. These figures bear out just how significant – twice the size of the global automotive manufacturing sector; employing one-third more people than the global financial services industry.
“These figures prove beyond any doubt that it is time that the world’s governments really sit up and take notice of the travel and tourism industry. As a driver of economic recovery and growth in a very turbulent time, the industry stands apart for the sheer scale of its ability to create jobs and growth in every part of the globe.”
Bill Glenn, President, Global Corporate Payments and Global Business Travel, American Express, said: “American Express is delighted to be the sponsor of this important research, which will enable the travel and tourism industry to reposition its messaging by confirming its significance vis-a-vis other economic activities. Since founding WTTC in 1990, American Express has been supporting the development of data to enhance understanding of travel and tourism’s economic impact. This work takes the basic analysis of GDP and jobs one stage further and will be invaluable in creating a clear message for governments: that travel and tourism surpasses many other sectors as a driver of economic development.”

London’s Olympic stadium opens with 2,012 hours to go ….content Deccan Chronicle

London’s Olympic stadium opens with

2,012 hours to go

Official opening of the main Olympic Stadium with a cascade of white balloons – AP

More than 40,000 spectators watched as a cascade of white balloons was released to officially open London’s Olympic stadium on Saturday, exactly 2,012 hours before the Games begin.

Capping off an evening of music, comedy and fun sports events, Paralympic gold medal-winning archer Danielle Brown shot arrows at spinning targets to select the name of a youngster in the audience to open the east London stadium.

A dazed-looking young girl joined Sebastian Coe, chair of Games organisers LOCOG, in pressing a large button to release the balloons into the chilly night sky over the stadium, which hosts the Olympic opening ceremony on July 27.

Coe said it felt “barely believable” to be opening the 80,000-capacity stadium, adding: “I’m just so grateful to everybody who’s come here tonight to help us celebrate this moment in history.”

The crowds watched earlier as Olympic rowing champion Steve Redgrave and ‘Downton Abbey’ actor Hugh Bonneville joined other celebrities and sport stars in a series of fun contests to test out the running track.

Former Spice Girl Melanie C and comedian Jack Whitehall were also booked to entertain spectators who bought tickets to ‘2012 Hours to Go: An Evening of Athletics and Entertainment’.

The Military Wives, a group of British soldiers’ wives whose charity single topped the charts last Christmas, led the crowd in singing the national anthem.

Earlier, students had tested out the stadium as part of the British Universities and Colleges Sport championships.

The event was also a major test of London’s transport system ahead of the Games as the Underground train network’s Jubilee line, serving the stadium, was further crammed with football fans leaving the FA Cup final in north London.

OFFICIALS PUBLISH LONDON TRAVEL MAP

London transit officials released more data Monday on which Underground subway and rail stations will be the busiest during this summer’s London Olympics and Paralympics — hoping that city’s beleaguered commuters might tweak their travel patterns to ease congestion.

The information is all part of a huge push to get travelers to switch to less crowded routes, to work from home, or to walk to nearby stations that might be less busy.

London Bridge, Waterloo and Bank are expected to see a crush of travelers throughout the July 27-Aug. 12 games, while other sites like Earl’s Court will be exceptionally busy only on certain days.

”The people we need to reach are the people who can modify their behavior,” said Vernon Everitt, Transport for London’s director of marketing.

London’s transport system must work — and work well — if the games are to be considered a success. On any given day, the creaking network already handles 12 million trips. The Olympics is estimated to add 3 million extra trips on busy days.

As for tourists, transport officials plan to flood the zone with volunteers and customer service agents to guide them through the London transport maze. The volunteers will being wearing high-profile magenta — the color of all the signs offering directions.

City transport leaders have rejected fears that London’s transport systems will lurch into chaos during the Olympics, spending 8.8 million pounds ($13.3 million) to make people aware of the problems and offer advice on what to do.

Another 6.5 billion pounds ($10.2 billion) has also been invested in making trains faster and more comfortable.

FA Cup Final – Sports Tours – Sporting Hospitality – Top Sporting Events – 2012 Events Calendar

FA Cup Final – Sports Tours – Sporting Hospitality – Top Sporting Events – 2012 Events Calendar

UK Sport is responsible for co-ordinating the bidding and staging of major international sporting events across the UK.  It works in partnership with sporting and regional partners to ensure that strategically important international events are staged in the UK, to a world-leading standard.

Ahead of London 2012, UK Sport is taking the lead in delivering an events programme which is specifically designed to help the UK prepare for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games.  Over 80 major events will be staged in the four years prior to London 2012.

• Ahead of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games, UK Sport’s primary objective is to stage events that directly support our athletes in their preparations for London. UK Sport has shown that the performance gain from staging major events can be significant, with the hosts of World Championships receiving an average 25% uplift in their results. The period ahead of 2012 will see around 17,000 elite international athletes compete in a programme designed to give our athletes the best home soil experience as they prepare for their home Games.
• UK Sport’s secondary objective prior to 2012 is to work with the NGBs to develop expertise within the UK’s ‘event-staging system’. Through major events, key staff, officials and volunteers will receive essential training, skills and experience in the run up to London 2012 and Glasgow 2014. Over 13,000 officials and volunteers will have the opportunity to learn from working at world-class international sporting events.
• And of course for the public, there’s the opportunity to see the world’s leading Olympic and Paralympic stars in action. UK Sport wants to ensure that people don’t have to wait until 2012 to see the world’s best Olympic and Paralympic stars on their own doorstep.  Lead-in events will take place in over 20 towns and cities across the UK, and from as far and wide as Weymouth and Aberdeen, Hereford and Nottingham, reflecting the nationwide focus of the programme.

All this is only possible through the targeted investment of National Lottery funding in partnership with the support of regional and sporting bodies.  The total programme cost will be in the region of £50 million, with the National Lottery contributing approximately £16 million of this (around 30p in the pound).

UK Sport also leads the development of research to capture the impacts of hosting major events.  Its work in the late 1990s to assess the economic impact of events set the foundation for much of the subsequent regional investment into events.  The Major Events team has recently led the development, a collaborative project with other partners designed to help broaden and standardise the way the impacts of major events are measured.

With the 2012 lead-in programme largely finalised, UK Sport is looking beyond London.  With several Mega Events already in place (2014 Commonwealth Games, 2014 Ryder Cup, and the 2015 Rugby Union World Cup), work has commenced with the NGBs in targeting an ambitious programme of events for the 2013-18 period, and take advantage of the unique event-staging assets that the UK will have in the coming years.

• 80 – The number of major events targeted to be staged in the lead-in programme to 2012
• £16 million – National Lottery funding invested in bidding for and hosting these events
• 500,000 – Estimated number of live spectators who will watch these events
• £2 – The target amount of public/private sector investment in events for every £1 of Lottery investment
• 13,000 – Officials and volunteers who will gain pre-Games experience through the programme

MAY

May 5 – FOOTBALL: Wembley: FA Cup final.

May 6 – MOTOR CYCLING: Estoril: Portuguese MotoGP.

May 9 – FOOTBALL: Bucharest: Europa League final.

May 10-13 – CRICKET: Northampton: England Lions v West Indies.

May 10-13 – GOLF: Florida: The Players Championship.

May 11-13 – RUGBY LEAGUE: Challenge Cup fifth round.

May 13 – MOTOR RACING: Barcelona: Spanish Grand Prix.

May 16-20 – DIVING: Eindhoven: European Championships.

May 16-27 – SWIMMING: Antwerp: European Long Course Championships.

May 17-21 – CRICKET: First Test, Lord’s: England v West Indies.

May 18-20 – RUGBY UNION: Heineken Cup/Amlin Challenge Cup finals.

May 19 – FOOTBALL: Munich: Champions League final.

May 19 – FOOTBALL: Wembley: Championship play-off final.

May 19 – FOOTBALL: Glasgow: Scottish Cup final.

May 20 – ATHLETICS: Manchester: Great Manchester Run.

May 20 – MOTOR CYCLING: Le Mans: French MotoGP.

May 24-27 – CYCLING: Birmingham: BMX World Championships.

May 25-29 – CRICKET: Second Test, Trent Bridge: England v West Indies.

May 26-27 – FOOTBALL: League One/Two play-off finals.

May 26-27 – RUGBY UNION: Rabobank Direct League final.

May 26-27 – RUGBY LEAGUE: Manchester: Super League magic weekend.

May 27 – MOTOR RACING: Monte Carlo: Monaco Grand Prix.

May 28-Jun 10 – TENNIS: Paris: French Open.

JUNE

Jun 2 – FOOTBALL: International, Amsterdam: Netherlands v Northern Ireland.

Jun 2 – RACING: The Derby, Epsom.

Jun 3 – MOTOR CYCLING: Barcelona: Catalan MotoGP.

Jun 7-10 – DARTS: Bolton: UK Open.

Jun 7-11 – CRICKET: Third Test, Edgbaston: England v West Indies.

Jun 8-Jul 1 – FOOTBALL: Poland and Ukraine: European Championships.

Jun 9-10 – SWIMMING: Setubal: Olympic Open Water qualification.

Jun 10 – MOTOR RACING: Montreal: Canadian Grand Prix.

Jun 11-17 – TENNIS: London: Aegon Championships.

Jun 12-Jul 8 – CRICKET: First round of Friends Life T20 group matches.

Jun 14-17 – GOLF: California: US Open.

Jun 16 – CRICKET: First NatWest one-day international, Southampton: England v West Indies.

Jun 17 – MOTOR CYCLING: Silverstone: British MotoGP.

Jun 18-24 – TENNIS: Eastbourne: AEGON International.

Jun 19 – CRICKET: Second NatWest one-day international, The Oval: England v West Indies.

Jun 19-23 – RACING: Royal Ascot.

Jun 20-23 – SWIMMING: Sheffield: Second stage of Olympic qualifying.

Jun 22 – CRICKET: Third NatWest one-day international, Headingley:

England v West Indies.

Jun 22-24 – ATHLETICS: Birmingham: Aviva World Trials and UK Championships.

Jun 23 – CRICKET: Tour match, Belfast: Ireland v Australia.

Jun 24 – CRICKET: NatWest Twenty20 international, Trent Bridge: England v West Indies.

Jun 24 – MOTOR RACING: Valencia: European Grand Prix.

Jun 25-Jul 8 – TENNIS: Wimbledon: The Championships.

Jun 26-Jul 1 – ATHLETICS: Helsinki: European Championships.

Jun 27-Jul 1 – ROWING: Henley Royal Regatta.

Jun 29 – CRICKET: First one-day international. Lord’s: England v Australia.

Jun 30 – MOTOR CYCLING: Assen: Netherlands MotoGP.

Jun 30-Jul 22 – CYCLING: Tour de France.

JULY

Jul 1 – CRICKET: Second one-day international, The Oval: England v Australia.

Jul 4 – CRICKET: Third one-day international, Edgbaston: England v Australia.

Jul 7 – CRICKET: Fourth one-day international, Chester-le-Street: England v Australia.

Jul 8 – MOTOR RACING: Silverstone: British Grand Prix.

Jul 8 – MOTOR CYCLING: TBC: German MotoGP.

Jul 10 – CRICKET: Fifth one-day international, Old Trafford: England v Australia.

Jul 13-14 – ATHLETICS: London: Aviva British Grand Prix (Diamond League meeting).

Jul 14-15 – RUGBY LEAGUE: Challenge Cup semi-finals.

Jul 15 – MOTOR CYCLING: Mugello: Italian MotoGP.

Jul 18-22 – ROWING: Plovdiv: World Championships.

Jul 19-22 – GOLF: Royal Lytham and St Annes: The Open Championship.

Jul 19-23 – CRICKET: First Test, The Oval: England v South Africa.

Jul 22 – MOTOR RACING: Hockenheim: German Grand Prix.

Jul 24-25 – CRICKET: Friends Life T20 quarter-finals.

Jul 27-Aug 12: OLYMPICS: London Games.

Jul 28-29 – CYCLING: Surrey: Olympic Games road races.

Jul 29 – MOTOR RACING: Budapest: Hungarian Grand Prix.

Jul 29 – MOTOR CYCLING: Laguna Seca: United States MotoGP.

AUGUST

Aug 2-5 – GOLF: Ohio: World Golf Championships.

Aug 2-6 – CRICKET: Second Test, Headingley Carnegie: England v South Africa.

Aug 9-12 – GOLF: South Carolina: US PGA Championship.

Aug 12 – CRICKET: One-day international, Edinburgh: Scotland v England.

Aug 15 – FOOTBALL: International friendly matches.

Aug 16-20 – CRICKET: Third Test, Lord’s: England v South Africa.

Aug 18 – FOOTBALL: Start of Football League season.

Aug 19 – MOTOR CYCLING: Indianapolis: Indianapolis MotoGP.

Aug 23 – ATHLETICS: Lausanne: Diamond League meeting.

Aug 24 – CRICKET: First one-day international, Cardiff: England v South Africa.

Aug 25 – RUGBY LEAGUE: Wembley: Challenge Cup final.

Aug 25 – CRICKET: Cardiff: Friends Life T20 finals day.

Aug 26 – ATHLETICS: Birmingham: Aviva British Grand Prix (Diamond League meeting).

Aug 26 – MOTOR CYCLING: Brno: Czech MotoGP.

Aug 27-Sep 9: TENNIS: New York: US Open.

Aug 28 – CRICKET: Second one-day international, Southampton: England v South Africa.

Aug 29-Sep 9: PARALYMPICS: London Games.

Aug 31 – CRICKET: Third one-day international, The Oval: England v South Africa.

SEPTEMBER

Sep 2 – MOTOR RACING: Spa-Francorchamps: Belgian Grand Prix.

Sep 2 – CRICKET: Fourth one-day international, Lord’s: England v South

Africa.

Sep 5 – CRICKET: Fifth one-day international, Trent Bridge: England v South Africa.

Sep 6-9 – CYCLING: Saalfelden: UCI World Championships.

Sep 7 – FOOTBALL: World Cup qualifying matches: Belgium v Wales; Moldova v England; Kazakhstan v Republic of Ireland.

Sep 8 – CRICKET: First Twenty20 international, Chester-le-Street: England v South Africa.

Sep 9 – MOTOR RACING: Monza: Italian Grand Prix.

Sep 9-16 – CYCLING: Tour of Britain.

Sep 10 – CRICKET: Second Twenty20 international, Old Trafford: England v South Africa.

Sep 11 – FOOTBALL: World Cup qualifying matches: Serbia v Wales.

Sep 11-14 – CRICKET: Final round of LV County Championship fixtures.

Sep 12 – CRICKET: Third Twenty20 international, Edgbaston: England v South Africa.

Sep 13-16 – MOTOR RACING: Rally GB.

Sep 14-16 – TENNIS: Davis Cup semi-finals.

Sep 15 – CRICKET: Lord’s: Clydesdale Bank 40 final.

Sep 18-Oct 7 – CRICKET: Sri Lanka: ICC World Twenty20.

Sep 23 – MOTOR RACING: Singapore: Singapore Grand Prix.

Sep 27-30 – GOLF: Illinois: Ryder Cup.

Sep 30 – MOTOR CYCLING: Utah: Aragon MotoGP.

OCTOBER

Oct 6 – RUGBY LEAGUE: Old Trafford, Super League Grand Final.

Oct 7 – MOTOR RACING: Suzuka: Japanese Grand Prix.

Oct 8-14 – TENNIS: Shanghai: Shanghai Masters.

Oct 12 – FOOTBALL: World Cup qualifying matches.

Oct 14 – MOTOR RACING: Yeongam: Korean Grand Prix.

Oct 14 – MOTOR CYCLING: Motegi: Japanese MotoGP.

Oct 16 – FOOTBALL: World Cup qualifying matches.

Oct 18-22 – TRIATHLON: Auckland: World Championship Series finale.

Oct 21 – MOTOR CYCLING: Sepang: Malaysian MotoGP.

Oct 28 – MOTOR RACING: New Delhi: Indian Grand Prix.

Oct 28 – MOTOR CYCLING: Phillip Island: Australian MotoGP.

Oct 29-Nov 4 – TENNIS: Paris: Paris Masters.

NOVEMBER

Nov 1-4 – GOLF: China: World Golf Championships.

Nov 3-4 – TENNIS: Fed Cup final.

Nov 4 – MOTOR RACING: Yas Marina: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Nov 5-11 – TENNIS: ATP Tour finals.

Nov 10 – RUGBY UNION: Twickenham: England v Fiji.

Nov 11 – MOTOR CYCLING: Valencia MotoGP.

Nov 12 – FOOTBALL: Stockholm: Sweden v England.

Nov 14 – FOOTBALL: International friendly matches.

Nov 16-18 – TENNIS: Davis Cup final.

Nov 17 – RUGBY UNION: Twickenham: England v Australia.

Nov 18 – MOTOR RACING: Austin: United States Grand Prix.

Nov 24 – RUGBY UNION: Twickenham: England v South Africa.

Nov 25 – MOTOR RACING: Sao Paulo: Brazilian Grand Prix.

DECEMBER

Dec 1 – RUGBY UNION: Twickenham: England v New Zealand.

Dec 6-9 – TBC: SWIMMING: European Short Course Championships.

Dec 9 – TBC: ATHLETICS: European Cross Country Championships.

Changing face of the Olympic Park: Incredible pictures show how London 2012 site went from wasteland to multimillion pound sporting hub in ten years By AMY OLIVER

These incredible pictures show how the Olympic site has been transformed from barren wasteland to multimillion pound sporting metropolis in ten years.

Ordnance Survey photographed the area in Stratford, East London, in 2001 and continued to snap the changing landscape after the capital won the Olympic bid in 2005.

The first shot taken a decade ago, shows a desolate landscape in an unloved part of the east end.

Changing landscape: The £550million Olympic stadium gleams next to the £105million Velodrome cycling arena, while the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre looks over the Aquatics and Water Polo Centres in this picture from last year

The next picture from May 2008, depicts an enormous crater that forms the foundations of the Olympic stadium before the building starts to emerge in the mapping agency’s 2009 picture.

Fast forward to 2011 and the landscape is almost unrecognisable. The £550million athletics stadium gleams next to the £105million Velodrome cycling arena, while the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre looks over the Aquatics and Water Polo Centres.

There’s the Basketball Arena, Hockey and Handball Centres and Warm-up track where Britain’s athletes will compete for gold medals at the greatest show on earth this summer.

Desolate: Four years before London won the Olympic bid the area in Stratford, East London, was a barren wasteland

Burgeoning: The next picture, taken by Ordnance Survey in May 2008, shows an enormous crater that forms the foundations of the Olympic stadium

Tony Mabey, a remote sensing manager within Ordnance Survey, said: ‘We have been flying on a yearly basis and then we have flying more often in the last few years.

‘Normally we map places once every three to five years but this is what we call a “prestige” site, like a major public shopping centre of major changes to roads like a motorway.

‘In the last six to nine months there’s been a lot of changes. A lot of the major fittings went up quite early on, like the Velodrome and Aquatics centre.

‘But they are doing a lot of the roads going in and out now. And the athletes’ accommodation went in there quite recently.

 ‘In the last 12 months there’s been significant change with the main stadium. We have seen the structure being developed, the seats and grass going in and then the track was put down.’

What a difference a year makes: The Athletics stadium, seen bottom left, starts to emerge in the mapping agency’s 2009 picture

Coming on: By 2010 the stadium was well on its way to being complete. The Aquatics Centre is just to the stadium’s right while the Velodrome cycling arena can be seen at the top of the picture

The agency’s maps of the changing site will be used to mark potential terrorism hot-spots, among other things.

Waitrose and Marks & Spencer are among hundreds of firms at Westfield Stratford City centre told to step up security at their warehouses to stop terrorists planting a bomb in lorries entering the Olympic Park.

The move is part of a £1 billion security operation – the biggest in post-war Britain –  aimed at thwarting any planned attacks during this summer’s Games in London.

Ordnance Survey will fly over the site next month and again at the end of the year to document how the site will change after the Games have finished.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2130363/London-2012-Olympics-How-Olympic-Park-went-wasteland-multimillion-pound-sporting-hub.html#ixzz1shFr8M00

New luxury interior for Boeing Business Jets

Boeing Business Jets has unveiled the latest BBJ to enter service at the Asian Business Aviation Conference &
Exhibition (ABACE) in Shanghai.

The airplane, a 737-700 with -800 wings and other modifications for longer range, was delivered earlier this month to a private businessman in the United States.

It is the second BBJ for this customer.

“Our repeat customers aren’t limited to governments and charter companies, but include private individuals who love the comfort and capability of their BBJ so much, they buy another one,” said BBJ president Steve Taylor.

This is the first BBJ to enter service with Honeywell’s Ovation Select digital system allowing the passengers to be just as productive onboard their airplane as they are in the office.

“Ovation Select offers the latest technological advancements to deliver seamless and easy connectivity –
whether passengers are connected via their BlackBerry, using their laptops or iPads or conducting a video conference call,” said Tony Brancato, vice president for business and general aviation aftermarket at Honeywell Aerospace.

“The modular, lightweight and flexible cabin management system provides component command and control, high-quality, crystal-clear surround sound audio and vivid full high-definition (1080p) video which is stunning to watch on the 42-inch and 46-inch high definition monitors found in this BBJ.”

This particular BBJ can carry up to 19 passengers and boasts a luxury interior completed by Jet Tech of Spokane, Wash.

It has all the amenities of a home including a large personal stateroom with a king-size bed, private lavatory and shower. It also has a smaller guest stateroom with divans that convert into beds enabling the BBJ to sleep up to eight passengers.

The BBJ has a center island and appliances similar to that in a typical kitchen including convection and microwave ovens, a refrigerator, wine cooler and trash compactor.

The capability of the BBJ is as impressive as its interior.

With seven auxiliary fuel tanks, the owner will enjoy more than 5,600 nautical mile range at Mach 0.80 – equivalent to about 12 hours nonstop flight time (plus reserve fuel).

Everest Olympic medal pledge set to be honoured By Mark Georgiou

BBC News

The 1922 team who tried to conquer Mount Everest but failed to succeed

• In 1922 a group of explorers made the first serious attempt to climb Mount Everest and, despite their lack of success, their exploits were lauded all over the world – even resulting in Olympic gold medals for them all.

Now, with the London 2012 Olympics fast approaching, British adventurer Kenton Cool has promised to try to fulfil a pledge made 88 years ago to take one of the medals to the summit of Everest.

The 1922 British Everest Expedition team – led by Brig Gen Charles Bruce and Lt Col Edward Strutt – came within 500m of the summit, but failed three times to reach the top.

On the last attempt, an avalanche swept seven Indian porters to their deaths.

Heroic failure

In a letter to his wife, expedition member Dr Arthur Wakefield revealed how he had watched the porters wind their way up a steep wall moments before they disappeared.

The team were given a unique honour at the Winter Olympics two years later

“When I looked back the whole wall was white and there was no string of ascending climbers.

“At first I thought all had been wiped off by the avalanche. But as I kept looking, the fuzz of snow settled down, and I gradually made out most of the figures still on the slope,” he said.

Despite not reaching their goal, and recording the first fatalities trying to climb the mountain, the expedition was a popular sensation – a heroic failure.

On a lecture tour that followed the failed bid, team member George Mallory entered the history books when he replied to the question ‘why do you want to climb Everest?’ with the simple words: “Because it is there.”

The team’s photographer John Noel even made a short film – entitled Climbing Mount Everest – which toured the country raising money for the next attempt.

The public could not get enough of the men who had come within striking distance of the summit.

That attention climaxed at the 1924 Winter Olympics in France when 13 members of the team – 12 British and one Australian – were honoured with medals for mountaineering. It was the first time such medals had ever been awarded.

A further eight of the Olympic medals were presented at a later date – one to a Nepalese soldier serving with the Gurkha Rifles, and seven in honour of the Indian porters killed on the mountain.

The mix of nationalities made the Olympic honour unique – it was the first, and only time a multi-national team had been awarded medals.

At a ceremony in Chamonix, International Olympic Committee chairman Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics, spoke of the team’s “absolute heroism on behalf of all of the nations of the world”.

Kenton Cool, who is also an Olympic torchbearer, plans to fulfil the pledge made 88 years ago.

In France to collect the medals was the expedition’s deputy leader, Lt Col Edward Strutt, a highly decorated officer in the Royal Scots.

As he was handed the medals, Lt Col Strutt pledged to place one on the summit of Everest.

In his memoirs Mr Coubertin recalled the moment: “There was also the moving occasion when, at the foot of Mont Blanc, the medal for mountaineering was awarded to one of the leaders of the famous Mount Everest expedition, a courageous Englishman who, defeated but not discouraged, swore to leave it next time at the top of the highest summit in the Himalayas.”

But this was a promise that was never kept.

The 1924 expedition ended with Mallory and fellow climber Andrew Irvine dead on the mountain.

Forgotten promise

In the years that followed, other teams tried and failed to reach the top of the world. During World War II Everest was left in peace.

By the time Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the peak in 1953 the Olympic promise was all but forgotten.

Until now.

“A friend of mine was doing some research into London 2012 when he came across the story of the pledge,” said Cool, who has already climbed Everest nine times.

The men on the expedition were commended for their “absolute heroism”

“When he told me about it I said straightaway: ‘I have to do that’. And with the 2012 Olympics in London, I knew when I had to do it.”

“Then it was a question of finding someone with a medal who would let me take such a precious family heirloom to the top.”

“Fortunately, when I got in touch with Charles Wakefield, the grandson of Dr Wakefield, he agreed straight away. I think he’s a man who believes promises have to be kept.”

Cambridge graduate Dr Wakefield served as a GP in the Lake District and with The Royal Army Medical Corps during World War I before joining the 1922 expedition.

At 46 he was 10 years older than the other members of the team – something he was well aware of.

“Start Quote

I think that bringing one of their medals to the top constitutes a sort of completion of their expedition”

Charles WakefieldArthur Wakefield’s grandson

He wrote to his wife: “I am deeply chagrined to say to say that I am too old for the final summit attack; it seems to me clearly proved that men of 30 to 35 are the right age for this.

“But anyway no man of my age has been higher than me, in fact I am the only one who has stuck it up to 23,000 feet.”

“I know for certain where five medals are,” said Cool, from Quenington, Gloucestershire.

“And I’ve got a good idea where to look for a few others, but that still leaves over a dozen of these fantastic medals unaccounted for. I would love to know where they are.”

Mr Cool is now preparing to leave for Nepal and, after a few weeks’ acclimatisation, hopes to make a bid for the summit, with Dr Wakefield’s medal in a special case, early in May.

If he makes it he’ll not only have climbed Everest 10 times, breaking his own UK record, but he will have kept a very special promise.

Dr Wakefield’s grandchildren did not know anything about the medal until long after his death.

“Talking about the medal would have constituted boasting”, his grandson said.

“And Arthur Wakefield most certainly did not believe in boasting.

“The appeal of mountain climbing to him was its pure joy and had nothing to do with medals or honours. ”

He added that his family believed that Dr Wakefield would have wanted the medal to go to the summit.

“I also believe that all of the other 1922 climbers would want the medal to go to the top as well.

“I think that bringing one of their medals to the top constitutes a sort of completion of their expedition. ”

PRIVATE JET CHARTER FLIGHT NEWS…..New Flight Charters Reports 34% Growth in 2011

New Flight Charters Reports 34% Growth in 2011

Continues Unprecedented Private Jet Charter Growth,  Adds Personnel  

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – New Flight Charters, a nationwide leader in private air charters, today announced that it achieved 34% year-over-year sales growth in charters arranged for 2011, including a 27.2% growth in the number of New Flight Charters domestic U.S. flights, once again exceeding the overall private aviation industry growth of just 5% in 2011 according to data from the FAA.

New Flight Charters continues its solid growth trend and its gains in U.S. market-share. Unprecedented in the industry, New Flight Charters has been named three consecutive years thus far to the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private U.S. companies, which includes company performance data back to 2005.

“With any organization it ultimately comes down to the people,” said New Flight Charters president Rick Colson, “With great people as a foundation, you can produce a great product or a great service.  I am convinced we have one of the great teams in charter services, and our continued numbers and performance confirm this.”

In 2011 New Flight Charters became the most recommended U.S. charter service, in the world’s largest marketplace for air charter professionals, CharterX/Avinode.

New Flight Charters reports an increase in repeat clientele as well as first time charter fliers, and added full-time personnel in 2011 in support of the charter increases.  Last month New Flight Charters issued a detailed report on the most popular charter aircraft chosen in 2011.

Light Jets were by far the most popular size chartered in 2011, and were almost half (44.6%) of all charters.  Midsize Jets accounted for 21.1% of charters during 2011.  Turboprops were the third most popular category, at 20.1% of all charters.   A full detail report on the most popular private jet charter aircraft chartered in 2011 by size, type and model is posted atwww.newflightcharters.com.

About New Flight Charters

Continuing as the fastest growing jet charter service since 2005, New Flight Charters is an award-winning private jet charter leader nationwide excelling primarily as a premier charter service brokerage. The company arranges top-rated aircraft and guaranteed best pricing in the market for each and every charter flight with arguably the largest nationwide aircraft and operator selections.

Top Motivational Speaker – How Tony Robbins Gets in Peak State for Presentations by Carmine Gallo at Forbes

Motivational speaker Tony Robbins has enough energy to keep 4,000 people engaged for 50 hours over four days. Featured on OWN, Robbins demonstrated his pre-speaking ritual which involves incantations, affirmations, and movement—lots and lots of movement. This makes sense since one of Robbins’ core teachings is that energized movement can change your state of mind.

Robbins gets himself in the zone for about ten minutes prior to taking the stage. About 5 minutes and 30 seconds into , Robbins shows how he gets his body “awake and alive.” He jumps up and down, spins around, fist pumps, stands with his arms outstretched, and even bounces on a trampoline.

Tony Robbins – Leading Motivational Speaker ……. Motivational Speakers at The World is your Oyster – http://www.theworldisyouroyster.com, An OnTrack Company: OnTrack Group T/A OnTrack Partners

As a presenter physical preparation will boost your energy significantly and make a huge impact on the way your audience perceives you. Of course it’s not necessary to go to the extreme that Robbins does—and you would look a bit foolish jumping on a trampoline before your next sales pitch—but it’s important to adopt some sort of physical pre-presentation ritual since movement and energy are so intimately connected.

Where are you on the energy scale? Here’s a technique that I’ve used with executive speakers over the years and it works wonders. Right before the presentation I ask the speaker, “On a scale of one to ten—one being asleep and ten being Tony Robbins who is yelling, fist-pumping and smacking his hands against his chest—where are you right this second on the energy scale?” The typical response is somewhere between four and six. I then suggest that the speaker clap his or her hands together three or four times, shake out their arms, and put a big smile on their face. “Now where you are?” I ask. “About seven or eight,” the speaker normally responds. “Now rock it!” I exclaim.

Yes, this simple exercise makes us all feel a bit nutty but it’s fun and results in dramatic changes. In fact the typical speaker stumbles a few times as soon as they begin presenting. Why? Because they have been forced out of their comfort zone on the energy scale. But as they practice at their new energy level, everything changes—their body language, eye contact and delivery.

As a speaker you are being judged on the quality of your story, your body language, and your delivery. Raising your energy level to a “7 or 8” will help to improve two of three qualities—body language and delivery. Practice the ritual before you try it in front of an audience because it will take you out of your comfort zone until you get used to your new energy level. Now clap those hands, shake those arms, jump up and down, put a huge smile on your face, and rock it!

Carmine Gallo is the communications coach for the world’s most admired brands. He is a popular keynote speaker and author of several books, including the international bestseller The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs. His new book, The Apple Experience, reveals the secrets of delivering “insanely great” customer service. (April, 2012, McGraw-Hill). Follow Carmine on Twitter: carminegallo