SPORTS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2013 Photo of the day Seahawks stand firm to hold off battering Rams NEW YORK: The Seattle Seahawks made a last-second touchdowns and we had three field goals. That’s the dif- defensive stand at the goal line to produce a 14-9 victo- ference in the game.” ry against the St. Louis Rams on Monday in a tough It was the third successive victory for Seattle (7-1), road test for the NFC leaders. who regained a half-game edge over New Orleans (6-1) St. Louis had driven the length of the field on the atop the NFC despite being outplayed by the Rams. game’s final possession and had two chances to score St. Louis (3-5) held the ball for more than 38 of the from Seattle’s one-yard line but the Seahawks’ defense game’s 60 minutes and had 339 net offensive yards to stopped a running play and then forced an incomple- the Seahawks’ 135 but could not find a way into the tion as time expired. endzone. “We needed 97 yards and got 96,” St. Louis quarter- Seattle’s Russell Wilson tossed a touchdown pass in back Kellen Clemens told reporters after starting the the second quarter for a 7-3 lead and put the visitors 14- last drive on his own three-yard line. “They scored two 6 ahead on an 80-yard strike to Golden Tate in the third. The Rams kept moving the ball, but could only man- age three field goals from Greg Zuerlein, the last com- NFL standings ing with 12:51 remaining in the game. Clemens, playing in place of Sam Bradford, who tore American Football Conference his ACL last week, completed only 15-of-31 passes and AFC East had two interceptions. The St. Louis offense was led by rookie Zac Stacy, W L T OTL PF PA PCT who ran for 134 of the team’s 200 rushing yards. Stacy New England 6 2 0 1 179 144 .750 was not in the game for the final decisive plays after suf- NY Jets 4 4 0 0 143 211 .500 fering a sprained ankle in the fourth quarter. On Miami 3 4 0 0 152 167 .429 defense, the Rams pressured Seattle QB Wilson, sacking Buffalo 3 5 0 1 176 213 .375 him seven times and restricting him to only 139 yards AFC North passing but he survived the onslaught without giving Cincinnati 6 2 0 0 197 144 .750 up a turnover. Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman Baltimore 3 4 0 0 150 148 .429 had an interception that set up Seattle’s first score in the Cleveland 3 5 0 0 148 179 .375 second quarter. “Our guys kept hanging in there. It was Graham Agassiz rides during Red Bull Rampage qualifiers in Virgin, Utah, USA, a difficult night,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “They on 11 October 2013. — www.redbullcontentpool.com Pittsburgh 2 5 0 0 125 153 .286 AFC South ran the ball down our throat. We were very fortunate to get out of here with a win.”— Reuters Indianapolis 5 2 0 0 187 131 .714 Tennessee 3 4 0 1 145 146 .429 Court case against Ecclestone Houston 2 5 0 1 122 194 .286 Jacksonville 0 8 0 0 86 264 0 AFC West over Formula One sale starts Kansas City 8 0 0 0 192 98 1.000 LONDON: Two days after Sebastian Vettel won his fourth due to the deal negotiated by Gribkowsky. Gribkowsky is a Denver 7 1 0 0 343 218 .875 Formula One title, the spotlight shifted to London’s High defendant in the case along with Ecclestone’s lawyer, San Diego 4 3 0 0 168 144 .571 Court and the latest case that leaves Bernie Ecclestone’s Stephen Mullens, and the Ecclestone family trust, Bambino Oakland 3 4 0 0 126 150 .429 future in doubt. Holdings. The longtime commercial head of F1 is already under Ecclestone and Bambino benefited by more than $1 bil- National Football Conference investigation in Germany over an alleged payment of $44 lion from the sale of the 47 percent stake, according to NFC East million relating to the sale of the racing series in 2006. Marshall, figures that gave F1 an enterprise value of more Dallas 4 4 0 0 230 186 .500 A German court won’t say until next year whether than $3 billion in “stark contrast” to the actual value of “just Philadelphia 3 5 0 0 176 211 .375 Ecclestone will stand trial on charges of bribery and incite- in excess” of $2 billion at the time of the sale. ment to breach of trust. “We see this transaction as being significantly weighted Washington 2 5 0 0 173 229 .286 German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky has already been for the benefit of Mr. Ecclestone and Bambino, and signifi- NY Giants 2 6 0 0 141 223 .250 jailed for taking the payment from Ecclestone. Gribkowsky cantly to the detriment of BayernLB,” Marshall said. NFC North was in charge of selling the bank BayernLB’s stake in F1 to Ecclestone is accused of paying Gribkowsky $44 million Green Bay 5 2 0 0 212 158 .714 investment group CVC Capital Partners. Now at a London from 2006 to 2007. “A variety of means were used to con- Detroit 5 3 0 0 217 197 .625 trial which began on Tuesday, former F1 shareholder, ceal the fact the payments were made,” Marshall said. Chicago 4 3 0 0 213 206 .571 German media company Constantin Medien, is suing Ecclestone built his powerbase in F1 from the 1970s Minnesota 1 6 0 0 163 225 .143 Ecclestone and three other defendants for up to $144 mil- and helped to create the Formula One Constructors’ NFC South lion, claiming F1 was undervalued at the time of the sale. Association that controlled the business side of the series, New Orleans 6 1 0 0 196 120 .857 Ecclestone - estimated by Forbes magazine to be worth including selling the TV rights. Carolina 4 3 0 0 170 96 .571 $3.8 billion - was not at the High Court but is expected to The British-based company later became known as Atlanta 2 5 0 0 166 184 .286 give evidence next week. Formula One Management. It has fought regular tussles Philip Marshall, representing Constantin Medien, with the teams over finances, but has retained control of Tampa Bay 0 7 0 0 100 163 0 accused Ecclestone of making a “corrupt bargain” with the global motor racing extravaganza. NFC West Gribkowsky “to facilitate a sale of the Formula One Group CVC, having amassed a 63 percent stake of F1, has Seattle 7 1 0 0 205 125 .875 by a purchaser chosen by Mr. Ecclestone in return for reduced its holding as other investors have come on San Francisco 6 2 0 0 218 145 .750 remuneration (for Gribkowsky) and a position (for board in recent years, although a planned flotation has Arizona 4 4 0 0 160 174 .500 Ecclestone) relating to Formula One going forward.” stalled. Ecclestone’s holding has been diluted to about 5 St. Louis 3 5 0 0 165 198 .375 To that end, Constantin Medien is claiming it lost out percent. — AP Kellen Clemens Sarajevo Winter Games venues crumble SARAJEVO: Abandoned and left to crumble drilled by the troops. orably received a row of perfect 6s in front of into oblivion, most of the 1984 Winter The two ski jumping hills were also never a packed crowd, was completely destroyed by Olympic venues in Bosnia’s capital Sarajevo used after becoming battlegrounds, although the shelling and bombing during the war and have been reduced to rubble by neglect as there are plans to reconstruct the in-runs, was rebuilt in 1999 after the International much as the 1992-95 conflict that tore apart expand the large one and build new spectator Olympic Committee donated $ 11.5 million the former Yugoslavia. stands and visitor facilities. Many areas of for the project. One set of photographs shows the venues Mount Bjelasnica, where Bill Johnson became The bigger Skenderija Hall suffered less gleaming with state of the art facilities nearly the first American man to win an Olympic ski- damage in the fighting but having been three decades ago, when Sarajevo made the ing gold after a spectacular downhill run, deemed a surplus to the city’s post-Olympic former Yugoslavia the first communist coun- were sites of extensive combat during the and post-war requirements, it was abandoned try to host the Winter Games, beating Japan’s fighting and some still pose a mine risk. into disrepair until the local authorities decid- Sapporo and Sweden’s Gothenburg in the Mount Jahorina, the site of the women’s ed to start overhauling it in 2000. bidding process. Alpine skiing events is again popular with hol- The job was completed in 2006 and The other paints a sad picture of the bob- idaymakers after its skiing, hiking and sledg- Skenderija is again the venue of various Ewen McKenzie sleigh and luge track at Mount Trebevic, the ing facilities were overhauled. sports and cultural events drawing around Mount Igman ski jumping course and accom- However, Jahorina’s off-course slopes were 500,000 visitors every year, although heavy panying objects decomposing into obscurity. also littered with landmines during the war snowfall made the roof of its ice hall collapse Can anyone beat The bobsleigh and luge track, which was and many of them remain risky terrain, with a in 2012 and forced another repair.