Die Macht » see how it feels." Navarro didnt rule out a return

MONACO, Monaco - The IOC approved a wide-ranging reform package Monday, including a more affordable bidding process, creation of an Olympic television channel and a more flexible sports program that could bring baseball and softball into the 2020 Tokyo Games.The IOC also approved the rewording of non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation — a move that followed the controversy over Russias law against gay propaganda ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.The International Olympic Committee voted in favour of the new rules on the opening day of a special session to adopt President Thomas Bachs 40-point Olympic Agenda 2020 program, the biggest changes in the IOC in decades.All the recommendations were approved unanimously in one day, rather than the scheduled 1 1/2 days.This Olympic Agenda 2020 is like a jigsaw puzzle, Bach told the delegates. Now that you have approved all the recommendations, you can see the whole picture of this puzzle. ... It was a very important day for the IOC and the Olympic movement.The IOC abolished the cap of 28 sports for the Summer Games to move to an events-based system that would allow new competitions to come in, while keeping to about 10,500 athletes and 310 medal events.Host cities will also be allowed to propose the inclusion of one or more additional events for their games.The new rules clear the way for Tokyo organizers to request that baseball and softball be included in the 2020 Games. Both sports, dropped after the 2008 Beijing Games, are highly popular in Japan.Today, there is excitement circulating around the baseball and softball world and there is great hope that our athletes will now have a real opportunity ... to play for their country, aiming to win an Olympic gold medal, said Riccardo Fraccari, president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation.Other sports like squash and karate are also hopeful of joining the Tokyo program. In addition, new disciplines and events within existing sports could also be considered. Some events may need to be dropped to make room for new ones.This is a major breakthrough, senior Canadian member Dick Pound said. We were at a dead-end situation with 28 sports. This provides the flexibility we need.The new bidding process, meanwhile, is aimed at making the system cheaper and more flexible to attract future candidates — including the option of holding events outside the host city or country.The votes came at a time when many countries have been scared off by the costs of hosting the Olympics, including the reported $51 billion associated with the Sochi Games. Several cities withdrew from the bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics, leaving only Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the running.The new system makes the process more of an invitation and allows prospective candidates to discuss their plans in advance with the IOC to tailor games to their own needs — and keep them affordable.In the most radical change, cities will be allowed to hold events outside the host city or country. This opens the door to joint bids by cities, neighbouring countries or regions.IOC vice-president John Coates said holding events outside the host country would only be considered in exceptional circumstances. He said the idea would have to be raised in the early phase of bidding and would need approval from the IOC executive board.The compactness of the bid is always important, Coates said. But the compactness of the games has to be weighed up with the cost benefit of being able to use existing venues rather than build new venues.The IOC backed the launch of a digital channel — possibly as early as next year — to promote Olympic sports between the games and engage with young viewers. The channel will feature material from the IOCs archives, transmit some international sports competitions and offer a promotional platform for bid cities.This is really a historical step, Bach said.The IOC said the channel — to be run by the Madrid-based Olympic Broadcasting Services — will cost $600 million to operate over the first seven years, with the goal of breaking even in the first decade.The new Principle 6 clause says the Olympics should be free of discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.This is a pivotal moment for equality in sport, said Andre Banks, executive director and co-founder of internal gay rights group All Out.___Follow Stephen Wilson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stevewilsonap Danuel House Jersey . Dougie Hamilton and Jordan Caron scored in the first period after the Red Wings had miscues on the ice and Tuukka Rask finished with a 23-save shutout, giving Boston a 3-0 win over the Red Wings and a 2-1 series lead in their first-round series. Ben McLemore Jersey . -- Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Sidney Rice tweeted an apparent goodbye after a report about his pending release. https://www.rocketsrookiesshop.com/Russell-Westbrook-City-Edition-Jersey/ . The 23-year-old McNabb was an All-Star with the American Hockey Leagues Rochester Americans this season, posting seven goals and 22 assists in 38 games. In 12 games with the Sabres this season, McNabb has accumulated six penalty minutes and a plus-1 rating. He has scored one goal and seven assists in 37 career games with the Sabres, who originally selected him in the third round (66th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Hakeem Olajuwon Jersey . The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City. Michael Carter-Williams Rockets Jersey . -- Michigan coach John Beilein is willing to give Nik Stauskas a little leeway when it comes to shot selection.PHILADELPHIA - Brett Lawrie is considered day-to-day with tightness in his right hamstring, an appropriate prognosis given that its the daily grind of baseball thats forcing him to take a seat. The hamstring cant heal if Lawries placing athletic demands on it every day. "Its the same as it has been," said Lawrie. "Ive been playing with this the past road trip since Kansas City and whatnot. I need to give it a little bit of time; I need to give it a couple of days. I tried to play with it and I can play with it, its just that Im not playing the way I would like to play." His leg didnt give out on him. Lawrie saw a doctor at Citizens Bank Park after leaving Mondays 3-0 win over the Phillies in the fourth inning. The hamstring needs a couple of days to, as Lawrie put it, "settle down." "We only have one off day this May and thats tough just to continuously go day after day after day on something like a hamstring," he said. "Theres no recovery time so I need some recovery time to allow it to get better. Id rather take a couple of days rather than do something really terrible and take myself out for a month and a half because obviously hamstrings are just nothing to mess around with." Lawrie has a history of muscle-related injuries, most notably his oblique problems which cost him time in each of the last two seasons. He sat out the second game of last weeks series in Kansas City with tightness in his back and often times, after games, hes essentially mummified in elastic bandages holding down ice on various parts of his body. Ive hit a point where I cant keep doing this every single day," said Lawrie. "In every game that Ive played in the last little bit it has been little things that have just grabbed on me and almost resets it a little bit and just kind of says this is how its going to be, its not better yet. That just says to me, as much as it sucks and I can play, I just cant do it the way that I want to … so Id rather take a couple of days rather than do something really bad." Lawrie went 0-2 on Monday before leaving the game. He had been heating up offensively after a slow start, having had a seven-game hitting streak snapped and with mmulti-hit efforts in seven of his last 11 games.dddddddddddd NAVARRO NEARING RETURN Dioner Navarro pinch hit in Sundays game against the Pirates and singled. To say he moved gingerly toward first base is an understatement. Navarro was being careful with his sore right quadriceps muscle. Dont read anything into the visual. "Probably if I hit a groundball somewhere I would have gone a little bit faster but I knew I wasnt going to get to second so might as well take an extra day, it felt like I didnt do anything (Sunday)," said Navarro. "It wasnt that bad. I know it looked bad on TV but it wasnt that bad. I knew the ball was over the third basemans head, the run scored, the guy was going to get to third." Navarro left Thursday nights game in the eighth inning after aggravating his quad running the bases. Hes had hamstring problems in the past but never an issue with his quads. "We did a whole bunch of stuff, squat stuff, mobility stuff, side-to-side stuff, backward, forward, it felt great," he said. The biggest test is when we go out there and start running and see how it feels." Navarro didnt rule out a return on Wednesday, when the Blue Jays play host to the Phillies. LIND GETTING CLOSE Adam Lind, rehabbing a sore back, went 3-5 with two doubles and two runs scored for Single-A Dunedin on Monday. Lind, who went on the disabled list on April 16, could be back as soon as Wednesday nights game against the Phillies in Toronto. JANSSEN TOSSES SCORELESS FRAME Casey Janssen pitched a scoreless inning, allowing two hits, in Double-A New Hampshires Monday night game against Binghamton. It marked Janssens first appearance in his second attempt at a rehabilitation assignment coming off a strained left oblique. Janssens return isnt imminent. Hell pitch in back to back games later this week and the plan, at the moment, is for Janssen to take as much time as he needs. Remember, not only has Janssen been mostly down since suffering the oblique injury at the end of March, stiffness in the back of his shoulder limited Janssen to just three spring training appearances. He hasnt thrown much and is still in the process of regaining strength in his pitching arm. ' ' '