Yahoo! September 27, 2000
Dying Woman's Son Said Denied Visa
ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. 27 (AP) - A 70-year-old cancer patient who last saw
her son when she left him in Cuba in 1968 wants to see him again before she
dies, but her family says immigration officials won't let him into the United
States.
The family has enlisted three members of Congress to write letters asking
immigration officials to reverse their decision to deny Jorge Febles Sanchez a
visa.
Bersabe Febles almost died Tuesday in a Long Island hospital, the relatives
said.
''(The U.S. government) won't allow him to come and see this wonderful
person, who is losing her life,'' 46-year-old daughter Ibis Pozo told Newsday. "All
I want is for him to come and see her. Is that asking too much?''
The relatives, all U.S. citizens, said Sanchez, now 48, has his own family
in Cuba and would have tried to move to the United States long ago if he wanted.
The Febles family was separated in 1968 when fleeing Cuba for the United
States. Sanchez, then 15, was left behind with hopes that a bribe to a
government official would allow him to come a few days later, but the official
disappeared, and the son was stranded.
U.S. immigration officials declined to discuss specifics of the case
publicly, Newsday reported Wednesday. One official noted that in general, even
applicants seeking visas for humanitarian reasons must show strong economic and
social ties to their home countries. The family said Sanchez can't do that
because Cuba's Communist government owns virtually everything on the island.
Sanchez applied for a visa for a temporary U.S. visit through a Havana
office on Aug. 14, but he was rejected and told he could apply again in a year.
Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer and Republican Reps. Rick Lazio and Peter
King have sent letters to the U.S. Interests Section in Havana on Sanchez's
behalf.
The Cuban government would be unlikely to block a trip if Sanchez won a
visa, the family said.
USA baseball team takes Olympic gold medal from Cuba
By Sandy Zinn SportsTicker Senior Editor. Sportsticker,
September 27, 2000
SYDNEY, Australia, 27 (Ticker) -- A bunch of minor leaguers and washed-up
veterans did what no one thought they would today, defeat Cuba for the Olympic
gold medal in baseball.
Ben Sheets pitched the game of his life and got offensive support from
journeymen Mike Neill and Ernie Young as the United States claimed its first
gold medal in Olympic baseball with a 4-0 victory.
It came at the expense of the mighty Cubans, who had won the only two
previous Olympic baseball tournaments and easily handled the United States
during the preliminary round.
"We showed the world," Team USA second baseman Brent Abernathy
said. "No one thought we could win the gold. We just proved them all wrong."
Throwing to veteran catcher Pat Borders, the righthanded Sheets fired a
three-hitter, striking out five without a walk and facing just two batters over
the minimum.
"He gave up three hits and all of them broke bats," Abernathy
said. "For a guy this young to be doing that, it's unbelievable."
Neill gave Sheets the early lead, stroking an opposite field solo homer with
two out in the bottom of the first inning off Pedro Luis Lazo for his
tournament-best third home run.
"Once you score early, it always helps," Sheets said. "We got
a little confidence early and we went on from there."
Young, who was beaned Saturday against Cuba before benches emptied, stroked
a two-out, two-run single in the top of the fifth for a 4-0 lead.
Neill, Young and Borders were three of a handful of players with major
league experience picked to represent the United States as professionals were
allowed to play for the first time in the three Olympic tournaments.
Borders had a solid major league career, mostly with the Toronto Blue Jays,
who he helped to a pair of World Series titles. He was named the Most Valuable
Player of the 1992 Series.
"In the World Series you are representing a city," he said. "Now,
we're representing a country. I've enjoyed both of them."
Sheets was one of the team's minor league prospects. He led the young
pitching staff -- the best in the tournament -- by giving up just one earned run
over 22 innings in three starts.
The Cleveland Indians prospect worked a perfect first inning and finished
stronger, striking out the first two batters in the ninth.
"I just wish my family was here," he said. "But they couldn't
make it, so this one goes out to them."
Neill ended the game when he slid for a snow-cone catch before showing the
ball to the left-field umpire and joining his teammates as they mobbed Sheets on
the infield.
Manager Tommy Lasorda followed his team on the field and broke down in tears
while draped in the American flag before the team paraded around the outfield
grass.
"Everybody in the world is going to know about this team now,"
said Lasorda, who won two World Series as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. "We
came here with one purpose only, and that was to win gold, and now we are going
to bring it back to America."
The Cubans won the pool with a 6-1 mark and handed Japan in the semifinals
before losing for the second time in three Olympic tournaments. They won gold at
Atlanta in 1996 and Barcelona in 1992.
Cuban managaer Sergio Borges decided to start Lazo, who had pitched just 5
1/3 innings of relief during the tournament. He ended up taking the loss after
giving up a run and three hits over one-plus inning.
Lazo looked strong after the first two batters, but Neill went the other way
with a fastball, getting it over the left-field wall to open the scoring.
Jose Ibar worked out of a jam in the second but got himself into one in the
fifth, allowing a walk to Doug Mientkiewicz and an RBI double to Borders. He
gave up another hit and walk to load the bases before being replaced.
Hard-throwing righthander Maels Rodriguez entered and struck out Neill for
the second out. But Young stroked a line drive single just out of Rodriguez's
reach and into center field for a 4-0 lead.
It was already enough for Sheets, who produced 12 groundball outs and
allowed a trio of harmless singles -- two to slugger Omar Linares and one to
Oscar Macias.
Sheets struck out a pair in the ninth and Neill made a diving catch to end
the game, giving the Americans a gold medal to put next to the bronze they won
in 1992. They finished fourth at Atlanta in 1996.
The Cubans, who won the preliminary pool with a 6-1 marj, were considered
heavy favorites from the start of the tournament and had history on their side,
having won 22 World Cup titles since 1939.
However, Cuba lost its second gold medal game in a year at Sydney Baseball
Stadium after dropping a 4-3 decision to Australia in the Intercontinental Cup.
Earlier, Korea won a pitcher's duel with Japan, claiming a 3-1 victory and
the bronze medal by scoring three times in the bottom of the eighth.
Seung-Yuop Lee snapped the scoreless tie with a two-run double off Daisuke
Matsuzaka, who struck out 10 over eight innings. Korea's Dae-Sung Koo went the
distance on a five-hitter, fanning 11.
Centerseat.com to Air Historic Buena Vista Social Club Concert Filmed in
Cuba
Concert Marks First Performance in Cuba
Press Release. Tuesday September 26, 9:31 am Eastern Time.
SOURCE: Centerseat.com
NEW YORK, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Centerseat.com, the entertainment and
e-commerce megasite, today unveiled a very special show -- coverage of a
historic performance of the Buena Vista Social Club filmed in their homeland of
Cuba.
The Buena Vista Social Club is comprised of once-famous musicians who were
rediscovered by American guitarist and producer Ry Cooder in the late 1990s.
That is when Mr. Cooder traveled to Cuba and filmed a documentary about the
nearly forgotten performers -- a film that rocketed the group to worldwide fame.
Although the Buena Vista Social Club has traveled extensively around the
world and played to sold-out crowds in both America and Europe, coverage of the
concert that Centerseat is presenting today marks the first time that the group
has played a concert together in their homeland for the Cuban public.
"The concert was truly amazing,'' said Centerseat Senior Producer
Simonette Rossi. "The band established an amazing connection with the
audience and it was clear that they had finally come home. I was so proud to be
part of the historic evening.''
"This is the type of entertainment that Centerseat prides itself on
presenting,'' said Centerseat Executive Vice President Mark Haefeli. "Cuba
holds a lot of intrigue for many people in the U.S. We look forward to
presenting the Buena Vista piece along with other Cuban musical and cultural
events to give people an idea what the country is like.''
Coverage of the Buena Vista Social Club concert is available for viewing on
Centerseat.com's music channel (http://www.centerseat.com).
The concert is presented in Centerseat's unique technology platform, which
enables visitors to view the concert, read additional information about Cuba and
members of the group, and purchase relevant e-commerce, all on the same
platform, all without stopping the concert footage.
All programming on Centerseat.com is available on demand and is free.
In the coming months, Centerseat will be presenting additional coverage of
its trip to Cuba, including an inside look at the hottest areas that foreign
tourists are visiting, as well as a rooftop concert called a Pena which will
feature some of Cuba's most popular musicians.
About Centerseat
Centerseat is the leading commerce and content ASP. Centerseat provides
turnkey solutions utilizing content, commerce and its own platform to enable its
partners and customers to strengthen their identities and capitalize on the
opportunities that content and commerce bring to their businesses. Core
competencies include high-quality content creation/acquisition, e-commerce
integration, advertising integration, and global distribution across multiple
outlets. Centerseat has developed a unique technology platform, which
contextually integrates video content, interactive media, community and commerce
simultaneously through a single interface. The platform provides instant access
to millions of content and commerce offerings. This, combined with Centerseat's
world-class production and distribution capabilities, offers a complete solution
for the entertainment, financial, retail, corporate, and industrial markets, and
is geared to increasing product sales as well as brand loyalty. Distribution of
Centerseat's rich media content extends to broadband and narrowband electronic
media and the Internet, broadcast & cable TV, digital satellite TV, as well
as out-of-home and other non-traditional media outlets. Centerseat Inc. was
founded in April 1999 and is headquartered in New York City with a staff of
about 100.
Cuba hammered on the diamond and in the ring
By Kevin Stevens SportsTicker Contributing Editor
SYDNEY, Australia, 27 (Ticker) - Not only was Cuba hammered on the baseball
field, but its boxing team took some heavy blows, too, today at the Olympic
Games.
Four Cuban boxers, all of whom were expected to challenge for medals, lost
in quarterfinal bouts. On the same day Cuba lost the gold medal baseball game,
4-0, to the United States, super heavyweight Alexis Rubalcaba, flyweight Manuel
Mantilla, featherweight Yosvany Aguilera and light-middleweight Juan Hernandez
Sierra were defeated. Sierra was a two-time Olympic silver medalist at
welterweight.
Cuba now has just six fighters remaining in the chase for gold medals.
For the second consecutive Olympics, the super-heavyweight division will be
without a Cuban medal contender after Rubalcaba was outpointed, 25-12, by
Kazakhstan's Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov.
Looking for a knockout, the lumbering Rubalcaba was unable to land the
telling blow against his mobile, smaller opponent, who scored repeatedly with
sharp jabs.
The win guaranteed Dilbadekov at least a bronze medal. He will now fight
Uzebekistan's Rustam Saidov, who outclassed Canada's Art Binkowski in two
rounds.
Light-welterweight Diogenes Luna provided the only bright spot on a dull day
for the Cubans as he pounded his way into the medal semifinals by stopping
Egypt's Saleh Abdel Maksoud in the second round with a thundering shot.
Next up for the Cuban is American Ricardo Williams, who began the day by
recharging waning American medal hopes by beating Russian Alexandre Leonov,
17-12, to advance to the semifinals.
Williams trailed early in the bout but closed out the contest in a flurry,
landing seven consecutive scoring blows to pull out a 13-7 victory.
"I think I was a little off today," Williams said. "I don't
know why I took so long to get going but I got the victory."
Later in the evening session, world champion featherweight Ricardo Juarez
joined Williams in the semifinals when he outclassed defending Olympic champion
Somluck Kamsing of Thailand, 31-16, in what coach Tom Mustin said was the best
U.S. performance of the tournament so far.
"That was a great performance over an Olympic gold medalist," said
Mustin. "For you guys who have asked me what the best performance has been
so far, well, that's got to be it."
Juarez, who will meet Russia's Kamil Dzamalutdinov in the semifinals, did
most of his damage in the third round, pinning Kamsing against the ropes and
scoring repeatedly with his jab.
Light-middleweight Jermain Taylor outpointed Germany's Adnan Catic to give
the U.S. four fighters in the semifinals.
The youngest member of the American squad, 19-year-old flyweight Jose
Navarro, embarked a little earlier than expected on his professional career when
he was outpointed, 23-12, by Frenchman Jerome Thomas.
"I did my best, he was a better fighter today," said Novarro,
announcing his next bout would be as a pro. "I started off slow. He was
slick, I give him a lot of credit for that."
U.S. Beats Cuba for Baseball Gold
By Joe Kay, Ap Sports Writer
SYDNEY, Australia, 27 (AP) - No dust-ups, no disputes, no dramatic homers.
The Americans didn't need any of them to get their first baseball gold medal.
A ragtag bunch of minor leaguers led by Hall of Fame manager Tom Lasorda
beat mighty Cuba 4-0 Wednesday in a game that - stunningly - was no contest.
International baseball's dynasty went down with only three hits off Ben
Sheets, Milwaukee's first-round draft pick last year, then stood and watched as
someone else celebrated after the title game.
Unlike Cuba's 6-1 win over the Americans on Saturday, this one came with no
fussing or fighting. During the Americans' only loss of the tournament, they
wound up going face-to-face with the Cubans and exchanging angry words.
On Wednesday, however, Mike Neill hit a first-inning homer as the Americans
cranked it up early instead of late. Ernie Young - at the center of Saturday's
bench-clearing dust-up - more than got even with a bases-loaded single.
Catcher Pat Borders, who was spiked at home in that first game, also had an
RBI double as an exquisite payback.
Those hits put the upset on the fingertips of Sheets, an unflappable
right-hander who got 16 ground-ball outs in the first eight innings, setting up
a pulsating ninth.
With the Americans standing on the front step of their dugout and a U.S.
flag hanging behind the bench, Sheets strode calmly to the mound to start the
ninth.
He got Cuba's first two hitters swinging - Luis Ulacia threw his helmet at
the side of his dugout after going down for the second out.
When Neill made a sliding catch of Yasser Gomez's fly in left field for the
final out, Sheets fell to his knees and raised his arm in celebration as players
streamed toward him for a huddle on the mound.
Soon, they piled up near the dirt at third and Lasorda - wearing a U.S. flag
over his left shoulder, hugged his coaches while the players took a victory lap.
The Cubans sat in their dugout stunned, knowing their dynasty was done.
The best team in international baseball had its 21-game winning streak
snapped with a loss to the Netherlands during the tournament, then had its hold
on the gold broken by its biggest rival.
The long-awaited matchup had the trappings of a seventh World Series game -
and all the finality. Flashbulbs twinkled around the stadium as the U.S. team
stood on the first base line and the Cubans assembled along the other one for
pregame introductions.
Lasorda, who wanted to beat Cuba for the exiles in Florida, walked over and
shook the hand of manager Servio Borges in front of the plate.
Moments later, the Americans were spilling out of the dugout after Neill's
tension-breaking homer in the first - his second big homer of the tournament.
He also won the opener against Japan with a game-ending homer in the 13th.
His two-out solo homer on Wednesday came off Pedro Luis Lazo, a closer who got a
surprise start in the big game.
Lazo was gone in the second, replaced by the pitcher the United States
really had a few things to settle with - Jose Ibar, who shut the Americans out
in Cuba's feisty 6-1 win on Saturday and hadn't allowed a run all tournament.
Ibar also hit Young in the back with a fastball in that preliminary game,
bringing both teams off the benches to exchange nasty looks.
Young faced Ibar one more time in the fourth, grounding out. Young more than
got even an inning later with a decisive hit off Cuba's hardest thrower.
Borders doubled home the first run off Ibar in the fifth. Right-hander Maels
Rodriguez came on and sent a ripple through the crowd by throwing a fastball
that once registered 100 mph on the scoreboard.
Rodriguez also hit a batter and loaded the bases to bring up Young, who
slashed a 98 mph fastball up the middle for a two-run single and a 4-0 lead.
Young spun around and slammed his hands together at first while U.S. players
poured from the dugout to welcome the runners home. They sensed that the upset
was at their fingertips.
More precisely, it was in Sheets' right hand. His sinker kept the
tournament's top-hitting team - a .344 average - from so much as threatening.
Sheets retired 11 Cubans in a row and got 12 ground-ball outs in the first
six innings, when only one runner got as far as second base in the entire game.
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