the younger guys can sit and watch and from zgr123's blog
LONDON -- The Ukrainian city of Lviv withdrew its bid for the 2022 Winter Games on Monday, becoming the third contender to drop out of the race for an Olympics that no one seems to want. Patrick Mahomes II Jersey . Lviv pulled out because of the continuing political and security crisis in Ukraine, where government forces are battling an insurgency by pro-Russian separatists. Lviv officials said they would now focus on bidding for the 2026 Winter Games instead. The decision to withdraw, which had been widely expected, followed talks between Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and IOC President Thomas Bach. "We concluded that it would be extremely difficult to pursue the 2022 bid under current circumstances but that a future bid would make sense for Ukraine and Ukrainian sport," Bach said in a statement. The announcement came exactly one week before the International Olympic Committee selects a short list of finalists for the 2022 Games. Three cities remain in contention: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing, and Oslo. With Lviv out, the IOC executive board is likely to retain all three and not cut any of the candidates. The host city will be selected by the full IOC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 31, 2015. "We have always said that we will only continue if we can be certain to deliver on all our promises," Lviv bid CEO Sergei Goncharov told The Associated Press. "Due to the current circumstances in Ukraine, we, however, felt that a bid for 2026 would make more sense. We remain convinced of the positive impact that hosting Olympic Games would have for the city of Lviv and the whole country." Lvivs withdrawal follows the earlier pullouts of Stockholm and Krakow, Poland. The Swedish capital dropped out in December after politicians declined to give financial support. The Polish city withdrew last month after 70 per cent of residents rejected the bid in a referendum. The future of Oslos bid also remains uncertain. The Norwegian government has yet to back the project and wont make a decision until the autumn. In addition, recent polls have shown that more than half the population opposes the games. If Oslo drops out later, that would leave only two cities standing. Almaty, commercial capital of the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia, hosted the 2011 Asian Winter Games and would shape up as the favourite. Beijing, which hosted the 2008 Olympics, is bidding to become the first city to stage both the Summer and Winter Games. Beijing proposes holding Alpine events 120 miles (190 kilometres) away in the northern Chinese city of Zhangjiakou. And with Pyeongchang, South Korea, hosting the 2018 Winter Games and Tokyo the 2020 Olympics, the IOC would normally be reluctant to send the games to Asia for a third straight time. Even before the start of the official 2022 campaign, two potential serious contenders stayed away. St. Moritz-Davos and Munich cancelled proposed bids after voters in Switzerland and Germany voted "no" in referendums. The troubled race poses a crisis for the IOC, which is running out of potential sites for the games. Potential host cities, especially in Western Europe, are concerned about the financial costs of the games. Many have been scared off by the $51 billion price tag associated with Februarys Winter Olympics in Sochi. Russia spent much of the record sum on long-term infrastructure projects for the entire region. Rio de Janeiros delayed preparations for the 2016 Olympics are also a major concern. Changes to the bidding process and efforts to reduce the cost of the games are among the key issues being addressed by the IOC as part of Bachs "Agenda 2020" -- his blueprint for the future of the Olympic movement that will be voted on in December. Despite their withdrawal, Lviv bid officials have travelled to Pyeongchang this week for debriefings on the Sochi Games. Bach said the IOCs preliminary assessment of the Lviv bid found "a huge potential for future development." "We will continue to pursue our dream," Goncharov said. "We have learned a great deal during our first ever bid and we will come back stronger." Patrick Mahomes II Youth Jersey . HEROES P.K. Subban – Scored the overtime winner and assisted on Montreal’s earlier goal, both on the power play, in a 2-1 win over Nashville. Tanoh Kpassagnon Womens Jersey .C. -- With a chance to start over and maybe drive in any series he wanted, Juan Pablo Montoya thought long and hard about what mattered most at this stage of his career.CHICAGO - As the Chicago Cubs await a decision from lefty ace Jon Lester, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein made a few things clear.The team is active this off-season. But it is not handing out blank checks.I think weve done a nice job rebuilding up the organization to a really healthy place where we can be aggressive, Epstein said. Well continue to be aggressive. But were not going to go into any one negotiation as if its do or die. The Cubs are in a really nice spot compared to where we were a few years ago. I think were going to continue to get healthier and healthier as an organization. If were successful in one or two of the things that were trying to do this winter, were going to be very competitive very soon.Epstein spoke Friday in advance of next weeks winter meetings in San Diego.Landing Lester, a three-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, would be a huge boost for the Cubs.Theyre loaded with prospects and have one of the games top managers after hiring Joe Maddon. Throw in the fact that Wrigley Field is getting its long-awaited makeover and theres a sense that big things are happening on Chicagos North Side, that the top-to-bottom overhaul of the organization is starting to pay dividends and that a string of five straight losing seasons could be ending soon.Lester, traded from Boston to Oakland in July, would give the Cubs rotation an ace. Hes also familiar with the front office from their time toggether with the Red Sox. Patrick Mahomes II Womens Jersey. And former pitcher Ryan Dempster thinks he would be a perfect fit with the Cubs.Jon and I have talked about how great it is to play here, he said. You know what? He knows that. Hes got an extremely tough decision ahead. But whatever the decision is going to be, hopefully, its here with the Chicago Cubs because he wont be disappointed.Dempster, who retired as a player with the Cubs and joined their front office on Friday, teamed with him in Boston in 2013. He called Lester an incredible leader and praised his work ethic.All the younger guys can sit and watch and learn from him because hes just a tremendous pitcher, a tremendous human being and would be a great addition to any team, Dempster said.Epstein spoke only in general terms and not any specific players. But he did discuss the balancing act in going after high-priced players.If you go into free agency thinking youre one player away and you need any one player at all costs, youre probably going to end up getting burned, Epstein said.He envisions a time when the Cubs are the feared team in free agency.Were not the Dodgers, and were not the Yankees, he said. But there are still plenty of things we can do. We have a lot of resources at our disposal. Were not going to complain about it. 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