THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2007
SPORTS 7B
》 OLYMPICS
Fewer vehicles, clearer skies
CHRISTOPHER BODEEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING — Despite a persistent gray haze, officials said Tuesday an exercise that removed more than 1 million private vehicles a day from Beijing's gridlocked streets was a success that could mean a clearer sky during next summer's Olympics.
Humidity and wind conditions kept the pollution from dispersing, but the air during the four-day drill would have been much worse without the vehicle restrictions, said Du Shaozhong, the deputy director of the Chinese capital's Environmental Protection Bureau.
"The test was successful. These four days the wind speed was slow, while the humidity and temperature were high." Du told reporters, noting that a gray sky doesn't necessarily mean pollution is bad.
Air pollution has emerged as a key problem for Beijing as it gears up for the Olympics, to be held Aug. 8-24, 2008. Jammed traffic and the possibility of political protests by critics of the communist regime are also concerns, although venue construction is firmly on
schedule.
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge warned during a visit this month that the competition schedule might have to be juggled on days when pollution was particularly bad.
The government's own statistics showed that the air quality during the test rated among the top 10 worst days of the month so far and slightly worse that the same period a year ago.
The ban removed 1.3 million private vehicles from the capital's gridlocked streets each day. Additional buses and subways were added as residents turned to public transportation, car pools and taxis.
Cars with even-numbered license plates were ordered off roads Friday and Sunday, and vehicles with odd-numbered plates were banned Saturday and Monday. Emergency vehicles, taxis, buses and other public-service vehicles were exempt.
Beijing had an air pollution index of between 93 and 95 during the test days, the city's environmental protection bureau said on its Web site. According to the State Environmental Protection Agency,
an index below 100 indicates excellent or good conditions.
"As the air quality during these four days reached the national standard, it was fit for all activities, including sports." Du said.
The index hit 116 Tuesday after the test and was 115 on Aug. 16 — the day before the trial began, the Chinese statistics showed.
Officials said a reading of between 101 to 200 indicates slight pollution and people with heart and respiratory conditions are told to avoid exertion and outdoor activities.
Earlier in the month, the pollution index had dipped as low as 42 and generally hovered in the 70s or 80s in the first two weeks of August.
Chris Miller, director of the global warming campaign at Greenpeace, said the car ban was a step in the right direction for China, but he doubted whether it showed any real commitment to improving air quality.
"This is a short-term solution to what is a very acute and long-term problem. In some ways it just highlights how serious the problem really is," he said.
NASCAR
Busch wins race in Michigan
MIKE HARRIS ASSOCIATED PRESS
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Kurt Busch is staying out of trouble these days, no longer making waves as a NASCAR bad boy.
After Busch won for the second time in three races, prevailing in a rare Tuesday NASCAR event after two days of rain postponements at Michigan International Speedway, he gave most of the credit for the change of attitude to team owner Roger Penske.
"Working under Roger, finding his ways and how to deal with people, whether it's internally or with our sponsors, it really gave me a better perspective what this racing thing is all about," said Busch, who joined Penske Racing in
weather problems.
A spin by Greg Biffle with just two laps remaining sent the race into overtime. But Busch easily pulled away from Trues's DEI Chevrolet when the green flag waved for a two-lap sprint on lap 202.
NASCAR's top circuit had never run on a Tuesday after a weather postponement during the modern era, which began in 1973.
The 2004 Cup champion solidified his berth in the 12-man lineup for the upcoming Chase, holding off Martin Truex Jr. in the closing laps for the 17th win of his career.
— about eight car lengths on the high-banked, 2-mile oval.
The race was originally scheduled to be run Sunday, but two days of rain kept the cars off the track. Other than a 32-minute fog delay Tuesday after the first 10 laps, the race was run without any more
Busch, who didn't take his first lead until lap 101 and wound up leading four times for 92 laps, beat Truex to the finish by 0.495 seconds
Winning the 3M Performance 400, Busch took a big step toward that goal.
There were two cautions in the last 13 laps and Busch stayed on
2005, replacing longtime star Rusty Wallace in the team's No. 2 Dodge
"I'm happy delivering wins for our sponsors, and right now, the most important thing is getting into the Chase."
KURT BUSCH
NASCAR driver
"Maybe before I pushed too hard thinking that maybe I could predict or control the outcome of races and not use the team atmosphere," Busch said. "I'm happy flying under the radar and I'm happy delivering wins for our sponsors and, right now, the most important thing is getting into the Chase (for the Nextel Cup championship)."
track with worn tires while some of the cars chasing him pitted for fresh ones. But he made two perfect restarts.
"It was tough,"
Busch said. "You know, I've got to thank the fans who stuck it out on a Tuesday to see a green-white-checker (finish). We put it on for them at the end, all the restarts, all of the guys on different strategy, it really was a tough, hard-fought win."
Reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson finished third, followed by Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Dave Blaney and Carl Edwards, who won here in June.
"This was a great win," said Busch, who broke a 51-race winless string two weeks ago at Pocono. "It just backs up what we did at Pocono."
With just three races remaining until the start of the 10-race stock playoff, Busch remains 12th in the standings, 33 points behind Truex. Dale Earnhardt Jr. jumped past Ryan Newman into 13th, but a slow pit stop late in the race cost him and he finished 12th.
His late-season charge into the Chase has coincided with the arrival of crew chief Pat Tryson, who took over the job in June after
being fired as Greg Biffle's crew chief by Busch's former employer, Jack Roush.
Busch said he's just following a game plan that works.
At that point, Busch was 15th in the standings and didn't look like a likely candidate to make the Chase.
"When we started eight races or so ago (the plan) was to get 20 points on everybody around us each week, behind us, in front of us," Tryson said. "I think that's how we've still got to look at it because it's easy to lose 90 points in a single day."
Series leader Jeff Gordon, who started from the pole, was in the top five before some late problems relegated him to a 27th-place finish.
Gordon's crew had to make a quick repair on a loose flap along the edge of the No. 24's rear window during a late pit stop, costing the four-time Cup champion several positions. He then had a near-collision with Matt Kenseth and spun into the infield, falling out of the lead lap after getting stuck in the grass.
"Matt was a little impatient with me, but we may have had a tire going down," Gordon said.
Earnhardt, desperately trying to make his way into the Chase lineup, was also a top-10 car most of the day, but he slid through his pits on a late stop and also fell out of contention.
"I made a mistake on that pit stop late in the race and that probably cost us about five spots," said Earnhardt, who had to start from the rear of the 43-car field after his team changed the transmission on his No. 8 Chevy.
Truex, Earnhardt's teammate who also ran second here in June, was a bit frustrated finishing behind Busch, the driver closest to him in the battle for the Chase.
"I wanted it so bad I could taste it back there behind Kurt," Truex said. "I felt like last time we probably had the car to beat. This time we didn't. This time we had good strategy and a good car there at the end."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yovani Gallardo adds a six strike-six innning finish to his record against the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks Monday night. The rookie hit also his first home run of his major league career.
MLB
Gallardo excels on mound, at bat Rookie becomes key player in victory over Diamondbacks
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rookie Yovani Gallardo is used to see big leads disintegrate for Milwaukee. He wouldn't let that happen when the Brewers scored six runs early against the team with the most wins in the National League.
"The past couple of starts have been a little bit rough so it's always good to get back in the groove," Gallardo said.
Bill Hall hit a three-run homer in the first, Gallardo and Prince Fielder added home runs in the second and the pitcher did the rest in a 9-0 win over the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.
Milwaukee led 5-0 against Cincinnati on Sunday and lost 7-6. But there were no such issues against the Diamondbacks thanks to Gallardo, who struck out six in six innings and hit his first major league homer.
Fielder drove in four runs for the Brewers, who won for the second time in eight games to pull even with the Cubs in the NL Central.
In other NL games, it was: St. Louis 6, Chicago 4; San Francisco 8, Florida 7; Atlanta 14, Cincinnati 4; Washington 7, Houston 0; and Pittsburgh 4, Colorado 2.
"I think that's the key for us." Fielder said. "When we score early it helps the whole team."
Gallardo (5-3) allowed five hits and walked one to snap a personal two-game losing streak.
The Brewers wasted little time scoring against Arizona starter Doug Davis (10-11).
Rickie Weeks led the game with a walk, Ryan Braun added a two-out walk and Hall homered three rows deep into the left-field stands to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead.
Milwaukee added three more in the second when G hara did it.
one-out homer and Fielder added a towering two-run, two-out shot to right. Fielder leads the NL with 39 homers.
Davis went just two innings, a season low, and allowed six runs and six hits with two walks and one strikeout. He lost a personal five-game winning streak.
I got behind every hitter and it seems like when I did get ahead I made a mistake and put it right over the middle for them."
Carlos Villanueva pitched three innings to complete the five-hitter and earn his first major league save. He was optioned to Triple-A Nashville after the game when Milwaukee promoted reliever Seth McClung.
"The control wasn't there," Davis said. "I got behind hitters and I just made some real bad pitches tonight."
BASKETBALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The 6-foot-8, 245-pound forward averaged 15.1 points and 11.6 rebounds as a senior at the McCallie
Anderson Jr. to play for Wildcats
School in McCallie, Tenn.
MANHATTAN — The son of a former NBA player joined Kansas State's already-talented recruiting class Tuesday, when the Wildcats signed forward Ron Anderson Jr. to a financial aid agreement.
"We are excited about the addition of Ron to our basketball program," first-year coach Frank Martin said. "He will provide us with an option to score the ball from the low post. In addition, he has a very good understanding of how to play the game with his back to the basket. He is a very young player, but very mature for his age."
Kansas State's recruiting class, largely assembled by former coach Bob Huggins, has already been judged as the nation's best by Rivals.com. It includes 6-foot-9-inch forward Michael Beasley, ranked by several analysts as the nation's top high school recruit.
Anderson's father, Ron Anderson Sr., averaged 10.6 points in a 10-year NBA career.
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