<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, June 23, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Venezuela's senior baseball commentator and columnist, Juan Vene, who lives in the USA,  has been attempting some damage repair to help major league baseball player, Miguel Cairo quoted as saying that he is afraid to return to Venezuela because of public insecurity. 

Cairo had told Vene that  he would be prepared to play for the Cardenales de Lara in Venezuela's winter league for less money but put his big foot in a quagmire commenting that if anyone says anything against the Venezuelan President, s/he runs the risk of being kidnapped and murdered ... "afterwards they'll say it was a crime of passion ... The President is the only one who rules in Venezuela ... insecurity will be  problem for all baseball players." 

Vene's piece obviously caused a downpour of angry emails and Cairo says his family in Anaco (Monagas) is very worried as a result ... "a friend in Barquisimeto asked me whether I didn't want to come back to Venezuela." 

The first thing Vene clarifies is that the Venezuelan government has prohibited no one from entering Venezuela ... " people talk and exaggerate because there is freedom and democracy inVenezuela." 

Retracting on his political gaffe, Cairo says he doesn't like party politics and just wants to play baseball in Venezuela. 

Vene supports Cairo, saying that " we are all responsible for the horrible situation that has gripped Venezuela ... we have to respect each other ... the ideal is that I, for example, am interested in the Chavist process and support it ... my wife is completely against it, while her brother is open to talk and discussion ... that's what will make Venezuela great ... what ruins things is the uncivilized way of discussing things head on or with guns." 

The respected baseball expert and father figure forecasts that Cairo will play in Venezuela this winter and his action will encourage other players  to lower their economic aspirations to get the winter league back on its feet again.

<a href=www.dailypeloton.com>dailypeloton.comBy Staff Date: 05/08/03 By Jakob Duma

At a present time when names like Filippo Pozatto, Yaroslav Popovych, and Tom Boonen, are well on the way to start the new domination of the "1980´s generation" on the modern international cycle scene all around Europe, another young prodigy is about to start letting loose some of his enormous potential with only one target in mind, to make a name of himself and conquer the international world of cycling. He is truly already well on his way.

The name is Rujano, Jose Rujano a 21 year old young man, from the relative unknown (from a cycling point of view, anyway) Latin American country of Venezuela, a land with a population around 24 milion and currently the fastest growing country in all of South America. Born on the 18th of February 1982, in the small town of Santa Cruz de Mora (in the Province of Mérida), Rujano was coached and got a lot of help from his father who was himself a former cyclist early on in his career, but he also however received a lot of help and advice from former Venezuelan professional and Carrera and ZG-Mobili rider Leonardo Sierra, who to this date is the only Venezuelan to win a stage in a Grand Tour -  stage 16 to Aprica in 1990´s Giro d'Italia, and who is a former neighbour of J. Rujano´s back in the days in Santa Cruz de Mora.

Before the start of 2003, Jose Rujano signed with the Colombian/Italian equipment Colombia-Selle Italia,  directed by Gianni Savio who actually is also a former sports director of Leonardo Sierra at ZG-Mobili. He has already impressed highly at Tour de Langkawi where he finished 18th on the final GC, but also at Giro Della Liguria, where he showed his potential by finishing 7th in the 10,2km mountain time trail, and receiving a lot of praise from team director Gianni Savio.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Venezuelan five-a-side soccer player, Marlon Sanchez, who became world champion in 1997, could be joining the famous Barcelona soccer team but he won't be playing alongside Klaver or Saviola but in the Catalonia club's five-a-side team in what has been described as a very competitive league.

• In a trial with Barcelona's B team, Sanchez impressed club scouts scoring 2 goals against the A team.

Sanchez, from San Cristobal (Tachira), says it's his dream to play in Europe after Venezuela won the world championship against Mexico in 1997 ... he was on the winning team at a competition at the annual San Cristobal International Fair in January.

Catalonian club delegate Ricardo Calamardo has praised the young Venezuelan hopeful, "being here in Barcelona means that one is the best because only the best play here."

The team's five-a-side trainer presented Sanchez with a team shirt after his two-goal feat against the A team.

Oakland Tribune Article Last Updated: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 - 6:24:12 AM PST

OAKLAND -- Ramon Hernandez would be perfect for one of those before and after ads. This isn't about his weight. He's still the same solid 210 pounds, thus hardly in need of a crash diet.

The before and after angle has to do with baseball. A .247 lifetime hitter after a career-low .233 in 2002, Hernandez began Tuesday at .349, tops among Oakland A's hitters and sixth in the American League.

Ramon Hernandez? The catcher once perceived as the A's weakest link? His leap offensively follows his advancement defensively. He threw out 21.8 percent of base stealers in 2000, his first full season in Oakland. He gunned down 31.8 percent last year, sixth best percentage in the AL.

Critics were harder on Hernandez than were his A's teammates, who give him a strong performance rating.

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"He's a great defensive catcher," Tim Hudson said. "What I like best about him is the game he calls. He understands our pitching staff, what works for a pitcher on a particular day. There's definitely a comfort zone. And he's done a great job of studying hitters."

Before Tuesday's series opener with Chicago, Hernandez discussed his overall improvement, what it's like to catch Oakland's Holy Trinity, Ted Lilly's addition to the rotation, and the physical demands of catching with Dave Newhouse of ANG Newspapers.

Q. How did you raise your batting average so high?

A. Work hard every day, think all the time positive. Keep off a lot of pressure, and go out and try to enjoy the game.

Q. Have you made any technical changes?

A. A little bit. I've short-

ened my swing a little bit. Working with the hitting coach (Thad Bosley), it's gotten shorter. Now I'm trying to get good pitches to hit.

Q. What is your goal in terms of a season average?

A. If you asked everybody, they might say .280, .290, .300. I don't know where I'm going to finish, but I want to finish the season strong.

Q. Don't overanalyze it, right?

A. Yeah. Don't try to think too much. Don't over-do things. Go out and give it your best shot. That's all.

Q. How, specifically, did you get better at nailing basestealers?

A. Every year you get older, and you're going to learn more things to help you throw guys out. To do that, you have to be consistent throwing to second base. Just be you.

Q. Would you say, though, it's improved footwork rather than increased arm strength that has improved your percentage?

A. Yeah.

Q. Don't be modest. How much are you responsible for the success of A's pitchers, who lead the AL with a 3.25 ERA?

A. I just suggest to them. But they've got the ball, and they're the ones who make the final answer. They prepare themselves pretty good, and every one of them knows what they want to do out there. So that makes my job a little easier.

Q. What kind of suggestions do you make?

A. I just say, "Hey, same game. Slow down a little bit. Give it your best shot. If it works, good. If it don't work, don't put your head down." Try to do your best. Don't take it too personally. Everybody is human.

Q. How do Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito differ on the mound?

A. Mulder throws more away to righties. Zito throws more in to righties. Hudson throws more in to righties and a little bit away to lefties. They're totally different pitchers.

Q. What must you do to get their best?

A. Just keep them in the game. Keep them calm. That's all.

Q. What's the most amazing thing about them?

A. They're winners. They only think positive. And they don't feel any pressure when it's clutch time and they have to make a pitch.

Q. Can Lilly make it a Big Four?

A. I hope so. He has a strong mind. Every time he's out there, he thinks he's the best. That's a big key to being a starting pitcher.

Q. Have you caught minor league sensation Rich Harden?

A. One time in spring training. Something like three innings. He has great stuff. Throws very hard. All he needs is a little more experience.

Q. Can closer Keith Foulke have the same success that Billy Koch had last year in Oakland?

A. Yes. When he comes in in the ninth inning, he knows what he's going to do, and he's totally comfortable.

Q. With free agency, how difficult is it for you to catch new pitchers every year?

A. It's OK if you've been with one club a long time. But if you go to a new club, you have to learn how guys pitch, what they like to throw on different pitches, what pitches they like to use to strike out guys.

Q. What's the hardest part of catching physically?

A. It's the whole body. It's more mentally. You wake up in the morning and say you've got no chance to play. You've got to be strong mentally and tell yourself that you can go. You've got some pain. Try and take care of your body so you can play every day.

Q. What is your condition at the end of a season?

A. My knees are sore. My arm is tired. My shoulder is very tired.

Q. Broken fingers?

A. No, nothing like that so far, thank you.

Q. You're 27. Could you catch 10 more years like Benito Santiago?

A. I want to. I hope so. I'm going to try and work for that. He's one of the guys I look at as a big example.

Q. If all the big league catchers got together and picked a favorite catcher who's in the game today, who would he be?

A. Today, I say ... it's hard. I would pick Benito Santiago for how old he is (38) and how many years he has played in the big leagues (18). He has a strong mind, he has been through a lot of things, and he's catching every day.

Q. With the progress you've made, are you a future All-Star?

A. I want to be, but it's hard to tell. There's a lot of good players out there, a lot of good catchers. I want to prove myself at that position, but I can't forget I have to work hard every year, work hard all the time.

Q. How popular are you back home in Venezuela?

A. I don't like to make myself too popular. People think they know me. When they try to get my attention, I give it to them. I go to schools. I do clinics back home. I like to do things for little kids.

Q. Did criticism of your catching ever get to you?

A. My first year was the toughest ever. When we got to the end of the year, and we had to win a game, the catcher's a big part of it. I had a lot of pressure on me. When I got through that ... the last two years have been hard, but not as hard as that 2000.

Q. Do you have a lot of self-confidence?

A. Yeah. I always think positive. Even if the worst can happen, all I can do is keep my head up, and forget the days in the past.

DAVID THORPE, <a href=www.edp24.co.uk>EDP SPORTS EDITOR April 30, 2003 17:11

Rodolfo Gonzalez, the Venezuelan who moved to Norfolk when he was 10 years old to pursue his dream of motorsport stardom, has had to delay his step up to the main Formula Ford championship – because of a financial crisis back home in South America.

Now 16, Gonzalez is already an established celebrity in Venezuela, having already won several sporting awards for his achievements in karting on foreign fields.

In the Formula Ford Southern Zetec Championship last year Gonzalez – the youngest competitor in the field - did enough to prove to Snetterton-based Continental Racing that he would be ready to represent them in the senior version of the event.

But two weeks before the campaign opener at Mondello Park he received a bombshell which threatened to scupper his whole season.

The collapse of the Venezuelan petrol industry, which is responsible for around 80pc of the country's export earnings, had a devastating knock-on effect to a teenager living in Attleborough.

His main sponsor, petrol giants PDV, not only found themselves with different priorities – having laid off 16,000 workers - but were barred from exporting currency abroad.

Several weeks and an Atlantic crossing later, however, Gonzalez and his father, Carlos, have managed to get in place some alternative backing which will enable him to resume his attempt to follow in the footsteps of another South American who came to Norfolk to make his name - Brazilian Ayrton Senna – when the championship goes to at Silverstone on May 26.

By then he will have celebrated his 17th birthday, on May 14, and missed six of the 20 championship rounds.

"I have had to write off the first three meetings," said the former Eccles Hall schoolboy. "But I will hopefully be able to do the other seven, which are all double headers, as well as the Southern Championship, which is smaller but will be good experience.

"I will go with the team to Brands this weekend to help out where I can and should start testing next week.

"We have been going all over Venezuela trying to get people to back me. Nobody said no but it is now a much longer process because the economy there is so out of control.

"I have been in England for six years and I'm not going to give up now. But I believe that if I can survive this year then 2004 should be a whole lot easier."

The struggle goes on for former South American F3 driver Carlos, who returns to Caracas this weekend in an attempt to tie up a few more loose ends while his son is in Kent with the Continental team.

But he insists: "It has been like a football match where your team is 3-0 down with ten minutes left. You still think your team can win - but you know it's going to be tough."