Unser Chat » Threats to a string of European Olympic

HOUSTON -- Houston coach Gary Kubiak collapsed leaving the field at halftime of the Texans game Sunday night against Indianapolis and was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Kubiak hunched over and dropped to his knees at the 24 yard line and was immediately surrounded by medical personnel. He was lifted off the field on a stretcher and taken by cart to the ambulance. The Texans didnt say what was wrong with Kubiak, but did say he didnt have a heart attack. The team said the 52-year-old coach, a former NFL quarterback who calls the teams plays, was conscious and was with his family as he was taken to the hospital. "He had an episode; he was light-headed and dizzy," Houston general manager Rick Smith said in an interview on NBC. "He was evaluated by a number of specialists ... he is awake and coherent." Defensive co-ordinator Wade Phillips took over as coach. Up 21-3 when Kubiak collapsed, the Texans unraveled in the second half, falling 27-24 for their sixth straight loss after opening the season 2-0 with Super Bowl hopes. "We have to assess ... obviously, theres a lot of info," Smith said. "Hopefully, Gary will be back with us tomorrow." Kubiaks collapse came a day after Denver Broncos coach John Fox was hospitalized in North Carolina as he awaits aortic value replacement surgery. The 58-year-old Fox will have surgery in a few days and will miss several weeks while recuperating. Fox had been told earlier about his heart condition and was hoping to put off the operation until February. As part of his trip to North Carolina on a bye week, he met with his cardiologist in Raleigh and was told to seek medical attention immediately if he felt any discomfort. On Saturday, Fox became dizzy playing golf near his off-season home in Charlotte and was taken to a hospital, where tests revealed he couldnt wait any longer to have the surgery. In college, Minnesota coach Jerry Kill took a leave of absence last month so he could better manage and treat his epilepsy. He has had five seizures on game day in his two-plus seasons with the Golden Gophers. Kubiak has long been known as a top offensive coach, mentoring quarterbacks in Denver under Mike Shanahan and now Matt Schaub -- and Case Keenum -- in Houston. Kubiak has had no known public health problems. Kubiak was hired in 2006, along with general manager Rick Smith, after the Texans finished a franchise-worst 2-14. Smith spent 10 years with Kubiak while the coach was offensive co-ordinator of the Broncos. Smith was Denvers defensive assistant for four seasons before moving into the front office for his last six years with the Broncos. The pair has helped transform the Texans, which began play in 2002, from league laughingstock to contender. The team went 6-10 in their first year and 8-8 in each of the next two seasons. Expectations were high in 2010 after Houston finished at 9-7 for its first winning record in 2009. But the Texans instead fell to 6-10, which led to many fans calling for Kubiaks firing. His original contract was due to expire after the 2010 season, but owner Bob McNair has stepped up to keep Kubiak and defended him several times amid the bumps. Among recent departures were assistant head coach Alex Gibbs (for Seattle) and offensive co-ordinator Kyle Shanahan went to join his father, Mike, in Washington. Kubiak hired former Denver offensive co-ordinator Rick Dennison to replace Shanahan and former Atlanta offensive co-ordinator Greg Knapp to become Houstons quarterbacks coach. Dennison worked on the Broncos staff during Kubiaks 11 years as Denvers offensive co-ordinator, and Knapp coached Schaub for three seasons with the Falcons. The highest-profile assistant brought to Houston was Phillips, the veteran son of the late Bum Phillips and a former head coach in Denver, Buffalo and Dallas. Last year, the Texans announced contract extensions for both Smith and Kubiak, rewarding them for taking the team to the playoffs last year for the first time. Kubiaks three-year agreement has him under contract through 2014. McNair said at the time he offered Kubiak a four-year deal, but the coach preferred to make it for three. Kubiak made his mark as Denvers offensive co-ordinator under Shanahan, winning two Super Bowls. An eighth-round pick out of Texas A&M, he spent nine years as John Elways backup. He finished his career 4-1 as a starter, all in emergency relief of Elway. Cheap Nike Shoes Australia Outlet Shop . As deep as their roster is, they need their superstar. Rose scored 23 points in his return from a five-game absence due to back pain, and Chicago hung on to beat the struggling Atlanta Hawks 90-79 on Monday. Nike Clearance Sale Australia .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday. http://www.cheapshoesaustralianike.com/. Ribery, who won UEFAs best player in Europe award for the 2012-13 season, helped Bayern Munich win the Champions League and Bundesliga and German Cup titles. Messi, winner of the last four Ballon dOr awards in voting by coaches, team captains and media, was injured late in the season and could not prevent Barcelona from being beaten by Bayern in the Champions League semifinals. Nike Shoes Clearance Australia . Huntington doesnt want to help run the club unless Hurdle is in the dugout. The combination thats returned the franchise to respectability will remain intact for years to come. Cheap Nike Shoes Australia Online .Former NBA forward Morris Peterson has been added to TSNs Toronto Raptors broadcast team. BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Threats to a string of European Olympic offices are reviving a question that has haunted preparations for the Winter Games next month: Is it safe to go to Sochi? European Olympic authorities, whose countries have faced terrorist threats and attacks in the past, largely shrugged off the new menacing messages as a hoax, a marginal phenomenon that security experts say is common ahead of big events. Some members of the U.S. Congress arent so sure. They say Russia isnt doing enough to assure that athletes will be protected at the Feb. 7-23 games, happening not far from an Islamic insurgency that Russias huge security apparatus has struggled for two decades to quell. Russia may run greater risks in towns outside the tightly controlled Olympic zone. Suicide bombs last month a few hundred kilometres (miles) away have increased concerns, and an Islamic warlord has urged his followers to attack the Sochi Olympics, Russian President Vladimir Putins pet project. The threats reported Wednesday appeared to be more anodyne. They were first revealed by Hungarian sports officials, who announced they had received an email in Russian and English threatening Hungarian athletes with terrorist attacks. The International Olympic Committee insisted it takes credible threats seriously, but "in this case it seems like the email sent to the Hungarian Olympic Committee contains no threat and appears to be a random message from a member of the public." International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said he remains confident in Russias Olympic organizers. Talking to reporters in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, he said: "Security is always a matter of concern, not only in the Olympic Games but at every big event, whether its sport or any other. That is unfortunately the world we are living in. "But we are very confident and we know the Russian authorities together with their many partners internationally are doing everything to organize the games in a safe and secure way." The Hungarian Olympic Committee said it had received a message from the organizers of the Sochi Games saying: "Threat described in the email sent to your address is not real." It turned out that Olympic committees from several other European countries, including Britain, Germany, Italy and Austria, had received similar messages but hadnt publicly reported them. The Canadian Olympic Committee would not say whether it had received a similar message. However, the COC did release a statement later Wednesday. "The safety of our entire Canadian Olympic team including our athletes, coaches, support team and volunteers is always our main priority," the statement said. "We have the utmost confidence that the International Olympic Committee and the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee will deliver outstanding Olympic Winter Games. "The Canadian Olympic Committee has and continues to work very closely with government and security forces in Canada as a cornerstone of our preparation for Sochi 2014. This preparation extends to a close collaboration with the Organizing Committee in Sochi and the host nationn, Russia, who are responsible for all security matters relating to Sochi 2014.dddddddddddd. As with other Olympic Games, our safety and security measures are always adapted to each environment." Wolfgang Eichler, spokesman for the Austrian National Olympic Committee, said the email was a hoax that officials had seen before. "Its a fake mail from a sender in Israel who has been active with various threats for a few years," Eichler told Austrian news agency APA. "Its been checked out because it also arrived two years ago." Germanys national Olympic association, the DOSB, also said it had received "several times the same mail with unspecific, general warnings" and it had sent it onto security officials. "We are not aware of any threats that have been deemed as credible being directed toward our delegation," British Olympic Association spokesman Darryl Seibel told the AP. "Organizations such as ours receive email correspondence all the time -- some of which seem to lack in credibility." A spokeswoman for Switzerlands Olympic committee said similar threats were common so close to the Winter Games and athletes and officials would base their travel plans instead on the assessment of security officials -- not on threats. Across the Atlantic, some are viewing the Sochi Games with more trepidation. Members of Congress expressed serious concerns Sunday about the safety of Americans at next months Olympics in Russia and said Moscow needs to co-operate more. While FBI Director James Comey said earlier in January that the Russian government "understands the threat and is devoting the resources to address it," the U.S. has offered air and naval support to the Russian government as it conducts security preparations for the Olympics. The U.S. State Department has advised Americans at the Olympics to keep vigilant about security because of potential terrorist threats, crime and uncertain medical care. By contrast, the French Foreign Ministry for example has not issued any particular terrorism warnings for travellers to Sochi, and a French official said Wednesday that the government has seen no reason to adapt its advice for now. All national Olympic committees "take security seriously and a number travel with their own security. It is not unusual to see the USA expressing greater concerns than other nations," said Andrew Amery, who oversaw security for the 2012 London Olympics, noting that the U.S. sends one of the largest teams and many of the top sponsors are American companies. Amery said intelligence services will be crucial to the games. "It is not unusual to see an increase in hoax calls during the build up to such events and the security agencies will be prepared for them. I do not feel this increases the risks in Sochi and am confident that the security agencies are well-placed to assess these threats." Russia has responded to the Islamic threat by introducing some of the most sweeping security measures ever seen at an international sports event, including an estimated 100,000 police, army and other security forces. ' ' '