have pledged to continue their World Cup hosting plans, costing tens of billions of dollars.But the intrigue and

NEW YORK -- The latest high-priced addition to the New York Yankees stood on the dais in front of a large news conference, put on his pinstriped jersey with No. 19 and smiled. "Hello. My name is Masahiro Tanaka," he said slowly in English. "Im very happy to be a Yankee." After chartering a Boeing 787 Dreamliner for his trip from Tokyo to New York, the 25-year-old right-hander with the $155 million, seven-year contract was presented Tuesday not in the news conference room downstairs at Yankee Stadium, but in the Legends Suite Club, where the high rollers congregate on game days. Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo concluded the teams latest Pacific overture drew New Yorks most-attended news conference since Hideki Matsui was introduced in January 2003. Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said obtaining Tanaka was worth the economic pain of exceeding the $189 million luxury tax threshold New York had hoped to stay under. "We needed another starter, and when we do things, we try to do them right," Steinbrenner said. "And this guy, hes tough. Hes got tremendous ability. We all know that. And hes going to be very exciting to watch. And hes going to be great for the team, a great teammate. And $189 (million) or not, we wanted a good quality starter, and we got it." Tanaka charted a Japan Airlines plane, which seats about 200, for the trans-Pacific trip to New York, reportedly costing about $200,000. There were just five passengers on the plane, including his pop star wife Mai Satoda, plus their poodle Haru. The flight, originally scheduled to depart at noon, was delayed many hours by a snowstorm. "There wasnt many choices of planes," he said through a translator when asked about the big jet. And a lengthy commercial trip could have been uncomfortable. "I thought about my conditioning, just wanted to get here in the best condition possible," he said. For his first meal in New York, he ventured outside his room at the Mandarin Oriental hotel overlooking Central Park. "I ate a sushi," he said, "which I bought at a grocery store nearby." New York, which also added Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran during the off-season, figures to have a big following in Japan this year. Tanaka joins pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki on the roster, and reliever Yoshinori Tateyama will be at spring training with a minor league contract. "This would make the Boss proud," general manager Brian Cashman said in a reference to late owner George Steinbrenner. "The Yankees obviously are about always trying to acquire the best talent and a collection of talent that can compete for a championship, but he also liked a lot of attention, and this certainly represents a lot of attention. So this is Yankee big. This is Steinbrenner big." Tanaka was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last year, leading the Rakuten Golden Eagles to the Japan Series title. That left him with a 99-35 record and a 2.30 ERA in Japan, where he had 53 complete games in 172 starts. New York had one of the most successful Japanese players in the major leagues with outfielder Hideki Matsui, the 2009 World Series MVP. And the Yankees experienced costly flops with pitchers Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa. Manager Joe Girardi was behind the plate for Irabus debut in 1997. "They feel a little bit more weight of representing their country than maybe players that are here on an everyday basis, because they kind of pave the way for the next guy and then the next guy," he said. Girardis advice: "Dont feel like you have to live up to the contract." On a tour of the U.S. with a Japanese high school all-star team in 2006, Tanaka met Matsui when one of the young pitchers games was rained out. During the off-season, he spoke briefly by telephone with Matsui about his pending decision. New York appealed to Tanakas desire to pitch on the biggest stage. "This is where you need to be. A great star. The biggest franchise. The biggest brand. The biggest city," Yankees President Randy Levine remembered saying during the teams pitch session with the player on Jan. 8 in Beverly Hills, Calif. "He said some other teams he had met with wanted him to transition in, and he didnt like that. He wanted to take the ball on Day One, and that told us a lot about him." Tanaka sounded prepared for the Yankees win-or-else mentality. "Ive heard that this place is -- it could be very harsh to you at times," he said. "Just wanted to put myself, though, in this environment and try to see where I can get to with my ability." Cashman is trying to lower expectations, saying Tanaka will slot in as No. 3 in the rotation behind CC Sabathia and Kuroda. "We could be getting more than a three. Maybe its a two. Maybe its even a one at some point," Cashman said. "I think that the adjustments are real, and as excited as we are to have and as much as we need a player of his capabilities, I want to make sure that people understand how difficult this game is over here and that there should be expectations of growing pains." Adidas Ultra Boost Schweiz . -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are disappointed, though not discouraged. Adidas Eqt Schweiz . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.nmdschweizkaufen.ch/ . Monta Ellis had 30 points and nine assists, Nowitzki was another of seven Dallas players in double figures with 11 points and the Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 123-104 Tuesday night. Ultra Boost Schweiz . Next up, the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cleveland Browns in the AFC North. Baltimore Ravens In 2014, the 8-8 season that the Baltimore Ravens experienced was to be expected. Adidas Nmd XR1 Schweiz . Al Horford said all he had to do was make the catch near the basket and then shoot a soft jumper.GENEVA - FIFA will further review the 2018 and 2022 World Cup corruption investigation, putting the status of hosts Russia and Qatar back in question.The head of FIFAs auditing committee will examine the full 430-page confidential report by American prosecutor Michael Garcia into impropriety during the bid process, reviving a probe which seemed closed one week ago.Domenico Scala, a Swiss businessman who serves as the soccer bodys audit panel chairman, will then decide whether to turn over any evidence to FIFAs executive committee.The decision to hand over the documents to Scala came a week after FIFA ethics judge Joachim Eckert ruled that the case against Russia and Qatar was closed.Within hours of the German judges decision being published, Garcia appealed to FIFA, objecting to numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of his work.That led to a meeting in Zurich on Thursday between Eckert and Garcia, whose appeal appears to still be active.The pair agreed that it is of major importance that the FIFA Executive Committee has the information necessary to evaluate which steps are required based on the work done by the FIFA Ethics Committee, they said in the statement.The chairmen also offered to answer any questions the chairman of the Audit and Compliance Committee and the Executive Committee might have.The FIFA executive committee will next meet Dec. 18-19 in Marrakech, Morocco, with 12 of its 25 elected members having voted in the scandal-plagued December 2010 hosting elections.Some of those 12 have been formally charged by Garcia with wrongdoing linked to campaigns dogged by allegations of bribery, favour-seeking and collusion, and an investigation hampered by unco-operative witnesses.The investigatory chamber has already opened a number of formal cases against individuals, the joint statement from Garcia and Eckert said, without identifying names or detailed allegations.The suspects could include staffers from the nine bid candidates.In Morocco, the board chaired by FIFA President Sepp Blatter could discuss relaxing secrecy rules and the strength of evidence presented by Garcia.Last Thursday, Eckerts summary of the investigative report judged that any corrupt acts did not justify re-opening the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.FIFA at first welcomed a degree of closure in Eckerts ruling that corruption across the 11 bidding nations was of very limited scope.dddddddddddd.However, FIFA stepped up scrutiny of the case Tuesday by filing a criminal complaint with Switzerlands attorney general against possible law-breaking by unnamed individuals.Swiss federal prosecutors are now studying Garcias investigation report, which remains sealed by FIFAs code of ethics.Garcias own prosecutions of FIFA voters and officials will not be affected by parallel work being done by the Swiss federal agency, nor by Scala, according to Thursdays statement.Scala will step into the heart of the corruption case after more than two years monitoring FIFAs billion-dollar annual revenue.He has evaluated deals with FIFA commercial partners, blocked grants to FIFA member federations and stopped bonuses to executive committee members, while also doubling their annual stipend to a reported $200,000.Scala and Garcia worked together in June when deciding that FIFA board members should not be allowed to accept luxury Swiss watches offered by a World Cup sponsor.Previously, Scala has said the World Cup corruption investigation should have the power to remove a host if compelling evidence was found.The Russian and Qatari bid committees have always denied wrongdoing and have pledged to continue their World Cup hosting plans, costing tens of billions of dollars.But the intrigue and disarray that has often marked the 2018 and 2022 World Cup saga continued on Thursday.Even as Garcia and Eckert appeared to mend their professional rift, tensions seemed to show between the prosecutor and FIFA over publicizing the meeting.A bland, brief statement on FIFAs website simply noted that the two lawyers met at FIFA headquarters. Within 15 minutes, a statement from law firm Kirkland & Ellis, where Garcia is a partner in its New York office, invited reporters to ask FIFA for the approved version signed off by him and Eckert.That statement duly followed about 30 minutes later.After seven days of turmoil for FIFA, the next executive board meeting will come in four weeks in Morocco on the sidelines of the Club World Cup.Blatter has long said that only his executive committee, which chose the two World Cup hosts, can decide to make any changes.That chance, however unlikely, could arise in Marrakech. ' ' '