SOCHI, Russia -- A Russia in search of global vindication kicked off the Sochi Olympics looking more like a Russia that likes to party, with a pulse-raising opening ceremony about fun and sports instead of terrorism, coddling despots and gay rights. And thats just the way Vladimir Putin wants these Winter Games to be. The worlds premier athletes on ice and snow have more to worry about than geopolitics as they plunge into the biggest challenges of their lives on the mountain slopes of the Caucasus and in the wet-paint-fresh arenas on the shores of the Black Sea. But watch out for those Russians on their home turf. A raucous group of Russian athletes had a message for their nearly 3,000 rivals in Sochi, marching through Fisht Stadium singing that theyre "not gonna get us!" Superlatives abounded and the mood soared as Tchaikovsky met pseudo-lesbian pop duo Tatu. Russian TV presenter Yana Churikova shouted: "Welcome to the centre of the universe!" Yet no amount of cheering could drown out the real world. Fears of terrorism, which have dogged these Games since Putin won them amid controversy seven years ago, were stoked during the ceremony itself. A passenger aboard a flight bound for Istanbul said there was a bomb on board and tried to divert the plane to Sochi. Authorities said the plane landed safely in Turkey. The show opened with an embarrassing hiccup, as one of five snowflakes failed to unfurl as planned into the Olympic rings, forcing organizers to jettison a fireworks display and disrupting one of the most symbolic moments in an opening ceremony. Some world leaders purposely stayed away, but U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and dozens of others were in Sochi for the ceremony. He didnt mention the very real anger over a Russian law banning gay "propaganda" aimed at minors that is being used to discriminate against gay people. But IOC President Thomas Bach won cheers for addressing it Friday, telling the crowd its possible to hold Olympics "with tolerance and without any form of discrimination for whatever reason." Also missing from the show: Putins repression of dissent, and inconsistent security measures at the Olympics, which will take place just a few hundred kilometres away from the sites of a long-running insurgency and routine militant violence. And the poorly paid migrant workers who helped build up the Sochi site from scratch, the disregard for local residents, the environmental abuse during construction, the pressure on activists, and the huge amounts of Sochi construction money that disappeared to corruption. For all the criticism, there was no shortage of pride at the ceremony in what Russia has achieved with these Games. The head of the Sochi organizing committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, captured the mood of many Russians present when he said, "Were now at the heart of that dream that became reality." "The Games in Sochi are our chance to show the whole world the best of what Russia is proud of," he said. "Our hospitality, our achievements, our Russia!" The ceremony presented Putins version of todays Russia: a country with a rich and complex history emerging confidently from a rocky two decades and now capable of putting on a major international sports event. Putin himself was front and centre, declaring the Games open from his box high above the stadium floor. Earlier, he looked down as the real stars of the Games -- those athletes, dressed in winter wear of so many national colours to ward off the evening chill and a light dusting of man-made snow -- walked onto a satellite image of the earth projected on the floor, the map shifting so the athletes appeared to emerge from their own country. As always, Greece -- the birthplace of Olympic competition -- came first in the parade of nations. Five new teams, all from warm weather climates, joined the Winter Olympics for the first time. Togos flagbearer looked dumbstruck with wonder, but those veterans from the Cayman Islands had the style to arrive in shorts. Canada entered midway through the march. Womens hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser carried the Maple Leaf to lead representatives from Canadas 220-athlete team. Its Canadas biggest team ever assembled for a Winter Games. "To represent the best of Canada is such an honour, its chilling," Wickenheiser said. "There is so much excitement." Canada looked sharp in outfits designed by Hudsons Bay, featuring a red coat with toggle style buttons and a black stripe adorning the hip line. The women in the Canadian contingent wore black mock turtlenecks and wool V-neck sweaters, while the men sported a tailored white dress shirt, wool cardigan and red and white striped ties. Black bottoms rounded out the ensembles "I wish our Olympians the best of luck as they take on the world in Sochi," Prime Minister Stephen Harper posted on his Twitter account. Canadas target is to finish first overall in the medal count after finishing third with 26 medals at home in 2010. Not all of Canadas athletes marched into Fisht Olympic Stadium. The mens hockey team hasnt arrived yet, figure skaters are in the middle of the team competition and skiers and sliders are staying too far away from the host city. The smallest teams often earned the biggest cheers from the crowd of 40,000, with an enthusiastic three-person Venezuelan team winning roars of approval as flag bearer and alpine skier Antonio Pardo danced and jumped along to the electronic music. Only neighbouring Ukraine, scene of a tense and ongoing standoff between a pro-Russian president and Western-leaning protesters, could compete with those cheers. That is, until the Russians arrived. Walking in last to a thundering bass line that struggled to overcome the ovations from the hometown crowd, the Russians reveled in all the attention. Their feeling could perhaps best be summed up by Russian singers Tatu, whose hit "Not Gonna Get Us" accompanied them to their seats. Russians place huge significance in the Olympics, carefully watching the medal count -- their dismal performance in Vancouver four years ago is on the minds of many. These Games are particularly important, as many Russians are still insecure about their place in the world after the end of the Cold War and the years since that have seen dominance of the United States and China. International politics were never far beneath the surface. One member of the VIP crowd carrying the Olympic flag was Anastasia Popova, a young televison reporter with the state-owned Rossiya TV channel, best known for her reporting in Syria. Putin and Russian state media have stood strongly behind Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Popovas coverage laid the blame for the Syrian civil war squarely on Syrian rebels. But back to that Russian pride. As Churikova rallied the crowd to scream "louder than ever," she told the fans in their cool blue seats their keepsakes from the night would last 1,000 years. When explaining the show would be hosted in English, French and Russian, she joked that it didnt matter, because in Sochi, everyone "speaks every language in the world." The moment of high pride came at the end, when Russian hockey great Vladislav Tretiak and three-time gold medallist Irina Rodnina joined hands to light the Olympic cauldron. Hes often called the greatest goaltender of all time by those who saw him play, she won 10 world pairs figure skating titles in a row. That was how it ended. At the top, the show -- and the Games -- easily avoided talking about prickly issues even when the women in Tatu took the stage. The duo, who put on a lesbian act that is largely seen as an attention-getting gimmick, merely held hands during their performance on this night, stopping short of the groping and kissing of their past performances. This time? Their lead-in act was the Red Army Choir MVD singing Daft Punks Grammy-winning "Get Lucky." Jimmie Foxx Red Sox Jersey . Auld made 37 saves in a 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday. It was Ottawas first game without starter Anderson, who is out indefinitely after cutting his hand Wednesday night, and it was evident the team wasnt sure how to deal with the change in goal. Johnny Pesky Jersey .3 seconds remaining, and No. 7 North Carolina held off a resilient No. 25 Virginia team, 54-51, on Saturday. John Henson contributed a double-double with 15 points to go with 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (25-4, 12-2 ACC), who have won five straight and 10 of 11. http://www.officialredsoxfanstore.com/au...red-sox-jersey/. Minutes before the final whistle of Sporting Kansas Citys 3-0 victory over a shorthanded Montreal Impact squad on Saturday afternoon, Saputo tweeted: "Our fans deserve better. Steve Pearce Red Sox Jersey . The Jays responded to the three-spot Detroit placed on Casey Janssen the evening before with an attack on the Tigers Achilles Heel, its bullpen, tying the game in the ninth and winning the game in the 10th. The result absolved Marcus Stroman, brilliant once again, of a tough luck loss while at the same time robbing Max Scherzer, brilliant once again, of a deserved win. Mookie Betts Jersey . The right-hander said he threw about 30 pitches in a routine bullpen session Sunday at Yankee Stadium, his final hurdle before starting Tuesday night at Tampa Bay.BOSTON -- David Ortiz has racked up enough hits in his career to know how to remain positive during a rough stretch. Now, it looks like everythings fine again with Big Papi. Ortiz continued his rebound from a miserable stretch with two hits and three RBIs, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 7-6 win over the Chicago White Sox Sunday that completed a sweep of their three-game series. "Everybody went crazy, but I said dont worry about me," he said of his recent slump. "Worry about me when I go to the plate without a baseball bat. Its been fine. It wasnt like my timing was totally off. It was one of those situations where you walk into it. It happens to everybody. I wasnt getting a hit. It wasnt like I was swinging like I didnt know what I was doing. It was one of those funks you walk into -- four, five, maybe six games." Ortiz is 5 for 9 with six RBIs since going hitless in his previous 23 at-bats. He needs two hits to become the 39th player in major league history with 2,000 hits, 400 homers and 1,400 RBIs. Manager John Farrell felt the sluggers cold spell turned around with key two-run single in the series opener Friday. "Yeah, just a matter of timing. Some things hes been working on early (in the day)," he said. "You can kind of pinpoint that two-run base hit the other night that has allowed him to relax a little bit and not over swinging the bat." Stephen Drew added a solo homer for the AL East-leading Red Sox, who won for the seventh time in eight games. Brandon Workman (4-2) got four outs in relief for the victory after starter Felix Doubront couldnt make it out of the fourth inning. Koji Uehara, the fifth Red Sox reliever, worked a perfect ninth for his 16th save. Tyler Flowers had a solo homer and Conor Gillaspie drove in two runs for the White Sox. "We have some young guys that are going to have to learn while theyre here," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said of his teams pitching woes the past two days. "Sometimes it doesnt look pretty. Youve got to be able to learn from it and keep going." Chicago lost 7-2 on Saturday night. Leading 5-4 in the fourth, the Red Sox scored a pair of runs against reliever Charlie Leesman -- one coming on a weird play at third. With Jacoby&nbssp;Ellsbury on third and one out, Dustin Pedroia hit a line drive that third baseman Gillaspie made what looked like a diving grab on, but the ball dropped out of his glove as he stretched trying to double-up Ellsbury.dddddddddddd. Gillaspie then got up and fired to first, bouncing one wild as the run scored and Pedroia advanced to second. Third base umpire Paul Nauert ruled that he dropped it before completing the catch. Ventura argued and was tossed by second base umpire Dana DeMuth. Ortiz followed with an RBI single, making it 7-4. "Obviously, I think I caught it," Gillaspie said. "Until I know that for sure, Im going to try to get the guy out at first running, too." Flowers homer cut it to 7-6 in the eighth. Boston had opened a 5-0 lead after three innings against starter Andre Rienzo (1-1) before the White Sox rallied back with four in the fourth, chasing Doubront. Doubront lasted just 3 2-3 innings, giving up seven hits and four runs, snapping Bostons streak of a starter allowing three runs or fewer at 11 games. It matched the longest by the team since 1988. The previous best was 12 in 1915. In the fourth, Jeff Keppinger had a sacrifice fly, Dayan Viciedo an RBI double and Gillaspie a two-run single. The White Sox had the bases loaded, but Workman struck out Leury Garcia to end the inning. Ortizs two-run double capped a four-run second after Ellsbury had a two-run single. Drews homer made it 5-0. Rienzo gave up five runs and five hits in three innings. NOTES: Red Sox RF Shane Victorino left the game with a bruised left hip after his at-bat in the sixth. ... Farrell loaded his lineup with left-handed and switch hitters, giving 1B Mike Napoli the day off. "Rest and keep everyone involved," he said. "A right-handers on the mound, get left-handers off the bench, and into todays game. Weve got three more righties coming the next series (against Detroit)." The Red Sox had six of their nine batters hitting from the left side against Rienzo. ... Jose Quintana (7-4, 3.66 ERA) is slated to face the New Yorks Phil Hughes (4-13, 4.91 ERA) Monday at Yankee Stadium. ... The Red Sox improved to a majors best 25-12 in day games. ... There was a 19-minute rain delay before the start. ' ' '