| The man who makes the tennis world nervous
Davydenko denies any wrongdoing, but the episode exposed a world apart from the glitz and glamour of big-time tennis, in which vast reservoirs of international cash move on obscure matches. The biggest events on the tennis calendar are the four Grand Slam tournaments. Roughly $30 million was wagered on the Australian Open final in January -- much of it while the match was in progress. The Slams also account for most of the championship points that are awarded on the Tour. (Novak Djokovic received 1,100 points for his win Down Under.) But the life blood of professional tennis is the 65 tournaments the ATP hosts each year. These far-flung events give unsung players a chance to move up the rankings ladder. But because the early rounds are usually played away from the cameras, they have become prime entry points for a gambler who wishes to insinuate himself.
QPR 3-0 Stoke
QPR prevented Stoke from going back to the top of the Championship table with a convincing victory at Loftus Road. Mikele Leigertwood put the hosts ahead with a stunning 25-yard drive and then struck from 12 yards from Rowan Vine's headed knock-down to double the lead. Stoke had captain Andy Griffin harshly dismissed following a challenge for the ball with Hogan Ephraim before Akos Buzsaky's low shot made it 3-0. The Potters hit the woodwork twice and worked hard but without reward. QPR coach Luigi De Canio:"We have beaten the top teams this season. "This shows we need to acquire the mentality when playing teams at the bottom of the table that we show against teams at the top. "Consistency is important, because our position in the table is defined by our performances week in, week out." Stoke manager Tony Pulis on Griffin's dismissal:"I don't think it's a sending off.
Clinton backers fault campaign
Signaling the start of a new, rougher phase, Clinton aired her first negative ads last week.
Attacking over the same issue that helped her husband turn the 1992 primaries around, she warns that Obama might raise the retirement age for Social Security, the most sacred government program to Democrats. Obama wants a panel to propose an overhaul plan and says that "everything," except private accounts, would be on the table, but he hasn't called for raising the retirement age.
She's also attacking him for refusing to debate before Tuesday's primary in Wisconsin. Obama has agreed to debates in Texas and in Ohio over the next two weeks.
In what has become a recent pattern, Obama beat her to the punch in Wisconsin. He was the first to hit the airwaves and drew 17,000 people to a campus rally in Madison on Tuesday.
At a Cinema Near You
From Dark Castle, the Joel Silver-Robert Zemeckis joint venture that brought us genre films like Gothika (2003) and House of Wax (2005), comes this horror flick with religious overtones. Hilary Swank plays Katherine, a former Christian missionary who, after the tragic death of her family, travels to a small Louisiana town that is suffering from what appear to be Biblical plagues: Swarms of locusts fill the skies and the rivers turn to blood. Katherine is called in as an expert in disproving spiritual phenomena, but seems to have no scientific ground to stand on when it comes to this middle-of-nowhere town. And before she can save the town she must regain her faith to combat the dark forces that science cannot explain. SUNSHINEStarring Michelle Yeoh, Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Troy Garity and Rose Byrne Directed by Danny Boyle (Release: April 11) In this 2001: A Space Odyssey meets Armageddon sci-fi mix, a crew of eight astronauts from across the globe travel with a device that can breathe life into the dying sun.
When Change Is Not Enough: The Seven Steps to Revolution
I take the lessons of history very seriously and I believe that those who DO learn from history are NOT doomed to repeat it. But we also need to consider the effects of current conditions that that were not present in the historical past: In the "scary" column we have: - Television - 9 Billion humans on the Earth - Nuclear weapons - Massive dependency on fossil fuels In the "hopeful" column we find: - Digital information technologies (doing more with less) - The Internet - Widespread emancipation of women in the northern hemisphere. - "global" conciousness (think "whole earth" photographs from space). One could say that past generations had to contend with similar innovations and challenges. In the long view, television may be no more revolutionary than the printing press.
Archives for: February 2008
A classic four-man combo, The Black Lips vacuum up real rock 'n' roll from the '60s and '70s -- British Invasion, garage and punk most notably -- and then make it fully there own. There's nothing slavishly "retro" about their sound. They're not trying to copy anything exactly, just taking what they like and turning it into their kind of sound -- the same thing rock bands have done for decades. Plus it has a beat and the kids can dance to it -- and dance they did, churning up the area in front of the stage with an occasional beer can or water bottle taking flight and everyone, band included, havng a great time. Loose and loud, The Black Lips show feels like the train could come off the tracks at any moment and no one would care. That makes for the best live rock 'n' roll performances.
Ralph Kiner - 1955 :
Hey, we all like the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry, but enough is enough! I'm not saying that a balanced schedule is needed, but I'd like to see it a little less unbalanced. The Ugly: Steroids and Performance Enhancers: Major League Baseball appears to be the only sport that can't get passed this issue. Football has gotten passed this because the main violators are interior players...mostly unknown to the casual fan. There are no records for Offensive Linemen to break. Baseball, on the other hand, is a sport where records mean a great deal on a historic level and when cherished records are broken by those who have been caught or accused of cheating then it becomes a problem on a large public scale. They can keep abusers out of the Hall of Fame, but they can't take away the records. Steroids or not Barry Bonds did break the home run record.
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