Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Edition
Michelle Obama: Patriot
By Tommy Christopher (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 1:03:00 AM
Filed under: Democrats, Barack Obama,
Featured Stories, 2008 President Michelle
Obama, wife and confidante of Democratic
Presidential frontrunner Barack Obama,
has been the subject of some of the most
virulently negative comments that I've seen
on these pages. A quick review of The
Political Machine's coverage of Michelle
Obama reveals little more than rehashes on
the theme of the video below, the infamous
"Proud for the first time" soundbite.
I've occasionally Googled the random
Michelle quote that her detractors inflate to
Macy's Parade proportions, and found
them to be uniformly reasonable when put
into context. With all that's been happening
in this campaign, I haven't had a chance to
learn much more about her.
One theme that I consistently heard,
though, was the notion that Michelle
Obama is a "Black Separatist," or a racist,
White Devil-hating militant bent on the
destruction of the American way of life.
This is usually "supported" by snippets
from Michelle's senior year thesis from
Princeton.
I decided to get to know a little bit more
about Michelle. After the jump, what I
found in the pages of that veritable
"Anarchist's Cookbook" of a thesis, and
about Michelle Obama in general.
Obama
by krs601
Michelle Obama is a patriot, perhaps the
truest patriot I have ever seen. This country
was founded by men who challenged the
status quo, who dared to expect more from
their fellow man, and every step of the way
has progressed with the winds of dissent
and, yes, even criticism at its back. As far
as I can tell, the biggest mark against
Michelle Obama is that she dares to
criticize America, to challenge the status
quo.
Yet, even this is a deception. The endless
stream of out-of-context quotes is
disingenuously used to score political
points against Michelle and her husband.
No less a flaming liberal than Bill O'Reilly
admitted as much: Again, I don't believe
Michelle Obama dislikes her country. I
sincerely hope she does not, but this is a
big deal. It is not going away. And the
Obama campaign should understand that.
So, if the real problem isn't this notion that
she's "not proud of America," what is it?
Perhaps this passage from the New Yorker
contains a clue: First Ladies have
traditionally gravitated toward happy
topics like roadside flower beds, so it
comes as a surprise that Obama's speech is
such an unrelenting downer. That sounds
kinda familiar, a lot like what they used to
say about Hillary Clinton. The dame
doesn't know her place. What makes it
worse for Michelle, though, is that she has
two places that people are anxious to put
her back in.
Which brings me to that thesis. I
downloaded it from Politico, and I read
through most of it (a lot of it is pretty
clinical), and wouldn't you know it? All of
the quotes that people love to point to as
evidence of Michelle's "racism" are from
the introduction."My experiences at
Princeton have made me far more aware of
my 'blackness' than ever before," the future
Mrs. Obama wrote in her thesis
introduction. "I have found that at
Princeton, no matter how liberal and open-
minded some of my white professors and
classmates try to be toward me, I
sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as
if I really don't belong. Regardless of the
07/04/08 - 15/04/08
circumstances underwhich I interact with
whites at Princeton, it often seems as if, to
them, I will always be black first and a
student second."
Even Politico, which did a rather
thorough piece on the subject, misstates
her conclusion:"I hoped that these findings
would help me conclude that despite the
high degree of identification with whites as
a result of the educational and occupational
path that black Princeton alumni follow,
the alumni would still maintain a certain
level of identification with the black
community. However, these findings do
not support this possibility." She goes on
to say that, despite those findings, those
same alumni are still as likely to want to
benefit the black community, despite that
lack of identification. She also offers a
clinical definition for "identification" that
differs significantly from the one conveyed
in the quote.
Michelle Obama and I came of age at
roughly the same time, a fact that I hadn't
realized before. She wrote that thesis in
1985, a year that I remember well. I got a
pretty good sense of where her head was at
the time, and I can assure you, I was more
militant than she was back then.
I also learned that she doesn't use any
notes when delivering her 45 minute stump
speech, a courageous act that doubtless
contributes to the unvarnished nature of
some of her comments. Yet most of the
things she says, almost necessarily, are
forceful echoes and permutations of things
that her husband says.
I can only conclude, then, that it isn't so
much what she says, or how she says it,
but rather the fact that it is she who is
saying it.
Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
Comments
LibertyNewsprint.com U.S.
Obama AG May Review
Bush Administration
By Jay Allbritton (Political Machine)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:46:00 AM
Filed under: Bush Administration, Barack
Obama, 2008 President, Investigations
When Nancy Pelosi took impeachment off
the table before the 2006 midterm
elections, many staunch critics of the Bush
administration felt betrayed. That betrayal
was aggravated when none of the so-called
mainstream Democratic Presidential
candidates uttered a word about holding
the Bush administration accountable for a task of balancing the pursuit of justice and
variety of misdeeds. Now, after 18 months the perception that any investigation of the
since Pelosi's declaration about Bush White House conducted by a
impeachment, Will Bunch of Attytood Democratic administration would appear
reports that Democratic Presidential politically motivated. "If crimes have been
candidate Barack Obama said he would committed, they should be investigated."
allow his Attorney General to he said. "You're also right that I would not
"immediately review the information that's want my first term consumed by what was
already there". perceived on the part of Republicans as a
Bunch asked Obama the question in light partisan witch hunt because I think we've
of an ABC News report published earlier got too many problems we've got to solve."
this month that several high ranking He went on to say, "And I think it's
current and former administration officials, important--one of the things we've got to
including Vice President Dick Cheney, figure out in our political culture generally
Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Donald is distinguishing betyween really dumb
Rumsfeld, George Tenet and John policies and policies that rise to the level of
Ashcroft among others painstakingly criminal activity."
planned the torture of "specific high-value Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
al Qaeda prisoners". Comments
Obama's full answer shows that he is
well aware that he would have a difficult
2 Politico*
The Perception Battle
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:56:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Democrats,
Barack Obama, Featured Stories To be
sure, the Democratic race for the
nomination has proven an entertaining
spectacle. Websites like this one would not
exist were it not for the incredible interest
that Americans have taken in the outcome
of this hotly-contested battle. Debate
ratings are way, way up. Record
Democratic turnout has been the story-line
in virtually all of the primaries thus far.
Every utterance, gesture, and facial
expression of Barack Obama and Hillary
Clinton is mined for potential significance.
The slightest miscue is exploited for
political gain.
Of course, somehow overlooked in the
ferocity of the campaign itself is the fact of
just how similar Clinton and Obama really
are when it comes to the thing that matters
most of all: policy. Lost in the shuffle last
Friday--sandwiched between Bill Clinton's
resurrection of his wife's trip to Bosnia,
and Barack Obama's gaffe at a San
Francisco fundraiser--the Associated Press
ran a piece that, once again, spelled out the
truth about Obama and Clinton: their
legislative priorities just aren't that
different.
Indeed, we might be seeing far less
acrimony if the two candidates actually
disagreed more. Bookings Institution
fellow Stephen Hess explains:
"There is simply no doubt that when two
candidates virtually agree, you have to find
Hillary on Colbert This Week, Not Barack
By Tommy Christopher (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:35:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Democrats,
2008 President, Stephen Colbert,
LOLection According to a report on AOL
News, in what may be the turning point of
this election, Democratic Presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton is scheduled to
appear on The Colbert Report this
Thursday: News of Clinton's visit was
divulged Monday night in Philadelphia by
other reasons to find an argument about
why you should be for one rather than the
other," he said. "That's why suddenly the
issues in this campaign are issues of
character rather than position. And once
they are issues of character, they can get
very personal."
We see this on a daily basis here in the
Political Machine comment section. A
favorite charge is that one candidate is a
liar, while the other is consistently truthful.
Selective examples are provided to impugn
the character of the enemy. Very rarely do
MSNBC pundit Chris Matthews. He
blurted it out during taping of the show at
the University of Pennsylvania's
Zellerbach Theater. The news was
confirmed by a person close to the satirical
news program, who insisted on anonymity
because the date of the visit hadn't been
publicly announced. The report doesn't say
how we're supposed to know that the
confirmation wasn't satirical.
Meanwhile, her Democratic rival, Barack
Obama, has so far rebuffed the fundit's
invitations to appear, although his wife,
the examples have anything whatsoever to
do with how that candidate would actually
govern the country. In short, we, as a
nation, seem eager to turn the race for the
White House into a popularity contest. All
of this nonsense about who one would
rather have a beer with, and who is or isn't
elitist, is straight out of a bad teen movie.
Yes, there are differences between
Clinton and Obama, and some of those
may actually have meaningful
consequences for the country if either
makes it to the White House. Then again,
Michelle, will appear tonight.
My colleague, Denise Williams, and I
have been all over Colbert like a bad smell
this election season, and this will be no
different. Check back here Thursday night
for a liveblog of the Report, followed by in
-depth analysis and a special, biometrically
measured focus group. OK, not the focus
group. After the jump, brief analysis of the
burning question: Is Barack Obama
shooting himself in the foot here?
Perhaps Senator Obama is unaware of
the political rocket fuel that is The Colbert
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
they may not. Promises made during a
campaign are by no means guarantees, and
while the small differences between
Obama and Clinton can be amplified and
made to seem like deal breakers, the truth
is that we really won't ever know who
would do better as commander-in-chief.
By and large, we're going on a hunch.
That said, if you want to shift the tax
burden away from the poor and the middle
class, then vote for Hillary Clinton or
Barack Obama. Ditto if you want to start
devising a timely exit strategy from Iraq.
Both are committed to working on these
issues. John McCain is not, as good as he
may come off on the late-night television
circuit.
We should remember that George Bush
defeated his rivals in large part because he
succeeded in seducing voters to believe he
was just an average Joe. He was "in
touch," to use the current phrase, with
middle class Americans. Look what has
happened to our economy during his
tenure? Have average Americans benefited
from his time in office? 81% of the country
doesn't seem to think so. And yet, here we
are again, arguing over insignificant
questions of perception.
Maybe we just get what we deserve. We
hear the labels spew forth from our
televisions-- "compassionate
conservative," or " liberal elitist," or
"straight talk"--and we flush all the other
stuff, the evidence of how these people
govern, right down the toilet.
Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
Comments
Bump, or maybe he just doesn't think he
needs it. From Denise: An actual study
(pdf) of this phenomenon has been done by
political scientist James Fowler of the
University of California showing "first
scientific evidence of Stephen Colbert's
influence on political campaigns". It has
footnotes and everything!
Be sure to check back here Thursday to
see Hillary put this thing away for good.
Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
Comments
'Pennsylvania'
- New Clinton
Ad
By Greg McNeilly (Political Machine)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:54:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Ads, 2008
President Hillary Clinton's campaign has
released a new :30 TV spot in the
Keystone state titled "Pennsylvania." The
ad focuses on the "Bitter-gate" set of
comments made by her rival and Democrat
front runner Barack Obama.
Obama supporters - who seem to see
nothing elitist about trashing small-town
America to a liberal confab in San
Francisco - are the one's who this ad will
make truly bitter. This ad brilliantly
connects with voters - it wasn't the word
"bitter" that was such an insult, it was the
contexing of people clinging to God and
guns in response to economic woes.
If you're in the Rust Belt, believe in God,
and own a gun - Obama is just another
intolerant liberal politician who doesn't
share your values. This is the chorus that
Clinton's ad seeks to tap.
The ad's script reads:
HRC: I'm Hillary Clinton and I approve
this message.
Anncr: Barack Obama said that people in
small towns "cling to guns or religion...as a
way to explain their frustrations..."
Woman 1: I was very insulted by Barack
Obama. Man 1: It just shows how out of
touch Barack Obama is.
Woman 2: I'm not clinging to my faith
out of frustration and bitterness. I find that
my faith is very uplifting.
Man 2: The good people of Pennsylvania
deserve a lot better than what Barack
Obama said.
Woman 1: Hillary does understand the
citizens of Pennsylvania better.
Woman 3: Hillary Clinton has been
fighting for people like us her whole life.
Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Curbs on PATRIOT Act Tool Sought
By Mark Impomeni (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 12:45:00 AM
Filed under: Bush Administration, Senate,
House, Terror The House and Senate are
both set to consider legislation that would
restrict the use of a tool granted to the FBI
under the USA PATRIOT Act. The tool,
known as a national security letter, is an
administrative subpoena that allows the
Bureau to demand certain information
from persons being investigated for
suspected ties to terrorism activities
without the oversight of a federal judge.
The FBI has admitted that use of the letters
regularly brings in more information than
the government is legally allowed to
collect and maintain and has promised to
tighten its procedures for record gathering.
But now the House and Senate are
considering tightening those procedures for
the FBI. The House bill would limit the
use of national security letters to
investigations of foreign powers or agents
and would require the Bureau to destroy
any information that it obtains illegally.
The Senate bill focuses on the documents
subject to the letters. That bill would
reduce the types of documents that the FBI
could seek with the letters and require the
Bureau to track its use of the letters more
carefully. The Bush Administration has
'It Won't' - New Obama Ad
By Greg McNeilly (Political Machine)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 2:47:00 PM
Filed under: Barack Obama, Ads, 2008
President
Barack Obama's campaign is airing a
new :30 second ad in Pennsylvania titled
"It Won't." The ad features U.S. Senator
Bob Casey(D-PA).
The ad's script reads: Bob Casey: In
towns like yours and mine, families are
struggling with bills they can't afford and
jobs moving away. It has to change - but it
won't until we change Washington. That's
why I believe in Barack Obama. I've
worked with him. I've seen him stand up to
the lobbyists and special interests...And
like us, he's tired of the political games and
vigorously opposed proposed changes to
law enforcement tools under the PATRIOT
Act and would likely threaten to veto both
pending bills.
The FBI's top lawyer will testify at
House hearings on the legislation today
and is expected to say that the Justice
Department needs more time to work out
an internal fix. Assistant FBI Director John
Miller said that despite the problems, the
Bureau is committed to, "maximize [the
letters'] national security value while
providing the highest level of privacy and
protection."
But those assurances have increasingly
fallen in deaf ears in Congress. Rep. Jerry
Nadler (D-NY), a co-sponsor of the House
bill and a liberal Democrat, said that the
time has come for Congress to act to
division that stops anything from getting
done. Barack Obama knows
Pennsylvania's hurting. He can unite
America and bring real change.
Another :30 second populist pitch.
It's a good tone for the Keystone
audience who will vote April 22nd. But the
messenger makes it a tad tone-deaf. Bob
Casey, like Obama himself, is a career
politician who comes from a non-
disadvantaged background (one went to
private prep-schools the other Ivy league,
both attorneys). Politician hearts politician
does not scream change.
Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
Comments
correct the problem.
"It is clear that the NSL authority is too
overbroad and operates unchecked. We
must give our law enforcement the tools
they need to protect us, but any such
powers must be consistent with the rule of
law." Nadler has managed to attract
Republican co-sponsors of his bill,
including one of the most conservative
members of the House, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-
AZ). The Senate bill is similarly co-
sponsored by both liberals and
conservatives, garnering support from Sen.
Russ Feingold (D-WI), Sen. Dick Durbin
(D-IL), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and
Sen. John Sununu (R-NH).
The prospects for passage of the two bills
are as yet uncertain. It will be difficult to
get majorities of both houses to vote for
legislation that could be interpreted as
hindering terrorist investigations in an
election year. But clearly, public sentiment
is growing for a change in the law, as
evidenced by the support for the bills
across the ideological spectrum. The Bush
Administration will have its work cut out
for it if it wants to finish its term with the
provisions of the PATRIOT Act intact.
Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
Comments
Politico* 3
US Negotiators Drop
North Korea Demands
By Mark Impomeni (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 3:00:00 PM
Filed under: Bush Administration,
Breaking News After months of
negotiations over North Korea's failure to
completely disclose all of its nuclear
weapons programs, United States
negotiators have apparently given up their
demand that the communist regime
provide a full accounting of its illicit
nuclear activities. Rather than provide a
declaration of all its past nuclear
development and proliferation activities,
North Korea and the United States agreed
to softer language that would require the
North only to "acknowledge" U.S.
concerns about its nuclear program.
Last fall at the Six Party Talks between
the United States, North Korea, China,
Japan, Russia, and South Korea,
Pyongyang agreed to completely dismantle
its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and to make
a "complete" declaration of its nuclear
programs and activities by the end of the
year. But the North missed the deadline for
disabling its reactors, and the U.S. has new agreement, but past history indicates
criticized the declaration, calling it that he will. The Bush Administration is up
incomplete. Talks between the two against the clock, and it desperately wants
countries over the past several months to wrap up as many foreign policy issues
have been aimed at finding a way to restart
the Six Party Talks, which the North has
been delaying due to the controversy. This
as it can before the president's term
expires. That is partly behind the
Administration's last-year push for an
concession by the United States may be Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. North
Korea knows this and is seeking to exploit
enough to get the process back on track,
but ultimately may damage the underlying the Administration's haste. The
Administration's predicament was summed
rationale for holding the talks among the
regional powers and all of the North's up best by a senior U.S. official familiar
with the agreement.
neighbors.
The Six Party Talks are designed as such [The U.S. could] negotiate for the next
100 years trying to get these guys to fess
in an effort to put as much pressure on
North Korea as possible. The theory is that up, or you can get them to acknowledge
that they did this without them going into
the North would be more likely to live up
to agreements made with all of its specifics.
Negotiation is the art of the possible.
neighbors than those made bilaterally with
the United States. But the North has shown This is a regime that is incapable of certain
things, and it is incapable of doing that."
a frustrating tendency to fall short of its
obligations, only to seek more concessions One thing North Korea has proven itself
clearly capable of is waiting the United
in return for actions that never quite come
up to the original agreement. That appears States out.
Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
to be what happened in this case.
President Bush will ultimately have to Comments
decide if he is willing to go along with the
4 Politico* Business*
Gonzales' Resume Just Isn't Working
By Liza Porteus Viana (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:45:00 AM
Filed under: Bush Administration,
Republicans, Featured Stories, Ed
Morrissey Former Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales is also feeling the pinch
of quasi-unemployment these days.
Lawyers and his associates inside the
Beltway tell The New York Times that
Gonzales, who was forced to resign last
year amid the dismissed attorneys scandal,
hasn't been able to get any law firms to bite
on his resume.
Gonzales' experience should be enough
for firms to be chomping at the bit. We've
all heard his personal story - the son of
poor Mexican immigrants makes his way
through the Texas public school system,
then goes on to Rice University and
Harvard Law School. He has won
numerous awards and accolades for his
accomplishments, and, prior to his tenure
at the Justice Department, served as a
Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas as
Texas' 100th Secretary of State. While in
private practice, Gonzales also taught law
as an adjunct professor at the University of
Houston Law Center. But despite all that,
less decorated Justice Officials are getting
jobs and he's not.
Last year Gonzales took a lot of heat for
his role over the firing of several federal
prosecutors and for not being forthcoming
Huaneng (HNP): Dividend power play
By Steven Halpern (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:45:00 AM
Filed under: International markets, China,
Newsletters, Huaneng Power Intl ADS
(HNP), Commodities, Oil, Stocks to Buy
"For global income investing, I ran a
screen of Chinese ADRs, and my favorite
from the list is Huaneng Power(NYSE:
HNP), with an indicated yield of 5.3%,"
says Nilus Mattive, editor of Dividend
Superstars.
"Tons of power is being consumed in
China, and Huaneng is right there to serve
it up - the company is China's largest
independent power producer. All told,
Huaneng owns 17 plants outright, controls
another 12, and has minority interests in
with lawmakers about those dismissals and
the government's wiretapping program.
President Bush said his old friend was
"dragged through the mud" for political
reasons. The Times reports that since he
left office on Aug. 27, 2007, his main
source of income has come from talks at
colleges and before private business
groups - at at least $30,0000 a pop.
Firms may be hesitant to hire him
because not only are they concerned about
his behavior toward the end of his DOJ
five power companies.
"Profits have been rolling in at a steady
clip. However, investors have recently
become concerned about shrinking profit
margins at Chinese utilities.
"There is certainly cause for concern:
Coal is the main power source for utilities'
plants, and the price of the raw material
has been rising because of increased
demand around the world. To make
matters worse, the severe winter weather
that struck China in January pushed up
coal prices even further and created a
whole host of other challenges for
Chinese utilities.
"However, it looks to me like investors
have been far too aggressive in their
selling. They're now pricing Huaneng at
tenure, but his troubles aren't over. His
conduct is being investigated by the Office
of the Inspector General of the Justice
Department, which could recommend
exonerating him or criminal charges. Then
there's that pesky torture issue that keeps
resurfacing. And the DOJ is getting
slammed with allegations of politically
tainted actions amid probes of White
House interference in personnel matters.
The latest news on that front was in The
Washington Post Sunday, as the newspaper
reported that former Alabama Gov. Don
Siegelman is the latest Democratic
defendant taking aim at Bush's Justice
Department. Siegelman, recently released
from prison pending his appeal, wants a
new trial because of what says were faulty
jury instructions underpinning his 2006
conviction on bribery, conspiracy, mail
fraud and obstruction charges. He argues
that Karl Rove and other administration
officials railroaded him because they
wanted a Republican in the governor's
mansion.
"We don't have the knife with Karl
Rove's fingerprints all over it, but we've
got the glove, and the glove fits,"
Siegelman told the Post.
The House Judiciary Committee has
launched a probe into Bush's DOJ.
Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
Comments
10.5 times next year's earnings. The stock
is so oversold that it's currently yielding
5.3%.
"What about the coal situation? Well, I
think supply and demand will come back
in line, and I also think this politically well
-connected company will be granted price
hikes to compensate for its higher input
costs. I recommend income investors buy
at the market."
Each day, Steven Halpern's
TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest
market commentary and favorite
investment ideas from the nation's leading
financial newsletter advisors. Permalink|
Email this| Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Elton John Concert Breaks Campaign
Law?
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 1:44:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Democrats,
Breaking News, Investigations From The
New York Times comes word that Elton
John's big Radio City Music Hall
fundraising concert for Hillary Clinton
may have violated campaign finance laws.
You see, because Sir Elton is not a U.S.
citizen, he is forbidden from donating to
candidates running for office.
Wal-Mart (WMT) looks
to Russia
By Douglas McIntyre
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:35:00 AM
Filed under: International markets,
Competitive strategy, Wal-Mart (WMT),
China, Russia, Mexico, Japan, Eastern
Europe
Now that it is clear that Wal-
Mart's(NYSE: WMT) international
operations are growing much faster than its
US division, the company is searching for
new frontiers. Revenue overseas is
growing at a rate better than 20%
Wal-Mart has had trouble in some
countries. Its operation in Japan continues
to loss money and it has pulled out of
Korea and Germany.
Now, the world's largest retailer is
looking to Russia and eastern Europe for
more growth. According to the FT, Wal-
Mart "firmly signaled its intention to
expand into Russia and eastern Europe,
announcing that it had recruited Stephan
Fanderl, a German retail executive, to
explore opportunities in the region."
It will be at least a couple of years before
the market can gauge whether Wal-Mart
The concert brought in an estimated $2.5
million for Clinton precisely because
Elton's name was at the top of the bill.
Elton did the gig as a favor to Clinton, and
thus, argues Judicial Watch, has effectively
made an "in-kind donation" to her
campaign. An official complaint has been
filed with the FEC.
Here's a snippet from the concert.
Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
Comments
can have success in the region. It has to
compete with other companies like big
European retail chain Tesco. The Wal-
Mart model clearly does not work in all
cultures.
A break-down of Wal-Mat's track record
overseas is telling. It problems in
Germany, Japan, and Korea have been
more than off-set by successes in China
and Mexico. To some extent that may
mean that countries with lower median
incomes are better markets for the
company. Russia and Eastern Europe are a
mixed bag. Parts of Russia have done very
well financially. Eastern Europe is still in a
stage of economic development.
Wal-Mart may be expanding outside the
US, but its success is hardly assured.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at
247wallst.com. Read| Permalink| Email
this| Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Newspaper wrap-up: If the U.S. has to
save Fannie and Freddie, triple-A rating
could suffer
By Laurie Pasternack
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:15:00 AM
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines,
Cisco Systems (CSCO), Hewlett-Packard
(HPQ), International Business Machines
(IBM), Citigroup Inc. (C), Oracle Corp
(ORCL), Blackstone Group L.P (BX)
MAJOR PAPERS:
• A newly published report by Standard &
Poor's said that the performance of
organizations such as
Federal National Mortgage Association
(NYSE:
FNM
), or Fannie Mae, and
Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Corporation
(NYSE:
FRE
), or Freddie Mac, could directly affect
the U.S. economy and the country's credit
rating, especially if they have to be rescued
by the government, according to the
Wall Street Journal's
"Credit Markets" column.
Huge Brazil oil discovery brings no relief from surging
oil prices
By Douglas McIntyre
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:00:00 AM
Filed under: Forecasts, Industry, Brazil,
Russia, Oil
The price of crude moved to a record
above $112 overnight. It seems that
speculation, a weak dollar, and concern
about demand just keep pushing oil higher.
Now, oil is part of a "good news/bad
news" play. Evidence is coming out of
Russia that oil production there has
peaked. According to the FT, " Russian oil
• Seagate Technology LLC
(NYSE:
STX
), a hard drive maker, filed a patent
infringement suit in San Francisco against
STEC Inc
(NASDAQ:
STEC
) over four patents related to technology
used to store data on computer chips, the
Wall Street Journal
reported.
• The
Financial Times
reported that
Citigroup Incorporated
(NYSE:
C ) and
) is allowing private equity groups such
as Apollo,
The Blackstone Group LP
(NYSE:
BX
) and TPG that are bidding for up to $12B
of its leveraged loans to 'cherry-pick' from
a wide range of assets with different credit
ratings and prices.
production has peaked and may never
return to current levels." By many
measures, Russia is the world's second
largest oil producer.
That bad news may be offset by a huge
oil discovery off the coast of Brazil. The
country's state-owned oil company,
Petróleo Brasileiro, said it had made a
huge discovery off-shore. According to
The Wall Street Journal, " the head of
Brazil's National Petroleum Agency,
Haroldo Lima, said the strike could be one
of the world's biggest oil discoveries in
decades, containing as much as 33 billion
Could Nissan tie-up with
Chrysler be model for Ford
(F)?
WEB SITES: By Douglas McIntyre
• According to analysts, (BloggingStocks)
Reuters Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:45:00 AM
reported that technology industry leaders
that include Filed under: Deals, Industry, Competitive
International Business Machines strategy, Ford Motor (F)
Corporation Nissan and Chrysler will begin to build
(NYSE: full-sized pick-ups together. According to
IBM The Wall Street Journal, " Chrysler will
), start building a large pickup for Nissan at
Oracle Corporation its truck plant in Saltillo, Mexico." Nissan
(NASDAQ: will also build some small cars for the US
ORCL company.
), The deal allows both companies to
Cisco Systems Inc increase output from some of their plants,
(NASDAQ: making more efficient use of
CSCO manufacturing facilities and the
arrangement could also cut design costs for
Hewlett-Packard Company the two automakers.
(NYSE: The new partnership raises the question
HPQ of whether embattled Ford(NYSE: F)
) are among the companies with large should do the same thing. Ford's shares
cash reserves that could be used to fund trade between $6 and $7 most days, about
acquisitions.
Permalink| Email this| Comments
fall-off in oil from other large producers
like Mexico. For now, the answer is "no."
That's because the Brazil discovery is in
deep water. It could take several years to
get it completely online. The decline in
production in other countries is happening
now.
The Brazil discovery brings hope, but no
relief, at least no for now.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at
247wallst.com. Read| Permalink| Email
barrels in oil equivalent." this| Comments
The question now is whether one huge
deposit can offset a decline in Russia and a
Business* Tech* 5
where they were when there were rumors
of Chapter 11 two years ago. Ford now has
only about 15% of the US market, and, if
that share falls more, it has to raise the
question of how viable it is for Ford to "go
it alone" in the US market.
Ford could turn to several partners, but
the most obvious one is Volkswagen. VW
has said that it wants to expand into the US
market and has had little success here.
Since Ford losses money on many of its
smaller cars, an area where VW is strong,
it may make sense for Ford to take VW-
produced cars for its domestic dealers and
have a piece of a profitable joint venture
instead of losing billions on its own.
At the end of the day, Ford has to do
something.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at
247wallst.com. Read| Permalink| Email
this| Comments
Your Electric Vehicle Is
Too Quiet; Congress May
Force It To Be Louder
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 6:26:00 AM
Who knew silence was such a problem?
Somewhat reminiscent of laws that
required cameraphones to add a fake
mechanical shutter sound, so people
couldn't take pictures "silently," Congress
is now looking at requiring electric
vehicles to make additional noise to stop
people from driving so quietly.
Apparently, the real fear is that pedestrians
can't hear these quiet cars, since we're all
used to at least a certain level of engine
noise that just isn't present. The whole
thing seems rather silly. While the desire
for safety is understandable, forcing these
vehicles to make an unnecessary noise
seems pretty extreme.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
6 Business*
Ford Focus success shows Wal-Mart starts strictly
change is happening at Ford, but tracking gun sales
it's still too little and too late By Brian White (BloggingStocks)
By Andrew Horowitz
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:30:00 AM
Filed under: Industry, Competitive
strategy, DaimlerChrysler (DAI), Ford
Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Toyota
Motor Corp. (TM) Sometimes it takes a
sledgehammer to the head to get a
company to change direction.
Fuel costs are soaring, profits are
dwindling and companies are desperate.
Yet, nimble as they would like to be, U.S.
auto manufacturers have been unable to
provide any significant benefit to
consumers in terms of meaningful fuel
efficiency. Up until last year, SUV sales
were still the dominant component of sales
for the Big 3. It wasn't until the pain of a
significant drop in SUV sales was realized
and reports showed U.S. auto sales to be
the lowest since 1993 that our old friend
Mr. Hammer was able to wake up a
sleeping (or it it dying?) U.S. auto
industry.
Now Ford(NYSE: F) is trumpeting a
dramatic increase in demand for its
economical Ford Focus and boosting
JP Morgan and Wells Fargo Q1 profits
expected to fall
By Trey Thoelcke (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:20:00 AM
Filed under: Earnings reports, JPMorgan
Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC)
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial
expect JP Morgan Chase & Co.(NYSE:
JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co.(NYSE:
WFC) to post smaller profits in the first
quarter. Both banks are scheduled to report
results on Wednesday.
JP Morgan is expected to earn 65 cents
per share, which is down 51% from the
output by 30%. But I think the change is
too little too late.
The truth is that U.S. vehicle sales are
expected to drop by 15 million units in
2008. An increase of 30% of the Ford
Focus would still mean a paltry benefit as
these lower cost models also have a lower
profit margin for Ford. So, as consumers
buy more lower margin cars, Ford makes
less money.
Continue reading Ford Focus success
shows change is happening at Ford, but it's
still too little and too late Permalink| Email
this| Comments
same period in 2007 when it earned $1.34.
The company has tended to beat quarterly
estimates recently. However, it fell short of
the consensus fourth-quarter 2007 estimate
by six cents, or 6.8%.
New York-based JP Morgan is the third
largest financial services firm in the U.S,
behind Citigroup(NYSE: C) and Bank of
America(NYSE: BAC), and recently
agreed to buy Bear Stearns(NYSE: BSC).
In the past year, JP Morgan's revenues
were $116.3 billion and its net income
totaled $15.3 billion. Its EPS growth
Submitted at 4/15/2008 4:30:00 AM
Filed under: Products and services, Wal-
Mart (WMT) Wal-Mart Stores,
Inc.(NYSE: WMT) will soon be
employing a new method to track gun sales
in its stores. As part of a new measure in
concert with the "Mayors Against Illegal
Guns" group, Wal-Mart's chief compliance
officer J.P. Suarez went to D.C. with New
York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to
explain details on a new "10-point code"
that will apparently thwart weapons from
Wal-Mart from falling into criminal hands.
Wal-Mart will soon be video recording
gun sales in its stores and then archiving
the footage as part of being included in the
"Responsible Firearms Retailer
Partnership." In addition, the world's
forecast for the year is -23.4%, much
worse than the banking industry average
and the S&P 500. Yet the consensus
recommendation of analysts is to buy JPM
and has been for most of the past three
months.
The stock has fallen 15.5% in the past
year and trades at a P/E of 9.47. Shares
closed Monday at $41.50.
Continue reading JP Morgan and Wells
Fargo Q1 profits expected to fall
Permalink| Email this| Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
largest retailer will create a computer
system to notify the company of a gun
purchased in one of its stores is indeed
used in a crime. If workers think they can
get at guns from the inside, Wal-Mart will
now perform screening and background
checks on employees that will be handling
and selling firearms in its stores.
The National Rifle Association said that
these moves wouldn't do a thing to reduce
crime, calling out Bloomberg from his
"bully pulpit". Will videotaping gun
purchases lead to any less crimes being
committed, or is this a PR move by the US Bancorp (USB)
retailer? Hard to say, but Wal-Mart did
indicate that it hopes "other retailers will
profit slips during first-
join us in adopting the code." Read|
Permalink| Email this| Comments
quarter on loss reserves
By ElizaofPopescu
Shares (BloggingStocks)
U.S. Bancorp(NYSE: USB) are
Oil surges to record $113.66
on Mexico, Nigeria
disruptions, Chinese demand
By Joseph Lazzaro
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 4:15:00 AM
Filed under: International markets, Bad
news, Mexico, Commodities, Oil Oil
surged over $113 per barrel Tuesday on
word of supply disruptions in Nigeria and
Mexico and increasing fuel demand in
China, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.
Oil increased $1.90 to $113.66 per barrel
Tuesday morning after Mexico, the third
largest supplier of oil to the United States, and natural gas added about 14 cents to
$10.20 per million BTUs.
shut its fourth export terminal Monday,
while Eni SpA halted output in Nigeria, Supply disruptions jolt market
Independent energy trader Jim Dietz told
Bloomberg New reported. Meanwhile,
China, which boasts world's fastest- BloggingStocks Tuesday the supply
disruptions in Mexico and Nigeria were
growing major economy, said diesel oil
imports increased 49% in March 2008. negative datapoints the oil market did not
need.
The other major energy commodities
also vaulted ahead on the news in early Continue reading Oil surges to record
trading Tuesday. Heating oil jumped 3 $113.66 on Mexico, Nigeria disruptions,
cents to $3.25 per gallon, unleaded Chinese demand Permalink| Email this|
gasoline added 2 cents to $2.84 per gallon, Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
BANCORP
continued from page 6
slightly higher in early trading despite the
fact that the company posted a decline for
its first-quarter profit. As Trey Thoelcke
discussed, analysts were waiting for the
sixth-largest U.S. bank to show smaller
profit, but the firm was able to beat by 1
penny analysts' predictions.
For the quarter, US Bancorp announced
that its profit slipped 4% to $1.09 billion,
compared with $1.13 billion, a year earlier.
The drop was tied to impairment charges
and higher credit losses provision. The
bank posted quarterly earnings of 62 cents
per share, slightly higher the 61cents per
Buffett Gets "Spitzered"
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 11:00:00 AM
It's a fair bet that most investors would
trust the judgment of Warren Buffett,
chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, in the
running of his companies. Federal
prosecutors are apparently not as trusting.
Today, Joseph Brandon, the chief
executive of General Re, the reinsurance
subsidiary, resigned. His departure comes
amid reports that federal prosecutors were
pressuring Berkshire to replace
Brandon—who had been on a short list of
candidates to succeed Buffett—following
the convictions last month of four former
General Re executives on fraud charges.
"I haven't seen it this explicit," says Peter
Henning, a professor at Wayne State
University Law School and a founding
editor of the White Collar Crime Prof
Blog. The last explicit threat he could
recall was when Eliot Spitzer, then the
New York attorney general, refused to
negotiate with insurance broker Marsh &
McLennan back in October 2005, forcing
the resignation of Jeffrey Greenberg—the
son of Maurice Greenberg, formerly of
insurance giant American International
Group—as chief executive.
"Spitzer went on the warpath. I haven't
Sarah Silverman has Amazing Orifices
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/14/2008 8:46:51 PM
Sarah Silverman performed her best
grade school version of Amazing Grace
last night at Comedy Central’s Autism
share that analysts expected.
Taking a look at the company's quarterly
revenue, we see a growth of 14% to $1.8
billion. For this period, the Minneapolis-
based company also saw an increase of
14% in expenses which rose up to $1.8
billion. Quarterly revenue exceeded
analysts' predictions for sales of $3.66
billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
Continue reading US Bancorp (USB)
profit slips during first-quarter on loss
reserves Permalink| Email this| Comments
seen prosecutorial pressure this explicitly
since then."
During the trial of the former executives,
prosecutors named Brandon an unindicted
co-conspirator in the scheme of sham deals
between General Re and A.I.G. to prop up
A.I.G.'s balance sheet.
After the convictions, Paul Pelletier, one
of the prosecutors, said, "We're not done.
The investigation continues." He added,
"We've got a lot of work to do to work up
the corporate ladder."
Did Brandon resign in conjunction with a
nonprosecution or deferred prosecution
agreement? That is not yet known.
Berkshire did not return calls for
comment. Tom Carson, spokesman for the
United States attorney in Connecticut,
declined to comment on the resignation or
on whether the corporation remains under
investigation. The trial was a joint
prosecution by the Connecticut District,
the Eastern District of Virginia, and the
fraud section of the Department of Justice,
where Pelletier is a lawyer.
It's an ongoing investigation," Laura
Sweeney, a spokeswoman at the Justice
Department, said of the General Re case.
She declined to comment on Brandon's
resignation or to confirm news reports that
it had been
benefit. Rosie was in the audience just
loving it, because Sarah’s humor speaks to
Rosie on so many levels.
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
• Sarah Silverman is Effing Matt Damon -
Dead Deals Walking
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 4:30:00 AM
Companies that investors have left for
dead have been busy trying to find new
lives in deals. Take AOL and Yahoo or
Delta and Northwest, for example.
The latest and strangest is Blockbuster's
unsolicited offer to acquire Circuit City
Stores for more than $1 billion in cash.
Blockbuster said today that it had
approached Circuit City in February, but
that it was now making its offer public
prompted by pressure from federal
prosecutors.
Henning, for one, does not believe that
General Re will be charged. "I think it
would have happened a while ago," he
said. "Is there a wink and a nod here?"
And while deferred prosecution
agreements are "the settlement du jour," he
said, the government may have given
General Re "a complete pass." (A recent
article in the New York Times reported
that the Justice Department has entered
deferred prosecution agreements with more
than 50 companies suspected of
wrongdoing during the last three years.)
Another forced resignation of a chief
executive occurred in October 2006, when
Frederick Lacey, a retired federal judge
and former U.S. attorney, served as a
monitor of Bristol-Myers Squibb under a
2005 deferred prosecution agreement that
followed an accounting scandal. Lacey
forced the resignation of Bristol's C.E.O.,
Peter Dolan, and its general counsel over
their handling of a patent dispute.
But white-collar crime defense lawyers
say Brandon's resignation does not signal
some new trend in prosecutorial
overreaching.
"I can't think of more than a handful,"
says Walter Brown of Orrick, Herrington
Video
• Hayden Panettiere Asked About Sarah
Silverman Joke
• Britney Spears Crotch Shot Post 2007
MTV VMA
• Sarah Silverman Disses Britney at 2007
because Circuit City has not allowed
Blockbuster to conduct due diligence to
make a formal offer.
In a February 17 letter to Philip
Schoonover, the chief executive of Circuit
City, Jim Keyes, the new C.E.O. of
Blockbuster, said his company was
prepared to offer $6 to $8 per share. That
would be a premium of 67 percent to
Circuit City's February 15 price and more
than double Circuit City's closing price of
and Sutcliffe. "A lot of prosecutors will
take the position that they are not in the
business of telling a company how to run
itself."
But the potential for pressure exists,
under guidelines for charging corporations
released in December 2006 in what is
known as the McNulty memo, for its
author, Paul McNulty, then the deputy
attorney general of the United States. One
factor is whether the corporation has taken
appropriate "remedial actions," among
other things, "to replace responsible
management, to discipline or terminate
wrongdoers."
That can include firing the chief
executive, says Brown. "It is really just the
company deciding, based on the smoke
signals" sent by the prosecutors, he says.
"It's a natural thing to consider."
Like Henning, Brown suspects that
General Re is "out of the woods on the
allegations."
Brandon will be replaced by General
Re's president, Franklin "Tad" Montross.
Related Links
Ex-Insurance Executives Convicted
The $300 Trillion Time Bomb
Buffett Moves Into Bond Insurance
MTV VMA
• Was Broken Heel or Sarah Silverman
Cause of Bad Britney Spears Performance
at 2007 MTV VMA?
Biz Buzz Gossip 7
A Deal in
the Skies
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 6:30:00 AM
Is a Northwest- Delta Air Lines merger
finally going to happen?
A deal between the two airlines could be
announced as early as Tuesday, according
to several reports citing anonymous
sources close to the talks. Rising oil prices
have added a sense of urgency to the
merger negotiations, which have been
ongoing for many months now. The rising
fuel costs have forced four small airlines
into bankruptcy in recent weeks.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the
deal would value Northwest at around $3
billion, which is slightly more than its
market capitalization as of Friday
afternoon, but significantly lower than it
was when talks began. Shares of both
airlines rose more than 5 percent in
morning trading on the news of an
imminent deal.
Also on Portfolio.com:
Travel in the Time of Merger
Changes in the Air
The hurdle both airlines still need to
overcome is reaching satisfactory terms for
their pilots. Representatives for Delta's
6,000 pilots met this weekend in Atlanta,
while union leaders of Northwest's 5,000
pilots called a meeting in Minneapolis.
The main sticking point for both pilot
groups appears to be seniority lists. The
lists are important to pilots because they
determine scheduling and routing priorities
in addition to ranking for pay.
The pilot groups can't formally block a
merger, but they can complicate the
process. U.S. Airways and America West
Airlines have been trying to combine
operations for two years, but have been
unable to resolve issues related to pilot
seniority, the New York Times notes.
Related Links
Will It Fly?
Turbulence Ahead
Bad Times at the Airport
8 Biz Buzz
Who's Smarter Than Carl Icahn?
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 10:30:00 AM
Blockbuster's attempted takeover of
Circuit City may have raised plenty of
eyebrows, but it turns out that certain
behind-the-scenes players at both
companies have quite a history together.
Mark Wattles, an activist investor who
has been agitating for change at Circuit
City since taking a 6.5 percent stake in the
company earlier this year, is no stranger to
being a target of Blockbuster's roving eye.
Wattles founded Hollywood
Entertainment, the second-largest video
chain behind Blockbuster before it was
sold to the smaller rival Movie Gallery in
2005. Before that deal was consummated,
however, Blockbuster made its own higher
bid for Hollywood Entertainment, which
did not sit well with the antitrust regulators
in Washington.
Wattles left the chief executive post at
the video chain just days after
Blockbuster's takeover attempt was made
public in early 2005. He later teamed up
with Blockbuster, offering to buy half of
the Hollywood Video stores in order to
help earn a green light from regulators for
the Blockbuster deal.
It didn't work. Movie Gallery won its bid
for Hollywood Entertainment, and the
combined company is now in bankruptcy.
At the time of the takeover battle for his
That Inflation Thing
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 6:00:00 AM
Everything in this economy seems to
slowing—except the prices for energy and
food.
The latest sign that inflation is very much
on the boil came as the U.S. Department of
Labor reported that the prices paid to
manufacturers and other producers climbed
1.1 percent in March, more than double
forecasts and up from a 0.3 percent gain in
February.
Energy prices gained 2.9 percent, while
company, Wattles had what appeared to
have been civil discussions with Carl
Icahn, who was a major shareholder of
both Hollywood Entertainment and
Blockbuster. Icahn remains a major owner
of Blockbuster shares, despite his furor
over its failed takeover of Hollywood
Entertainment, and Blockbuster said this
morning that he supports its bid for Circuit
City.
Icahn and Wattles are reportedly still
chatty. Wattles told Bloomberg that Icahn
told him that he was even willing to help
the transaction financially if need be. "I
view it as a very favorable transaction for
shareholders relative to other
opportunities,'' Wattles said of the
Blockbuster and Icahn financing.
But the connections between Circuit City
and Blockbuster don't stop there. Circuit
City's largest shareholder today is a hedge
fund called HBK Investments, which has a
9.2 percent stake. Although the fund has a
history as an activist, it made it known that
its investment in Circuit City, which was
made last year, is a passive one.
The Dallas-based HBK, which was
founded by former Merrill Lynch
executive Harlan B. Korenvaes, should be
more than pleased with today's 30 percent
jump in Circuit City shares. It helps to
make up for the loss it took earlier this
year on its Blockbuster investment.
That's right, HBK once stood right
food prices rose 1.2 percent. Rice surged
8.7 percent.
Excluding food and energy costs, the
Producer Price Index rose just 0.2 percent.
The Federal Reserve has repeatedly
noted that it is concerned about the
mounting threat of inflation, but feels that
the need to stabilize the markets and
promote growth outweigh those concerns.
The Fed is expected to cut its benchmark
interest rate by another quarter point this
month.
Higher food and fuel costs will further
sap consumer spending and will cut into
alongside Icahn as the No. 1 shareholder of
the video chain to Icahn's No. 2 stake.
HBK's stake in Blockbuster was also a
passive one and, ultimately, a very costly
one.
The fund acquired its stake in
Blockbuster in late 2004, when the stock
traded for around $10 per share. It sold off
enough of its stake to fall below the 5
percent ownership threshold required by
the S.E.C. in January of this year, when a
share was worth $3.28.
There's no word yet on what HBK thinks
of Blockbuster's intention to buy Circuit
City for $1 billion in cash. But considering
that Blockbuster shares are down a
whopping 17 percent today, it's safe to
assume that Harlan B. Korenvaes is
thankful he parted ways with Icahn at
Blockbuster earlier this year.
Icahn's investment in Blockbuster is now
down some 80 percent.
It's unclear just exactly how
Blockbuster's unusual and unwelcome bid
for Circuit City came about. But at least
the major players have already made their
introductions.
Related Links
Dead Deals Walking
Blockbuster Buying Circuit City for
Buzzwords
Blockbuster to Circuit City: Why Can't
We Be Friends?
companies' profits.
"Cost pressures are building and will
continue to build for a few quarters before
they recede,'' Michael Gregory, a senior
economist at BMO Capital Markets in
Toronto, told Bloomberg News before the
P.P.I. data were released.
Perhaps it is time to start thinking
seriously about stagflation?
Related Links
Damaged Goods
House Poor
Steady as It Goes
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Will It Fly?
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 7:00:00 PM
Delta Air Lines agreed to buy Northwest
Airlines for about $3 billion, effectively
challenging reluctant pilots at both carriers
to resolve their dispute over reconciling
seniority at a combined company.
Under terms announced Monday evening
Delta agreed to swap 1.25 of its shares for
each Northwest share. Based on Delta's
closing price of $10.48 a share on Monday,
the offer values each Northwest share at
$13.10, a 16.8 percent premium over their
close Monday.
Based on Northwest's recent disclosure
that it has 236.43 million shares
outstanding, the Delta offer values
Northwest at $3.097 billion.
Several news reports on Monday said a
deal was imminent, driven by the rapid rise
in oil prices over the last year.
Rising fuel costs have forced four small
airlines into bankruptcy in recent weeks.
Delta and Northwest acknowledged the
effect of higher oil prices when they
announced their intention to merge.
"Record fuel prices have fundamentally
changed the economics of the airline
industry," they said in a statement. "Fuel is
the highest single expense for Delta and
Northwest, significantly eroding the
financial benefits of restructuring and
placing the airlines' new found strength
and stability at long-term risk.
"At the beginning of 2007, oil prices were
approximately $55 a barrel," they added.
"Now, oil prices have nearly doubled. This
dramatic run-up in the price of oil makes
the transaction even more compelling."
A merger would let the combined
company cope with high fuel costs by
generating what it said would be "more
than $1 billion in annual revenue and cost
synergies" from reduced overhead, and
improved operational efficiency.
Sensitive to the specter of job losses and
service cuts, the companies went out of
their way to add: "The merged airline will
maintain all hubs at Atlanta, Cincinnati,
Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul,
New York-JFK, Salt Lake City,
Amsterdam, and Tokyo-Narita—each of
which will benefit from improved global
connectivity."
Still, a deal would require the airlines to
integrate, if not reduce, their
workforces—particularly their pilots.
Representatives for Delta's 6,000 pilots
met last weekend in Atlanta, where Delta
is based, while union leaders of
Northwest's 5,000 pilots have called a
meeting in Minneapolis, home of
Northwest.
The main sticking point for both pilot
groups appears to be seniority lists. The
lists are important to pilots because they
determine scheduling and routing priorities
in addition to ranking for pay.
The pilot groups can't formally block a
merger, but they can complicate the
process. U.S. Airways and America West
Airlines have been trying to combine
operations for two years, but have been
unable to resolve issues related to pilot
seniority, the New York Times noted.
Delta chief executive Richard Anderson
would run the merged airline, which would
be called Delta. Delta Chairman Daniel
Carp would keep that title, while
Northwest Chairman Roy J. Bostock
would become vice chairman. Another
Delta executive, Edward H. Bastian, would
be president and chief financial officer.
Delta would have seven of 13 seats on
the combined board. Northwest would get
five seats, one held by Bostock and another
by current Northwest C.E.O. Douglas M.
Steenland. One director will come from the
Air Line Pilots Association.
The new airline would have its
headquarters in Atlanta, but has pledged to
keep "significant jobs, operations and
facilities in Minnesota."
Related Links
New Dawn for Delta
Deals Taxi for Takeoff
No Pardons for Pardus Investors
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
DEAD
continued from page 7
$3.79 on Friday.
Blockbuster said in a statement that a
merger "would result in an $18 billion
global retail enterprise uniquely positioned
to capitalize on the growing convergence
of media content and electronic devices."
Keyes, a former 7-Eleven executive
hired by Blockbuster last year, said the
proposal "creates a game-changing retail
concept." Carl Icahn, the activist investor
who owns more than 10 percent of
Blockbuster, supports the proposal for
Circuit City, Blockbuster said.
Circuit City acknowledged that it had
received Blockbuster's proposal and said
that it would "continue to carefully
consider and evaluate" it.
The Circuit City statement also
questioned how Blockbuster, a smaller
company, could finance a deal. "In
particular, Blockbuster's proposal appears
to contemplate a rights offering of
unprecedented size relative to the issuing
company's market capitalization and at a
price that is at a significant premium to
Blockbuster's current market price."
"In addition, Circuit City and its advisers
have a number of other fundamental
questions regarding the structure, sources,
and uses of funds and consents required
Deals Taxi for Takeoff
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 5:30:00 AM
Let the matchmaking in the skies begin.
With Delta Air Lines and Northwest
Airlines finally sealing a deal, a long-
awaited burst of consolidation is expected
to erupt.
For years, investors and industry officials
have pointed to a need for airlines, with
their high cost structures and razor-thin
margins, to combine in order to cut
expenses, eliminate overlapping routes,
and take seats away, enabling them to raise
fares. With fuel prices soaring, the industry
is expected to lose as much as $9 billion
this year. And any airline will want to get a
deal done when the merger-friendly Bush
administration is still in power.
Also on Portfolio.com:
Who Takes the Hit?
The sky is falling—on the heads of
business travelers.
with respect to the proposed transaction."
Shares of Circuit City are up 33 percent
in mid-morning trading, while shares of
Blockbuster are down more than 10
percent.
The merger proposal is odd for several
reasons. For one, both companies have
been struggling.
Blockbuster is engaged in a grinding
battle with NetFlix, and its future is
endangered by the kinds of digital
downloads Apple and others are offering.
While its most-recent quarter was much
stronger than expected, prompting the
company to forecast a profit for the year,
Blockbuster did lose $124 million last
year. And it is carrying $758 million of
debt.
Circuit City has been slashing costs to
return profitability, although it, too, faces
grueling competition from Best Buy and
Wal-Mart Stores. It is also facing a
challenge from a major shareholder.
It's not clear how combining two
different brick-and-mortar chains that are
struggling with intense competition will
spark some kind of transformation.
"Synergies between a video store and an
electronics store aren't that obvious," Nick
Bubb, a retail analyst at Pali International
Changes in the Air
Here are the busiest routes for the
nation's big hub-and-spoke airlines.
First on the deal runway will be United
Airlines and Continental Airlines. The
Delta-Northwest merger frees Continental
from an earlier agreement that gave
Northwest a veto over any deal involving
Continental.
Jeff Bailey and Micheline Maynard of
the New York Times report that the two
airlines "now may try to get the deal
wrapped up within the next 30 days."
Deutsche Lufthansa has been rumored to
be looking at taking a stake in a combined
United-Continental. Lufthansa acquired a
19 percent stake in JetBlue late last year.
A new Open Skies treaty frees where
airlines in the United States and the
European Union can fly on both
continents. While U.S. law still prevents
foreign investors from controlling an
airline, there may be more minority stakes,
in London, told Bloomberg News.
Douglas McIntyre on the 24/7 Wall St.
blog is extremely skeptical:
"There is no evidence that the
combination of the companies saves a
dime in expenses. How it enhances
revenue is the stuff of fantasy. Blockbuster
is suggesting that the combined firm take
on debt to help finance the transaction. In
the present environment, where debt is
anathema, the proposal is especially
insane."
These are the kinds of deals that are
made in a recession. Depressed stock
prices bring out strategic players either
sniffing for opportunity—Microsoft's
pursuit of Yahoo, for example—or trying
to paper over the cracks in their business
by becoming bigger. While on the surface
a bold, creative maneuver, Blockbuster's
approach smacks of desperation.
Related Links
Who's Smarter Than Carl Icahn?
Blockbuster Buying Circuit City for
Buzzwords
Blockbuster to Circuit City: Why Can't
We Be Friends?
like Lufthansa's in JetBlue, that could pave
the way for operational alliances.
It's unclear if American Airlines, the
longtime leader of U.S. aviation, will try to
disrupt the Delta-Northwest or United-
Continental deals or seek alliances of its
own.
Earlier this year, the TheDeal.Com noted
that Southwest Airlines had signaled it was
interested in acquisition opportunities, but
that it was more likely to seek gates and
other assets rather than merger deals.
It is important to note that no deal is a
certainty. Delta and Northwest reached
their agreement without the support of
their powerful pilots' union. Its deal and
others will face political challenges and
regulatory scrutiny.
Under terms announced Monday evening
Delta agreed to swap 1.25 of its shares for
each Northwest share. Based on Delta's
closing price of $10.48 a share on Monday,
the offer values each Northwest share at
Twitter Testing Advertising
In Twitter Streams
By Duncan Riley (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 11:12:44 PM
Twitter was down tonight, nothing really
unusual for the San Francisco based startup
(to be fair though downtime has improved
since they dumped Joyent), but what was
different is some reports of users spotting
ads in their Twitter stream during the
service difficulties. There were no ads
evident when I visited Twitter, which may
indicate testing only in preparation for a
broad-scale rollout
Twitter has long been the poster child for
the often controversial Valley mantra of
build an audience first, and the business
model will follow that has been copied by
Seesmic and others. Founded in March
2006 and with its most recent round in July
2007 at $5.7 million, Twitter has grown to
cult status among its growing user base,
but hasn’t earned a cent.
Occasional ads in the Twitter timeline, in
$13.10, a 16.8 percent premium over their
close Monday.
Based on Northwest's recent disclosure
that it has 236.43 million shares
outstanding, the Delta offer values
Northwest at $3.097 billion.
Delta and Northwest acknowledged the
effect of higher oil prices when they
announced their intention to merge.
"Record fuel prices have fundamentally
changed the economics of the airline
industry," they said in a statement. "Fuel is
the highest single expense for Delta and
Northwest, significantly eroding the
financial benefits of restructuring and
placing the airlines' newfound strength and
stability at long-term risk."
Related Links
Will It Fly?
Achtung, JetBlue
New Dawn for Delta
Biz Buzz Tech* 9
a similar fashion to what Twitteriffic users
currently see (Twitteriffic runs their own
ads on the free version) seems like the only
real way to monetize Twitter, aside for
premium subscriptions. The only question
remaining is how Twitter users will accept
the move after a two year free ride. Do you
support ads on Twitter?
• No, keep it ad free
• Yes
• Yes/ No, but I'd pay for an ad free
version
View Results CrunchBase Information
Twitter Information provided by
CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Pay to Fly
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 11:00:00 AM
The European Union is playing hardball
with the US aviation industry.
In order to reduce aviation-generated
carbon emissions in Europe, the EU is
requiring airlines to join a carbon cap and
trade program no later than 2012. It's a
European plan, but its not just for
European airlines. Jacques Barrot, the EU
transport commissioner, announced that all
airlines with European service must
participate, and those which don't may see
access to lucrative European destinations
chopped.
The US industry is not amused.
Other industries in Europe have been
engaged in carbon trading since 2005, and
EU environment ministers decided last
year that its time for commercial avaiation
to come to the party. Under their plan,
airlines will be allocated carbon credits
that they use to "pay" for their CO2
emissions on an annual basis. Airlines that
PAY page 10
10 Biz Buzz Tech*
Google Revs Up Search Growth
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 4:30:00 AM
Fears that the the great Google growth
machine may be slowing have been eased
by a new comScore.com analysis that
shows that search queries revived last
month.
That is a development that will be
welcome by investors anxiously awaiting
Google's first-quarter results on Thursday.
And while Google is gaining in the search
market, Yahoo is losing ground, just at a
time when that company is desperately
trying to stave off a takeover by Microsoft.
Google's total searches increased by 30
percent in March on an annual basis,
according to new comScore numbers,
while Yahoo's searches fell by 2 percent.
"Google continues to gain share, with
year-over-year query growth accelerating
up 30 percent in March," Ben Schachter,
an analyst with UBS, wrote in a note to
clients. "Yahoo was the sole search
property of the 'Big Five' to show negative
query growth in March"
Wachovias Woes
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 5:30:00 AM
An unexpected loss from Wachovia and
its plans to raise $7 billion are stark
reminders that the credit crisis is far from
over.
That was underscored on Friday when a
troubled March for General Electric's
financial businesses caused the
conglomerate to report a surprising miss in
earnings. More upsetting news may come
this week, when Merrill Lynch and
Citigroup report first-quarter losses.
What is unsettling to investors is that
nearly a year after the implosion in
subprime mortgages first shook the
markets, banks are still struggling to get an
accurate reading on the depth of their
losses. A number of housing markets
continue to deteriorate, and events like the
teetering of Bear Stearns in March can
create damaging ripple effects for other
institutions.
Wachovia reported a loss of $350
On a monthly basis, Google's share of
the domestic search market grew to 59.8
percent in March, according to comScore,
up from 59.2 percent in February, while
Yahoo's share fell to 21.3 percent, down
from 21.6 percent in February.
MSN's March search market share was
9.4 percent, down from 9.6 percent in
February, while AOL's market share was
4.8 percent, down from 4.9 percent in
February.
The new data show that Google
continues to grow its commanding lead in
the search market, while Yahoo falters.
Google's investors will be looking at its
first-quarter results to see how the
company is coping with a softening
internet-advertising market. In the fourth
quarter, Google had trouble monetizing its
social-networking business, which consists
primarily of its $900 million deal to handle
ads on MySpace.
"We are cautious on Google's quarter due
to the apparent lack of meaningful
monetization improvements, slowing paid
click volumes, and our view that the
million, or 20 cents per share, in its first
quarter compared with a profit of $2.3
billion, or $1.20 per share, in the quarter a
year earlier. The fourth-largest bank in the
nation will cut its dividend by 41 percent
and will raise $7 billion from the sale of
convertible preferred stock and common
shares.
The bank is setting aside $2.8 billion for
credit losses on mortgage-related
investments. "The provision largely
reflected more severe deterioration in the
residential housing market, particularly in
specific markets in California and Florida,"
Wachovia said.
Many of Wachovia's troubles stem from
its 2006 acquisition of Golden West, a
California-based lender that was a leader in
adjustable-rate mortgages.
"With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear
that the timing was poor for this expansion
in the mortgage business," Ken Thompson,
the chief executive of Wachovia, said in
February.
Today Thompson said: "I'm deeply
Street's margin estimates are too high,"
UBS's Schachter wrote to clients.
Furthermore, another study shows that
Google's growth in search ad dollars in the
U.S. market lagged behind that of Yahoo's
in the first quarter, Miguel Helft reports on
the New York Times Bits blog. The study
SearchIgnite, a search-advertising
technology firm, showed that "spending by
search advertisers on Yahoo grew a robust
57 percent while spending on Google grew
only at about half that rate," Helft says.
Yahoo, which reports quarterly results on
April 22, hopes that its numbers show that
it is healthy and doesn't need Microsoft or
any other company to come to its rescue.
"Given the management team's track
record," Schachter wrote, "it is difficult to
give them the benefit of the doubt that they
will post much of an upside surprise."
Related Links
Dangerous Liaison
Dangerous Liaison
Google Wins One
disappointed with our first-quarter results,
but I am confident we're taking prudent
and appropriate actions in this challenging
period to restore Wachovia to a more
profitable path. The precipitous decline in
housing-market conditions and
unprecedented changes in consumer
behavior prompted us to update our credit-
reserve modeling and rely less heavily on
historical trends to forecast losses. As a
result, we have substantially increased our
reserves."
Wachovia is the latest big bank to shore
up its capital. It follows the route taken last
week by Washington Mutual, by selling
shares. For Wachovia, however, this is the
second time this year it has raised capital.
Earlier, it raised $8.3 billion through the
sale of preferred stock and securities.
Related Links
Stocks Want to Run With the Bulls
Good Morning on Wall Street
Why Wachovia Needs Another $7
Billion
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
PAY
continued from page 9
come in under their quota will end the year
with extra credits which they can then sell
on the carbon market. And they'll have
plenty of buyers -- pollution spewing
airlines that exceed their yearly allowance
will need to buy additional credits. This, in
a nutshell, is how carbon trading works.
European airlines aren't exactly doing
cartwheels over the plan, though with
carbon trading a key part of the Continent's
environmental strategy, they must have
seen it coming. But non-European carriers
say it's unfair and potentially illegal that
the scheme is being imposed on any airline
flying into or out of the EU.
The US airlines aren't having it. They say
the Europeans are being hysterical and that
forced participation in their carbon trading
plan violates international treaties. The Air
Transport Association, the trade group for
US carriers, calls the European's focus on
aviation emissions "out of proportion" and
believes that the US industry is having
success with market driven approaches like
buying more fuel-efficient aircraft,
reducing the weight of their planes, and
investigating alternative fuels.
But EU airlines insist that if they have to
join the carbon trading market, their US
Artist Creates A Real
Where's Waldo Adventure
For Online Satellite Imagery
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 1:23:02 PM
A few years back, a bunch of publications
ran misleading stories claiming that the
department store Target was trying to
make use of tools like Google
Maps/Google Earth that used satellite
imagery to advertise on their rooftops.
That wasn't the case at all. The image of a
Target rooftop in question was near an
airport, and there are a number of stores
that have painted large advertisements on
their rooftops for passengers in landing
airplanes to spot. However, the concept has
inspired some artistic thinking. Reader
Joseph B writes in to tell us about how one
artist has now purposely hidden a rather
large image of Waldo of "Where's Waldo"
competitors should be forced to jump in as
well. They expect to shell out up to $65
billion buying carbon credits over the next
15 years, and say that if other airlines
aren't forced to do the same, it would
amount to a massive tax on European
aviation.
It's unlikely that the EU would ever go so
far as to actually impose flight curbs.
Foreign airlines would likely respond in
kind, which would cause serious financial
hardship all around. But even the threat
shows just how far apart the EU and US
are when it comes to aviation-related
environmental oversight.
Is the EU overstepping its bounds?
Threatening to suck the life out of an
already fragile industry with a blanket of
stifling regulation? Or is the US, with its
"let the market take care of it" approach,
not doing enough to hold aviation
accountable for its carbon output? Related
Links
The Skies Open Overseas
Open Skies = Closed Options for Some
Join the ClubBut Which Club?
fame on an unidentified rooftop in
Vancouver. The real trick, though, is
figuring out not just where this Waldo is,
but when he'll actually show up in Google
Earth. Of course, this whole thing has
ticked off folks who are upset with the
suggestion that it's somehow Google
taking all of these satellite photos (no,
Google doesn't own a satellite... yet),
rather than 3rd parties who license the
photos to a bunch of companies. In the
meantime, while this is a bit silly, it's kind
of cool to see people thinking about
different ways to create artwork, display it
and interact with it, thanks to new
technologies like Google Earth.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Federated Media’s $50 Million C- Build A Book On
Round Confirmed—No Plans to Buy Up Facebook With Blurb
Blog Partners
By Erick Schonfeld (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 5:25:09 AM
After turning down a$100 million buyout
offer, Federated Media Publishing has
opted instead to raise $50 million in a C
round led by Oak Investment Partners. As
was reported two weeks ago, the rumored
valuation is$200 million. While the
company is not confirming that number,
publisher Chas Edwards quips, “We have
to be worth at least $101 million.”
Federated Media acts as the advertising
salesforce for about 150 blogs and dozens
of online media properties with a collective
audience of 50 million people a month. Its
blog partners include Boing Boing,
GigaOm, Ars Technica, Silicon Alley
Insider, and TechCrunch. It even sells ads
for video blogs like AskANinja and on
some Facebook apps, such as Graffiti and
Watercooler.
A Tidy Advertising Business . . .
In 2007, according to Edwards,
Federated Media sold $22 million worth of
ads across its network, up from $4 million
in 2006. It generally splits the ad revenues
with publishers, taking 40 percent for
itself. Edwards says that Federated Media
is able to command between $10 and $25
per 1,000 impressions (CPMs) for the ads
it places on the blogs it works with (and $6
to $12 CPMs on its Facebook apps, which
is very high for social-network inventory).
Edwards says Federated Media has been
cash-flow positive for more than a year
and EBITDA-positive since September,
Russia Wants Everyone Setting Up A WiFi Network To Register With The
Government
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 12:49:00 AM
When WiFi was first becoming popular a
few years back, there were occasional
stories about countries that hadn't opened
up the spectrum necessary for WiFi and
2007. The blog advertising network
previously raised a total of $7.5 million.
. . . or a Blog-By-Night Network?
The issue, though, is that unlike a
traditional media company where content
and publishing are under the same roof,
FM does not control the sites for which it
sells ads. And there is no lack of ad
networks that big blogs can work with.
Even Technorati is hoping to turn itself
into an ad network for blogs. In order to tie
its partner sites closer to Federated Media,
we’ve suggested before that the company
could use this new cash to buy guaranteed
ad inventory on the blogs in its network, or
buy some of those blogs outright. But
Edwards tells me Federated Media will not
guarantee advertising under any
circumstances, and is unlikely to buy any
partner blogs:
Let’s say we bought all the sites that are
part of FM. If we don’t deliver value they
can walk away. The stability of our
relationship with content creators will
come from the value we create every day,
not from our contracts.
He goes on to qualify this statement this
way:
I wouldn’t rule out any scenario. If an
how problematic that was for getting WiFi
adopted. However, it looks like some
bureaucrats in Russia may be taking the
whole concept to a new level. Apparently,
Russia's equivalent of the FCC, the
Russian Mass Media, Communications and
Cultural Protection Service (or
author needs $100K. Is there a way FM
could help them with that? Absolutely, and
it can be structured a thousand different
ways. But I don’t suspect that FM’s path is
to acquire the blogs we work with.
He also argues that even when blogs get
big enough to hire their own ad sales team,
they will never be able to cover as many ad
agencies and clients as the 25 sales people
at Federated Media. That’s true, but it
doesn’t take 25 people to sell ads for one
blog, and blogs that sell their own ads have
a better chance of getting higher ad rates.
The type of bundled selling that Federated
Media can do will have a place in any
given blog’s advertising mix as long as
Federated Media can do a better job selling
ads to the big brands (which generally
require the type of scale and vetting that
Federated Media offers).
So what is Federated Media going to do
with that $50 million? Expand beyond
blogs, expand internationally, help existing
media partners expand to new sites (and
thus more ad inventory), and help them
expand beyond the Web (by selling
sponsorships for conferences and other
events, for instance). Federated Media is
going to have to keep finding new ways to
keep the money flowing to its blog and
media partners if it wants to keep them
from bolting. CrunchBase Information
Federated Media John Battelle Information
provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because
it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Rossvyazokhrankultura) have announced
that any device that uses WiFi indoors
anywhere needs to be registered with the
government. Even worse, the registration
is per user with a non-transferable license.
So every user of every WiFi device will
need a separate registration. As Glenn
By Mark Hendrickson (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 1:32:20 AM
Blurb, the on-demand print service with a
specialization in photographic layouts, is
expanding its “crowd sourcing” strategy
onto, where else, but Facebook with a new
app that brings people together to create
professional quality books.
This past October Blurb deployed a new
feature for its desktop publishing software
called Community Books that could be
used to create books with others. The new
Facebook application, called GroupBook
and found here, does essentially the same
thing except without the need for any
download on the part of your friends.
Want to compile a book with all of the
photos that you and your friends took at
graduation? Invite them to participate in a
GroupBook project and they can contribute
up to 20 of their own photos with a simple
upload form on Facebook. Once the
contribution period ends, you can turn
these photos into a book with Blurb’s
BookSmart desktop client.
My only real gripe is that friends can’t
submit captions along with their photos,
leaving book owners to make ones up
themselves. Also, you can’t pull photos
directly from Facebook collections - a
limitation imposed by the social network
itself since Facebook doesn’t store and
serve high enough quality images for print.
Blurb’s social features form a smart
strategy in an age when electronic media is
replacing many printed materials. I
imagine this will help the company drive
Fleishman notes in the link above: "Setting
up a home Wi-Fi network or a hotspot
would require what sounds like vast
amounts of paperwork, akin to putting [up]
a cell tower." I'm sure that will increase
adoption. From the sound of it, though,
some are questioning whether the group
Tech* 11
demand for so-called “personal” books,
ones created not for profit. It shouldn’t
have an affect, however, on the print of
marketing materials, which form half of
Blurb’s businesses.
When asked about Amazon’s recent
foray into on-demand print services, CEO
Eileen Gittins expressed a lack of concern
that it would cut into Blurb’s business.
Since relatively few people use Blurb to
create books intended for sale (on Amazon
or elsewhere) anyway, she doesn’t think
the giant ecommerce site has any real
competitive advantage in this area. Plus
she thinks Blurb’s economics are better
because the company does not take any cut
from the sale of books, it just charges
printers for the leads it makes. CrunchBase
Information Blurb Amazon Information
provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
even has the authority to make such a
mandate. In the meantime, if you're in
Russia and using WiFi, apparently you
may want to get ready to sign some
paperwork.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
12 Tech*
Strutta: I’m the best around, nothing’s ever gonna
bring me down
By Peter Ha (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 6:06:03 AM
“What, you think you’re better than me?”
We’ve all uttered this phrase at one point
or another in our lifetime. Well maybe
we’ve just thought about saying it, but
we’re inherently wired to feel it. We love
to compete with one another no matter
what the circumstances are, but let’s face
it, seeing who can do the most one armed
push-ups at the office is getting old, and
frankly Erick is sick of losing. It’s time for
some fresh meat. Am I right? What, you
think you can come up with something
better? Then prove it. I dare you.
That’s where Vancouver, BC-based
Strutta comes in. They’re taking user-
generated video content and melding it
with casual gaming to create the online
version of a spectator sport. The name
alone should tip you off to what they’re all
about. Strut your stuff. Show the world
what you’re good at and get a chance to
smoke the competition. Or if you’re more
of a spectator, just spend time voting for
the best players in different games to crank
Mowser Founder Says Mobile Web Is Dead. It’s The
Opposite: The Mobile Web Was Born Only Yesterday
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:39:56 AM
The Mobile Web is dead, says
entreprenuer Russell Beattie, and it’s time
for him to deadpool Mowser. Read the
details in Duncan’s post from earlier today.
Now I certainly think that the day of
creating specialty stripped down version of
web pages for mobile devices is coming to
an end (and that’s what Mowser did).
Small screens with poor bandwidth equals
an unusable product. In the U.S. today
almost all mobile browsing occurs on
smart phones with big screens and full
keyboards. The iPhone in particular is
up your judge points (yes judges get
points, too).
Think of Strutta as a federated body for
online competitions, kind of like what the
WWF is to wrestling, only on Strutta you
can compete against the entire world in
anything you see fit. Strutta even lets you
compete on behalf of your city, your state,
and your country kind of like a web
browsing friendly as users can simply
move the screen around with their fingers,
and zoom in or out on the extremely crisp
screen.
In short, the gains in hardware have
made a special markup language for
phones redundant. More and more people
will be getting true smart phones in their
hards that can open and view normal
webpages quickly. and see the entire
screen. We no longer need middleman
software to convert normal websites into
stuff that lesser phones can understand. It
will be much better to push prices down so
that todays iPhone is available for next to
nothing in the third world. The First world
Olympian. To play in a game, upload a
video that you created or starred in, or
login to your YouTube account from
Strutta’s site and select videos from there.
Compete in an existing game on Strutta, or
create a new one to feature your best skills
and drop in your video. You can keep track
of your stats on Strutta’s dynamic
leaderboards and as soon as you see your
will have moved on to increasingly better
devises.
So I disagree that The Mobile Web is
dead. For many of us it is just coming
alive. Given the speed at which these
devices are evolving and price dropping, I
don’t think it’s worth people’s time to
build sofware that optimizes the
experience. Rather, they should use their
expertise to build exciting new
applications that will run directly on these
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
rank dropping, just swap out your video for
a new one to show more of your skills or
up the star-quality of your performance.
Also, if you don’t want to play directly on
Strutta’s site you’ll be able to simply
embed the game you’re competing in onto
other sites and social networks, like
MySpace and Facebook, and have your
friends vote for you, there.
So what exactly are you competing for?
Well, not only are you vying for bragging
rights, but you’re also trying to get into the
Strutta finale. While the details of that
were not disclosed to me yet, I think the
Strutta team has something exciting
planned…
So, I challenge everyone to a game: I
want you all to do your best impression of
Michael. Seriously. Let’s see what you’ve
got. CrunchBase Information Strutta
Information provided by CrunchBase
CrunchBase Information ibeatyou
Information provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
new platforms.
So don’t think of this as the death of your
startuup, Russell. Think of it as an
opportunity to let your creativity fly while
you imagine how you can change the
world. My guess is you’ll land somewhere
very interesting, and start building
software that will be used passionately by
your users. CrunchBase Information
Mowser Information provided by
CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
WiMAX Supporters Try
To Suppress Case Study
About WiBRO Troubles
By Derek Kerton (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 9:22:00 AM
Tempers flared at the WiMAX show in
Singapore last week when the WiMAX
Forum apparently moved to suppress a
report issued by one of their media
sponsors, Telecoms Korea. The Telecoms
Korea report, prepared with the
expectation of distribution at the event,
apparently included a case study regarding
KT's deployment of WiBRO in South
Korea, including relevant facts about the
rocky start the service has had. Well,
apparently "rocky start" isn't on the agenda
at the WiMAX Congress, since the Forum
blocked distribution of the report.
Telecoms Korea is accusing KT of being
behind the cover-up, and it is specifically
singling out Ron Resnick, the Intel
executive who currently sits as President
and Chairman of the WiMAX Forum as
being the ax-man. The publication is
furious at the alleged censorship, and says
it degraded to a shouting match at the
Congress with Resnick saying, "Get out of
here, now!" several times. That's too bad,
because as an occasional subscriber to
Telecoms Korea, I have seen that their
editorial position on WiBRO has been one
part national pride mixed with one part
realism. If they have had any bias, it has
been a hope to see WiBRO succeed. The
publication argues that by turning a blind
eye to the simple realities of KT's difficult
launch, the WiMAX community is setting
itself up for repeat disappointment rather
than being able to learn from it.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
AOL Buys Sphere’s Blog Google’s Don’t Be Evil
Content Engine Not “Ordained Motto”
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Says Marissa Mayer
Submitted at 4/14/2008 8:59:58 PM
Tomorrow AOL will announce the
acquisition of San Francisco-based Sphere,
a blog content engine that launched in
2006. The price is not being disclosed, but
sources are suggesting it’s in the $25
million range, or possibly a little more.
More details from Om Malik
When Sphere first launched as a blog
search engine they were already late to the
blog search game. Technorati and others
had been around for some time already,
and even Google Blog Search was nearly
eight months old. Sphere had some nice
features, but it was in a tough and
competitive space.
But CEO Tony Conrad, a former venture
capitalist, quickly adapted to the changing
market and focused on delivering blog
results relevant to content delivered by big
news and content sites. Time was the first
to go live with “Sphere It” links, and most
of the big news sites followed over time. In
July 2007 we noted that they had very
quietly completed a transformation into a “
related content” engine.
Sphere lands in Bill Wilson’s
organization, the EVP of Programming at
AOL. His division controls AOL’s content
properties (Entertainment, Finance,
Weblogs, etc.). In a phone call today,
Wilson told me he doesn’t intend to
change Sphere’s approach or brand. They
are growing a number of micro/niche
Fring iPhone Chat/Voip App Launching Today
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 12:41:23 AM
Fring, an Israeli startup that has a great
VOIP/Chat service for mobile phones (see
our February coverage), is launching an
iPhone version of the service sometime in
the next 24 hours, we’ve heard.
This is not a browser-based chat app like
FlickIM or Mundu. It should be a fully
functional downloadable version of the
brands, he said, and leveraging what he
calls “passion points” of small but
passionate audiences. Sphere fits right into
that by showing relevant content to users,
and getting AOL content in front of more
users.
Congratulations to Conrad on the
aquisition, as well as the rest of the Sphere
team (Martin Remy, Steve Nieker, Toni
Schneider, Mike Garfias, Alex Bendig,
Andy Cabell, Anne Dorman, Jeff Yolen,
Adam Embick, Josh Guttman, Kevin
Cowan, Sven Henderson, Troy Vitullo and
Michael Harzheim). Sphere had raised$3.5
million in venture capital over two rounds.
CrunchBase Information Sphere
Information provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because
it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
application that allows users to access the
fring, Skype, MSN Messenger, Google
Talk, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo and AIM
services.
That means they’ll be using the Jailbreak
installer, which severely limits the number
of iPhone users who will download and
use it.
But Fring may also be the first really
killer application that can get non-early
adopter users to consider using Jailbreak.
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 1:07:33 AM
Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” motto, first
uttered by Googler Paul Buchheit(now
founder of FriendFeed) in 2001, has long
been the pillar of their self-imposed code
of conduct. It was amended somewhat in
2006 when CEO Eric Schmidt, under fire
for entering the Chinese market with
censorship restrictions, said“We actually
did an evil scale and decided not to serve
at all was worse evil.” He turned it into a
sort of evil minimization algorithm.
But the core motto is still displayed
prominently on the Google Investor
Relations site, and the company appears to
be supporting it up 100%.
Not so, apparently. Last week, however,
Google’s Marissa Mayer said“It really
wasn’t like an elected, ordained motto”
during an interview in Australia, adding“I
think that ‘Don’t Be Evil’ is a very easy
thing to point at when you see Google
doing something that you personally don’t
like; it’s a very easy thing to point out so it
does get targeted a lot.”
There’s a certain disconnect between
The ability to make VOIP calls over the
data plan in itself is probably worth it
paragraph two above and what Marrissa
says in paragraph 3.
This is most likely not a precursor to an
official move away from the motto. I
imagine it’s little more than a venting of a
frustration that Google continues to be held
to a promise made six years ago, when
they were under significantly less scrutiny
than they are today. Google can’t ditch the
motto (the press would eat that up), and
it’s becoming increasingly difficult to live
up to it. What can they do? Not much.
They made this bed. It’s too bad they
couldn’t get Buchheit to take it with him
when he left to found FriendFeed.
(Hat tip to reader Asher Moses for
pointing this story out to us).
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
(although it may only work over Wifi, not
the Edge network).
This is most likely a test run in
preparation for the official iPhone app
store that will launch this summer. It’s also
a risky strategy - some developers I’ve
spoken with are avoiding Jailbreak because
they don’t want to anger Apple and have
their official applications banned down the
road.
Fring is doing very well even without the
Tech* 13
You Have No Privacy
Anywhere: Administration
Pushes Forward With
Domestic Spy Satellite
Program
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 11:06:00 AM
While everyone's arguing over the
legality of warrantless wiretaps, it looks
like the administration and the Department
of Homeland Security have moved on to
even bigger fish: using spy satellites to spy
more thoroughly throughout the US. For
rather obvious reasons, this has many folks
concerned. The government has shown a
decided lack of ability to "stick to the
rules" when it comes on domestic spying
programs, and given what some of these
spy satellites can do, it has people
concerned about why the US is using such
military hardware, normally reserved to
spy on enemy countries, to spy on our own
citizens. Somehow, DHS boss Michael
Chertoff's response to his critics isn't
particularly reassuring:"There is no basis
to suggest that this process is in any way
insufficient to protect the privacy and civil
liberties of Americans... I think we've fully
addressed anybody's concerns. I think the
way is now clear to stand it up and go
warm on it." To translate: "You should
trust us, because we're trustworthy people
who would never do anything wrong
(please ignore all we've done wrong over
the past few years). So, now that that's
settled, let's get this baby rolling..."
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
iPhone. The service, which is about a year
old, gets 100,000 new active users per
month. We’ll update when Fring actually
launches the application. Update: It
launched. Read about it here. Download it
here. CrunchBase Information fring
Information provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because
it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
14 Tech*
Press Boycotts Indian Cricket When The Best You Can Do Is
Matches Over Restrictions On Get Fake Facebook Fans, You
Digital Media Know You Have A PR Problem
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 8:39:00 PM
Last week, we wrote about how
disappointing it was that American
newspapers agreed to restrictions placed
on them by Major League Baseball
concerning how those newspapers could
report on games online. You would think
that newspapers reared on the idea of
freedom of the press and editorial
independence would not allow an
organization they were covering to dictate
the terms of coverage -- but they did.
Luckily, it looks like reporters down in
India are more willing to stand up for what
they feel is right. Reader Bipin writes in to
And Of Course, FCC Sides With Shockingly, YouTube NOT
Verizon In Argument With Cable Blamed
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Cos.
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 3:35:05 PM
Last month we pointed out that the cable
companies had filed a complaint with the
FCC accusing Verizon of some shady
practices in trying to get customers to stay,
even after they'd already agreed to switch
to cable. Since most customers want to
keep their home phone number, the cable
companies needed to contact Verizon to
make the switch. At that point, Verizon
would immediately contact those
customers to prevent them from switching.
As the cable companies pointed out, this
Update: Fring’s Jailbroken iPhone App Now Live
By Erick Schonfeld (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 7:41:21 AM
As Mike reported earlier today, Fring is
launching a downloadable app for the
iPhone that will allow people to make
Skype and other VoIP calls over the data
let us know of a very similar situation,
where the Indian Premiere League put a
number of restrictions on how the press
could report online on its cricket
competitions in India. Rather than agree to
the restrictions, the press threatened to
boycott IPL events entirely. Apparently the
boycott threat has worked to get the league
to back down a bit, though it may still end
up with some restrictions. That still seems
ridiculous, and hopefully the press will
again point out that it needs to remain
independent and cannot abide by any
restrictions placed on it by the very
organization it's covering.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
For Teen Web Attack
gave the telcos an unfair advantage. They
were using information they learned from
elsewhere (the group in charge of
managing number portability) to steal
customers back from the cable companies.
Of course, given how today's FCC tends to
think that telcos are always right and cable
co's are always wrong, it will surprise
probably none of you, that the FCC has no
problem with Verizon's practices. Perhaps
the cable companies should have waited
until a new FCC commish was sworn in
before making this complaint.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
connection instead of using up talk
minutes. Fring supports Skype, MSN
Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, SIP,
Twitter, Yahoo and AIM services.
It is now live. (Warning: You will need
to Jailbreak your iPhone to make it work).
The Fring blog has more details or you can
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 6:02:01 PM
Ticketmaster is widely considered one of
the more hated companies in America, so it
made a few people scratch their heads
when they saw that Ticketmaster was near
the top of the list in terms of the number of
"fans" it had on Facebook. Valleywag
points to an enterprising blogger who
checked out who those fans were and
noticed that many, many of the fans appear
to be entirely fake creations. They have no
picture, no other friends and they're only
fans of Ticketmaster. In other words, it
looks like Ticketmaster is "stuffing the
Submitted at 4/14/2008 7:44:05 AM
Last week, there was plenty of news
about a group of eight Florida teenagers
who purposely lured another teen into
someone's home and then beat her while
filming the attack -- which they
specifically planned to put on YouTube in
an attempt to "get famous." While there
have been some attempts to point a finger
of blame at YouTube and MySpace, it
looks like the press isn't jumping on that
bandwagon as quickly as you might
expect. Rose M. Welch writes in to point
download it at the Fringcubator. With so
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
ballot box" in order to look more popular
than it actually is. That's pretty sad. Of
course, as people in the comments note, it's
not so much that Ticketmaster created the
fake fans themselves: they simply offered a
promotion to give any "fans" five free
iTunes downloads. So it looks like a bunch
of folks set up fake Facebook profiles just
to get those five free downloads -- and
Ticketmaster gets to "pretend" it has all
these fans. Except, of course, now it just
looks like a serious loser that has to pay for
"fans" and gets a bunch of fake fans for its
troubles.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
to an Associated Press article that quotes a
bunch of people pointing out that YouTube
is not to blame and has nothing to do with
this attack. Some point out that those sites
gave us a record of the attack to make it
easier to capture and prosecute those
responsible -- while others point out that
"the public" is equally as responsible for
wanting to watch that kind of attack in the
first place. Either way, it's nice to see the
AP quickly come out with a clear defense
of why YouTube isn't the problem here.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
many minutes on most cell phone plans,
most people won’t be using this to make
local calls. But it could come in handy for
international calls or simply keeping up
with IM on the go. The latter is really the
killer app.
And here’s a video of how it works:
Is It That Difficult To
Understand The Difference
Between Public Data And
Private Data?
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 11:14:00 PM
Just a little while after some folks in
Pittsburgh, PA sued Google over its Street
View offering, it appears that Google is
getting ready to launch a similar offering
in Australia. However, rather than
celebrate a rather useful service, there's a
somewhat ridiculous newspaper article in
Australia charging Google execs with
hypocrisy for not revealing private data
about Australian Google execs. It's hard to
see where the hypocrisy is here. Google is
creating a database of public info, and the
newspaper, by its own admission, was
asking Google to give up private data on
its execs. Despite what the newspaper
implies, Google's Street View doesn't
reveal who lives where -- it just shows
photos taken from public roadways, just as
anyone would see driving up and down
those same roads. To equate that with
private data about executives is simply
wrong.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
CrunchBase Information fring
Information provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Realtime Worlds confirms $50m
Series B
By Mike Butcher (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:19:23 AM
Games company Realtime Worlds has
raised $50 million in a Series B round led
by Maverick Capital, reports TechCrunch
UK, news which confirms Michael
Arington’s story in March. Existing
investors New Enterprise Associates and
WPP also participated to back the Scotland
and Colorado based firm which previously
raised nearly $33 million. Realtime has an
exclusive partnership with Microsoft Game
Studios and its first title, Crackdown for
Xbox 360 in early 2007, sold about 1.4m
copies, but the money looks likely to head
towards it’s online games development.
Sanyo's Superbright PLC-ET30L projector actually is really bright
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:54:00 AM
Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home
Entertainment
Presumably ensuring that no one views
Sanyo as hypocritical, the company's
Superbright PLC-ET30L actually can
throw up a fairly recognizable image even
in a well-lit room. Featuring an SXGA+
Tesla Motors sues Fisker over stolen secrets
By Joshua Topolsky (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:19:00 AM
Filed under: Transportation
Tesla Motors can't seem to keep itself
out of the press, can it? The newest flare-
up concerns rival Fisker and claims that
the automaker has stolen trade secrets and
copied design concepts. In a lawsuit filed
Monday by Tesla, the carmaker accuses
Henrik Fisker -- whom the company had
hired to design its WhiteStar sedan -- of
accepting the work to "gain access to
Realtime Worlds already runs is poised to
release All Points Bulletin, a massively
multiplayer online game. ( Release)
CrunchBase Information Realtime Worlds
Information provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
(1,400 x 1,050) resolution, a 1,300:1
contrast ratio and a remarkably high 4,200
ANSI lumen rating, this PJ was
undoubtedly designed to function in
classrooms and boardrooms (or living
rooms) that just can't avoid ambient light.
Additionally, Sanyo's introducing the
lower-spec'd PLC-XT21/L, which offers
up an XGA (1,024 x 768) resolution,
1:000:1 contrast ratio and 4,000 ANSI
confidential design information and trade
secrets." The company alleges that Fisker
then used that knowledge to launch a
O2 slashing £100 from 8GB iPhone in UK
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:30:00 AM
Filed under: Cellphones
The whispers are true, or so it seems.
According to Stuff, O2 is getting set to one
-up T-Mobile's price cutting affair in
Germany by hacking a full £100 from the
8GB iPhone in the UK (bringing it down to
£169). Better still, the discount will apply
regardless of which contract selection you
make, whereas T-Mobile forced users to
sign the dotted line on a pricey Complete
lumens. Both newcomers to the T series
line support wired networking and emit
just 35dB of fan noise, but being priced at
competing vehicle, and believes Fisker has
implemented its range-extended vehicle (or
REV) technology in the recently
introduced Karma. "I think it's ironic that
Fisker chose to name his car the Karma,
when what he's done is very bad karma,"
said the company's lawyer. Fisker wouldn't
comment on the case, then drove silently
away when pressed.
[Via CNET]
Read| Permalink| Email this| Linking
Blogs| Comments
Tech* Gadgets* TV* 15
iterations within the last month will receive
an "Ultimate Price Promise" £100 refund
voucher. Before you dash out to cash in, it
should be noted that the deal is set to
expire come June -- and we certainly don't
have to remind you what that could mean.
[Via Mobile Today, thanks to everyone
who sent this in]
Read| Permalink| Email this| Linking
XL plan. Unfortunately, the lower sticker Blogs| Comments
only applies to the 8GB version -- the
16GB model will remain £329 -- but
anyone who sprung for one of the former
$6,495 and $4,995 (respectively), the duo
is most definitely cut out for the corporate
card and not your own.
Read| Permalink| Email this| Linking
Blogs| Comments
Couric may be traded for Cooper
(and an intern to be named later)
By Joel Keller (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:41:00 AM
Filed under: News, Industry, Talk Show,
Reality-Free With the rumors swirling
around that Katie Couric may leave (or be
removed from) the CBS Evening News
soon after the 2008 election, speculation of
what she might do and who might take her
place has also been in the air. The latest
speculation by insiders, though, is an
interesting one, so interesting that it just
might make complete sense. The idea is to have Couric eventually take
According to the New York Daily News, over for Larry King.
"TV insiders," whoever they are, think that Continue reading Couric may be traded
a trade of sorts might take place: Anderson for Cooper (and an intern to be named
Cooper comes to CBS to anchor the later)
Evening News, while Couric goes to CNN Permalink| Email this| | Comments
to host a talk show in the 10 PM slot where
Anderson Cooper 360 currently resides.
16 Gadgets* Web 2.0
iHome iP99 claims to be first
iPhone-friendly clock radio, isn't
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:57:00 AM
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals,
Portable Audio
Oh sure, the iHome iP99 is certainly a
welcome addition to the fray, but the first
iPhone-compatible clock radio it isn't.
Nevertheless, this device claims to be able
to play back tunes on your handset without
that sanity-killing interference that's so
common on most iPod stereo systems.
While blasting out tunes, users can still
expect to receive calls while it's charging,
Coway intros SWV-08AM megasonic cleaning apparatus
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 1:02:00 AM
Filed under: Household
Now that the Ultreo toothbrush has made
you a believer in the cleaning power of
ultrasonic waves, why not pick up a
cleaner sure to do the same for objects not
and if you're currently rolling sans an
iPhone, it'll also play nice with all docking
iPod models. Per usual, there's an AM /
FM tuner, auxiliary input, a variety of
wake modes, dual alarm settings, backlit
buttons and a remote control for switching
tracks / controlling volume from afar. Of
course, by the time this thing lands in June
for $149.99, we could be testing to see if it
works with an all new iPhone.
Read| Permalink| Email this| Linking
Blogs| Comments
located in close proximity to your incisors.
The oh-so-sleek SWV-08AM megasonic
cleaning apparatus is reportedly designed
to "remove dirt and agrochemicals" from
fruits, dishes, etc. with little to no
detergent. There's also an integrated P-
Sediment filter to make sure the water
coming out is ultra-pure, and those two
Apple and Sony settle with Japanese
battery burn victims
By Joshua Topolsky (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:02:00 AM
Filed under: Laptops
Remember that Japanese couple who
sued Apple and Sony over one of those
famous burning batteries? Well it looks
like the companies have decided to settle,
and will pay the fire-damaged pair a total
of ¥1.3 million (or around $13,000). Of
course, this is a bit less than the absurdly
low $16,700 the two were asking, but
percentage-wise they didn't make out too
Kegerator-based cooling system gives your PC a buzz
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 1:29:00 AM
Filed under: Desktops, Misc. Gadgets
Okay, so Jared Bouck's kegerator-cooled
PC doesn't really sip on Hennessy, Bud
Light or even Milwaukee's Best, but it sure
does a good job of pretending to be 21.
Essentially, this here mod is more for show
than anything, but when all's said and
done, you do have a liquid-cooled gaming
large buttons determine whether the blasts
are strong or soft. Honestly, we're not
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
badly. During the trial, Apple Japan
apparently accepted responsibility for the
incident but couldn't justify settling out of
court due to a request for "excessive
compensation," while Sony maintained its
distance by suggesting a link between the
battery and burns wasn't clear. We're sure
the guy who made the trip to the hospital
thinks otherwise.
[Thanks, Jackie]
Read| Permalink| Email this| Linking
Blogs| Comments
rig and a nearby locale to stock your
favorite beverages. After all, it's common
knowledge that you can't stray too far to
exactly sure what this piece of kit will run
you, but to our ears, it's just screaming
"pricey."
Read| Permalink| Email this| Linking
Blogs| Comments
7 Last Minute Tax
Tools
By Sean P. Aune (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:47:32 AM
Tick-tock, tick-tock, the time is quickly
approaching, and you need to get those
taxes done in a hurry. Well, your choices
are quickly dwindling, but there are still
some sites you can use to get them done
fast!
(more…)
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Internet Tax Ban Almost Permanent?
eBay Exec Warns Against Internet Taxes
Internet Tax Ban Gets 7 More Years
Will an Internet Tax Ban Ever Be
Permanent?
House Approves Senate Net Tax Ban
New Yorkers Beware. Spitz’s ‘Amazon
Tax’ Is Near Law
12 Things To Do Online Before The End
Of 2007
replenish your fluids during an all-night
WoW raid, right? With $180, a bit of
patience and some good old fashion work,
you too can replace that vanilla cooling
setup with one the boys are sure to swoon
over.
[Thanks, Tom]
Read| Permalink| Email this| Linking
Blogs| Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Hands Free 3D enables your
movements to control Second Life
avatar
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:28:00 AM
Filed under: Gaming
Using 3D cameras in order to let humans
control interfaces by simply moving about
is old hat, but for those sick and tired of
being strapped to a mouse / keyboard in
Second Life, take a glance at this. Hands
Free 3D is a prototypical system that gives
addicts members of the virtual realm the
ability to walk, jump, fly and interact by
HP 2133 Mini-Note PC misses ship date for pre-orderers
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 4:20:00 AM
Filed under: Laptops
Say it ain't so! Just a week after HP's
totally adorable 2133 Mini-Note PC
popped online for purchase, we've received
word that pre-orderers aren't going to be
seeing their new machine quite as soon as
simply gesturing in front of a PC-
connected camera designed by 3DV
Systems. Currently, it doesn't seem like
this solution is on the fast track to release
or anything, but we have a sneaking
suspicion they aren't demoing this stuff for
kicks and giggles. Peek the video right
after the break.
Read| Permalink| Email this| Linking
Blogs| Comments
originally expected. Reportedly, HP has
sent out notifications to customers who pre
Tresling: it's Tetris, with arm wrestling
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 12:26:00 AM
Filed under: Gaming
Given the multitude of ways Tetris has
been tweaked already, we were beginning
to wonder if the spectacular mods
involving the famed title were dwindling
down. Apparently not. Tresling is a
brilliant creation involving a sophisticated
arm wrestling board which converts
tussling into block movements within the
-ordered to let them know that their lappies
won't be shipping today as promised, but
there's no word on how long the delay will
last. Hang in there, subnote lovers -- a
tracking number is bound to come soon
(er, we hope).
[Thanks, Brian]
Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
Comments
game. For each flinch, yank and pull, one's
block turns -- if you can't maintain your
position, chances are that your figure will
end up all out of place. Believe it or not, it
actually looks even more fun on video, so
check out the heated competition in the
read link below.
[Thanks, Tom]
Read| Permalink| Email this| Linking
Blogs| Comments
Gadgets* Web 2.0 17
Long Portraits -
Finally, A Way To
Use Flickr Video
By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:19:25 AM
Have you been frustrated with Flickr
Video’s limitation to only 90 seconds?
Yeah, it’s no YouTube; the idea is to store
all those short video clips you’ve captured
with your camera. The problem is, are you
ever even using the video function on your
DSLR or compact? Do you even know
where it is?
Well, the folks at PhotoJojo have an
idea: capture a long portrait. Long portrait
is essentially a very short video interview,
in which you ask a person a question and
capture it with your camera. The idea is to
capture the “essence” of a person;
therefore the idea is to ask something
witty, make them sing a song, dance a silly
dance - anything that you may use against
them at a later date.
Check out an example below, and don’t
ask us if this is going to be forgotten
tomorrow or turn into a global
phenomenon. It’s the internet, anything
can happen.
The best thing Jacqueline saw this week
from Photojojo on Vimeo.
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Iconize Me: Is digital content becoming
more valuable?
Long Tail Camp: Exploit the Meme
The Daily Poll: Are Facebook Beacon
Ads Illegal?
Lolcats + MySpace = Lolspace
BookTour.com: Wired Editor Launching
New Startup
AFP Moves To Ban Journalists From
Referencing Wikipedia, Facebook
How Fat is Online Video’s Long Tail?
18 Web 2.0 TV*
Better Entertainment Through Bayesian Google Maps Adds
Mathematics with theFilter [Invites] Options To Embed
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 10:52:13 PM
YouTube Clips
If you’re like Peter Gabriel, you’re sick
and tired of going through the arduous and
painstaking task of listening to new music
and deciding whether or not you like it.
There are enough folks out there, as it
turns out, that are so disenfranchised by the
process that Gabriel saw the need to launch
his latest digital music venture, theFilter,
that provides what he calls a ‘holistic
approach’ to removing the white-noise of
content and bringing you content that
reflects your tastes.
It claims to do this through a very
complex algorithm (they sent us a several
page document explaining this algorithm)
that works across entertainment media
types, including music, film, infotainment
and television.
It’s All About the Algorithm
This is certainly a tried and true business
model. As we discussed this past
weekend(and the weekend before) one
Elite Tech News, one of the few things we
really love about Yahoo’s offerings is their
music service, which operates on a similar
algorithm. Yahoo’s algorithm, though,
makes it’s judgments based off your
previous music selections only, and from
my own personal experience with the
service, doesn’t appear to be as advanced
Donald Trump gets cast on Lifetime
By Brad Trechak (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:00:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, The Apprentice,
Casting, Reality-Free In the strangest case
of offbeat casting I've ever written about,
the Lifetime Channel has cast Donald
Trump to executive produce and narrate a
new series called Trump Towers. Unlike
The Apprentice, this would be a scripted
series.
The show would be a nighttime soap
opera set within Trump Towers itself.
Lifetime Entertainment President Susanne
Daniels describes the series as " Desperate
Housewives in Trump Tower with The
as what theFilter seems to be doing here.
In the case of Yahoo, after you have
several thousand ratings, your musical
preferences tend to get rather muddled and
confused. Also, after a time, it’s
suggestions seem to come fewer and
further between than the old favorites it
sends your way. By contrast, theFilter uses
Bayesian mathematics, with a system that
‘learns and forgets.’ Their ‘evidence
model’ grows as more input is given, but
when new evidence seems to contradict
earlier input, the model is weighted more
heavily towards the current taste of the
individual.
We Have Some Invites, If You Need
Them!
It definitely sounds like an interesting
system, and one that I’m eager to give a
shot. We haven’t yet been given access to
test out and play with theFilter yet. It’s
easy to see that this an interesting system,
but we’re still curious to learn more about
the motivations behind it. When it was
pitched to us by the creators of the site,
Martin Hopkins and Rhett Ryder of Bath,
Donald narrating." According to the
article, Lifetime also has several other
series in the works with a concentration on
comedic appeal.
England, Peter Gabriel’s motivations and
influence on the project was played up
heavily. Aside from the actual
functionality of the site, and whether or not
it works as advertised, the most interesting
aspect we’d want to investigate is whether
or not there’s a clear need for music
discovery - a strong argument could be
made for the fact that we live within a glut
of music to the point where it can be
considered a commodity in this day and
age.
We wanted to ask Mr. Gabriel to
elaborate a bit more on his involvement,
influences, and inclinations involving this
project, but he was not willing to talk with
us on the project.
Since Peter wasn’t willing to pitch you
further on the concept, you’ll have to
decide for yourself whether or not you
need a new way to discover music. If you
do, we have a number of exclusive invites
to the system available here.
Check it out and tell us what you think of
the service!
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
The Filter Brings Home $5M in Second
Round of Funding
The Filter Launches Last.fm-style Social
Network, WMP Support
Mobimii & The Filter Facebook Apps
Given the fact that the Lifetime Network
has historically been a women's network
and Trump's behavioral history can hardly
be called female-friendly, one wonders
why this premise was proposed in the first
place. The series might even make more
sense for the network if the narrator was
Ivana Trump or Marla Maples.
Obviously, this is an attempt by Lifetime
to cash in on Trump's fame. This is another
example of Jay Black's theory of channel
drift.
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
By Paul Glazowski (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 7:51:11 AM
Users of Google Earth have been allowed
to geo-tag videos since October 2007 and
view the results on the service’s YouTube
layer. Some searching today will show
quite a lot of clips already tacked onto the
virtual globe since the option became
available. Well, Google is now building on
its YouTube embed features even further.
Starting this week, the company is
including the option of users to affix video
clips to specific locations on its more
basic, more widely-utilized Google Maps
service.
If you’re a business owner, you’ll likely
appreciate this development. If you’re just
an individual with a video camera, you
might also find this appealing, since you
can share clips with friends, family, and
tons of strangers while offering some
geographic bearing for your handheld
productions. Sure, Google Earth users
probably get a bit more out of the
experience through the YouTube layer
launched several months ago, but Google
Maps embeds can certainly prove useful in
numerous scenarios as well.
The prime example Google offers in its
introduction of YouTube attachments to
Google Maps locations is of course related
to commerce - pastries, no less- since the
service is clearly most often used to find
destinations, many of which I would
presume to be places of business. If you’re
in the field of sales, say, and you’re
looking to market yourself in a more
interactive fashion, a simple production
uploaded to YouTube and linked with your
profile on Google Maps could go some
way to gaining more interest and traffic.
Or, if you’re in the business of real estate,
perhaps marketing rental properties, and
are often placing listings on Craigslist
fitted with Google Maps links, you can
offer easily-accessible visual tours of
apartments and so forth in addition to still
photographs.
On the whole, Google Maps-plus-
YouTube isn’t a revolutionary
development, but it is an evolutionary step,
and one that many users of both websites
will probably take to their advantage. The
most appealing aspect of this
announcement is one of convenience,
which Google is proving to deliver quite
handily.
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Google Offers Easy Embed Code for
Maps
More Options for Google Maps Social
Network
Visualize Recent Edits to Google Maps
Google Maps Launches Embedded Maps
Google Maps Get More Social with
Comments and Ratings
Google’s New Social Network = Google
Maps
Google Launches MyMaps - Platial Gets
Screwed
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Spleak Lands Hearst for eBuddy Claims 10x
Hybrid Publishing Network Meebo’s Revenue, Gets
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Ready To Conquer US
Submitted at 4/15/2008 5:01:26 AM
Spleak recently announced the official
release of its hybrid content aggregation
platform, and already another large media
partner has signed on to use its service.
Hearst, which is shifting its traditional
media focus to online media distribution in
multiple capacities, will be utilizing
Spleak’s publishing platform for
integrating its content deeper into social
media.
You may recall that Spleak takes
premium content and user-generated
content, aggregates it, and pushes it out for
a combined perspective on current topics.
Spleak also uses this same interface for
gathering its user-generated content, so
users and viewers can also participate with
the content in a very direct manner.
Having options for distribution across
networks and clients via widgets,
integration with social networks and an
instant messaging access point, Spleak
enables a broad set of options for viewers’
interactivity with a publisher’s content. For
Spleak’s integration, Hearst will be using
Spleak’s Embassy option, which allows the
publisher to place a Spleak interface on
some of its major content sites, such as
Teen Magazine.
Rumor Confirmed: Federated Media Gets $50 Million
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 5:31:09 AM
After numerous rumors of a new round of
funding, Federated Media has finally
confirmed that it has raised $50 million
from Oak Investment Partners. This is a
minority investment on Oak Investment
Partners’ part, and supposedly brings the
valuation of Federated Media to $200
million, as Mark has already mentioned in
his previous coverage of the rumored
funding some days ago.
To top things off, Oak Investment
Additionally, Hearst will be pushing its
content throughout the larger Spleak
network to make its content accessible by
other media participants. Hearst has been
turning some of its television and print
content into niche sites and applications on
the web, while becoming rather active in
acquisitions and the advertising network
space as well.
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Spleak: IM Gossip Bot is Now a Full-
Fledged Media Network
Popular File Host Selling for $3 Million+
Hearst Media Acquires Niche Q&A Site,
Answerology
YouTube to Split Revenue with Hearst-
Argyle’s Local TV Stations
TurnHere Video Ad “Outsourcing” Gets
$7.5M
Kaboodle Acquired by Hearst Magazines
Hearst Launching High School Sports
Social Network
Partners’ general partner Fred Harman will
be joining FM’s board of directors. The
online publishing and advertising firm has
been around for about 3 years, and heavily
deals in display ads. And with some large
clients under its belt, Federated Media has
also been able to establish itself as a
recognizable brand in its own right, having
been founded by John Battelle and several
other media veterans heading up the
executive team.
No word on what FM’s next steps will
be, now that it’s recent funding has been
confirmed, but with a unique approach to
By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 4:35:11 AM
In an interview with VentureBeat, online
IM aggregator eBuddy’s CEO Jan-Joost
Rueb has revealed the company’s future
plans, as well as some interesting facts
about their revenue.
According to Rueb, Amsterdam-based
eBuddy is opening an office in San
Francisco, and they’re hoping to expand
through new campaigns and partnerships
in the US. They don’t fear Facebook Chat
(Rueb claims that the introduction of
MySpace chat didn’t have “ any impact”
on their traffic, which is approximately 15
million monthly uniques), and they have
great expectations from the mobile side of
the business (they have “ close to two
million monthly uniques on mobile
versions,” and they’re growing at 20
percent per month.
But perhaps the most interesting part of
the interview is Rueb’s claim that they’re
earning 10x as much as Meebo, which has
reportedly had 1 million dollars in revenue
since they started. Now compare this with
the speculated 250 million dollar valuation
for Meebo and you get some very high
numbers. How did they achieve such a
high CPM? Rueb says they’ve focused on
author-driven “conversational marketing”
and the company’s promise that this
additional funding will not change its
relationship with its clients and publishers,
FM is solidifying the ongoing activity in
the social media advertising space.
Disclosure: Mashable has an advertising
relationship with Federated Media.
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Rumor: Federated Media Hauls In $50
Million
monetization early on, and that they’ve
head great success with “ advertising
packages that include homepage takeovers
and “sponsored” emoticons.” Add to this
the fact that they haven’t even started
monetizing their mobile traffic yet, and,
provided that the numbers are true, you get
a nice little web 2.0 success story. eBuddy
should expect a fierce fight from Meebo,
though, because I’m not sure whether
there’s room in the online IM space for
more than one big player.
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
eBuddy Mobile…5 Million Users?
eBuddy Mobile App
eBuddy on iPhone
eBuddy Funded
eBuddy Officially Launched Mobile
Version
e-Messenger Becomes eBuddy, Helps
Kids Use IM at School
MySpace Making $30 Million/Month
Federated Media Raises Another $4.5M
in Series B Funding
Federated Media Seeks New Round Of
Funding
Federated Media Partners with Facebook
Apps
Demand Media Raises Another $35M in
Series D Funding
Collective Media Raises Funding for
Online Ad Network
VMIX Adds $16.5 Million in Funding to
Expand Video Network
Web 2.0 19
Investors Phone
In $5.7 Million
for Mobango
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 9:25:51 PM
Mobang o, the mobile social networking
service Pete first reported on back in
January of last year, has closed another
round of funding. Mobango claims a total
userbase of 2.9 million worldwide that use
the service to watch and share videos as
well as ringtones, images and audio.
Despite proclamations that mobile web is
dead, Mobango, and theoretically its
investors, are convinced otherwise.
According to Venture Capital Update,
they’ve received $5.7 million in Series B
funding from Doughty Hanson Technology
Ventures and Innogest Capital. Doughty
Hanson Technology Ventures is a
returning investor from the €2M Series A
round.
Back when Pete originally wrote about
them, they were billed as the YouTube for
Mobile, and they’ve been going about the
business then and since of taking user-
generated content of all types, and making
it mobile friendly (in aspect-ratio, size and
bitrate). The site currently boasts 51,000
videos, 95,000 ringtones and close to half a
million images - which certainly pales in
comparison to most user generated content
sites, but it certainly is enough to keep one
busy on the commute to work.
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Zedge.net Acquired By IDT
YouTube TV, Meez, Capessa, Imity,
Mobango, InChorus, HyperComics,
CitizenImage, Terapad and More
Drupal 5.0 Launches Today
SOCIAL NETWORKING GOD: 350+
Social Networking Sites
20 Web 2.0 TV*
Coghead Gallery is a
Marketplace to Sell
Applications
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 5:19:39 AM
Most platform-as-a-service providers
offer a pretty well integrated option for
creating applications for internal or
consumer-facing use cases, but Coghead is
taking it a step further with the Coghead
Gallery. This is an open-market exchange
for application developers to publish their
applications.
Now others will be able to select apps
they’d like to apply to their own services,
for a given purpose. It makes sense to
extend such an open offering amongst
Coghead users, and helps spur innovation
and productivity across the board. But the
ideals behind apps created for business use
are quite different from those created for
social networks. This could make apps
created for the Coghead Gallery less likely
to be inherently monetized.
However, Coghead is also sure to point
out that these apps shared in the Gallery
are also protected. And going back to the
monetization aspect of the Coghead
Gallery, there will in fact be a way in
which developers can sell the apps to their
Ten awkward TV moments
By Jane Boursaw (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 4:01:00 AM
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other
Comedy Shows, OpEd, 24, Desperate
Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, The Office,
TV Squad Lists, Lipstick Jungle, Reality-
Free Last week's episode of The Office
now ranks high on my list of Awkward TV
Moments. It got me thinking about other
all-time great awkward TV moments. Sure,
we've all seen the episode where a
disheveled Mary Richards shows up at the
awards banquet wearing one fuzzy pink
slipper. And the one where Frasier and Roz
nearly do it on a cruise ship. But let's take
a look at a few recent awkward TV
moments.
customers and other users. This is where
things could get interesting, especially as
web-based companies are readily adopting
the application creation and white-label
solution as business models. I imagine
such marketplaces will appear through
other networks, and support for inherent
monetization will also be an inclusive part
of a strategy at some point down the line.
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Coghead XP for Extreme Programming
Task Management
Coghead Offers Business Apps Verticals
Atoolo Adds Slide Shows to Virtual
Desktop Application
Slideroll AV Lets You Create Photo and
Video Galleries Offline
Shutterfly Gallery: First Major Release
Since Acquiring Nexo
Pentax Gallery Promotes Photographers
in Select Voting Community
123Flickr Quickly Generates Photo
Gallery Widget
1. Jan heaves a Dundee at Michael's flat-
screen TV. Okay, we'll start with last
week's episode of The Office, in which
Michael coerces Jim and Pam into
Strutta Turns Videos into
a Spectator Sport
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 5:20:06 AM
Some people are competitive by nature,
and the online market is certainly
beginning to provide more socially apt
ways in which competitions can be played
out online. Strutta is the latest entrant into
the market, with a very decided approach
to how its online game and competition
network will play out.
Similar to iBeatYou, users can create a
game or join an existing game. Strutta has
a pretty slimmed down focus on how these
games are presented within its network,
however, ensuring that they can become
spectator sports. This enables Strutta to
appeal to those users that are willing to
participate in the games, and those users
that would rather sit back and watch.
Strutta is also a video network. Only
video content can be uploaded for game
participation, and it must be a video of the
player himself. Strutta has made it easy
enough to upload your content, thanks to
the new YouTube API, but if you’re
adding a clip from YouTube, you’ll need
to authenticate your account so that Strutta
attending a couples-only dinner party at his
and Jan's condo. The entire episode is one
long awkward moment, from Dwight
showing up with his former babysitter as
his date to Pam realizing she'll be held
hostage for three hours, thanks to Jan's
poor culinary planning. But the topper is
when Michael and Jan's love spat escalates
into a huge fight, ending with her heaving
one of his treasured Dundee awards at his
new (and tiny) flat-screen TV. The cops
show up after the neighbors report a
disturbance, and Michael ends up going
home with Dwight.
Continue reading Ten awkward TV
moments
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
knows the video comes from you.
Somewhat like a Hot’or’Not for
competitive videos, spectators can vote or
skip clips, which is the core of the Strutta
games themselves. These games can then
be embedded into other sites and shared
with others. The best players based on
these games get to continue on to the
Strutta Finale.
The other interesting aspect of Strutta is
its viewer feedback, which lets individual
players see where their affinity lies, in
terms of demographics, how long viewers
are watching a particular clip, etc. This
will likely be an extended feature later on
down the line, as Strutta incorporates more
ways in which to utilize its network as a
self-publicizing platform of sorts, for
players.
ShareThis
New Amsterdam:
Love Hurts (season
finale) - VIDEO
By Paul Goebel (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 12:36:00 AM
NEW page 21
Deadliest Catch
Behind The
Scenes - VIDEO
By Brett Love (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:26:00 AM
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Video
If you turned on your TV over the
weekend, you probably noticed that
Discovery had gone all Deadliest Catch, all
the time. That was, of course, because the
new season is upon us today. That's a good
thing, because it really is the best of the
deadliest, scariest, dirtiest, frozenest job-
based programming. To get ready for the
big event, I thought I'd toss up this little
video from youtube.
As part of the background filming for the
show, the Discovery crew headed out to
one of the local watering holes, J. R.
Phinickeys, with Josh from the Cornelia
Marie. After the jump, you get a look at a
whole lot of flaming monkey shots being
set ablaze. You'll also see the Discovery
camera man on the left, and Josh coming
in to high five the bartender at the end.
One more reason to order up that
Discovery HD.
Continue reading Deadliest Catch
Behind The Scenes - VIDEO
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
NEW
continued from page 20
Filed under: Video, Episode Reviews,
New Amsterdam, Reality-Free
( S01E08) As this is probably the final
episode of New Amsterdam, I'm going to
take an extra hard look at the show tonight.
Consider yourself warned.
Tonight, we got to see an example of
how John once used his powers for evil.
It's about time!
So far, we've seen John as a lawyer, a
soldier, a medic, and an artist, just to name
a few, but aside from the time he spent as
an alcoholic club emcee, he seems to have
Watercooler Talk: Should TV lie
to us about the economy?
By Jay Black (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:21:00 AM
Filed under: News, Watercooler Talk,
Reality-Free My father is a former
economics major who spent 30 years as a
mortgage banker before starting his own
company (which does economical things
so complex that to my simple mind, they
might as well be magical). One of the
things that constantly irks him is the
loaded language that the nightly news uses
to describe our economic situation: words
like "crisis," "downturn," and, worst of all
"recession."
Now, anybody who has spent more than
forty seconds online in the last six months
can see that we are, more than likely, in the
middle of a recession brought on by a
downturn in the real estate market because
of the current credit crisis. That said, I'd
Are you a sitcom snob?
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 1:23:00 AM
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows,
OpEd, My Name Is Earl, How I Met Your
Mother, The Office, 30 Rock, Reality-Free
Interesting piece by Tim Goodman over
at The San Francisco Chronicle. Basically
led a fairly honorable life. It seems to me
that a guy who has the ability to live
forever would spend a good deal of time
exploiting that ability for profit, if nothing
else. Sure, his conscience would catch up
with him eventually, but when you live
forever, you have to be expected to explore
everything immortallity has to offer.
Continue reading New Amsterdam: Love
Hurts (season finale) - VIDEO
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
like to ask the question: would we be better
off if TV simply lied to us about all of
these things?
Continue reading Watercooler Talk:
Should TV lie to us about the economy?
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
he says that many TV viewers who watch
the NBC Thursday night comedies ( My
Name Is Earl, 30 Rock, The Office, and
Scrubs) and other shows are snobs when it
comes to CBS comedies like Two and a
Half Men, Rules of Engagement, and How
I Met Your Mother. He says that the
people who pride themselves in watching
TV* 21
Bones: The Man in the Mud -
VIDEO
By Richard Keller (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 4:25:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, Video, Bones,
Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S03E10) Rejoice! New episodes of
Bones have finally returned to the FOX
schedule. And, despite what others think,
this guy, this dude, this muchacho, is very
glad for its return. Not happy that FOX is
screwing with the schedules of this show
and House, mind you, but glad there are
new episodes nevertheless.
For those of you new to the series, Bones around a person's skull. So, it's all good.
is one of those unique dramas that can mix
gruesome, terrible death with humor and
light-heartedness. It is really a story about
%Gallery-20595%
Continue reading Bones: The Man in the
Mud - VIDEO
relationships, friendly or romantic, and the Permalink| Email this| | Comments
connections that are established by two
totally opposite sets of people.
Plus, you get to see maggots crawling
Medium:
Paula Deen going into syndication Partners in Crime
By Allison Waldman (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:42:00 AM - VIDEO
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, By Paul Goebel (TV Squad)
Celebrities, Reality-Free Move over,
Rachael Ray! Another Food Network bird Submitted at 4/15/2008 1:02:00 AM
is straying for the nest to try her wings in Filed under: Medium, Video, Episode
syndication. Southern diva Paula Deen is
Reviews, Reality-Free
readying a daytime cooking show for ( S04E12) I had all but forgotten about
syndication in 2009. She also following
Kurtwood Smith. I've been a big fan ever
Rachael's lead by not giving up her secure since Robocop and this character is really
and lucrative connection to Food Network.
fun to watch. I only wish the writers had
Her Paula's Home Cooking and Paula's given his character a different name. Every
Party programs will remain Food Network being called a "cooking" show. That could
be limiting. time someone calls him Agent Cooper, I
staples. flashback to Twin Peaks and I feel like I'm
The challenge for Paula will be coming Continue reading Paula Deen going into
syndication betraying Medium by wishing that Peaks
up with a show that's not simply an echo of was still on the air.
her other two shows. Unlike Rachael, who Permalink| Email this| | Comments
One of the best things about Smith is
does a full-fledged talk show with a how he can be so menacing while still
cooking segment, Paula's new effort is keeping a smile on his face. In fact, I find
him scarier when he smiles. I felt the same
way when Red would actually say
something nice to a member of his family
good time by avoiding CBS on Monday on That 70's Show.
nights." Continue reading Medium: Partners in
Continue reading Are you a sitcom snob? Crime - VIDEO
Permalink| Email this| | Comments Permalink| Email this| | Comments
the critically-acclaimed (but lower rated)
shows on NBC are "denying themselves a
22 Movies*
New DVD Picks of the
Week: 'Juno' & 'Lars and
the Real Girl'
By Monika Bartyzel (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 4:02:00 AM
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, New
Releases, DVD Reviews, New on DVD,
Home Entertainment Juno
She came onto the scene with a bang,
charming audiences and quickly becoming
a sensation. Of course, after the press she
got, and buzz that followed, many have
grown sick of the snarky teen and her
Diablo Cody dialog that often crosses over
the line from quirky to tired, but one thing
always remains -- the phenomenon that
followed the film centers on the fact that
it's a wildly enjoyable comedy.
Ellen Page stars as Juno, a young woman
who has discovered that she's gotten
pregnant from an interlude with Paulie
Bleeker (Michael Cera). After mulling
over her options, she decides to have the
baby and give it up for adoption -- to the
awkwardly yuppie couple Vanessa
(Jennifer Garner) and Mark (Jason
Bateman). The story is simple, and it's the
delivery that gives Juno charm. Within the
over-the-top dialog exists real, flawed
characters and a lot of heart. This is the
sort of film that exists on many levels. For
some, it will be utterly perfect as they
delight in undone doodles, a melange of
cultural references, and a moment in time
that wonderfully encapsulates today and
yesterday. For most of the rest, it will still
be a great and enjoyable comedy because
there are so many pieces to the Juno puzzle
-- one might not capture you, but another
piece is sure to.
There are three DVDs to choose from,
and each one ups the ante on the other --
refreshingly, no matter which you pick,
you're sure to get a large selection of
goodies to watch. On the single disc
version, there's a bunch of deleted scenes,
a gag reel, gag take, cast & crew jam, and
even screen tests. When you add another
disc to the mix, there's a digital copy and
four featurettes -- about the kids, Diablo
Cody, Jason Reitman, and creating the
film. Finally, with the Blu-Ray option, you
get all of the above features plus two extras
from Fox Movie Channel Presents.
Check out Scott's Review, and Kim's|
Buy the One-Disc, Two-Disc, Blu-Ray
Continue reading New DVD Picks of the
Week: 'Juno' & 'Lars and the Real Girl'
Permalink| Email this| Comments
Video of the Day: Popular
'Iron Man' Trailer to
Become Full-Length Film
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 4:50:00 PM
Filed under: Fandom, Newsstand, Trailers
and Clips
Ah, remember the days when The Onion
was just a simple newspaper three of your
friends kinda knew about? You'd sit,
snicker and try desperately to convince
people to read this free, fake funny thingy.
Mmmm. Now The Onion has gone video,
and the one above is just priceless. In case
you were living under a truck for the past
year, the Iron Man trailer debuted and took
the world by storm. Now, looking to profit
off the millions of folks who want to see
more of the trailer, the studio has decided
to adapt it into a full-length film.
(Unfortunately, out of the 758 Iron Man
trailers currently available online, they do
not say which one will be getting the
feature treatment. One assumes, however,
it will be the seventh international teaser
Parents Still Don't Want Their Kids to
Go to Art School
By Monika Bartyzel (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 3:02:00 PM
Filed under: Comedy, Deals, Scripts It
was 1987. All Keith wanted was Amanda
Jones -- the girl from the wrong side of the
tracks who caught the eye of rich jerk
Hardy Jenns and became one of the
popular girls. It didn't matter that he had
the super-cool Watts pining for him, nor
that he'd saved all of his money for
college. He stood up to Jenns and took
Amanda out on one of the most memorable
dates to ever hit the big screen -- super
cool, yet super tacky when you think of
that whole "you're wearing my future" bit.
All he wanted was love and art school, no
matter what his dad said about it.
Twenty years later, things haven't
changed. Variety reports that Kopelson
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
extended intro scene.)
Luckily, those crazy cats at The Onion
were all over this story -- debating whether
or not it's smart to extend what most
people felt was an excellent trailer 179
more minutes. Good news is Robert
Downey Jr. has decided to reprise his role
from the trailer (fans would've freaked if
they re-cast the character) and reporters
from The Onion do hope they bring back
that pretty red head played by Gwyneth
Redford Returns to
Paltrow. Amen to that! Says The Onion,
"The studio has tried to reassure the public Baseball with Jackie
that everything they love about the trailer
will be incorporated into the movie, right Robinson Biopic
down to the actual lines from the trailer." By Eric D. Snider (Cinematical)
Awesome. Could go either way here --
Submitted at 4/14/2008 2:32:00 PM
but what do you think: Would you pay to
go see a feature-length trailer? Filed under: Drama, Sports, Casting No
[via The Movie Blog] Permalink| Email list of great baseball movies would be
this| Comments
of their dreams." I guess this dude didn't
have the nerve that Keith had to stand up
to mom and dad. Still, I'm always amused
by plots or real-life stories where people
create elaborate ruses to save their asses.
Doesn't it get confusing and tired really
quickly?
Arnold Kopelson said of the script: "All
of us at the company were laughing out
loud reading it, while at the same time
drawn into a story with a lot of heart that
both college kids and their parents can
appreciate." That sounds promising. The
next step would be casting, so what college
Entertainment has picked up a spec by -aged actor would you pick? Permalink|
Barry Schwartz called Parents Weekend. Email this| Comments
The project is "a youth-targeted comedy
about a college freshman, secretly
attending art school, who must convince
his parents he's still enrolled in the college
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
REDFORD
continued from page 22
complete without The Natural, starring
Robert Redford. His best performance
ever? Maybe not -- but it's certainly a lot of
people's favorite. Because of that classic
film, Redford is forever connected to our
national pastime, and so it's a little exciting
to see that he's about to produce another
baseball movie: a biopic of Jackie
Robinson.
It was Robinson who broke through
Major League Baseball's race barrier when
he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
Despite constant racist attacks by opposing
players (and, at first, his own teammates),
he went on to win the first-ever Rookie of
the Year Award and to be a star player
throughout his 10-year stint with the
Dodgers. Redford will play Dodgers
manager Branch Rickey, who supported
Robinson from the beginning.
Killer B's on DVD: Barn of the Naked
Movies* Gossip 23
According to The Hollywood Reporter,
'Ghost in the Shell' is Next
the project (which we talked about here
and here) has the support of Robinson's
widow (Robinson died in 1972), as well as
in the 3-D Pipeline
Branch Rickey Jr. and Major League By Eugene Novikov (Cinematical)
Baseball. It will be co-produced by ESPN Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:32:00 AM
Films, with Thomas Carter directing.
Carter's last film was the true-life Filed under: Animation, Sci-Fi &
basketball story Coach Carter, and the Fantasy, Deals, Tech Stuff, Exhibition,
three writers listed at IMDb have extensive Dreamworks, Steven Spielberg There's
biopic experience. The flick has all the been a flurry of buzz around theatrical 3-D
hallmarks of a loving, faithful, not-too- lately, perhaps because James Cameron
controversial biopic, and that's fine with has come out of hiding to talk a bit about
me. Avatar. (If you haven't yet read this
Continue reading Redford Returns to interview with the King of the World, do
Baseball with Jackie Robinson Biopic so immediately.) The last thing we heard
Permalink| Email this| Comments was that exhibitors have ganged up on
Steven Spielberg for apparently standing in
the way of the digital revolution. But
Spielberg seems to have seen the light: he's
acquired the rights to the Japanese manga
Ghost in the Shell for Dreamworks, which
plans to film it in -- you guessed it --
digital 3-D. A Dreamworks suit boasts that
the story "epitomizes 3-D live-action
movie visually spectacular but
impenetrable -- I'm not an anime buff, and
it confused the hell out of me. I'm sure that

Dead motion picture possibilities."

By Matt Bradshaw (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:03:00 AM
Filed under: Horror, Independent, Killer
B's on DVD
Years ago when I first read about 1974's
Barn of the Naked Dead I thought "this is
the greatest title ever conceived anywhere
by anyone in the history of cinema and I
must see it," so I was a bit disappointed
when I eventually tracked down a VHS
copy and found that it was then traveling
under the name Nightmare Circus(which in
fact was the original release title). This
new DVD version from Legend House
restores the salacious but sadly inaccurate
(only the briefest of nudity here) title by
which the flick is best known.
Three showgirls on their way to a job in
Vegas break down in the desert. As this is
an exploitation horror film, one need not
be a rocket scientist to deduce that the nice
young man named Andre who stops to
help isn't very nice at all. Andre is played
by Andrew Prine and despite his numerous
film and TV credits, I remember him best
as the villain in the unsuccessful Wonder
Woman pilot movie from 1974 that
featured Cathy Lee Crosby as the amazon
princess. Andre has issues with women
stemming from his mother's desertion. He
deals with this by collecting women and
chaining them up in his barn (no naked
dead folks, but we do get a barn), and
trains them to perform like circus animals.
Picture Norman Bates with a flare for the
theatrical.
Continue reading Killer B's on DVD:
Barn of the Naked Dead Permalink| Email
this| Comments
If that title sounds familiar, it's because
the manga has already been adapted into
one of the most celebrated anime films of
all time. The story involves an attempt to
fight cyber-crime by creating a breed of
ultra-powerful cyborgs, which strikes me
as a terrible idea. I found Mamoru Oshii's
Rob Lowe Nanny on the
Today Show
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:23:30 PM
Jessica Gibson, Rob Lowe’s former
nanny, went on the Today show, and let
her lawyer Gloria Allred. Jessica smirked
and smiled after every question was asked.
In my opinion, Jessica appeared to be
lying. Gloria’s presentation seemed like
she is abusing the sexual harassment laws
to try to get her client money, even though
the Lowe’s appear innocent in my opinion.
Gloria loves to have her name in the
papers, she’s a publicity whore. After an
email was revealed that was totally
inconsistent with her current allegations
Jessica had no explanation, but Gloria tried
to play it off as if Jessica is a weak
innocent victim who is going up against
if nothing else, Dreamworks will find a
way to solve that problem. Jamie Moss(
Street Kings) is taking a crack at writing
the adaptation.
Continue reading'Ghost in the Shell' is
Next in the 3-D Pipeline Permalink| Email
this| Comments
the rich and powerful Lowe family. If
Jessica loses in court I hope the Lowe
family pursue her for fraud, and blackmail.
Unfortunately, the Lowe family declined
an offer for the police to investigate the
matter as a crime against them, and chose
to fight this in court instead.
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
• Rob Lowe Sues Nanny
• Heather Mills Slammed by Divorce
Judge
• Britney Spears Bodyguard Testifies
Against Her
• Britney Spears is Sexy, Banned, and
Losing the Kids
• Britney Spears Could Lose Custody of
Kids Tomorrow
24 Movies* Gossip
Netflix Has Movies That
Aren't Even On DVD! Like
'Rolling Thunder'!
By Scott Weinberg (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:02:00 AM
Filed under: Fandom, Home
Entertainment Now this was a strange little
discovery: If you're a Netflix member then
you get to watch movies online for free as
part of your membership fee, which is
great for people like me because one never
knows when he'll suddenly need to watch
My Blue Heaven or The Mask of Zorro or
six consecutive episodes of Heroes S2. It's
not like you'll ever find any "buried
treasure" on Netflix's 'insta-watch' list
because if they're on that list ... they're also
available on DVD! To own if you like!
So I thought it was a little bit weird that,
as I was scanning through Netflix's latest
online offerings, I noticed a flick called
Rolling Thunder. Hmm, I vaguely recall
that movie NEVER being released on
DVD, so what gives? Well heck, it sure
looks like Netflix has released some
"instant watch only" titles that are simply
not available on Region 1 DVD yet. (Just a
reminder: Rolling Thunder is a 1977 action
flick that's built up quite the cult following
over the years. Apparently it's one of
New 'Speed Racer' Featurette
By Elisabeth Rappe (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:32:00 AM
Filed under: Animation, Classics, Sci-Fi
& Fantasy, Warner Brothers, Family
Films, Newsstand, Movie Marketing,
Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and
Sequels, Trailers and Clips So much has
been released lately, I am honestly losing
track of what Speed Racer footage is new -
- but the Internet is raving over the new
featurette posted over on Apple. If you've
been to the theatre in the past week or so,
you've seen at least half of this on the First
Look.
The rest of it is ... well, probably most of
Tarantino's favorites too.) So there you go,
movie freaks: If you belong to Netflix
already, here's your chance to check out
Rolling Thunder-- which I'll be doing later
tonight. They're even using the old VHS
cover, ha!
Continue reading Netflix Has Movies
That Aren't Even On DVD! Like 'Rolling
Thunder'! Read| Permalink| Email this|
Comments
the movie. For a movie full of such eye-
blowing visuals, you would think they'd
hold back a little. Hopefully, this is just the
tip of the iceberg, and Speed Racer fans
Chabrol Set for 'Bellamy'
By Eric Kohn (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 1:02:00 AM
Filed under: DIY/Filmmaking,
Newsstand Cineuropa reported last week
that octogenarian French filmmaker
Claude Chabrol is nearly ready to start
shooting his fifty-fourth feature, a unique
mystery called Bellamy. While Woody
Allen has become the quintessential
prolific director, Chabrol, more than a
decade his senior, outdoes the whiny
nebbish in terms of volume and quality.
Chabrol's movies rely heavily on genre,
but he tends to constrain the proportions of
messy relationship dramas and other
unsettling plot trajectories to bring a
renewed sense of claustrophobia to
familiar territory.
Blending excitement with dread, he has
always been simultaneously the most
accessible and least forgiving French New
Wave auteur. His work is consistently
gripping: The urban college thriller Les
Cousin(1959) contrasts studious intentions
with drunken tomfoolery against a
will be stunned anew.
I confess, the trailers and featurette are
enough for me. It certainly is pretty -- the
world of the future that I long to live in --
but it just doesn't grab me otherwise. I feel
terribly out of touch and I shouldn't admit
it, but my first thought upon seeing
Matthew Fox's racing gear was "Oh, he's
Scottish." At least I know the plot, now. I
am still amazed they managed to snag
Susan Sarandon for this. It has to be pretty
cool if she's involved, right? We will find
out soon enough. Speed Racer comes to
the theatres on May 9th, 2008.
Permalink| Email this| Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
collegiate backdrop, not unlike the modern
American frat movie (but a lot scarier). Les
Bonnes Femmes(1960) featured a chilling
stalker and a brilliantly frightening
sequence where a woman nearly drowns in
a public swimming pool.
Continue reading Chabrol Set for
'Bellamy' Permalink| Email this|
Comments
Pete Wentz Denies Ashlee
Simpson Is Pregnant
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/14/2008 9:10:11 PM
Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson made
video back in February of 2008 showing
Ashlee Simpson faking a pregnancy. The
couple just announced that they are
engaged to be married, and suddenly Us
Magazine and OK! magazine are reporting
that Ashlee is really pregnant, but now
Pete is denyingAshlee is pregnant in an
interviewed with MTV:
"There is a witch hunt for people to be
pregnant whenever they get engaged in
Hollywood," he wrote. "This is all news to
me. I can’t wait for the story about how
I’m really in a gay relationship and this is
all just a cover. … I mean really, this is
crazy. … I mean we’re engaged, that’s
true, and happy about it."
Asked again if he was denying reports
'Iron Man'
Enjoying Early
Rave Reviews
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 4:32:00 AM
Filed under: Action, RumorMonger,
F a n d o m , E x h i b i t i o n ,
Comic/Superhero/Geek, Trailers and Clips
that Simpson is pregnant, Wentz replied:
"Yeah."
Pete seems pretty annoyed, but he only
has himself to thank for these rumors.
Maybe Pete and Ashlee haven’t told Papa
Joe yet.
n Is Ashlee really pregnant?
• No
• Yes
View Results
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
• Ashlee Simpson is Pregnant
• Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson Are
Getting Married
• Ashlee Simpson Bittersweet Album
• Ashlee Simpson Denies Being Drunk on
Radio Show
• Ashlee Simpson Sounds Drunk in the
Morning
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
'IRON
continued from page 24
If you're lucky enough to live in some
parts of the world, like Mexico or Sydney,
Australia, then you may be among the few
who have attended an early screening of
Iron Man. Apparently, there was also a
screening for exhibitors last week where
one such exhibitor had the following to say
about the film: "I have never read the
comic and know almost nothing about the
character. But I had seen some clips of
Downey developing the suit and was
amused. Well I can report the movie is
terrific. It is a thinking person's superhero
film with more character development than
Let the Tiger Coronation Wait
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 4/9/2008 10:59:00 AM
(If you’re looking for today’s Daily Fix
column, it’s here.)
Tim Carroll offers his Masters pick:
Now that the media has handed out the
major tournament trophies for 2008, let’s
review:
Tiger Woods won the Masters because
ESPN said so, the U.S. Open in June
because NBC wanted him to, the British
Open in July because it made for really
great ratings for ABC, and CBS had Tiger
finishing up the Grand Slam in a runaway
because it was a wonderful lead-in to the
fall programming. Tiger even went 5-0 in
the Ryder Cup in September simply
because, well, he’s Tiger and it makes for
great TV. And the U.S. romped 27.5-0.5 in
the Ryder Cup, missing out on the clean
sweep only to give Johnny Miller
something to talk about on the final day of
the match.
Don’t hand Tiger the green jacket yet.
(Getty Images)
OK, not really, but equally not really are
the ads that ESPN is running to announce
it is broadcasting the par-three contest on
Wednesday and the first two rounds of the
Masters this year. The ads talk of how
Tiger is going for history this year.
History? His 14th professional major and
fifth green jacket? Nah, Jack Nicklaus did
both. It’s an allusion to Woods winning the
Grand Slam this year. And it’s likely an
special effects and action scenes (though
there are plenty of those which are nicely
balanced so we get involved in the story
rather than bored by non-stop effects.)."
We've included video from the Iron Man
press conference in Mexico after the jump,
courtesy of Anne Thompson.
Gallery: Iron Man
Continue reading'Iron Man' Enjoying
Early Rave Reviews Permalink| Email this|
Comments
illusion.
Memo to everyone: Please calm down
and remember the boys have yet to put a
tee in the ground, have yet to hole a single
putt, have yet to wipe a sweat-stained brow
after a power lip-out leaves a putt longer
than the original. And we all know how
well the media is at predictions, don’t we,
President Giuliani?
Certainly, Woods is a prohibitive
favorite. Las Vegas lists him as even odds
in a sport where if someone — other than
Tiger, of course — has a winning
percentage near 10%, it’s a monster,
monster year. Woods won five PGA Tour
events in a row, and then his streak ended
when he plummeted all the way to fifth in
his last event. Check out the stats pages on
PGATour.com and you don’t need a
workout for your scrolling finger to come
across Woods’s name in scoring, money,
putting, greens in regulation, etc. And, yes,
in last year’s four majors he finished
Sports* Gossip 25
second, second, all the way down to 12th,
and first. And, yes, this year’s majors — or
at least the middle two of the U.S. and
British Opens — set up very well for
Woods. But let’s all calm down: From now
until August is a long time to
hyperventilate.
So if not Woods, who does win the green
jacket?
Chad Campbell does all the things that a
Masters champion needs to do — he hits it
long enough and well enough, but more
importantly he putts well enough — and
his second-place showing on Tour this past
Taylor Swift Takes Home
week portends well.
Phil Mickelson has shown he can win
here. And his short-game coach Dave Pelz
Country Music Award
told me in a conversation about a month By Hollywood Grind never thought I’d record it, never thought it
ago that Mr. Mickelson’s wrist was hurt Submitted at 4/15/2008 7:33:58 AM
would be a single, never thought it would
worse than people thought last year, but be No. 1 and certainly never thought it
now is completely healed. Mr. Mickelson Taylor Swift(18) accepted the female would win video and female video of the
has already won once on Tour this year. A video of the year award for Our Song in year."
third jacket for him is not farfetched. her bare feet, saying "Are you sure? Are Swift beat out Kenny Chesney, Brad
But the Fix Pick is K.J. Choi. He is you serious?" I’m so glad she didn’t say Paisley, and Sugarland.
second in greens in regulation this year, "Like OMG!" She did sasy she had to take Hopefully someone will upload the
sixth in scoring average, has won once this off her pink heels because they made her original version of Our Song as it was
year, and, after getting off to an awful start feet her. She used to cowboy boots. Taylor performed when Swift was still in 9th
last week, rallied to finish 11th. said "I walked by Faith Hill and I was like, grade. I have a feeling she was a blond
And, who knows: If my prediction is ’This hurts so bad.’ And she was like, back then too, and was very popular with
right, maybe I’ll run for president! ’Take them off,’ Faith Hill told me to. So I the boys.
Mr. Carroll, a news editor at the print did it." © Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
Journal, always wanted his Dad to be Swift said she wrote Our Song in 9th 2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
president so the family could bowl in the grade for a talent show saying: • Taylor Swift Takes it in the Rear
White House. He can be reached at "I never thought it would be on an album,
tim.carroll@wsj.com.
26 Sports*
Welcome to the Daily Fix’s 2008 Seasonlong Baseball Contest
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 4/8/2008 5:28:00 PM
(If you’re looking for today’s Daily Fix
column, it’s here.)
The Detroit Tigers are Fix readers’
consensus pick to win the World Series,
for the first time since 1984. Of course, the
Tigers promptly started the season by
losing their first seven games, so the 134
readers who entered the Daily Fix
seasonlong baseball contest can take solace
in the fact that the World Series winner is
just one of 20 questions. Predicting Barry
Bonds’s home run total (most think he
won’t have any); the first player to be
released or traded (so long, Richie
Sexson); and the most-improved team
(break up the Rays!) is just as important in
this test of forecasting skills.
This roundup of reader picks may come
late, but the first week of the baseball
season generally doesn’t mean much, as
New York Sun columnist Tim Marchman
pointed out this week. Unfortunately for
Mr. Marchman, one early return that does
seem to matter is the Tigers’ early woes —
he’s a guest entrant in the Fix contest,
along with eight of our other favorite
baseball writers, and he picked the Tigers.
Marchman, Joe Posnanski and Jeff Passan
are newcomers to the contest this year,
joining veterans Deadspin’s Will Leitch,
Jon Bois and Nick Dallamora from the
Dugout, Larry Borowsky, Alex Belth and
Joe Sheehan from Baseball Prospectus
(here are the returning sextet’s 2007
picks). Below they share their predictions
for the season, along with some
commentary. If you didn’t think the eephus
pitch, Minnie Minoso, a young, sullen
Nick Markakis, Leavenworth, Jimi
Hendrix, Residence Inn, Sunday school,
“Michael Clayton” and a bronzed llama
could all make it into one MLB column,
you haven’t read these guys enough.
Also returning from last year are the
winner and runner-up among our readers.
The winner, Matt Viereck, expects the
Tigers to beat the Cubs in a World Series
with lower ratings than last year. Also, he
thinks the Giants will finish with the
majors’ worst record. Runner-up Steve
Saeger likes the Mets to beat the Tigers in
October. He thinks Barry Bonds will hit 12
home runs. Meanwhile, the first prize of
the 2008 contest goes to Elie Mischel, for
getting in the first entry.
On to the picks. Answers may not add up
to 135 because some readers omitted some
answers. Readers picks come first. Last
year’s right answer in bold, where
applicable. Want to weigh in on how the
season, and this contest, will play out?
Please sound off in the comments.
THE BASICS(point value in
parentheses)
1. Which six teams will be division
winners? (5 each)
AL East: Red Sox 105; Yankees 27; Blue
Jays 2.
AL Central: Tigers 95; Indians 39.
AL West: Angels 98; Mariners 33; A’s 3.
NL East: Mets 101; Phillies 22; Braves
11.
NL Central: Cubs 86; Brewers 37; Reds
6; Cardinals 4; Astros 1.
NL West: Diamondbacks 60; Dodgers
40; Padres 18; Rockies 16.
More than 43% of readers picked
identical division winners in the AL: the
Red Sox, the Tigers and the Angels. And
there were just five picks, total, for teams
that didn’t finish first or second last year.
There was far less unanimity in the NL,
where all but five teams got at least four
votes.
Alex Belth: Red Sox, Tigers, Mariners,
Mets, Cubs, Rockies.
I’ve actually found myself avoiding
reading too much about the coming season
this spring. Not an easy trick when you
maintain a daily blog. This is now the sixth
Opening Day I’ve blogged on Bronx
Banter. When I started, there were only a
handful of Yankees-related sites. Now,
there seems to be dozens, including
professional blogs by journalists like Pete
Abraham, Joel Sherman, Kat O’Brien and
Tyler Kepner. The constant stream of
information and analysis helps make this
something of a golden age for baseball
fans. At the same time, I find it all to be
overwhelming at times. So, in the interest
of having a fresh perspective going into the
year, I’ve tried to read as little as possible,
only keeping myself familiar with what is
happening, not intimately so. This general
feeling of needing a break also has been
heightened by the departure of Joe Torre,
the decline of George Steinbrenner and the
beginning of the final year of Yankee
Stadium.
That said, it should be another
compelling year for the game in both
leagues. The NL West is exciting and it’ll
be interesting to see how the Mets perform
after their regrettable finish in ‘07. If Pedro
and Johan remain healthy, each home start
will be an event, kind of like the old Doc
Gooden days. I think the Yankees may
have trouble relying on so much young
pitching; still, they still have a formidable
team with a lot of players I find easy to
pull for. The defending champion Red Sox,
once again, look to be tough. The Indians
should regroup from their disappointing
playoff exit and be strong too, but I’d be
lying if I didn’t say that the Tigers are the
team I’m most interested in watching —
their offense is just staggering.
Jon Bois: Red Sox, Tigers, Angels, Mets,
Cubs, Dodgers.
The American League’s division winners
are slam dunks compared to the National
League’s. Why? The designated-hitter rule,
naturally. The AL is a real-world computer
program comprised of flesh, wood, leather
and dirt. It’s an algorithm, played out with
simple dice-roll probability. When NL
teams send pitchers to bat, they’re putting
baseball’s primary mathematical unknown
into play. Sure, you know the pitcher is
probably going to suck at the plate, but you
don’t know how or how badly he’s going
to suck. The NL wild card is truly a wild
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
card, as is nearly everything else that
happens in this wretched league. Take the
2007 Diamondbacks. There’s no way a
team with a negative-20 run differential
could win an American League division.
Madness.
I also blame the designated hitter
whenever I stub my toe or spill my beer.
Larry Borowsky: Red Sox, Indians,
Angels, Mets, Brewers, Diamondbacks.
A lot fewer gimmes than usual — the
Mets are the only no-brainer pick
(although the D-Backs pick required only
the brain stem). The Braves, Cubs and
Yankees would not look out of place on
this list; the Mariners have two Cy Young
candidates (Felix Hernandez and Erik
Bedard), and the Phillies have Chase Utley
and Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels. I
don’t like the Tigers’ pitching at all, so I’m
picking against them.
Nick Dallamora: Red Sox, Tigers,
Mariners, Mets, Brewers, Rockies.
Will Leitch: Red Sox, Tigers, Angels,
Mets, Cubs, Diamondbacks.
Tim Marchman: Red Sox, Tigers,
Angels, Mets, Cubs, Diamondbacks.
Jeff Passan: Red Sox, Indians, Mariners,
Mets, Brewers, Dodgers.
Red Sox are a no-brainer. Indians benefit
from Detroit’s bullpen and Seattle from the
Kelvim Escobar injury. The Mets and
Brewers are too talented, and I rolled a
four-sided die to get the Dodgers.
Joe Posnanski: Red Sox, Tigers, Angels,
Mets, Cubs and Diamondbacks. I feel good
about none of these. Maybe Arizona.
Joe Sheehan: Red Sox, Tigers, Angels,
Mets, Cubs, Diamondbacks
Carl Bialik: Red Sox, Indians, Angels,
Mets, Reds, Rockies.
Jason Fry: Red Sox, Tigers, Angels,
Mets, Cubs, Padres.
2. Which two teams will win the wild
cards? (5 each)
AL
Yankees 51
Indians 33
Red Sox 19
Tigers 15
Blue Jays 7
Angels, Mariners 4
NL
Phillies 24
Braves 19
Mets 16
Rockies 15
Diamondbacks 14
Cubs 11
Padres 10
Brewers 9
Dodgers 8
Reds 4
Astros, Cardinals 1
Just 11 readers choose their AL wild-
card pick to win the league crown, and just
three expect the wild-card team to go on to
win the World Series. Those numbers are a
similarly paltry 17 and five, respectively,
in the NL. Yet a wild-card team has made
each of the last six World Series.
Meanwhile, more than 57% of readers
expect the AL wild card to come from the
East, which makes sense given that the
Red Sox or Yankees have taken the extra
playoff spot in four of the last five seasons.
Belth: Angels and Phillies.
Bois: Yankees and Braves.
Their lineups are strong enough to reach
the playoffs, but their pitching rotations
hold too many unknowns for them to win a
division race.
Borowsky: Tigers and Reds.
I don’t really think the Reds will go, but
they’re a fun novelty pick. They vaguely
remind me of the D-Backs from last year
— young talent out the wazoo. Not even
Dusty Baker can ruin this much potential.
Dallamora: Yankees and Dodgers.
Leitch: Yankees and Brewers.
Marchman: Yankees and Braves.
Bronx partisans will continue to stay
curiously silent about the corrupting
effects of allowing second-place teams into
the playoffs.
Passan: Tigers and Cubs.
Solace for Cubs fans: A wild card has
made each of the last six World Series.
Posnanski: Yankees and Phillies. I want
to say Cleveland, but I suspect the Yankees
will find a way.
Sheehan: Yankees and Braves.
Bialik: Yankees and Braves.
The Tigers can’t pitch.
Fry: Indians and Braves.
Watch out, Met faithful, the Braves are
alive again. Oh yeah: Eat it, Steinbrenners!
3. Which two teams will go to the World
Series? (15 each)
AL
Tigers 49
Red Sox 38
WELCOME page 27
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
WELCOME
continued from page 26
Indians 17
Yankees 14
Angels 12
Mariners 3
Blue Jays 1
NL
Mets 62
Cubs 17
Diamondbacks, Dodgers 13
Phillies 11
Braves 6
Brewers 5
Rockies 3
Cardinals, Padres 2
Some 22 readers predicted the Tigers
would face the Mets, and another 20
predicted a rematch of the Mets-Red Sox
series in 1986. One of these, Samuel
Sanchez, writes, “Mets in seven, only this
time it will be Ortiz at Shea with the boot.”
Belth: Tigers and Mets.
Bois: Tigers and Braves.
The Tigers possess the playoff
experience they lacked during their 2006
run to the Series, both from holdovers from
that team and from the newly-arrived
Edgar Renteria. Aside from being an
excellent player, Renteria has played in
two Series and is a clubhouse leader. I
think Dontrelle Willis will find his throw
again, and the acquisition of Miguel
Cabrera will make the Tigers’ lineup the
scariest in baseball. I’m picking the Braves
because I always pick the Braves. If for
some reason Mike Hampton stays healthy
enough to pitch 150 innings, Atlanta will
possess one of the best rotations around.
During off-days they should store him in
that vat of fluid that they kept Luke
Skywalker in while he recovered from his
encounter with the ice monster. I have a lot
of other great ideas.
Borowsky: Red Sox and Diamondbacks.
The D-Backs’ rotation is the best in the
NL. They’ve got good defense, a good pen,
and I like their manager. They could use
another hitter, but they’ve got the trade
chips to land one (and they could always
pick up Barry Bonds, who played his
college ball in Tempe). As for the Red
Sox, they’re a near-perfect balance of in-
prime stars and breakthrough youngsters.
Dallamora: Tigers and Brewers.
This is starting to become a little too
cliché, but the real World Series is going to
be the ALCS. I’m seeing the Red Sox
taking it to seven games again, but it’s the
Tigers’ year to bring it home.
Leitch: Red Sox and Mets.
Marchman: Red Sox and Cubs.
Boston and Chicago will win the
pennants, inciting unprecedented levels of
sepia-toned columnizing by people who
have no idea what they’re talking about.
Passan: Indians and Mets.
Sorry, Cubs fans: No wild card this year.
The Indians’ pitching is deep and hitting
will return to form, and the Mets have the
best pitcher in baseball, a talented offense
and superb up-the-middle defense.
Posnanski: Red Sox and Mets.
Sheehan: Red Sox and Mets.
Bialik: Yankees and Mets.
This may be wishful thinking: I want to
be in New York for a Subway Series,
having missed by 90 miles last time
around.
Fry: Indians and Mets.
4. Which team will win the World
Series? (30)
Tigers 29
Mets 27
Red Sox 23
Yankees 12
Indians 10
Angels 8
Cubs 7
Braves 4
Dodgers, Phillies 3
Brewers, Diamondbacks 2
Cardinals, Mariners, Padres, Rockies 1
Just 51 readers expect the NL to win the
World Series. Two sweeps in three years
will do that to a team’s repuation.
Thanks to the addition of Miguel
Cabrera, the Tigers are readers’ favorite
pick to win it all — but they started the
season winless. (Associated Press Photo)
Belth: Tigers.
Bois: Braves.
I’m picking the Braves again because I
always pick the Braves again, and also
because it gives me the opportunity to talk
about them some more. I believe Matt Diaz
is one of the most underappreciated hitters
in baseball. He hit .338 last year, and his
splits (.318 vs. lefties, .356 vs. righties)
more than justify a full-time slot in left
field. Yunel Escobar, who hit .327 last
year, wasn’t the best infielder, but should
improve defensively now that he doesn’t
have to play three different positions.
Borowsky: Red Sox.
I can’t pick the Sox to repeat — it’s
boring. There hasn’t been a repeat champ
in almost a decade, and that was the Yanks
so it doesn’t count (the last team other than
the Yankees to repeat was the Blue Jays, in
1993). But am I really picking the
Diamondbacks? Ah, screw it: the Sawx
win again.
Dallamora: Tigers.
Leitch: Red Sox.
Marchman: Red Sox.
Boston will win in the 19th inning of
Game Seven at Wrigley Field, having
come back from at least two sizable
deficits. One also naturally supposes that
this game will involve a Cubs pitcher
walking the bases loaded and then giving
up a grand slam on an eephus pitch,
Alfonso Soriano tossing a live ball into the
stands on account of having forgotten how
many outs there are, or something else of
the sort.
Passan: Mets.
Santana at least twice, Pedro and Maine
filling the other slots, Wright and Reyes in
the swing of their primes. The only thing
that could screw this up is Willie Randolph
and, well, come September, if this looks
foolish because of him, at least I’ll have
been prescient in one respect.
Posnanski: Red Sox.
They won’t be able to talk about curses
in Boston for a long, long time.
Sheehan: Red Sox.
Predicting who will win short series in
October is hard enough in October, so
consider this just a vote for the best team.
No playoff team has better than a 1-in-5
shot in October, and, most years, worse
than that.
Bialik: Mets.
Fry: Mets.
I write this every year it’s even plausible.
Is it a jinx? Possibly. But since I want it to
happen, wouldn’t NOT writing it when it’s
plausible just be an attempt to trick the
baseball gods, and therefore an even bigger
jinx? Some people pore over VORP and
advanced stats; I ponder the butterfly effect
of my wishes on the baseball cosmos.
5. Which team will have the best regular-
season record? (10)
Red Sox, Tigers 33
Mets 29
Angels 14
Yankees 12
Diamondbacks 5
Indians 4
Mariners 3
Cubs 1
Just 35% of readers think that the team
with the best record will win the World
Series. And barely a quarter of readers
expect an NL team to have the best record
— all but 6 picking the Mets.
Belth: Mets.
Bois: Red Sox.
Their mix of veteran leadership and
young talent is tuned perfectly to rack up
105 wins. As an aside: I’m now 25 years
old, which makes me older than a decent
number of players. I can actually say
“young talent” and mean it. It’s unsettling.
Borowsky: Red Sox.
Dallamora: Red Sox.
Leitch: Red Sox.
Marchman: Red Sox and Mets, in a tie.
Passan: Mets.
I remember the Mets of April and May
2007 (34-18), not the ones from June
through September (54-56).
Posnanski: Tigers.
Sheehan: Red Sox.
Bialik: Red Sox.
The last three teams in their division will
provide lots of easy games.
Fry: Tigers.
6. Which team will have the worst
regular-season record? (10)
Orioles 48
Giants 23
Marlins 17
Royals 15
Pirates 14
Nationals 11
Rays 3
A’s, Astros, Rangers 1
See the answers to No. 11 for one reason
why the Orioles are such a popular pick for
this one.
Belth: Orioles.
Bois: Orioles.
The Orioles have two good players: Nick
Markakis and Brian Roberts. MSNBC’s
Tony DeMarco seems to think that Roberts
could be out the door soon, which would
leave them with one good player. And
Markakis? As kids, Nick and I were in the
same Cub Scout den in suburban Atlanta.
He and I raced our cars against each other
in the Pinewood Derby. My car won. I
offered to shake his hand, but he responded
with, “Whatever, you don’t want me to
win, you don’t care,” and angrily stomped
off. He grew up to be a star baseball
player, and I grew up to blog about him on
the Internet. But as far as I’m concerned,
that fateful day makes me the winner.
Borowsky: Giants.
27
Dallamora: Orioles.
Finally, an easy one.
Leitch: Giants.
Marchman: Giants.
San Francisco will have a season so bad
that the Dolan family will charter planes
full of basketball writers and enraged fans
to the Bay Area just to make themselves
look good by the contrast. Isiah Thomas
will be seen munching a hot dog in the
stands, pointing and laughing at Giants
management, and loudly boasting that even
he wouldn’t field a team whose average
age was 37.
Passan: Orioles.
Especially after they trade Brian Roberts.
Posnanski: Orioles.
It’ll be Baltimore or Pittsburgh. Does it
matter? Two proud 1970s organizations.
Sheehan: Orioles.
Just barely behind the Giants. It’s a
necessary part of the process, but the
Orioles are going to be almost unwatchable
this year.
Bialik: Nationals.
They won’t get a new-ballpark bounce.
Fry: Giants.
7. Who will win the AL and NL Cy
Young awards? (10 each)
American League
Justin Verlander (Tigers) 42
Josh Beckett (Red Sox) 24
C.C. Sabathia(Indians) 20
Erik Bedard (Mariners) 14
Roy Halladay (Blue Jays) 8
Felix Hernandez (Mariners) 5
John Lackey (Angels), Chien-Ming
Wang (Yankees) 4
Rich Harden (A’s) 3
Fausto Carmona (Indians) 2
Jeremy Bonderman (Tigers), Mark
Buehrle (White Sox), R.A. Dickey
(Mariners), Scott Kazmir (Rays), Daisuke
Matsuzaka (Red Sox), Gil Meche
(Mariners), Johan Santana (in a trade from
the Mets?), Dontrelle Willis (Tigers) 1
National League
Johan Santana (Mets) 77
Brandon Webb (Diamondbacks) 18
Jake Peavy(Padres) 16
Cole Hamels (Phillies), Dan Haren
(Diamondbacks) 5
Roy Oswalt (Astros), Carlos Zambrano
(Cubs) 3
Aaron Harang (Reds), Chris Young
(Padres) 2
WELCOME page 28
28
WELCOME
continued from page 27
John Maine (Mets), Brad Penny
(Dodgers), Ben Sheets (Brewers) 1
Belth: Verlander and Santana.
Bois: Halladay and Santana.
Halladay has already won a Cy, and
finished third and fifth in voting the last
two years. My process for determining my
prediction went exactly like this: “Johan
Santana. Oh wait, he’s in the NL. Uh, Pat
Hentgen.” Then I pulled up the Blue Jays’
Baseball Reference page. “Did Pat
Hentgen change his name to Roy
Halladay? I can’t imagine why he would,
but then, I haven’t watched a Blue Jays
game in years. Halladay it is.” Cy Young
voters tend to get excited about wins, and I
think Santana will rack up 22 of them.
He’s moving to a pitcher’s league and will
enjoy plenty of run support.
Borowsky: Felix Hernandez and Santana.
Dallamora: Verlander and Santana.
Leitch: Verlander and Santana.
Marchman: Sabathia and Santana.
These are admittedly incredibly
unimaginative picks. I would pick Josh
Beckett, as one almost expects that his
back problems will recur in perfect
proportion to the number of 18-hour flights
he’s asked to take, but taking him at his
word one has to slate him behind Sabathia
and his marvelous array of hat angles.
Passan: Felix Hernandez and Santana.
If you asked me two years ago, I would
have thought Felix Hernandez would gain
30 pounds instead of lose them. When I
walked into Seattle’s clubhouse, I didn’t
recognize him. His arm is the same, and
with his slider unleashed by the Mariners
and his conditioning likelier to keep him
deep into games, there’s no reason he
shouldn’t break out. Santana with Shea is
like Jimi with a Strat.
Posnanski: Verlander and Santana.
Verlander becomes the first AL pitcher
in three years to win more than 20. Santana
has a monster year for Mets.
Sheehan: Felix Hernandez and Santana.
Bialik: Carmona and Santana.
Fry: Felix Hernandez and Johan Santana.
8. Who will win the AL and NL MVP
awards? (10 each)
American League
Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) 46
Alex Rodriguez(Yankees) 43
Manny Ramirez (Red Sox) 14
Grady Sizemore (Indians) 9
Magglio Ordonez (Tigers) 7
Vladimir Guerrero (Angels) 5
Victor Martinez (Indians) 2
Travis Hafner (Indians), Torii Hunter
(Angels), Derek Jeter (Yankees), Justin
Morneau (Twins), David Ortiz (Red Sox),
Placido Polanco (Tigers), Jorge Posada
(Yankees), Dontrelle Willis (Tigers) 1
National League
David Wright (Mets) 43
Matt Holliday (Rockies), Ryan Howard
(Phillies) 14
Prince Fielder (Brewers), Jose Reyes
(Mets) 10
Alfonso Soriano (Cubs), Chase Utley
(Phillies) 8
Mark Teixera (Braves) 5
Albert Pujols (Cardinals) 4
Chipper Jones (Braves), Jimmy
Rollins(Phillies) 3
Carlos Beltran (Mets), Derreck Lee
(Cubs) 2
Jeff Francoeur (Braves), Alex Gonzalez
(Reds), Matt Kemp (Dodgers), Aramis
Ramirez (Cubs), Hanley Ramirez
(Marlins), Johan Santana (Mets), Ryan
Zimmerman (Nationals) 1
Belth: Cabrera and Utley.
Bois: Cabrera and Chipper Jones.
If I’m supposing that the Braves will
make an improbable run to the World
Series, I need to be consistent with my
improbable prediction and suppose that
their injury-prone clubhouse leader will
lead them there. At age 35, Chipper is a
better player than he’s ever been.
Borowsky: Sizemore and Pujols.
I picked the same two guys last year;
Pujols pert near snuck off with the award
(and he might have won it if us sabermetric
types ran the voting).
Dallamora: Manny Ramirez and Prince
Fielder.
I picked Manny last year and he had his
worst season in 10 years. By my logic I
should learn that he’s an aging All-Star
and pick Alex Rodriguez. This, of course,
results in him going bonkers in a contract
year, leaving me to kick my own behind
when he picks up the award. I’m
outsmarting you this time, baseball god.
Leitch: Alex Rodriguez and Wright.
Marchman: Cabrera and Teixeira.
Cabrera will not deserve it, but his 150
runs driven in will trump the 25 that
bounce off of and drop past his
outstretched glove. Teixeira will deserve it,
and the team that signs him for $25 million
a year coming off his peak season will
deserve what they get most of all.
Passan: Alex Rodriguez and Utley.
Sorry, but A-Rod was so much better
than anyone last season, it would be
foolish to pick against him. Utley, not
Jimmy Rollins, would have won NL MVP
had he played a full season last year, and,
at age 29, he’s about as good as he’s going
to get.
Posnanski: Jeter and Beltran.
I have this weird feeling that this will
finally be the year Jeter wins it. I always
pick Beltran to win in the NL.
Sheehan: Cabrera and Wright.
Note: will win. “Should” is an entirely
different matter, especially in the AL.
Cabrera’s RBIs and new-car-smell will
carry the day, but his defense will trim his
true value down.
Bialik: Rodriguez and Beltran.
Fry: Cabrera and Wright.
9. Who will win the AL and NL Rookie
of the Year awards? (10 each)
American League
Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox) 42
Evan Longoria (Rays) 39
Clay Buchholz (Red Sox) 18
Joba Chamberlain (Yankees) 10
Daric Barton (A’s) 8
Carlos Gomez* (Twins), Adam Jones*
(Orioles) 3
Ian Kennedy (Yankees) (2)
Erick Aybar* (Angels), Carlos Gonzalez
(A’s), Phil Hughes* (Yankees), Dustin
Pedroia* (Red Sox), Jonathan Van Every
(Red Sox) 1
The Cubs’ Kosuke Fukudom, who had
played 1,074 games for Japan’s Chunichi
but none in the majors before this season,
is the favorite for the NL’s Rookie of the
Year award.
National League
Kosuke Fukudome (Cubs) 38
Geovany Soto (Cubs) 17
Joey Votto (Reds) 13
Jay Bruce (Reds) 11
Cameron Maybin (Marlins) 10
Johnny Cueto (Reds) 7
Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers), Andy
LaRoche (Dodgers) 4
Hiroki Kuroda (Dodgers), Jayson Nix
(Rockies), Colby Rasmus (Cardinals),
Justin Upton* (Diamondbacks) 3
Chase Headley (Padres), J.R. Towles
(Astros) 2
Homer Bailey (Reds), Yunel Escobar*
(Braves), Evan Longoria (traded from
Rays?), Lastings Milledge* (Nationals),
Alexei Ramirez (traded from White Sox?),
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Troy Tulowitzki* (Rockies), Edinson
Volquez* (Reds), Delwyn Young
(Dodgers) 1
*No longer eligible for the award (see
eligibility rules here)
Cueto made a strong first impression,
striking out 10 batters with no walks —
and by one analysis compiling one of the
best major-league debuts in history.
Belth: Buchholz and Fukudome.
Bois: Buchholz and Homer Bailey.
Bailey had an awful Spring and was sent
to Louisville, but I believe he’ll be called
back up before too long. Reds manager
Dusty Baker has already proven his ability
to get the most out of young pitchers, and
he can do the same with Bailey. Granted,
he’ll probably trot him out to throw 340
innings, run him into the ground, and
sacrifice the rest of his career, but what’s a
vase if you don’t break it?
Borowsky: Barton and Bruce.
Dallamora: Buchholz and Fukudome.
Leitch: Longoria and Soto.
Marchman: Buchholz and Soto.
Clay Buchholz’s award will, along with
continued great pitching from Justin
Verlander and Scott Kazmir, help provoke
a scouting bias toward beanpole pitchers,
an entirely welcome development.
Geovany Soto’s award will prove an
inadequate salve for the above-mentioned
Game Seven.
Passan: Longoria and Cueto.
Posnanski: Longoria and Fukudome.
Fukudome becomes the latest Japanese
star to win the inappropriately named
“Rookie of the Year” award.
Sheehan: Longoria and Fukudome.
Bialik: Buchholz and Fukudome.
Fry: Longoria and Fukudome.
TEAMS(all remaining questions 10
points each. All questions include regular-
season games only.)
10. Which NL team will score the most
runs? And which AL team? (5 points each)
NL
Phillies 58
Rockies 26
Mets 17
Cubs 14
Brewers 10
Braves 5
Astros, Diamondbacks 2
AL
Tigers 77
Yankees 37
Red Sox 16
Angels, Indians 2
Belth: Phillies and Yankees.
Bois: Phillies and Tigers.
Unfortunately for them, the Phillies lack
the pitching to win more than 85 games. I
wonder whether Ryan Howard would hit
so many home runs if someone let him
know they were all going to waste.
Borowsky: Phillies and Yankees.
Dallamora: Brewers and Red Sox.
Leitch: Phillies and Tigers.
Marchman: Rockies and Yankees.
In the NL, Chicago will score the most
among teams that don’t play in a pinball
machine. ( Humidor or no, Coors Field still
has freak-show tendencies.) The Yankees
will bludgeon people to death as usual.
Passan: Phillies and Tigers.
The Yankees are getting too old, and
even though the Tigers have some rings on
their tree, I’ll take them by 15 runs.
Phillies ahead of the Braves simply
because of their ballpark.
Posnanski: Phillies and Tigers.
Philadelphia, because the Phillies
ballpark is roughly the size of a Residence
Inn Suite.
Sheehan: Braves and Tigers.
Bialik: Phillies and Tigers.
Fry: Cubs and Indians.
11. Which NL team will give up the most
runs? And which AL team? (5 points each)
NL
Marlins 38
Pirates 20
Nationals 19
Astros 13
Rockies 12
Giants 11
Reds 8
Phillies 5
Brewers 4
Cardinals 3
George Sherrill and his fellow Orioles
hurlers are expected to lead the AL in the
dubious stat of yielding the most runs.
(Associated Press Photo)
AL
Orioles 65
Royals 25
Rangers 24
Rays 13
White Sox 2
Mariners, Tigers, Twins 1
Belth: Marlins and Orioles.
Bois: Marlins and Orioles.
WELCOME page 29
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
WELCOME
continued from page 28
See my Markakis anecdote above. He
can pitch a fit, but unfortunately for the
Orioles, he cannot pitch a baseball.
Borowsky: Astros and Orioles.
Dallamora: Marlins and Orioles.
Leitch: Reds and Rangers.
Marchman: Rockies and Rangers.
Colorado will allow the most, but
Florida’s runner-up performance will be
far more impressive in context. Texas will
continue to labor under whatever curse it is
that they suffer from.
Passan: Nationals and Orioles.
Sucks to be a Beltway baseball fan.
Posnanski: Marlins and Orioles.
Sheehan: Marlins and Orioles.
Bialik: Nationals and Rangers.
Fry: Phillies and Rangers.
12. Which team will have the most-
improved record, measured in increase in
total regular-season victories?
Rays 49
Reds 20
White Sox 12
Royals 10
Dodgers, Tigers, Mariners 5
A’s, Marlins 4
Cubs, Giants 3
Blue Jays, Braves, Brewers, Pirates 2
Astros, Mets, Nationals, Orioles,
Rangers, Twins 1
Belth: Blue Jays.
Bois: Braves.
Braves, naturally. They’ll win 98 games,
which won’t be enough to catch the Mets,
but will be enough to clinch a wild card by
mid-September.
Borowsky: Brewers.
The very quiet addition of Mike
Cameron is huge: The resulting defensive
shuffle (Bill Hall to third base, Ryan Braun
to left field) will improve the Brewers by
at least half a dozen games. They’ll have
Yovanni Gallardo around all year, Dave
Bush will probably pitch better, and for
once Ben Sheets had a healthy spring;
maybe this’ll be the year he finally makes
all 32 starts.
Dallamora: Rays.
Leitch: Rays.
Marchman: Rays.
Tampa Bay would have to botch things
pretty badly not to win out here.
Passan: Rays.
When they finish the season at .500, it
will be the best moment for the franchise
since Vince Naimoli’s wife got popped for
running a red and he asked the cop: “Do
you know who I am?”
Posnanski: Rays.
Sheehan: Rays.
There won’t be that many great leaps
forward this season, in part because not
that many teams were all that bad last year.
Bialik: Royals.
They should have won five more games
than they did last year, based on run
differential.
Fry: Rays.
13. Which team will suffer the biggest
decline, measured in decrease in total
regular-season victories?
Rockies 26
Twins 16
Indians 13
Angels 12
Cardinals 10
A’s 8
Red Sox, Yankees 6
Brewers, Giants 5
Astros, Mariners, Padres 4
Orioles, Phillies 3
Braves, Diamondbacks, Marlins 2
Blue Jays, Mets, Rangers 1
Belth: Yankees.
Bois: Twins.
In addition to losing the best pitcher of
his generation, they also dumped Torii
Hunter, an underappreciated Carlos Silva,
and future star Matt Garza. You know
what you do when you want to mail in a
season? You get rid of your talent and sign
Livan Hernandez.
Borowsky: Rockies.
They were a .500 team until mid-
September last year, and they look like a
.500 team to me again. I’m counting on
them not repeating the 14-1 finishing kick.
Dallamora: Twins.
Leitch: Rockies.
I don’t think my Cardinals are going to
be as terrible as everyone thinks, but
maybe I’m just saying that to avoid the fact
that Todd freaking Wellemeyer is in our
rotation.
Marchman: Mariners.
A great number of people will express
disbelief at the huge decline from an 88-
win team that added Erik Bedard, and will
continue to scoff at the idea that there are
stable, predictable relationships between
runs scored and allowed and win totals.
Passan: Cardinals.
By June, Pujols will be begging for
surgery to get away from this mess.
Posnanski: Rockies.
Maybe the Rockies. Maybe Seattle. I’ll
go with the Rockies, but I don’t feel good
about it.
Sheehan: Orioles.
The Giants will be right here as well, as
will the Phillies.
Bialik: Diamondbacks.
They should have won 11 fewer games
than they did last year.
Fry: Cardinals.
Let’s see Tony La Russa’s annoying
micromanaging and paranoid fantasies get
them out of this fix. I’ll feel for St. Louis
fans, but not for him.
14. Rank these teams in order of regular-
season wins, most to fewest: Nationals,
Pirates, Orioles, Devil Rays, Royals.
Nearly 60% of readers –77, to be exact
— think the Rays will do best of these
teams. Just seven picked the Orioles, who
were the pick of 73 readers to have the
worst record of the five. The most popular
ranking: Rays, Nationals, Royals, Pirates,
Orioles. In all, 53 of the 120 possible
rankings were selected.
Incidentally, they’re now the Rays, not
the Devil Rays, as the Fixers erroneously
called them in this contest. Reader William
Backer deducted points from us for this
gaffe; at least he didn’t fine us.
Belth: Rays, Nationals, Pirates, Royals,
Orioles.
Bois: Royals, Rays, Nationals, Pirates,
Orioles.
I’m choosing to believe what I read
about new Royals manager Trey Hillman.
He seems like a Joe Girardi type, which is
exactly what that team needs.
Borowsky: Rays, Royals, Pirates,
Nationals, Orioles.
Dallamora: Orioles, Nationals, Pirates,
Royals, Rays.
Leitch: Rays, Royals, Pirates, Nationals,
Orioles.
Marchman: Rays, Nationals, and Pirates,
with the Orioles and Royals tied.
(Note the high correlation, also on display
in San Francisco, between being terrible
and having a really great ballpark.)
Passan: Rays, Royals, Pirates, Nationals,
Orioles.
Posnanski: Rays, Royals, Nationals,
Pirates, Orioles.
I think this question is just plain mean.
That’s all. Mean. I should refuse to answer
it on principle. But since I have no
prinicples…
Sheehan: Rays, Nationals, Royals,
Pirates, Orioles.
Carl, you owe the Rays a dollar.
Bialik: Royals, Rays, Pirates, Orioles,
Nationals.
Fry: Rays, Nationals, Royals, Pirates,
Orioles.
Still, all of those teams can plausibly
think better days are coming.
INDIVIDUALS(Asterisk denotes partial
credit will be given.)
15. Which manager will be first to no
longer be managing his team (whether
fired, retired, resigned or otherwise not
managing) in 2008?
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen,
shown arguing on Opening Day, isn’t
expected to last in his job much longer by
dozens of Fix readers. (Getty Images)
Ozzie Guillen (White Sox) 26
John Gibbons (Blue Jays) 17
Dave Trembley (Orioles) 14
Ron Washington (Rangers) 11
Bruce Bochy ( Padres Giants), Ned Yost
(Brewers) 9
Tony La Russa (Cardinals) 7
Charlie Manuel (Phillies) 6
John McLaren (Mariners) 5
Manny Acta (Nationals), Willie
Randolph (Mets), John Russell (Pirates) 4
Joe Girardi (Yankees), Lou Piniella
(Cubs) 3
Cecil Cooper (Astros), Bob Geren (A’s)
2 Nathan (Twins: $6) 4
Dusty Baker (Reds), Bud Black (Padres),
Bobby Cox (Braves), Ron Gardenhire
(Twins), Mike Scioscia (Angels), Eric
Wedge (Indians) 1
The only immune managers, in the view
of our readers, are those who manage
teams with very low or very high
expectations: Red Sox, Rays, Royals,
Tigers, Marlins, Diamondbacks, Dodgers
and Rockies Giants. Amid this paranoia,
one reader even predicted Phil Garner’s
repeat departure would come first.
Incidentally, Guillen is also the most likely
pick according to a betting Web site.
Belth: La Russa.
Bois: Fredi Gonzalez.
…because Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria
tends to fire managers for no good reason.
Borowsky: Gibbons.
Dallamora: La Russa.
Leitch: Yost.
Marchman: Guillen.
Guillen threatened to run for mayor of
Chicago a while ago, so once he’s fired he
should look into maneuvering his way into
29
the Illinois Senate seat I expect will open
this year. Alan Keyes got 27%, and he has
no world championships as far as I’m
aware.
Passan: Guillen.
Or: Likeliest to have a Tom Wilkinson-in
-”Michael Clayton” meltdown.
Posnanski: Guillen.
I’ll go with my old friend Ozzie Guillen.
That curtain seems about read to close on
that act. Who is managing Pittsburgh now?
Oh, John Russell — he just started. He’ll
be fine. Dave Trembley in Baltimore
seems like a good guess too, but he’s
probably also too new.
Sheehan: McLaren.
Bialik: Trembley.
Fry: Gibbons.
16. Who will be the highest-salaried
player (based on 2008 salary) released or
traded?
All dollar figures are 2008 salaries, in
units of $1 million rounded to the nearest
$100,000, and are based on USA Today’s
salary database.
Richie Sexson (Mariners: $15.5) 10
Jason Giambi (Yankees: $23.4) 9
Miguel Tejada (Astros: $14.8) 7
Carlos Delgado (Mets: $16), Todd
Helton (Rockies: $16.6), Juan Pierre
(Dodgers: $8) 5
A.J. Burnett (Blue Jays: $13.2), Joe
Jason Bay (Pirates: $6), Coco Crisp (Red
Sox: $5.1), Mike Hampton (Braves: $16),
Andruw Jones (Dodgers: $14.7), Melvin
Mora (Orioles: $7.8), Alex Rodriguez
(Yankees: $28), Barry Zito (Giants: $14.5)
3
Bobby Abreu (Yankees: $16), Beltre
(Mariners: $13.4), Lance Berkman (Astros:
$14.5), Pat Burrell (Phillies: $14.3), Jose
Contreras (White Sox: $10), J.D. Drew
(Red Sox: $14), Adam Dunn (Reds: $13),
Jim Edmonds (Padres: $8), Nomar
Garciaparra (Dodgers: $9.5), Ken Griffey,
Jr. (Reds: $8.3), Brandon Inge (Tigers:
$6.2), Jeff Kent (Dodgers: $9), Carlos Lee
(Astros: $12.5), Hideki Matsui (Yankees:
$13), Andy Pettitte (Yankees: $16), Brian
Roberts (Orioles: $6.3), C.C. Sabathia
(Indians: $11), Jim Thome (White Sox:
$15.7), Javier Vazquez (White Sox: $11.5)
2
Daric Barton (A’s: $0.4), Joe Borowski
(Indians: $4), Milton Bradley (Rangers:
WELCOME page 30
30
WELCOME
continued from page 29
$5.3), Bartolo Colon (Angels: $16), Joe
Crede (White Sox: $5.1), Kyle Farnsworth
(Yankees: $5.9), Eric Gagne (Brewers:
$10), Jay Gibbons (Orioles: $5), Orlando
Hudson (Diamondbacks: $6.3), Randy
Johnson (Diamondbacks: $15.1), Kyle
Lohse (Cardinals: $4.3), Daisuke
Matsuzaka (Red Sox: $8.3), Kevin
Millwood (Rangers: $10.4), Mike Mussina
(Yankees: $11.1), Carl Pavano (Yankees:
$11), Manny Ramirez (Red Sox: $18.9),
Ivan Rodriguez (Tigers: $12.4), Curt
Schilling (Red Sox: $8), Jason Schmidt
(Dodgers: $15.2), Ben Sheets (Brewers:
$12.1), Ichiro Suzuki (Mariners: $17.1),
Mike Sweeney (A’s: $0.5), Mark Teixeira
(Braves: $12.5), Woody Williams (Astros:
$6), Dmitri Young (Nationals: $5),
Michael Young (Rangers: $6.2) 1
According to 10 readers, Richie Sexson
won’t be with the Mariners by the end of
the season. (Associated Press Photo)
Multiple readers selected Alex
Rodriguez and C.C. Sabathia, the
defending MVP and Cy Young Award
winner, respectively of the AL. Gibbons
and Williams, both released before their
teams’ openers, make less money than
dozens of players on this list, so the Fix
has some time to defer the decision as to
whether they count.
Belth: Giambi.
Bois: Nathan.
When I was a little kid, one of my
favorite storybooks was titled, “As Right
As Right Can Be.” It was about a poor man
who bought some sharp new shoelaces.
The shoelaces only served to highlight the
dullness of the rest of his possessions, so
he bought new shoes, then a new jacket,
then a new house. The story ended with his
property being repossessed by the bank.
It’s a good read. Anyway, the Twins are
currently in the process of telling this story
in reverse. Johan Santana was the new
mansion; Torii Hunter was the horse and
cart, and Joe Nathan is the snappy new
vest. The shoelaces are Kevin Slowey.
Borowsky: Burrell.
Dallamora: Buerhle.
Leitch: Thome.
Marchman: Pujols.
Passan: Jose Vidro.
Only redeeming quality is that he doesn’t
strike out in a lineup full of guys who do.
But with Jeff Clement and Wladimir
Balentien waiting, why are the Mariners
sticking with a sub-.400 SLG DH? Runner
-up: Nomar Garciaparra, making the $8.5
million Vidro is, and probably just as
likely a designate-for-assignment.
Posnanski: Eric Chavez.
Sheehan: Contreras.
I never, ever, ever get this right.
Bialik: Giambi.
Fry: Delgado.
17. Which starting pitcher who’s
changed teams (a group that includes
Johan Santana and Dontrelle Willis) will
earn the most wins?
Johan Santana (Twins to Mets) 111
Dan Haren (A’s to Diamondbacks) 8
Erik Bedard (Orioles to Mariners) 6
Dontrelle Willis (Marlins to Tigers) 4
Livan Hernandez (Diamondbacks to
Twins) 2
Shawn Chacon (Pirates to Astros), R.A.
Dickey (Rangers to Mariners), Brett
Tomko (Padres to Royals) 1
Among top picks, last year Santana and
Haren had 15 wins apiece, Bedard had 13
and Willis had 10.
Belth: Santana.
Bois: Santana.
“Your search for ‘johan santana good
baseball fellow’ returned about 38,300
results (0.24 seconds).”
Borowsky: Santana.
Dallamora: Santana.
Leitch: Santana.
Marchman: Santana.
Santana will win more games than he
pitches. Some guy somewhere in Ozone
Park will remain really angry that the Mets
gave up Carlos Gomez in the deal, and will
repeatedly call Joe Benigno to express his
views on the use of leverage in
negotiations.
Passan: Santana.
I’m nothing if not consistent.
Posnanski: Santana.
But I think Willis has a good year too.
Sheehan: Santana.
He could have an obnoxious record, 26-3
or something.
Bialik: Santana.
Fry: Santana.
18. Will anyone reach the 20-20-20-20
threshold (in doubles, triples, home runs
and stolen bases) that Curtis Granderson
and Jimmy Rollins reached last year? If
yes, who?
No one 76
Jimmy Rollins (Phillies) 21
Jose Reyes (Mets) 13
Curtis Granderson (Tigers) 11
Hanley Ramirez (Marlins) 7
Carl Crawford (Rays), Grady Sizemore
(Indians) 2
Ryan Braun (Brewers), Ichiro Suzuki
(Mariners) 1
Belth: Jeter.
Except instead of 20 triples he’ll be hit
by 20+ pitches.
Bois: Ramirez.
These days, answering “Hanley
Ramirez” when asked “who will do good
in baseball” is like answering “God” in
Sunday school.
Borowsky: No.
Dallamora: No.
Honestly, I’m thinking Hanley Ramirez,
but saying “no” is a lot easier than picking
the player correctly.
Leitch: No.
Marchman: No.
Absolutely not. Eight guys have hit 20
triples in a season since integration.
Passan: No.
The closest will be Grady Sizemore.
Posnanski: No.
Rollins could do it again if he gets 800
plate appearances or whatever crazy
number he got last year.
Sheehan: No.
It’s kind of a fluke thing. You need a
million plate appearances, not that many
walks, the right park…
Bialik: No.
Fry: Reyes.
19. How many home runs will Barry
Bonds hit?*
Barry Bonds won’t get much of a chance
to add to his record home-run total while
attending basketball games such as this
Lakers-Kings matchup. (Associated Press
Photo)
The mean was four, while the median
and mode were zero (98 readers thought
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Bonds would remain stuck at 762). The
highest guess was 24. In a season with
more than 42 at bats, Bonds hasn’t hit as
few as 24 homers since 1989.
Since this is a Major League Baseball
contest, incidentally, we’re only counting
homers Bonds hits in the majors — though
several readers wondered if we’d be
including homers in Japan — or a federal
penitentiary.
Belth: 0.
Bois: 0.
It’s starting to look as though Bonds’
legal problems won’t prevent him from
playing this year. What will prevent him
from playing is the truth that no team with
any measure of ego or self-respect will
want him. I suppose that narrows the
candidates to San Francisco and Baltimore,
and even those two strike me as very
unlikely. On the legitimacy scale, his role
as a pinch-hitter in San Francisco would be
more of a joke than his role last year, and
less of a joke than Minnie Minoso’s return
to the White Sox at age 54. We can only
regard the teams’ refusal to sign Bonds as
an act of collusion if we view the Coates
family’s decision to shoot Old Yeller as an
act of collusion. I’m not saying Bonds is a
dog; I guess I’m just saying that he
contracted rabies defending his family
from a prairie wolf.
Borowsky: 0.
And 74, for the Cell Block 6 Raiders in
the California Institution for Men.
Dallamora: 10.
Prison ball counts, right?
Leitch: 0.
If Bonds were on the Opening Day roster
of, say, the Mariners, they could win their
division. Teams ignore him at their own
peril.
Marchman: 19.
13,429 if we’re counting home runs he
hits while bitterly playing MLB 2k8 on his
Xbox, 19 if we’re counting the ones he hits
for the Yankees after he’s signs for a
prorated $30 million, a bronzed llama, and
a framed letter of general apology.
Passan: 0.
Let the dying die, would you?
Posnanski: 0.
Don’t know how we would count the
balls hit out of Leavenworth.
Sheehan: 18.
If I say “zero,” the best I can do is tie.
Bialik: 11.
Fry: 0.
20. Will average television ratings for the
World Series go up or down from last
year’s 10.6?
Up 87, Down 47
Belth: Down.
Bois: Up.
Just barely. Not sure if I’ll be
contributing, though. I’m volunteering my
apartment as a Nielsen household,
purchasing 25 televisions, and tuning them
all to re-runs of “The Wire” in an effort to
convince HBO to order a sixth season. I
want to find out whether Bubbles helps
with the dishes.
Borowsky: Down.
Ya can’t go wrong betting on baseball
TV ratings to go down.
Dallamora: Up.
Leitch: Up.
Marchman: Up.
Way up, as the prospect of a Boston-
Chicago World Series hints at the possible
creation of a pocket universe right there on
the field.
Passan: Down.
Under 10.0. Baseball’s greatest trick:
Nearly quintupling its revenue over the last
15 years in spite of plummeting TV
ratings, something that would kill the NFL.
Posnanski: Up.
If it’s Red Sox-Mets as I predict, then
yes, way up from last year. Cincinnati-
Tampa Bay would draw quite a bit fewer, I
fear.
Sheehan: Up.
… courtesy a longer, more competitive
Series.
Bialik: Up.
Though New Yorkers will have to watch
in droves to make up for apathy elsewhere.
Fry: Up.
Seeing the Red Sox annihilate the
Rockies was fun if you lived in
Massachusetts. Otherwise, not so much.
– Tip of the Fix cap to Thomas Sperber,
Patrick Houston, Nick Dallamora, Alex
Belth, Richard E. Peck and Tim Marchman
for suggesting contest questions.
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Parker, Lady Vols Claim Title
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 4/9/2008 11:41:00 AM
Tennessee joined Kansas as NCAA
tournament champions Tuesday night, as
Candace Parker scored 17 points and
grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Lady
Vols to a 64-48 rout of Stanford, marking
the end of Candice Wiggins’ stellar career
with the Cardinal.
But reducing the title game to Ace and
Ice is too simple, John Smallwood writes
in the Philadelphia Daily News.
The tale of a title-game defeat: Lady
Vols everywhere. (Associated Press Photo)
” ‘Ace’ got the support that both she and
‘Ice’ agreed would be the difference,” he
writes, noting that Ms. Parker (Ace) and
Ms. Wiggins (Ice) had said the
championship game “was going to about
the best team, not the best player. It was
going to swing on which supporting
players would make Tennessee or Stanford
the better team. With Parker struggling due
to an injured shoulder, her teammates —
Alberta Auguste, Nicky Anosike, Shannon
Bobbitt and Alexis Hornbuckle — did
what you would expect of four senior
starters who already had won a national
championship. With Wiggins just
struggling, her teammates — Kayla
Pedersen, Jayne Appel, JJ Hones and
Rosalyn Gold-Onwude — played the way
you might expect three sophomores and a
freshman to play in their first
championship game.”
Ms. Parker is projected as the top pick in
Wednesday’s WNBA draft, to be joined
within a few picks by Ms. Wiggins. (And
will they both go to Russia in the
offseason?) But first, Scott Ostler ponders
the final thud of Ms. Wiggins’s collegiate
career in the San Francisco Chronicle.
BASEBALL CONTEST
See how Fix readers, the Fixers and
some of our baseball writers see the season
playing out, in a roundup of the Fix’s
seasonlong baseball contest.
MARCH MADNESS Wondering who
won the Fix’s March Madness contest, and
Amy Winehouse Does Shots with a Baby
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/14/2008 9:46:16 PM
Amy Winehouse won’t let a little thing
how? Wonder no more: Carl has the
results, and commentary from the winners.
“Stanford, which had been picking up
momentum like a Cardinal-colored
avalanche, was stopped cold by a quicker,
tougher, fiercer foe,” he writes. “The Vols
forced 25 turnovers. Twenty-five! Stanford
couldn’t even inbound the ball at times. It
was a valuable life lesson for the Stanford
women. Never get into a wrestling match
with an octopus. The Vols were all arms
and legs and double-team traps and triple-
teams. … The Vols are a team, much more
than simply Parker, backed by the
legendary Death Stare of their coach, Pat
Summitt. They were a swarming, hungry,
mature (five seniors), well-oiled machine.
They smothered Stanford and the Wiggins
mystique.”
***
Who’ll win the Masters?
Tiger Woods, obviously.
Next!
***
Wait a minute! Not so obviously! That’s
what Fix golf guru Tim Carroll says in his
Masters preview: “Please calm down and
remember the boys have yet to put a tee in
the ground, have yet to hole a single putt,
have yet to wipe a sweat-stained brow after
a power lip-out leaves a putt longer than
the original.”
His pick for the green jacket? It’s not
Eldrick.
***
The Boston Red Sox — who started the
2008 season on the other side of the world
what seems like a very long time ago —
finally made it to Fenway Park for their
home opener, complete with handing out
World Series rings, welcoming back a
redeemed man, and thrashing the suddenly
pathetic Detroit Tigers.
The feel-good story of the day was 1986
World Series goat Bill Buckner, who threw
out the first pitch. “The pause lasted a full
13 seconds,” Amalie Benjamin writes in
the Boston Globe. “Bill Buckner sat at a
table in the Fenway Park interview room, a
microphone in front of him, and pondered
like a baby in her arms stop her from doing
shots of hard alcohol in the morning. Amy
will baby sit free of charge as long as the
bar is open, and the shots are free.
the question. Had he had second thoughts
about throwing out the first pitch at
yesterday’s home opener and celebration
of the 2007 World Series win? … His eyes
grew wet and red. Dwight Evans, seated
next to him, reached out and put his arm
around Buckner.”
Bah, says Sean Crowe on Bleacher
Report, arguing that’s just more Red Sox
mythologizing.
“Every time his name is brought up,
history is completely re-written to make
Red Sox fans look bad,” he writes.
“Boston hates Buckner. Boston never
forgave Buckner. Boston blames Buckner
for the curse. Its all crap. Garbage.
Hogwash. In 1990, Bill Buckner made his
triumphant return to the Boston Red Sox.
This was four short years after the 1986
World Series, when old wounds were still
fresh on Red Sox fans minds. So, given the
way things have been portrayed, we must
have booed him off the field, destroyed his
confidence, eaten his first born and
banished him to Canada. After all, were
the awful Red Sox fans who blamed our
cursed baseball team on his bad fielding,
right? As a matter of fact, he received a
five minute long standing ovation on
opening day.”
***
The homecoming was a lot less sweet for
the New York Mets, taking the field at
Shea Stadium for the first time since they
completed their epic gag job by getting
pummeled by the Florida Marlins on the
final day of the 2007 season and missing
the playoffs. Fans cheered new ace Johan
Santana and gawked at Citi Field, now
looming behind the outfield wall — but in
the late innings they wound up booing
luckless reliever Scott Schoeneweis and
first baseman Carlos Delgado, who erased
a good day at the plate by firing a double-
play ball into the Philadelphia Phillies’
Chase Utley. The Phils won, 5-2; the Mets
are in last place. (And in New York, it’s
never too early for it to be getting late.)
“This was supposed to be a day of
pleasant nostalgia,” writes Joel Sherman in
the New York Post. “But by the end of yet
another Mets loss to the Phillies, their
ninth in a row, all that was rekindled for
the Shea Stadium fans was how much they
disliked this team the last time they saw it
together. The regrouped Mets made just as
bad an initial impression at the last-ever
Shea opener. The largest first-game crowd
in the closing stadium’s history booed
Scott Schoeneweis and Aaron Heilman and
ultimately the whole team more lustily
than they booed Jimmy Rollins.”
***
The horror show that is the New York
Knicks has been well-chronicled, but the
Fix has never seen the mess plumbed quite
so deeply and pitilessly as Jeff Coplon
does in New York magazine. Virtually
every sentence stings, so it’s hard to pick a
representative few, but here’s a taste:
“Theyve been called the worst team in the
history of pro basketball, but theyre really
much worse than that. These Knicks are
worse than the fire-sale 41 Phillies or the
expansion 62 Mets or the 76 Tampa Bay
Buccaneers, who were perfect in their
winlessness. Theyre the worst of the worst
because of how theyve lost, in petulance
and complacencyand with management
that bulldozed any critic it could not
ignore. … Now that the [Isiah] Thomas era
is dead, the obituary can be written. The
temptation in these moments is to gloss
over the faults of the deceasedto remember
through a lens, brightly. But Isiahs tenure
was so contemptibleso bereft of redeeming
value, on court or offthat such tenderness
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
• Amy Winehouse has Boney Legs
• Amy Winehouse is Falling Apart
Sports* Gossip 31
is hard to muster. In the Knicks me-first
self-regard, theyve blasphemed the most
gorgeously collaborative of games.”
***
This year the ever-flowing ink of
sportswriter elegy is bathing Yankee
Stadium, in its final year before the
Yankees open the new version of the
House That Ruth Built. Not much ink is
flowing the way of a place that’s seen
more than 2,000 spring-training games: Al
Lang Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Jason
went to Met spring-training games there in
the mid-80s, and remembers being
astonished to find he was about the same
height as the Mets’ Wally Backman, who
also stepped on the future Fixer’s foot
while hurrying to the bus.)
Al Lang’s long tradition seems to be at
an end: The Tampa Bay Rays are
relocating to Port Charlotte next spring,
and eyeing the site for an open-air stadium.
If this is the end for Al Lang, it couldn’t
ask for a better farewell than the column
ESPN’s Jayson Stark wrote a couple of
weeks back.
“Lou Gehrig trained here,” he writes.
“Stan Musial trained here. Grover
Cleveland Alexander and Tom Seaver
trained here. Joe DiMaggio got four hits in
his first spring training game as a Yankee
here. Don Zimmer hit the first Grapefruit
League triple in the history of the Mets
here. Babe Ruth once launched home runs
here that traveled across First Avenue into
the balconies of the now-defunct West
Coast Inn. Mickey Mantle once smoked a
mammoth, game-winning, opposite-field
home run here that high-hopped off the
asphalt beyond the left-field fence and
plunked into the turquoise waters of
Tampa Bay.”
– Tip of the Fix cap to reader Don
Hartline.
Found a good column from the world of
sports? Don’t keep it to yourself — write
to us at dailyfix@wsj.com and we’ll
consider your find for inclusion in the
Daily Fix.
• Amy Winehouse Before Drugs
• Amy Winehouse Without Clothes On
• Amy Winehouse Still Has Impetigo
32 Sports* Gossip
Poulter Upstages Woods in Masters Opener Like No Other
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 4/11/2008 12:33:00 PM
Your guest Fixer is David Roth:
Let’s do a quick thought experiment. Say
there’s some sort of institution that you
have, in the past, not merely admired but
actually enjoyed. Thanksgiving, let’s say.
Only this year, starting around
Halloween, you start seeing commercials
for Thanksgiving on television.
“Thanksgiving: A Tradition Like No
Other,” a voice intones, as a series of
artfully composed close-ups are intercut
with images of smiling white guys. There’s
no real reason to be advertising
Thanksgiving — it’s Thanksgiving, after
all — but the commercials work. Soon,
whenever someone says the word
“Thanksgiving,” the phrase “a tradition
like no other” is spilling from your lips.
It’s a bummer.
Ian Poulter finally is known for
something other than brash comments
about Tiger Woods. (Associated Press
Photo)
And so, in its way, is the pomp-intensive
promotion by CBS and ESPN of the
Masters, a legitimately iconic if recently
overhyped golf tradition which began
Thursday with some pretty good golf.
Justin Rose and Trevor Immelman sit atop
the field at four under par, but the story of
the day was Ian Poulter, who finished the
day two strokes off the lead, in large part
thanks to a hole-in-one eagle on the par-
three 16th. Before that memorable eight-
iron, Mr. Poulter was best known for his
glib good humor, New York Times
columnist William C. Rhoden writes. In
2007, Mr. Poulter “told Golf World
magazine that he hadn’t yet played to his
full potential, ‘and when that happens, it
will be just me and Tiger.’ Until Thursday,
Poulter had not been able to live down the
comments, although…his ace at No. 16 got
everyone’s attention. Maybe even Tiger’s.
Poulter, an Englishman, called the
subsequent sensation the greatest
Hillary Clinton is in Love
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/15/2008 7:33:12 AM
Every time Hillary Clinton sees a shot
glass full of whisky she says
adrenaline rush he had ever experienced.
‘It was a great buzz,’ he said. ‘Massive.
Unbelievable buzz.’ ”
The majority of the buzz, of course, has
accrued to Tiger Woods, who shot even
par on Day One, and is the overwhelming
favorite to win the Masters and an eventual
PGA Grand Slam. The Washington Post’s
Thomas Boswell has the actual odds on
Woods’ win — “London bookmakers have
Woods as an 11-to-8 underdog against the
field” — as well as some other stuff about
how great Woods is. “Woods wins more
often, by larger margins and with a more
complete game in his era than [Jack]
Nicklaus did in his,” Mr. Boswell writes.
“But let’s not pretend Woods has won this
Masters, much less the Grand Slam, when
the first of the four major events has barely
begun. Woods is better than anybody, by a
lot, but he’s no better than everybody put
together. What we’re watching here —
Woods vs. the world — is fabulous drama,
a fair fight (93 against one), not a foregone
conclusion.”
To the Fix’s mind — and to that of Tim
Carroll, our resident golf guru — Mr.
Boswell is right. But considering that
Woods is facing a field of competitors
that’s colorless even by PGA standards —
and that he’s won 10 of the last 20 PGA
events he’s entered — it’s probably no
surprise how much Masters coverage has
been centered on him. That’s not
justification for ESPN’s Bob Harig parsing
Woods’s every shot and speculating over
“butterflies floating beneath those six-pack
abs” — click here if that sounds good to
you — in what was supposed to be
coverage of the first day. But it is
understandable. BASEBALL CONTEST
See how Fix readers, the Fixers and
some of our baseball writers see the season
playing out, in a roundup of the Fix’s
seasonlong baseball contest.
MARCH MADNESS Wondering who
won the Fix’s March Madness contest, and
how? Wonder no more: Carl has the
results, and commentary from the winners.
____________ .
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
• Hillary Clinton is a Heavy Drinker
• Elton John Stumps for Hillary Clinton
Less comprehensible is Bill Plaschke’s
Los Angeles Times column today. Maybe
it’s Mr. Plaschke’s frequent shouting-head
appearances on ESPN — or the smirking
author photo atop his column — but the
Fix doubts that Mr. Plaschke even believes
what he writes half the time. Even for one
who manufactures outrage so well, though,
Mr. Plaschke is particularly goofy today in
his argument that the field is “kissing up to
Tiger.” “Have you ever heard anything like
it?” Mr. Plaschke fumes. “In a sports world
whose very pulse is pumped by the
heartbeat of competition, would this
happen anywhere else? Tiger Woods
showed up here this week reiterating his
understandable belief that he can win this
summer’s golf Grand Slam.
“Then his opponents — exasperated gasp
— agreed with him. ‘He has already won
four majors in a row, so it’s not an
impossible feat,’ Phil Mickelson said this
week. ‘I think it’s doable.’ Doable? Lefty,
are you that dork-able? You’re Woods’
biggest rival, yet you’re going to concede
him the entire World Series even before
the season’s first pitch?”
Somebody award that man some
“Around the Horn” points!
Mr. Plaschke’s bluster aside, a broader
media trend towards celebrity is just one
reason so much Masters coverage has
fixated on Woods (the other is that he’s
really, really good).
Still, his dominance presents a challenge
not just for sportswriters and his fellow
• Chelsea Clinton asked about Monica
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
tour players, but for Woods himself.
“Throughout Tiger’s career, golf pundits
have opined that, great as he is, the
absence of a foil like Arnie or Jack will
hinder the reckoning of Tiger’s legend,”
Slate’s Dave Larzelere writes. “This is an
alluring idea, but it’s got Tiger and golf all
wrong. Going by the Arnie-and-Jack
index, it’s hard to imagine what this absent
adversary could add to Tiger’s narrative,
because Tiger himself is the entire
equation. As the most charismatic and
marketable golfer who’s ever lived, he is
the clear heir to Palmer, the sport’s first
great salesman-idol. And, of course, he is
the only credible heir to Nicklaus, simply
because he’s so overwhelmingly and
consistently dominant. In the end, the yin-
and-yang theory falls apart when it comes
to golf. The best golfers play the course
and not the man.”
***
The tight playoff race in the NBA’s
Western Conference is starting to shake
out as the regular season enters its final
days. After some recent struggles, the
Mavericks have gotten back on track and
clinched the seventh playoff spot in the
West last night with a dramatic 97-94 win
over the Utah Jazz. The final spot will go
to either the Denver Nuggets or Golden
State Warriors, a pair of fun-to-watch
teams that faced off in Oakland last night,
with Denver scoring a dramatic 114-105
win.
“Just as the crazy season, this tortuous
playoff run and the Nuggets as we know
them were on the verge of fading to
black,” Denver Post columnist Mark
Kiszla writes, “A.I. came to their
emotional rescue. Using every basketball
move that has made him famous, from a
twisting reverse layup to his trademark pull
-up jumper and a step-back 12-foot shot
that ripped the nets, Iverson led a
desperately beautiful 21-1 run by the
Nuggets that opened the second quarter. It
forever changed the tone of a game that put
them in the driver’s seat for the eighth and
Lewinsky
• Pitt and Jolie Related to Clinton and
Obama
• Hillary Clinton Called a Big Liar and
Manish
final playoff spot in the Western
Conference.”
And then there’s the Eastern Conference,
where the Atlanta Hawks (36-42) hold a
two-game lead on the Indiana Pacers (34-
44) with four games remaining, but the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Mark
Bradley isn’t ready to forget his hometown
franchise’s broader futility. “Of nine
[straight] losing seasons, this is by far the
best,” Mr. Bradley writes. “The Hawks
have changed ownership and management
and coaches and have had seven lottery
picks over those nine seasons and have
finally swung a trade for their long-sought
point guard, and still they’re south of
mediocrity. They’ve made progress, yes,
but does progress get any more glacial than
this?”
***
Finally, to the world of NCAA hockey.
No, seriously. After scoring a 5-4 upset
over Michigan last night, Notre Dame
became the first No. 4 seed ever to make it
to the NCAA championship game.
That’s a nice story in itself, but the story
of Notre Dame defenseman Christian
Hanson is even better. His last name is
familiar to fans of the ultra-profane cult
hockey flick “Slap Shot,” in which his
father, Dave Hanson, played one of the
fighting Hanson brothers. The Fix
recommends two entertaining pieces on the
younger Mr. Hanson and the role that his
father’s only movie role has played in his
life: Brian Hamilton’s article in the
Chicago Tribune and Allison Hayes’s
piece at the Notre Dame football fansite
Blue and Gold.
– Tip of the Fix cap to readers Gerard
Cosloy and Don Hartline.
Found a good column from the world of
sports? Don’t keep it to yourself — write
to us at dailyfix@wsj.com and we’ll
consider your find for inclusion in the
Daily Fix.
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Memphis, Kansas Ride Free-Flowing Style to Title Game
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 4/7/2008 12:29:00 PM
If the men’s Final Four, with its
unprecedented four No. 1 seeds, really
featured the nation’s four best teams, then
Monday night’s championship game in
San Antonio features the two most-
deserving teams, by far. Less than five
minutes into the early game Saturday
night, Memphis took the lead over UCLA
and never trailed again en route to a
comfortable 78-63 victory. Kansas did
better, never trailing in 40 minutes against
top-ranked North Carolina. The Jayhawks
ran out to a 40-12 lead, then withstood a
North Carolina comeback bid and won, 84-
66 (to the great relief of CBS analyst Billy
Packer).
The surprisingly easy wins extended to
eight games the streak of Final Four games
without a thriller, with none since Illinois
lost for the second time all season to North
Carolina in the 2005 final more than three
years ago. Suddenly cautious columnists
aren’t guaranteeing that Kansas-Memphis
will be a nailbiter, but they do expect an
entertaining game. “If you watched the
way Memphis roared and Kansas soared,
you understand one thing with perfect
clarity: you can’t expect a photo finish
today,” Mike Vaccaro writes in the New
York Post. “But you can expect a hell of a
lot of fun.”
Left to improvise, Chris Douglas-Roberts
devised a baseline drive and emphatic
dunk in the second half of Memphis’s
victory over Kevin Love and UCLA.
(Associated Press Photo)
Coaches Bill Self, of Kansas, and John
Calipari, of Memphis, deserve much of the
credit for authorizing their players to lead
themselves and design plays. Lexington
Herald-Leader columnist John Clay traces
that back to their common mentor, Larry
Brown, who while power-walking with
Mr. Calipari was offering tips Sunday
morning. “In a profession known for
exorbitant salaries and overcoaching,
Calipari and Self are much more inclined
to let their guys, well, just play — to the
point where after his team rolled to a 40-12
lead over North Carolina on Saturday, Self
proclaimed, ‘There were times when I
didn’t have much control over what was
going on out there,’ ” Mr. Clay writes.
Letting great players freelance results in
beautiful improvisation, notably a surfeit
of lobs for dunks. “Sure, it takes discipline
to run it right, to set the screens, to make
the right cuts, to deliver the precise pass,”
Joe Posnanski writes in the Kansas City
Star. “But, in the end, it’s also about letting
players enjoy the games. It’s about getting
players to think on their own. It’s about
getting out of the way and remembering
the game isn’t about coaches; the game is
about players. That’s how Self and
Memphis’ John Calipari coach basketball.
That’s why there will be some alley-oops
tonight.”
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick
Telander says Messrs. Self and Calipari
and their brethren get too much credit this
time of year, but it’s understandable
because their familiar faces contrast with
the exiting underclassmen. “What does
allegiance to a university mean to a gifted,
often poor athlete who sees no grandeur in
being an ‘amateur’ — whatever that means
beyond very, very low-paid — and the
possibility of professional league wealth?”
Mr. Telander writes.
Memphis junior Chris Douglas-Roberts
has stuck around long enough to suffer
Elite Eight disappointments each of the last
two seasons, and to surpass that round this
year. He’s almost surely done with college
hoops after tonight. The San Diego Union-
Tribune’s Tim Sullivan re-creates the
moment when college coach first met
future star: “The body language was lousy.
The effort was erratic. The shooting style
was unorthodox and the jump shot was
flat. But the results were remarkable. John
Calipari’s first impression of Chris
Douglas-Roberts conjured a twisted
wreckage on the side of the road. The
Memphis coach was repelled and yet
riveted, simultaneously bewildered and
bewitched.”
In the Louisville Courier-Journal, Eric
Crawford flashes back to the NBA
prospect’s family history. “Chris Douglas-
Roberts grew up in a 110-year-old house in
Detroit, the one his grandparents moved
into when they moved from Louisville,”
Mr. Crawford writes. “The one where
Laura Roberts raised eight children after
her husband died, half of whom went to
college, all of whom became successful in
their lines of work.”
Mr. Douglas-Roberts is constantly
reminded of his family by a tattoo bearing
the name of his mother, Judy. Another
tattoo quotes Psalm 37. His teammate
Chance McGrady “permanently wears a
quotation from Nobel Peace Prize winner
Bernard Lown, developer of the
defibrillator, that tells the world: Men
capable of seeing the invisible can achieve
the impossible,” Denver Post columnist
Mark Kiszla writes, in urging fans not to
jump to steroetypical conclusions about
this ink-decorated squad.
As for Kansas, several columnists write
that tragedy helped forge the close bond
between Jayhawks evident at their best
moments, such as in their furious start
against North Carolina. “This Kansas team
that will play Memphis in tonight’s
national championship game was forged of
many things,” Richard Justice writes in the
Houston Chronicle. “It has a terrific coach
in Bill Self, a wonderful tradition, and
some of the bluest of the blue-chip recruits.
Kansas has something else, something
that’s hard to measure and harder still to
understand. Kansas has a toughness and
closeness born of pain and tragedy.”
Darnell Jackson left the team briefly last
year to care for his injured mother, and
teammates still drop in on him to make
sure he’s OK.
His teammate, Sasha Kaun, lost his
father as a teenager in Russia, and his
mother, Olga, still suspects foul play.
When Sasha first arrived in the U.S., he
wasn’t a basketball prospect but a
beanpole. Then he developed an appetite
and a sterling academic record, and
colleges came calling. “Kansas appealed
most to him,” David Whitley writes in the
Orlando Sentinel. “Maybe the winters
reminded him of Siberia, where Olga
remained. Kaun was no longer homesick,
but he sure missed his mother. She would
have had a hard time comprehending her
son’s development. He became a computer
whiz like his father. It’s probably safe to
say Kaun will be the only player tonight
who has constructed a robot for a class
project.”
***
Seven times this season UConn’s
women’s basketball team had faced a
fellow top 10 team, and five times it won
by at least 10 points, including a 12-point
defeat of Stanford in November. But in the
rematch Sunday night in Tampa, the
Cardinal stunned the Huskies, 82-73, to
advance to the championship game
Tuesday night. Notable Stanford alumnae
were on hand, Ann Killion writes in the
San Jose Mercury News: “The women who
began and sustained the magic at Stanford
bore witness Sunday night to perhaps the
most magical run by any Cardinal team.”
LSU almost pulled off Sunday’s second
Sports* 33
upset when senior Erica White sunk two
free throws to put the Lady Tigers ahead of
Tennessee, 46-45, with 7.1 seconds left.
But a last-second put-back by Alexis
Hornbuckle gave Tennessee another title-
game berth and sealed LSU’s fifth national
semifinal defeat in five years. LSU’s
accomplishment remains impressive,
Carter Gaddis writes in the Tampa
Tribune: “They overcame the death of a
beloved coach, the scandal-ridden
resignation of another coach and the
ravages of Hurricane Katrina. For five
consecutive seasons, under four different
coaches, nothing kept the Louisiana State
Tigers out of the Women’s Final Four.”
A packed Forum in Tampa obscures a
big challenge for the women’s game. “In
its attempt to make the women’s tourney
mirror the men’s, the women’s basketball
committee stepped on the gas, expanding
the tournament field way too quickly and
going to neutral sites before there was
enough evidence that people would
actually show up,” Andrea Adelson writes
in the Orlando Sentinel. “Take an early
round game in Los Angeles last year,
which drew 878 people.”
***
Gib Shanley, longtime radio broadcaster
for the Cleveland Browns, died Sunday at
age 76. He was there for the Browns’ last
championship — and for their more-
plentiful disappointments. “In Shanley’s
voice a measured amount of emotion could
be heard, depending on the situation,”
George M. Thomas writes in the Akron
Beacon Journal. “The moment his voice
dropped on the radio during the infamous
Jan. 4, 1981, playoff game against the
Oakland Raiders in an arctic Municipal
Stadium as the Browns were driving to
take the lead, it was apparent what had
happened.”
Found a good column from the world of
sports? Don’t keep it to yourself — write
to us at dailyfix@wsj.com and we’ll
consider your find for inclusion in the
Daily Fix.
34 Sports*
Is Upshaw Facing Challenge to His Reign?
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 4/10/2008 12:30:00 PM
Your guest Fixer is David Roth:
Baltimore Ravens kicker Matt Stover is
an unlikely labor radical. Mr. Stover, the
Ravens player representative to the NFL
Players Union, is an 18-year veteran best
known for being one of the most devout
Christians in the already-pretty-darn-
devout NFL and for having spent his entire
career with the Browns/Ravens.
Nevertheless, this mildest of NFL figures
found himself cast as an insurgent on
Wednesday, when an email he wrote to
other reps urging an end to NFLPA head
Gene Upshaws 25-year tenure was leaked
to ESPNs Chris Mortensen.
Is Gene Upshaw facing rebellion?
(Associated Press Photo)
Content-wise, its not a terribly
scandalous email, unless youre the sort
who gets outraged by a veteran kicker
urging his unions executive committee to
use Board Designated Funds to hire an
outside consultant, Executive Head Hunter
or Search Firm to aid in the collection of
candidates from both the outside and
within the NFL world. (OK, maybe the
syntax at the end of that last sentence is a
bit scandalous.) It seemed even less so
later that day after Mr. Stover wrote a
second email— this time sent to Mr.
Mortensen directly — denying it was his
intention to oust the ultra-entrenched union
president and claiming he was only trying
to deal with the inevitability of the end of
Genes tenure.
Whatever Mr. Stovers intention, this is
the closest Mr. Upshaw has come to an
internal challenge to his authority. Upshaw
confirmed that hints of a movement
ultimately to change the union leadership
were in play at the March [NFLPA]
meetings in Maui, Mr. Mortensen writes.
An effort by one coalition of players to get
Philadelphia Eagles safety Brian Dawkins
elected as the new NFLPA president fell
short. Mr. Dawkins is seen as representing
a faction that seeks to replace Mr. Upshaw
with former Eagles cornerback Troy
Vincent, whom Mr. Mortensen describes
as a political force within the ranks of the
players [who] desires to replace Upshaw
one day. BASEBALL CONTEST
See how Fix readers, the Fixers and
some of our baseball writers see the season
playing out, in a roundup of the Fix’s
seasonlong baseball contest.
MARCH MADNESS Wondering who
won the Fix’s March Madness contest, and
how? Wonder no more: Carl has the
results, and commentary from the winners.
All that would be so much internal
wrangling, were it not for the controversy
surrounding Mr. Upshaws last few years as
NFLPA head. While the NFL is awash in
profits and the average players salary rose
to $1.2 million in 2007, increasing
awareness of the plight of broken-down
NFL retirees — Paul Solatoroffs 2007
article in Mens Journal is a good primer on
this issue — has led to tons of bad
publicity for the NFLPAs pension and
health-benefits programs.
In response to increasingly intense
criticism from both active and retired
players (as well as NFL Network employee
Bryant Gumbel), Mr. Upshaw a Hall of
Fame offensive lineman has delivered
himself of some impressively tone-deaf
comments, most memorably when he
expressed his wish to break [the] goddamn
neck of fellow Hall of Famer Joe
DeLamielleure, a particularly vocal critic
among retired players. Mr. Upshaw wasnt
notably more circumspect in his response
to Mr. Stovers email.
Critics of the Hall of Famer have said he
runs the union in a dictatorial fashion, the
Baltimore Suns Don Markus writes. [And]
Upshaw doesnt express much regard for
Stover. Matt Stover has no clue, Upshaw
told ESPN. Whoever is pulling his chain is
doing a disservice to the union.
But Mr. Upshaw is a significantly more
complex figure than the caricature of
bitter, snarling dominance painted by well,
his own quotes. Gary Smiths long article
about the NFLPA president appeared in
Sports Illustrated in late January, but it
remains the best thing the Fix has read
about Mr. Upshaw, touching on everything
from his harrowingly belt-reliant father to
his tendency to do plumbing repairs around
the NFLPA offices. Of course, it also
details Mr. Upshaws failings in dealing
with a unique labor force, 78% of whose
members would be divorced, bankrupt or
unemployed two years after their jobs —
often because of injuries — had been
terminated.
Another executive might have anticipated
the trap the [retired players] were setting:
the feelings trap, Mr. Smith writes.
Another executive, early in the crisis,
would have called a news conference and
issued press releases assuring everyone
how much his heart went out to those
suffering and how hard he was working
behind the scenes to improve their lot. But
Upshaw’s catalog of emotional experience
did not contain that page.”
“You dont say to Gene, I deserve this or I
demand this. That’s the worst thing you
can do. He decides when to give it out, Mr.
Upshaws friend Neil Grasso told Mr.
Smith. If these retired guys just did this
behind closed doors, theyd get much more
of what they want He loves to give. Hes
incredibly generous. But you dont question
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
him. You dont challenge him.
It is a little late for that, but Mr. Upshaw
and the NFLPA face another, more-
pressing challenge: an NFL collective
bargaining agreement that expires in 2010,
the same year as Mr. Upshaws six-year,
$24 million contract. I normally hate
writing about labor and things like looming
strikes, Sports Illustrateds Peter King
writes, before going on to write about what
would happen if either the NFLPA or
owners backed out of the current CBA and
failed to agree on a new contract.
What would happen? A 2010 season
played without a salary cap — its less
friendly both to players and successful,
deep-pocketed teams than youd think —
among other things. In 2011 and beyond?
Mr. King writes. Murky times. The union
could disband and try to rewrite the rules
of engagement with the NFL, as it did in
the 80s to try to break a labor stalemate.
The league could try to unilaterally adopt
bargaining terms. There could be a strike.
Still, King believes that the NFLPA and
owners will work things out. That season is
three-and-a-half years away, and to think
the two sides couldnt figure out some way
to divvy up $8 billion or $9 billion a
year…There’s a better chance of Brett
Favre quarterbacking the Bears this year.
***
The Masters: maybe youve heard about
it? The golf tournament with the green
jacket begins today and will be discussed
more extensively in tomorrows Fix, but the
annual Par 3 Contest, which takes place at
the 1,066-yard par-three course next to
Augusta National, had its moment in the
sun on Wednesday. It was the 49th year in
which the contest has been played, and the
first time in which it was shown on live
television.
Those with some time in the afternoon
your substitute Fixer, for instance got the
chance to watch a parade of legendary
players (one threesome was comprised of
Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold
Palmer) get their lob-wedge on before an
appreciative crowd, often with their kids or
grandchildren acting as caddies. It was all
kind of cute, in a benignly plutocratic,
insanely-good-at-golf way.
Many first-time visitors to the course
don’t even know the Par 3 exists, ESPNs
Bob Harig writes. From the clubhouse
looking out onto the main course, the Par 3
is located to the left, behind a series of
cabins where the members often stayWhen
you walk through the hedges and past the
cabins there and you see that green the size
of your dinner table and youre hitting a
wedge and there are 20,000 people
surrounding the hole, it can be pretty
disconcerting, former PGA Tour player Jay
Haas told Harig. Its a good warm-up for
the tournament.
Rory Sabbatini won this years Par 3; no
player has ever won the Par 3 Contest and
the Masters in the same year, which is no
doubt a relief to Tiger Woods.
While the Fix is talking golf, our guru
Tim Carroll has his pick for who’ll wind
up wearing the green jacket.
***
And then theres the Olympic Torch,
which made a brief, clandestine,
predictably contentious stop on U.S. soil in
San Francisco. Sports Illustrateds Frank
Deford, who was sticking it to the IOC
before the Fix knew how to do long
division, isnt surprised.
And to tell you the truth, he writes, I
think the Olympics are yesterday’s party.
Once upon a time before globalism and jet
airplanes and cyberspace bringing athletes
together quadrennially in one place might
have made sense. Today, its an
unnecessary excess.
Found a good column from the world of
sports? Don’t keep it to yourself — write
to us at dailyfix@wsj.com and we’ll
consider your find for inclusion in the
Daily Fix.
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Immelman (Not Woods) Gets Green Jacket
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 4/14/2008 12:26:00 PM
Your guest Fixer is David Roth:
The Fix was surprised, too: There were
people other than Tiger Woods in the
Masters? Why weren’t we told?
As it turned out, Tiger Woods — still the
greatest golfer of his generation by a
country mile, if you were wondering —
wound up a fairly distant second at this
years Masters, won by South Africa’s
Trevor Immelman. And so we see the
regrettable downside of Tiger vs. the Field,
writes Dan Shanoff in the Sporting News.
When Tiger wins, its all good. And when
he doesnt? It’s The Meh-sters.
Sorry Tiger: The jacket is Trevor’s.
(Associated Press Photo)
Presumably Mr. Immelman was more
enthused: After grabbing a share of the
lead on Day One, he never relinquished it,
and shot a three-over 75 on the windy final
day the highest final-round mark for a
Masters winner in 36 years to finish three
strokes ahead of Tiger.
As he took the champions walk up the
18th fairway, bathed in shafts of soft light
shining through the Georgia pines,
Immelman smiled, waved and fought to
keep his emotions in check, the New York
Times Larry Dorman writes. Nearly four
months ago, he was in a hospital awaiting
the results of a biopsy on a tumor. It was
benign. He has a seven-inch scar on his
back as a reminder of what could have
been. After parring the last hole for a total
of 8-under-par 280, he wore a huge smile
as a reminder of what is.
Another thing Mr. Immelmans win was:
surprising. Hed missed the cut in a Tour
event in Houston just last week, and had
won only one PGA Tour event since
turning pro in 1999. Still, by avoiding the
putting errors that dogged Woods (and the
general meltdown of third-place finisher
Brandt Snedeker, who shot 77 on the final
day), Mr. Immelman became the second
South African ever to win the Masters.
And that was thanks in part to support
from the first, Gary Player.
By way of context, the Chicago Tribunes
Ed Sherman explains that Player is revered
in South Africa, the highest order of sports
royalty. To be a young golfer and have
Player advising you in that country is akin
to a basketball prodigy in Chicago being
guided by Michael Jordan. Mr. Immelman,
for his part, calls Mr. Player another father.
Player recognized Immelmans passion
when he picked up a then-5-year-old
Immelman, his front teeth missing, in his
arms and posed for a picture, the San
Diego Union-Tribunes Ed Zieralski writes.
Player is Immelmans biggest fan and,
when needed, his most stern taskmaster.
He left Immelman a voice mail Saturday
night that touched the heart and soul of his
countryman, inspired him. It gave me
goose bumps, Immelman said. He told me
he believed in me and I needed to believe
in myself. And he told me to keep my head
a little quieter when I putt. He said I was
peeking too soon.
One thing that hasnt peaked: golf
commentators inimitable ability to lodge
their feet in their esophagi. One of the least
-surprising, most-unfortunate
consequences of the decision to tender
special invitations to star players from
India, Thailand and China was CBS
announcer and former PGA player Bobby
Clampett referring to Chinas Liang-Wen
Chong as the Chinaman.
Mr. Clampett later issued one of those
heavily conditional non-apology apologies
favored by sports figures, leading Michael
David Smith of AOL Fanhouse to note that
the style of apology that begins with if I
offended anybody always rings a little bit
hollow. The word chinaman is a slur, and
it’s the slur that should be followed up
with an apology, not the reaction of being
offended by the slur. While the
commenters at AOL were confused at how
anyone could think the term was offensive
(also not particularly surprising — scroll
down to the comments if you dare), the
bloggers at Awful Announcing werent
having it, writing that there are certain
words that those of us who live in the 21st
century no longer use; this is certainly one
of them.
All of which makes William C. Rhodens
discussion of the PGAs global diversity
ambitions from last weeks New York
Times seem that much more prescient. The
Masters initiative to expand the sport
reflects a complex, razor-thin distinction
between bringing fresh players into the
game and inviting new members into the
club, Mr. Rhoden wrote. Inclusion can be
a supercharged word around the country
club; some golfers havent bought into the
concept.
***
The Fix, or at least this substitute Fixer,
is so out of touch with the NHL Playoffs
— apparently the Hartford Whalers didnt
make the field this year? — that its
probably best not to weigh in at this late a
date. But we loved the Frozen Four, a.k.a.
the NCAA Hockey Championship. In part,
this is because of the extraordinarily varied
selection of schools in the tournament this
is the only collegiate sport in which
Colorado College, Clarkson and St. Cloud
State qualify as juggernauts but its also
because of the frenzied enthusiasm of the
games.
The underdog Fighting Irish of Notre
Dame had their run end in the final on
Saturday in a 4-1 loss to Boston College.
They backed into the tournament as the
final at-large bid, then upset three giants of
the sport New Hampshire, Michigan State
and Michigan before running into the one
they couldnt solve, the South Bend
Tribunes Steve Wozniak writes. Well get
over this, and well start preparing for
[Washington] D.C., ” said [sophomore
wing Ryan] Thang, alluding to the site of
next years Frozen Four. Because now, its
time to start hanging some banners.
The Eagles spent much of the game
turning away Notre Dame scoring attempts
despite the fact that, as the Boston Globes
Theresa Smith reports, they had only five
healthy defensemen. Ms. Smith also got a
great quote from injured B.C. defenseman
Carl Sneep, who skated onto the ice for the
postgame celebration despite a nasty high
ankle sprain. I cant feel a thing right now,
Mr. Sneep told Ms. Smith. Its so awesome.
While the outcome itself wasnt really in
Sports* Gossip 35
doubt for most of the game, Saturdays final
was still a great showcase for Boston
College star Nathan Gerbe, who scored
two goals, earned Frozen Four Most
Outstanding Player honors and, most
prestigiously, cemented the honor of
becoming the Fixs favorite college hockey
player under five and a half feet tall. In a
recap of the Frozen Four win over North
Dakota that got B.C. to the final, the
Globes Barbara Matson
asked(rhetorically). What else can be said
about Nathan Gerbe, except perhaps where
did he learn to skate like that?
Charging after his older brothers on a
pond in Michigan started Gerbe on the fast
track, she answers, and when he didn’t get
bigger than 5 feet 5 inches, he just kept
getting fasterEvery time Gerbe had the
puck and a slice of open space in the
neutral zone, he deked and ducked to get
away from checkers, suddenly appearing
Who’s Your
on the other side of the blue line, staring
down the goalie. Even if you know where
he is, you dont.
Daddy
For a visual of Mr. Gerbes work, check By Hollywood Grind
out this jaw-dropping penalty shot against Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:56:47 AM
Providence College.
A home DNA test kit that we’ve known
*** about for months will soon be putting
Finally, the requisite Longish Awesome
Feature Piece of the day comes from Dave Maury Povich out of the paternity testing
McKenna of the Washington City Paper, business. A company called IdentiGene
who casts a not-so-fond look back at the will be selling a DNA test kit in select
stores to determine if a child is indeed your
recently retired Chris Webber and the ultra biological child. My favorite is the
-boorish Washington Bullets/Wizards of
the 1990s. The Webber Era confabs werent Paternity test, that allows a man to collect
only uncompetitiveone playoff appearance, his DNA and a child’s DNA without the
zero playoff wins, Mr. McKenna writes, need for mommy’s DNA, and learn if he
really is a daddy in only 3 days for only
but hindsight reveals their rank as the most $249. Hopefully the availability of these
unlikable team to ever call this town home.
Those teams are given a soul-stirring tests will make some women think twice
salute in two YouTube knockoffs of the before knowingly naming the wrong
NBAs Where Amazing Happens ads from daddy. Chris Rock is one of those, along
with many other rich celebrity men, who
the inimitable Wizznutzz. The videos are have already gone through this hell.
here and here.
– Tip of the Fix cap to reader Don The kit is available at Rite Aid, and
Hartline. online here.
Found a good column from the world of © Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
sports? Don’t keep it to yourself — write • Jason Beghe Says Scientology is
to us at dailyfix@wsj.com and we’ll
consider your find for inclusion in the Dangerous
Daily Fix. • Dwarf Soccer Team
• Stacey Dash Has Still Got it
• Model Mysteriously Disappears
• When the Owner is Away the Kitty will
Play
36 Sports* Gossip
March Madness Contest Results
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 4/8/2008 10:55:00 AM
(If you’re looking for today’s Daily Fix
column, it’s here.)
Congratulations to Greg Martinek and
David Hudson, the only Daily Fix readers
among the 86 entering our March Madness
contest who picked all Final Four teams
correctly and chose Kansas to win it all.
Mr. Martinek won the contest by a wide
margin. He’ll be joined in the Daily Fix
Skybox of Champions (which by now
resembles a Titanic lifeboat, but anyway)
by Mr. Hudson, who finished second, as
well as by Chris DeLotell and Stephen M.
Schleicher, who tied for third. Dr.
Schleicher managed to edge into the top
four despite picking UCLA to win it all,
thanks to his perfect Final Four picks and
piling up points on the earlier questions.
It was clear to Mr. Martinek, president of
an electronics-manufacturing company,
that the four top seeds were the four best
teams. In the semifinals, the 50-year-old
from Brookfield, Wisc., reasoned that
UCLA couldn’t match “the toughness,
strength, and length of Memphis.” As for
Kansas-North Carolina, “A game played at
such a fast pace was going to be
determined by the team with superior
depth, and it was.” His comments about
the final, emailed to me ahead of time,
proved prescient: “This type of game
would favor Kansas due to their being a
much better free-throw- and three-point-
shooting team than Memphis.”
It took the runner-up, Mr. Hudson, about
10 minutes to put together his contest
entry, he estimates. The 28-year-old
Oklahoma City fixed-income broker and
Oklahoma State graduate based his
champion pick on school ties: “My mind
said UNC, but luckily my heart said
Kansas (Big 12 ties, OSU alum Bill Self),”
Mr. Hudson writes. “Rock Chalk Jayhawk.
Now let’s go talk to Bill Self about that
vacant OSU head coaching position.”
Mr. DeLotell, a 21-year-old from Mason,
Ohio, says he chose Kansas “because I
simply thought it was the best combination
of talent and coaching in the tournament.”
The senior at the University of Kentucky
nonetheless was rooting for Memphis on
behalf of his nine-year-old brother, who
stood to win $60 in his pool if the Tigers
won the title. “Luckily, he fell asleep at
half-me and missed Memphis’s late-game
choke at the foul-line and in the strategy
department,” Mr. DeLotell writes.
“Always foul with a three-point lead in the
last 10 seconds!”
Read on for how the contest played out,
with correct answers bolded.
1. Which will be the team with the
highest seed number (16 is higher than 1)
to win in the first round?(Winners in
italics.)
Winthrop (seed 13) 12; Georgia (14) 10;
Temple (12) 9; Siena(13) 8; Villanova(12)
6; St. Joseph’s (11) 5; Baylor (11), Cornell
(14), Davidson(10), St. Mary’s (10) 4;
Kansas State(11), San Diego(13) 3; Boise
State (14), George Mason (12), Oral
Roberts (13), Western Kentucky(12) 2;
American (15), Cal State-Fullerton (14),
Kentucky (11) 1.
Siena and San Diego both went on to
lose to No. 12 seeds in the second round.
Most readers erred on the conservative
side, with 15 correctly picking first-round
upset winners but choosing one with too
low a seed.
2. Which No. 1 seed will win by the
fewest points in the first round?
UCLA 30; Kansas 29; Memphis 17;
North Carolina 8.
None of the games was close; Kansas
and Memphis both won by 24 points, while
North Carolina won by 39 and UCLA by
41. These blowouts presaged the relatively
easy path for all four teams — particularly
North Carolina’s — to the Final Four. But
they were poor indicators of the results of
the national semifinals.
3. How many teams outside the power
six conferences (ACC, Big East, Big 10,
Big 12, Pac-10, SEC) will make the Sweet
16?
2.6 was the average answer, 3 was the
median and the range was 0 to 6.
Four broke through, as predicted by 11
readers. Only two of these Sweet 16 teams
are surprises: No. 12 seed Western
Kentucky of the Sun Belt and No. 10
Davidson (Southern Conference). Top seed
Memphis from Conference USA and No. 3
seed Xavier (Atlantic 10) also advanced.
Three of them advanced to the Elite Eight,
and Memphis made the championship
game.
4. Which conference will see the highest
number of its representatives reach the
Sweet 16?
Big East 61; Pac-10 13; ACC 6; Big 12
5; SEC 1.
The Big East and Pac-10 have three
teams each. For this question, Stanford’s
last-second leaner to beat Marquette in
overtime was critical. The Big 12 led in the
Elite Eight, with Texas and Kansas — and,
most importantly, led all conferences with
one national champion.
5. Which of the following bubble teams
will advance the farthest in the tournament:
Oregon, Kentucky, Baylor, Kansas State,
Villanova or Arizona?
Kansas State 25; Arizona 16; Baylor,
Oregon 12; Villanova 10; Kentucky 7;
none (all lose in first round) 4.
Only Kansas State and Villanova won,
and Villanova advanced to the Sweet 16.
6. Which player will score the most
points (total points, not points per game) in
the tournament?
Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) 63;
Kevin Love (UCLA) 9; Darren Collison
(UCLA) 3; Wayne Ellington (North
Carolina), Brandon Rush (Kansas) 2; Joe
Alexander (West Virginia), Darrell Arthur
(Kansas), Chris Douglas-
Roberts(Memphis), Roy Hibbert
(Georgetown), Chris Lofton (Tennessee),
O.J. Mayo (USC), Derrick Rose
(Memphis) 1.
Chris Douglas-Roberts finished with 140
points, though he’ll lament three that got
away — his only missed free throws, all in
the final minutes of regulation in the title
game. Only reader Bob Trost got this one
right. Davidson’s Stephen Curry, despite
playing two fewer games, finished a close
second with 128 points. Derrick Rose
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
finished with 125 points for Memphis.
7. Which freshman will score the most
points (total points, not points per game) in
the tournament?
Kevin Love (UCLA) 49; Michael
Beasley (Kansas State) 12; Derrick
Rose(Memphis) 11; O.J. Mayo (USC) 7;
DeJuan Blair (Pittsburgh), Austin Freeman
(Georgetown) 2; Gary Johnson (Texas) 1.
Rose finished with 125 points, well
ahead of Love’s 99.
8. Who will be named Most Outstanding
Player in the Final Four?
Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) 42;
Kevin Love (UCLA) 21; Darren Collison
(UCLA) 6; Brandon Rush (Kansas) 5;
Darrell Arthur (Kansas), Chris Lofton
(Tennessee) 2; Antonio Anderson
(Memphis), Michael Beasley (Kansas
State), Mario Chalmers(Kansas), Roy
Hibbert (Georgetown), Ty Lawson (North
Carolina), Brook Lopez (Stanford),
Derrick Rose (Memphis), Jessie Sapp Carmelo
(Georgetown) 1.
Chalmers finished the Final Four with
six assists, seven rebounds, seven steals
Anthony Arrested
and 29 points — three of them tying the
title game with a couple of seconds left in
for DUI
regulation. He was chosen only by contest By Hollywood Grind
winner Greg Martinek. Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:11:19 AM
9. Which teams will make the Final Four
(10 points each)? Carmelo Anthony(23) was arrested at 4
East: North Carolina 79; Tennessee 4; am for DUI. Anthony was driving his
Louisville 2. silver Mercedes, and was swerving
South: Texas 39; Memphis 22; between lanes with his high beams on.
Pittsburgh 12; Stanford 8; Marquette, Anthony’s attorney, Dan Recht, said:
Michigan State, Kentucky 1. "He cooperated by consenting to a blood
West: UCLA 76; Duke 4; Drake, Xavier test, the results of which will not be
2. available for approximately two weeks …
Midwest: Kansas 49; Georgetown 21; There was no accident and no one was
Wisconsin 7; Clemson 5; Kansas State, hurt."
USC, Vanderbilt 1. Anthony’s court hearing is on May 14.
10. Which team will win the It seems like a DUI these days means
championship (30 points)? you’ve made it to the big time, and now
North Carolina 36; UCLA 32; Kansas 9; you can afford to f**k your life up drunk
Memphis 3; Georgetown 2; Stanford, behind the wheel of a Mercedes.
Tennessee, Texas 1. © Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
The two reader favorites were 2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
overmatched and outplayed in the semis. • Richie Sambora Faces DUI and Child
Endangerment Charges
• Foxy Brown Being Released From Jail
• Barron Hilton Pleads No Contest to DUI
• Naomi Campbell Racial Tirade
• Pete Doherty Goes to Jail
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Jayhawks Are Champs After Chalmers Caps Furious Comeback
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 4/8/2008 11:02:00 AM
Kansas’s comeback from nine points
down with two minutes left in Monday
night’s national championship game
required several missteps by Memphis. But
the Jayhawks also had to play nearly
flawless basketball for those two minutes,
and the subsequent five minutes of
overtime. And so they did, capping a
closely matched and thrilling title game
with a 24-8 run that featured 8 of 10
shooting from the field, including the first
seven shots, and 6 for 6 from the free-
throw line.
Kansas wasn’t the most-consistent team
in college basketball this season, but in its
peak moments, and at the very end, it was
indisputably the best. To get to the final,
Kansas used a 40-12 run at the start of its
game against North Carolina, then finished
on a 30-16 tear to defeat the No. 1 team in
the country.
Mario Chalmers celebrates his already
legendary three-pointer to force overtime.
(Associated Press Photo by Eric Gay)
Neither run had to be executed under as
much duress as the championship-
clinching finish. To force overtime,
Sherron Collins had just a handful of
seconds to drive the length of the floor,
dodge Memphis’s attempts to foul him (he
said later he thought he was fouled), and
get the ball to Mario Chalmers. Mr.
Chalmers then discovered a narrow space
between defenders draped over him, rose
and hit a three-pointer. (And probably
made CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz regret
his declaration a few minutes earlier that a
Derrick Rose jumper for Memphis was
“the shot of the tournament.”)
That shot will be forever celebrated by
Kansas basketball fans, Joe Posnanski
writes in the Kansas City Star. “Kids 50
years from now will be shooting the
Chalmers shot in driveways from Pittsburg
Gary Dourdan is Leaving CSI
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:40:24 AM
Gary Dourdan will be leaving CSI next
month after his contract expires. The
decision was mutual between Dourdan and
producers. The May 15 season finale may
to St. Francis, from Liberal to Hiawatha,
from Cuba to Dodge City to Chanute,” Mr.
Posnanski writes. “Grandparents in
Wichita will call their grandchildren in
Olathe to talk about what they were feeling
when Chalmers took that shot, the way the
ball arced, the way it fell. Farmers in Cuba
and teachers in Salina and doctors in
Garden City will talk about the shot
forever. There were precisely 43,257 fans
in the Alamodome on Monday night to
watch Kansas win its first championship in
20 years, but as time goes by there will be
100,000, then 200,000, then a million who
will say they were here.”
Danny Manning, hero of that last Kansas
championship, was among those 43,257.
“Not even Danny and the Miracles, the last
Jayhawks to cut down the nets (as a No. 6
seed) needed a shot like Chalmers’ in their
finale,” Luke Winn writes on Sports
Illustrated. “Twenty years later, Danny
Manning had a prime view of the Mario
Miracle, as the assistant coach who had
prepared the team’s scouting report of
Memphis for the title game. Ed Hightower,
one of the refs from ‘88, was working the
floor the floor again in ‘08, and while
Manning said he was thinking ‘deja vu’
when Chalmers launched it, the reason was
not Hightower. Chalmers had hit the exact
same shot — on the same play — to take
Texas to overtime in last season’s Big 12
tournament.”
Mr. Chalmers practiced that shot with his
father, Ronnie, as a child in Alaska — he
follows recent Alaska basketball stars
Trajan Langdon and Carlos Boozer, who
both played for Duke. Ronnie went on to
coach his son at Bartlett High in
Anchorage, then followed Mario to
Lawrence to serve as Bill Self’s director of
basketball operations, a hiring that
displaced Mr. Manning and seemed fishy
to some at the time. But its significance
last night was in keeping father and son
close together for the shining moment.
be his final appearance on CSI. Producers
are actively seeking, via a casting call, a
new male series regular in his late twenties
to early thirties to play Ray Santoro, a
"handsome, smart and athletic" CSI who
transfers from Henderson to join the
graveyard shift at the Las Vegas crime lab.
“Mario Chalmers hugged his dad tightly
after the game,” Jill Painter writes in the
Los Angeles Daily News. “Ronnie cried,
and he was pretty sure Mario had tears in
his eyes, too. It was a wonderful moment
between father and son, one that’s been
difficult to navigate for Ronnie, since he’s
part-time assistant, too.”
While Mr. Chalmers justly won Most
Outstanding Player at the Final Four, it
should have been a close vote. The
Jayhawks followed the blueprint of recent
champs by spreading the scoring load
evenly. They are the fourth-straight
champion with at least four players
Gary is too young to retire, and probably
would like to try the silver screen. How
averaging in double figures, and the third
straight without a 15-points-per-game
scorer. Half a dozen Jayhawks have NBA
prospects, but none were named to the
first, second or third All-America teams.
Mr. Collins, for one, came off the bench
last night but played 34 minutes and won
bragging rights over his erstwhile Chicago
high-school rival, Mr. Rose. “In June, Rose
most likely will have the ultimate bragging
rights when some NBA team turns him
into an instant multimillionaire,” Dana
O’Neil writes on ESPN. “For now, though,
Collins is the toast of Chicago.” MARCH
MADNESS
Wondering who won the Fix’s March
Madness contest, and how? Wonder no
more: Carl has the results, and
commentary from the winners.
BASEBALL CONTEST See how Fix
readers, the Fixers and some of our
baseball writers see the season playing out,
in a roundup of the Fix’s seasonlong
baseball contest.
Mr. Rose could have ended his college
career in triumph, but instead he missed
one of two free throws with 10 seconds
left, paving the way for Mr. Chalmers’
date with history. Seconds earlier, his
backcourt mate, Chris Douglas-Roberts,
missed a pair of free throws. Those misses
were chalked up by most columnists today
to Memphis’s Achilles Heel — free-throw
shooting. The Tigers may have ranked
339th out of 341 NCAA schools from the
stripe, but until that unfortunate dry spell,
they had hit 80% of their free throws over
the prior four games. And Messrs. Rose
and Douglas-Roberts were both a
respectable 71% from the line this season.
Nonetheless, the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s
Doug Lesmerises is right to call the end of
regulation “the greatest marketing
campaign for free-throw shooting videos
ever conceived.”
Bricked free throws have been good to
Kansas late in recent NCAA finals. In
about the first black Batman, or a villain in
the next Spiderman?
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
• Separated at Birth
• Gary Dourdan Hits Girls Too
• Gary Dourdan Issues Excuse for Photog
Sports* Gossip 37
2003, Syracuse missed three of four free
throws in the final 24 seconds, and five of
its last six overall, to leave Kansas with
another last-second three-point attempt to
force regulation. That one was blocked.
“History tells us, it should be pointed out,
that the free throw was not a part of the
original basketball rules,” the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram’s Gil LeBreton writes. “The
free throw rule was soon added, however,
shortly after 1892, by Dr. James Naismith,
the first coach at the University of Kansas.
That’s a long time to wait for a payoff, but
the Jayhawks will take it.”
***
One tournament ends just as another
begins. The NHL playoffs start
Wednesday, and, stunningly, they will
include the team from Washington, D.C.
“A Capitals story that shamed most hockey
fairy tales, a dream that seemed almost too
silly to speak for months, came true in the
pandemonium of Verizon Center last
night,” Washington Post columnist
Thomas Boswell wrote Sunday. “A team
that was the worst in the NHL on
Thanksgiving day, but climbed and clawed
for months, finally reached the playoffs on
the last day of the season with a 3-1
victory over Florida.”
The Caps clinched with a win before a
sold-out crowd, which supports Kevin
Greenstein’s thesis that the NHL is
heading in the right direction. Mr.
Greenstein tallies the positive indicators
and has an interview with league
commissioner Gary Bettman in the New
York Sun.
– Tip of the Fix cap to reader Garey G.
Ris.
Found a good column from the world of
sports? Don’t keep it to yourself — write
to us at dailyfix@wsj.com and we’ll
consider your find for inclusion in the
Daily Fix.
Assault
• Gary Dourdan Assaults Paparazzi
38 Gossip
Kate Hudson Wants a Baby
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:40:57 AM
Just last month there was a raging debate
over pictures of Kate Hudson that appeared
to show her pregnant, and showing a baby
bump. Yesterday Kate told the U.K.’s
Sunday Times:
"I’m a mom and that’s my first priority. I
can’t wait to have more. I’m at that place
when I’m ready to have another one and
Chris and I are not together. I’m like, ’Oh
no! Uh-oh! I’m ready.’ "
She’s adding fuel to the flames, and
fanning them to get those rumor fires
burning. Kate is also looking for a younger
guy:
"I need to find that 18-year-old in me
again, who was way more adventurous
when it came to kissing boys. I would love
nothing more than to have a good, honest
make out sesh, but I find it really hard
because I’m a mom."
Yet she also wants someone mature:
"Any guy I ever meet is always going to
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
come second to my son, and you get to
weed out the boys from the men. You
definitely know which ones are the boys."
This description sounds a lot like Owen
Wilson, who also loves a good make-out
"sesh," yet he’s mature enough to have a
successful money making career, which is
something Kate is desperately seeking.
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
• Kate Hudson and Matthew
McConaughey at Fools Gold
• Kate Hudson in a Bikini Pregnant or
Not?
• Is Kate Hudson Pregnant or Not?
• Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson Are
Dating Again
• Kate Hudson Pregnant with Justin
Timberlake Baby