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'The Boss' Endorses Obama
By Tommy Christopher (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:30:00 AM
Filed under: Endorsements, Democrats,
Barack Obama, Featured Stories, 2008
President Rock and Roll icon, New Jersey
favorite son, and American treasure Bruce
Springsteen has endorsed Democratic
Senator Barack Obama's Presidential bid.
From Bruce's website: Dear Friends and
Fans:
Like most of you, I've been following the
campaign and I have now seen and heard
enough to know where I stand. Senator
Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders
above the rest.
He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and
the resilience to be our next President. He
speaks to the America I've envisioned in
my music for the past 35 years, a generous
nation with a citizenry willing to tackle
nuanced and complex problems, a country
that's interested in its collective destiny and
in the potential of its gathered spirit. A
place where "...nobody crowds you, and
nobody goes it alone." Funny that I just got
done joking to you that the candidates had
split The Village People's endorsement.
This will likely carry slightly more weight
than that hypothetical endorsement.
I never really "got" The Boss. I mean, I
like him just fine, but he's like a God to
PA Poll Update
By Dave (Political Machine)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:44:00 PM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Barack
Obama, 2008 President, Polls
Some polls I'm watching to judge the
effect of Obama's small town gaffe on the
upcoming Pennsylvania primary.
white people. He's known and respected
for his socially conscious music, and even
casual fans associate him with patriotism
because of his anthemic hit, "Born in the
USA,"so this is probably about the best
Rock endorsement Obama could have
hoped for.
After the jump, the rest of Bruce's
endorsement, including his comments on
"BitterGate."
View Poll
Yesterday's ARG poll had down by 20
points and stunned everyone, but ARG has
been volatile. But other polling out today
indicates that Clinton has bumped, but not
by that much.
Rasmussen: Clinton up by 9 with a +4
bump over the last poll. Extremely reliable.
Survey USA: Clinton up by 14 but that's
07/04/08 - 16/04/08
Here's the full text of the endorsement:
Dear Friends and Fans:
Like most of you, I've been following the
campaign and I have now seen and heard
enough to know where I stand. Senator
Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders
above the rest.
He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and
the resilience to be our next President. He
speaks to the America I've envisioned in
my music for the past 35 years, a generous
down from 18 last week, but SUSA also
has a history of volatile polling.
LAT: Clinton +5
Strategic Vision: Clinton by 9 with a +4
bump over last week.
Quinnipiac: Clinton up 6 unchanged
from last time.
So yes, we are certainly all over the
LibertyNewsprint.com U.S.
nation with a citizenry willing to tackle
nuanced and complex problems, a country
that's interested in its collective destiny and
in the potential of its gathered spirit. A
place where "...nobody crowds you, and
nobody goes it alone."
At the moment, critics have tried to
diminish Senator Obama through the
exaggeration of certain of his comments
and relationships. While these matters are
worthy of some discussion, they have been
ripped out of the context and fabric of the
man's life and vision, so well described in
his excellent book, Dreams of My Father,
often in order to distract us from
discussing the real issues: war and peace,
the fight for economic and racial justice,
reaffirming our Constitution, and the
protection and enhancement of our
environment.
After the terrible damage done over the
past eight years, a great American
reclamation project needs to be
undertaken. I believe that Senator Obama
is the best candidate to lead that project
and to lead us into the 21st Century with a
renewed sense of moral purpose and of
ourselves as Americans.
Over here on E Street, we're proud to
support Obama for President.
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place, but average it all out and we have
Clinton up by 6-14 points and a probable
bump of around 3-4. That's a reasonable
guess as to the real state of things.
Which means that Clinton has arrested
her downward slide in PA, something she
desperately needed to do. Whether this is
attributable to the Obama gaffe is open to
'Ignite' - New
McCain Ad
By Greg McNeilly (Political Machine)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:54:00 AM
Filed under: Ads, John McCain, 2008
President
John McCain's campaign launches a new
:30 second spot titled "Ignite." It focuses
on the McCain's plan to ignite America's
economy and jobs.
The ad's script reads: ANNCR: As
President, John McCain will take the best
ideas from both parties to spur innovation,
invest in people and create jobs. Taxes --
simpler, fairer. Energy -- cleaner, cheaper.
Health care -- portable and affordable.
Workers retrained, mortgage debt
restructured, education transformed.
Initiatives that will unite us and ignite our
economy. Big ideas for serious problems.
John McCain. JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John
McCain and I approve this message.
This is (finally) a real kick-off to the
General Election branding that McCain
needs. When it comes to pitting the
experience of either a Ivy League lawyer
versus a war hero, the difference on the
economy will be vision. This ad starts to
draw that distinction.
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speculation, but I don't see anything else
dominating the news cycles over the last
few days to explain this.
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2 Politico*
100 Pa Mayors Endorse Hillary, 19 Show Up
By Tommy Christopher (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 2:45:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton,
Endorsements, Democrats, 2008 President
The Clinton campaign sent out twin
announcements regarding mayors
yesterday, the first being the endorsement
of Hillary Clinton by 100 Pennsylvania
mayors. HARRISBURG, Pa. - Turnout at
the "100 Mayors for Hillary" rally was a
little under 20 percent.
Nineteen mayors of Pennsylvania cities
showed up for Tuesday's rally in the
Rotunda of the Pennsylvania Capitol.
Other mayors' names were listed on
placards supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton of New York for the Democratic
presidential nomination.
Oof! When I first read the Clinton
camp's statement, I thought, "Really? 100
mayors? Isn't that a bit like me listing my
kindergarten teacher as a job reference?"
But, then, to only have 19 of them show
up to a rally called "100 Mayors for
Hillary?" What happened, did they take 81
of 'em down and pass 'em around on the
bus ride over?
There has been this annoying tendency
on the part of both campaigns to trot out
volume endorsements like these and shove
them in front of the press like stacks of
gleaming coins. Barack has 93 Generals,
Hillary has 147 Admirals*, (*not actual
figures) Barack has 3 of the original
Charlie's Angels, Hillary has Shelley Hack
and Tanya Robertson, they've split the
Village People evenly. Who cares? If you
got the 93 stupidest generals and your
opponent got Sun Tzu, you're beat. Plus,
why are there so many Generals?
See the full text of the Clinton
campaign's statement after the jump.
100 Keystone Mayors Endorse State
Hillary Clinton for President
Harrisburg, PA - Showing strength and
momentum in the Keystone State, the
Clinton campaign today announced 100
mayors who are endorsing Hillary Clinton
for president. Following Senator Obama's
remarks dismissing small town America,
mayors joined supporters today in
Harrisburg to declare their support for
Hillary because of her readiness to lead on
day one, her plans to jumpstart the
economy, and her Pennsylvania roots and
commitment to Pennsylvania values.
"I am proud to have such strong support
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Senator Clinton said. "From small towns to
big cities, these mayors work hard every
day to improve the lives of the people they
serve and they know they need a strong
partner in Washington to help them bring
affordable health care and revitalize their
local economies."
The 100 mayors endorsing Hillary today
will work in the final week of the
campaign to get out Hillary's message of
change for Pennsylvania and the country.
Hillary understands the economic
pressures of families who have lost jobs,
face foreclosures, and can't afford health
insurance or college tuition. She
understands what it's like to roll up your
sleeve and work hard. As president, Hillary
will fight for the issues that matter to all
Americans starting on day one in the
White House.
Below is a list of the 100 Pennsylvania
mayors endorsing Hillary Clinton:
Ø Mayor Michele Avvisato, Old Forge,
Lackawanna County
Ø Mayor Norman Ball, Tunkhannock,
Wyoming County
Ø Mayor Anthony Battalini, Aliquippa,
Beaver County
Ø Mayor Sam Benyi ,Clarksville, Greene
County
Ø Mayor Ronald Besong, Bell Acres,
Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Louis Biacchi, Berwick,
Columbia County
Ø Mayor James V. Bitonti, Belle
Vernon, Fayette County
Ø Mayor Richard Bowen, Taylor,
Lackawanna County
Ø Mayor Thomas Brown, Bentleyville,
Washington County
Ø Mayor John B.Callahan, Bethlehem,
Northampton County
Ø Mayor Willard Canfield, Hallsted,
Susquehana County
Ø Mayor Gennaro Cantalupo, Northern
Cambria, Cambria County
Ø Mayor Robert P. Carpenter, Laporte,
Sullivan County
Ø Mayor Peter M.Casini, South
Connellsville, Fayette County
Ø Mayor Joseph J.Cisco, Ellport,
Lawrence County
Ø Mayor Anthony Colaizzo,
Canonsburg, Washington County
Ø Mayor Esther Cotner,
from 100 of Pennsylvania's finest mayors," 100 page 3
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
100
continued from page 2
Washingtonville, Montour County
Ø Mayor Carl Cott, Forksville, Sullivan
County
Ø Mayor Joan B. Derco, Youngwood,
Westmoreland County
Ø Mayor Christopher Doherty, Scranton,
Lackawanna County
Ø Mayor Bernard Dubaskas,
Edwardsville, Luzerne County
Ø Mayor Gary L. Durkin, Flemington,
Clinton County
Ø Mayor Greg Erosenko, Monroeville ,
Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Emerson M. Fazekas,
Versailles, Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Philip Ferrizzi, Bally, Berks
County
Ø Mayor Ned C. Fink, Fountain Hill,
Lehigh County
Ø Mayor Richard T. Fluck, Hellertown,
Northampton County
Ø Mayor Jim France, East Lansdowne,
Delaware County
Ø Mayor Ralph Garzia, Brookhaven,
Delaware County
Ø Mayor Richard Gassman, Matamoras,
Pike County
Ø Mayor Gerald W. Gross, West Easton,
Northampton County
Ø Mayor Connie M. Guy, Mountville,
Lancaster County
Ø Mayor John Haberland, Coraopolis,
Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Loyce L. Harpster, Burnham,
Mifflin County
Ø Mayor David Haslett, Avalon,
Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Joseph Herbert, West
Wyoming, Luzerne County
Ø Mayor William Jenkins, Larksville,
Luzerne County
Ø Mayor Joseph Kazan, New Stanton,
Clinton Wins PA, Loses Nomination to Obama
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:00:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Democrats,
Featured Stories
According to Jonathan Singer's analysis
at the pro-Clinton website MyDD.com,
that may well be the story-line for what
remains of the race between Barack
Obama and Hillary Clinton. The problem
Westmoreland County
Ø Mayor Joseph Keating, Pittston,
Luzerne County
Ø Mayor James F. Kinder, Mount Wolf
Boro, York County
Ø Mayor Donald L. Kinosz, Lower
Burrell, Westmoreland County
Ø Mayor Philip Krivacek, Duquesne,
Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Joseph Daniel Kudlac,
Ellsworth, Washington County
Ø Mayor Maxine J. Kuntz, East
Prospect, York County
Ø Mayor Michael M. Kutsek,
Finleyville, Washington County
Ø Mayor Leonard J. Larkin, Falls Creek,
Jefferson County
Ø Mayor Tom Leighton, Wilkes Barre,
Luzerne County
Ø Mayor Patrick Loughney, Dunmore,
Lackawanna County
Ø Mayor Thomas E. Loukota,
Masontown, Fayette County
Ø Mayor Robert J. Lucas, Sharon,
Mercer County
Ø Mayor Bernard M. Luketich,
Cokeburg, Washington County
Ø Mayor Edward Lyons, North Belle
Vernon, Westmoreland County
Ø Mayor Timothy Martin, Freeland,
Luzerne County
Ø Mayor Armand Martinelli, East
Stroundsburg, Monroe County
Ø Mayor George McCloskey, Norwood,
Delaware County
Ø Mayor Raymond McDonough, North
Braddock, Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Beverly Merkel, Jessup,
Lackawanna County
Ø Mayor John Milander, Jr., Coplay,
Lehigh County
Ø Mayor Christian P. Morrison,
for Clinton is that, according to every
polling organization out there, the
Pennsylvania race has tightened
significantly. A small margin of victory--
say 8 or 9 percentage points--while
providing a morale boost, will not do much
to cut into Obama's delegate advantage:
...with a 164 pledged delegate deficit and
an overall 136 delegate deficit, merely
netting even 20 or 30 delegates out of
Pennsylvania--particularly when North
Tamaqua, Schuylkill County
Ø Mayor Michael Nutter, Philadelphia,
Philadelphia County
Ø Mayor Susan O'Connell, Crafton,
Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Raymond J. Osmolinski, Sr,
Gallitzin, Cambria County
Ø Mayor Salvatore J. Panto, Jr., Easton,
Northampton County
Ø Mayor Ed Pawlowski, Allentown,
Lehigh County
Ø Mayor Louis Payne, East Pittsburgh,
Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Joyce Peccon, Carmichaels,
Greene County
Ø Mayor Connie Peck, Trappe,
Montgomery County
Ø Mayor David Perusso, Wilson,
Northampton County
Ø Mayor Delmar Phillips, Frackville,
Schuylkill County
Ø Mayor Dennis Pietrandrea, Koppel,
Beaver County
Ø Mayor Albert Pipik, Allenport,
Washington County
Ø Mayor Dominick Pomposelli,
Wilmerding, Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Pittsburgh,
Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Judy Reed, Connellsville,
Fayette County
Ø Mayor Stephen R. Reed, Harrisburg,
Dauphin County
Ø Mayor John D. W. Reiley, Pottsville,
Schuylkill County
Ø Mayor Herb Riede, McSherrystown,
Adams County
Ø Mayor Joseph Saxton, Bristol, Bucks
County
Ø Mayor John Segilia, Moosic,
Lackawanna County
Ø Mayor Timothy Shoemaker, Everson,
Carolina is beginning to look like a rout in
favor of Obama (and thus another big
Fayette County
Ø Mayor Matt Sinberg, Yardley, Bucks
County
Ø Mayor Joseph E. Sinnott, Erie, Erie
County
Ø Mayor Thomas Smith, Blawnox,
Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Rick Smith, New Brighton,
Beaver County
Ø Mayor Larry Sprowls, Calysville,
Washington County
Ø Mayor Jeff Steffler, Wampum,
Lawrence County
Ø Mayor Margaret Stock, Butler, Butler
County
Ø Mayor F. John Szatkiewicz, Ohioville,
Beaver County
Ø Mayor Nicki Todaro, Newell, Fayette
County
Ø Mayor Tom Trigona, Johnstown,
Cambria County
Ø Mayor TonyWalck, Nesquehoning,
Carbon County
Ø Mayor William L. Welch, State
College, Centre County
Ø Mayor Leslie Whitehill, Salladasburg,
Lycoming County
Ø Mayor Barbara Wilhelm, Dawson,
Fayette County
Ø Mayor James E. Wolfe, Tarentum,
Allegheny County
Ø Mayor John Yacura, Elizabeth,
Allegheny County
Ø Mayor Dorothy Yazurlo, Laflin,
Luzerne County
Ø Mayor Jayne Young, Lansdowne,
Delaware County
Ø Mayor Stanley Zamerowski, Pringle,
Luzerne County
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delegate pick up)--is just not going to be
enough to get Clinton much closer to
earning the nomination.
Singer relies on numbers generated by a
rather exhaustive article written by Greg
Giroux and Jonathan Allen for CQ Politics,
titled, "Clinton Rates Slim Edge Over
Obama in PA District Delegate Race." Of
course, we won't know Pennsylvania's
final delegate allocation until after next
week's primary, but those who are digging
Politico* 3
Yep, Another
Dem Debate
By Denise Williams (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 5:10:00 PM
Filed under: Democrats, Debates, Media
It's almost over, gang. Just two more
Democratic debates between Hillary and
Barack before the convention. Wednesday
night, ABC News is hosting a debate that
will televised from the National
Constitution Center in Philadelphia at 8:00
pm EDT. Charlie Gibson and George
Stephanopolous will moderate.
I'll be live-blogging from the spin room
starting around 7:00 pm Wednesday. It
will be a different kind of live-blog as I
chase media types around the room trying
to get them on record on anything for our
readers.
I don't expect I'll get anywhere near the
candidates, but if you have any suggestions
for questions that I can ask other media
people or the candidate surrogates, leave
them in the comments section and I'll give
it my best shot!
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into each and every district, are predicting
that the overall delegate totals don't seem
likely to change all that much after the
Keystone State has had its say.
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4 Politico* Business*
Bush to Announce 'Realistic' Emissions
Plan
By Mark Impomeni (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 1:45:00 AM
Filed under: President Bush, Bush
Administration, Breaking News,
Environment After receiving Pope
Benedict XVI at the White House today,
President Bush will get back to the
business of state, announcing a new
initiative on greenhouse gas emissions.
The Administration will propose a new set
of reduction targets for power plants to be
met by 2025, in hopes of forestalling future
regulatory action by Congress and the next
Administration. Today's announcement
seeks to begin a process of putting the
nation on a path to regulating emissions in
what the White House calls a "realistic"
way.
Whoever is elected president, Republican
John McCain or Democrats Barack Obama
or Hillary Clinton, will be a greater
advocate for more vigorous mandatory
measures to combat global warming that
President Bush. The Administration also
fears that the courts will order the
government to regulate carbon dioxide as a
pollutant under existing Federal laws,
which would place an overwhelming
Michelle Obama on Colbert
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 1:41:00 AM
Filed under: Democrats, Barack Obama,
Breaking News, Humor, Viral Video
Stephen Colbert has moved his show to
Philadelphia this week, and, as a result, has
burden on industry. White House
spokesman Dana Perino said that the
courts have no place in deciding how the
government should respond to climate
concerns. "To us, having unelected
bureaucrats regulating greenhouse gases at
the direction of unelected judges is not the
proper way to address the issue," she said.
The Administration opposes a bill being
considered in the Senate that would
establish mandatory caps for greenhouse
gas emissions and allow trading of
pollution credits between companies. The
so-called "cap and trade" approach is
feared by industry groups but hailed by
environmental activists as the only way to
made it that much easier for some of the
heavy hitters in the Democratic race to
come on as guests. Thursday, Hillary
Clinton will appear. Last night, it was
Michelle Obama. Here's the clip.
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
effect real emissions reductions. Cap and
trade is in effect in Europe, but the debate
over its results remains unsettled. Still, the
White House will not rule out the
possibility that the president would
eventually support such a program
The Bush Administration's position on
global warming has been evolving slowly
since the president took office in 2001.
Early on, the Administration's stated
position was that more research needed to
be done both to confirm and quantify the
phenomenon before regulations could be
enacted. Lately, the White House appears
to be softening that stance. The president
has acknowledged human beings' role in
global warming, although he refuses to
sign on to the Kyoto Protocols. On
environmental matters, the president
prefers to encourage voluntary efforts on
the part of industry. But faced with the
possibility of handing over the reigns of
government to an environmentally less
forgiving Administration, the president
Obama Does Wear the Ribbon!
appears to have decided that small action By Dave (Political Machine) the middle name, or hold his hand over his
now is preferable to more drastic actions in heart, but I guess they finally convinced
Submitted at 4/15/2008 6:42:00 PM
him he could, maybe, possibly, wear a tiny
the future.
Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Filed under: Barack Obama, 2008 flag on his suit. Given that he is running
President, Humor for president of the country the flag
Comments
After informing you of Obama's previous represents, and all the other candidates are
firm stand on principle to not wear an way ahead of him. I think they've got him
American flag, I feel it is also my duty to doing the hand over heart thing now too,
inform you that Obama has apparently the middle name, though I think they're
changed his mind. stuck with.
Awesome catch via Moe Lane at Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs|
Redstate. Comments
My guess is that finally, his campaign
handlers got through to him. He won't drop
Option Update: Elan July volatility
elevated into Phase 2 data
By Paul Foster (BloggingStocks) Phase 2 trail results are expected in Q2.
ELN May option implied volatility is at
Submitted at 4/16/2008 4:19:00 AM
77; July is at 84, above its 26-week
Filed under: Options average of 63 according to Track Data,
Elan(NYSE: ELN) is recently trading at suggesting larger price movement.
$23.38, above its close of $21.83. Options Update is provided by Stock
Goldman Sachs says, "Adding to Buy list Specialist Paul Foster of
on Tysabri and Bapineuzumab outlook." theflyonthewall.com. Permalink| Email
ELN's & Wyeth(NYSE: WYE) this| Comments
Bapineuzumab (Alzheimer's treatment)
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Polls, Polls, Polls
By David Knowles (Political
Machine)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 2:16:00 AM
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Democrats,
Barack Obama, Breaking News, Polls
Read, interpret, and invest in these
numbers at your own peril. My take is that
the race between Barack Obama and
Hillary Clinton remains ever-fluid, and
that, at best, the aggregate polls represent
two-or-three-day-old trends. In other
words, they show something that may or
may not be accurate by the time you
actually see them. That said, they're the
only booze in the liquor cabinet, so, like
the incurable lushes we are, we drink them
up just the same.
The first batch of numbers comes to us
from the latest LA Times/Bloomberg
findings:
Pennsylvania
Clinton 46
Obama 41
North Carolina
Obama 47
Clinton 34
March U.S. housing starts drop to 17-year low
By Joseph Lazzaro
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:20:00 AM
Filed under: Bad news, Economic data,
Housing, Recession U.S. housing starts
plunged in March as builders continued to
cut back construction in the face of the
nation's worst housing slump in more than
a decade.
Housing starts totaled a 947,000 annual
rate, the U.S. Commerce Department
announced Wednesday ( pdf) - - the lowest
annualized rate since March 1991. The
February housing start statistic was revised
to a 1.075-million-unit annual rate.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg
Option Update: Intuitive Surgical options indicate movement into EPS
By Paul Foster (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 4:02:00 AM
Filed under: Options
Intuitive Surgical(NASDAQ: ISRG), a
Indiana
Obama 40
Clinton 35
Sticking with the state of Pennsylvania
for a moment, here's what Rasmussen's tea
leaves say:
Clinton 50
Obama 41
Survey USA, a polling institution badly
News had expected housing starts to total a
1.02 million annualized rate.
Meanwhile, building permits, a measure
of future construction, fell to a 927,000
annualized rate in March from 984,000 in
February.
Single-family home permits dropped
5.7% to a 680,000 pace. Construction of
multifamily homes, which includes
townhouses and apartment buildings,
plummeted 25% to an annual rate of
247,000 in March 2008.
Economist Glen Langan told
BloggingStocks Wednesday many
potential homebuyers are doing what you'd
expect them to do in a sluggish housing
sector, and builders are responding
developer of technology for doctors to
robotically perform surgery, is up over $6
(1%) to $346 after closing yesterday at
$339.80.
ISRG is scheduled to report Q1 EPS on
in need of a new web designer, sees:
Cinton 54
Obama 40
Strategic Vision, winner of the coolest
name for a P.R. firm, has the Keystone
State leaning:
Clinton 49
Obama 40
And Quinnipiac puts the race a bit more
accordingly. "Potential home buyers are
simply delaying their home purchase, if
they aren't putting it off entirely, until the
market stabilizes," Langan said. "And
April 17. ISRG April 340 straddle is priced
at $42.90, May 340 straddle is priced at
$58.90 according to Track Data,
suggesting larger price movement.
Options Update is provided by Stock
in line with the LA Times:
Clinton 50
Obama 44
Now, on to the less meaningful national
snap shots.
Gallup's latest shows:
Obama 51
Clinton 40
Rasmussen:
Obama 50
Clinton 41
ABC/WaPo:
Obama 51
Clinton 41
The ever unreliable Zogby (with Reuters
providing cover):
Obama 51
Clinton 38
Alright, now that you have all this
information, crumple it up and throw it in
the bin. Today's mood should be ready for
viewing in, say, two or three days. By then
it will be stale, and available at half-price.
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builders are following that signal. They're
cutting back construction in the face of
these large home inventories."
Langan added that he expects the nation's
supply of unsold homes, currently about a
9.5- to 10-month supply at present sales
rates, to increase to about an 11-month
supply by the summer 2008, before
inventories start to work-off. A healthy
home sale market typically has a 3-4
month supply of homes on the market.
Continue reading March U.S. housing
starts drop to 17-year low Read| Permalink|
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Specialist Paul Foster of
theflyonthewall.com. Permalink| Email
this| Comments
Politico* Business* 5
JPMorgan and
Wells earnings
fall, shares rise
By Peter Cohan (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:00:00 AM
Filed under: Earnings reports, JPMorgan
Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC),
Housing, Recession
T here's nothing quite like the earnings
game on Wall Street. And two big banks --
JPMorgan Chase & Co.(NYSE: JPM) and
Wells Fargo & Co.(NYSE: WFC) both
played it very well. Despite falling
earnings, investors are celebrating. And
that's because JPMorgan and Wells both
beat analysts' expectations.
Bloomberg News reports that Wells
earned 11% less than last year -- $2 billion,
or 60 cents per share -- 5.3% more than the
57 cents that analysts had expected. Wells
took in $334 million from its stake in Visa
Inc.(NYSE: V) IPO, but it also benefited
from a tight credit culture and an
aggressive sales force. Nevertheless, its
charge-offs for bad credit card and
automobile loans were up 26% -- a sign of
trouble in consumer loan land.
Meanwhile, AP reports that JPMorgan
beat analysts' expectations by 6.3% despite
a 50% decline in its net income.
Specifically, JPMorgan profit fell in the
first quarter to $2.37 billion after it took a
provision of $5.1 billion to strengthen its
reserves by $2.5 billion and account for
$2.6 billion in losses in its loan portfolio.
JPMorgan made 68 cents per share
compared with $4.79 billion, or $1.34 per
share, a year earlier. That was 4 cents more
than the 64 cents that analysts expected.
Continue reading JPMorgan and Wells
earnings fall, shares rise Read| Permalink|
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6 Business* Gossip
New Apple clone: A Mac IBM earnings preview:
for $400? Can they beat the analysts
By Michael Rainey (BloggingStocks)
again?
Submitted at 4/16/2008 4:25:00 AM
Filed under: Products and services, Apple
Inc (AAPL) A company called Psystar has
announced that it is selling a $400
computer that can run Apple's Leopard
operating system. Psystar is referring to the
machine as the Open Computer (a change
from the original name, Open Mac) and
claiming that it is "The Smart Alternative
to an Apple."
I doubt that Apple is very happy with
this development, and I suspect that
Psystar probably has a few messages from
Apple's lawyers on its answering machine.
As Wired's blog points out, Apple's end
user agreement states that its software can
be used only on Apple hardware. Apple
has a long and rocky history with clone
hardware producers, and has aggressively
sought to maintain its monopoly on both
its excellent software and the sleek
machines it builds to run it.
And that's a shame, because a lot of
people would like to buy a Mac but are put
off by the price. The most basic Mac Mini
is 50% more than the Open Computer,
despite being slower and having less
memory. Of course, I can't say for sure that
the Open Computer works as well as a real
Southwest Airlines and Pfizer Q1 profits
expected to fall
By Trey Thoelcke (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:37:00 AM
Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts,
Pfizer (PFE), Southwest Airlines (LUV)
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial
expect Southwest Airlines Co.(NYSE:
LUV) and Pfizer Inc.(NYSE: PFE) to post
smaller profits in the first quarter. Both
companies are scheduled to report results
on Wednesday.
Southwest is expected to essentially
break even as far as earnings are
concerned, which is down from the same
period in 2007 when it earned four cents
Mac. But I hope that Apple will get the
message that there is demand for cheaper
computers that can run its software. It
needs to either produce its own cheaper
machines -- such as the eMac that I'm
using to type this post but that is no longer
available -- or allow clone manufacturers
to produce on their own. In the long run, it
can only help Apple increase its market
share. Permalink| Email this| Comments
per share. The company has beat quarterly
estimates recently. It only just beat the
consensus third-quarter 2007 estimate, but
beat the fourth-quarter estimate by 21.2%.
Dallas-based Southwest's low-cost, no-
frills approach has made it one of the
leading U.S. airlines. In the past year, the
By Gary E. Sattler (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:50:00 AM
Filed under: Earnings reports,
International Business Machines (IBM)
In its previous two earnings reports,
analysts have been pleasantly surprised by
International Business Machines(NYSE:
IBM). Two quarters ago, IBM squeaked
past analysts' earnings predictions by a
mere penny, but last quarter IBM dusted
those dudes by nearly 12 cents. What will
it be this time around? Can Big Blue pull it
off once again? Analysts are posting a
consensus average of $1.44 per share.
The company gives an optimistic picture
of itself, which is nothing unusual for
IBM. It's in the process of an aggressive
share buy-back program and expects to
spend approximately $12 billion on that
this year. Launch of the company's System
company's revenues were $9.8 billion and
its net income totaled $645 million. Its
EPS growth forecast for the year is -
28.7%, worse than the industry average but
better than that of rival JetBlue
Airways(NASDAQ: JBLU). The
consensus recommendation of analysts
remains to buy Southwest.
The stock has fallen 18.5% in the past
year and trades at a P/E of 14.7. Shares
closed Tuesday at $12.35.
Continue reading Southwest Airlines and
Pfizer Q1 profits expected to fall
Permalink| Email this| Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
z10 mainframe has been received as well
as expected, and in January the company
issued $3.5 billion of 18 month floating
rate notes, allowing reclassification of a
significant amount of debt.
The Associated Press reports a selected
analysts review that depicts global strength
coupled with conservative optimism. No
points of particular concern are mentioned.
The company withheld making it's own
quarterly forecast, but analysts and the
company are aligned with predictions of
$8.25 EPS for the year. I found nothing
that persuaded me to question the analyst's
average consensus. I'll say $1.44 it is.
Gary Sattler is a freelance blogger. He
does not knowingly hold interest in the
companies mentioned in this blog post.
Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments
Hell’s Kitchen is
Too Cold and Too
Hot
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/16/2008 4:35:04 AM
Gordon Ramsay is right to be upset after
his assistants left his meat rare, then
scorched his meat, which is probably how
he likes it when the cameras aren’t rolling,
but his customers won’t stand for anything
less than perfection. A five year old can
cook better than Ramsay’s assistants.
Where did he find these people in a
welding class?
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
• Diane Neal is Leaving Law and Order
• Emma Watson is 18 Today
• Who’s Your Daddy
• Jason Beghe Says Scientology is
Dangerous
• Dwarf Soccer Team
Inflation
protection:
Tips on TIPS
By Steven Halpern (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 4:07:00 AM
Filed under: Newsletters, Mutual funds,
Personal finance, Stocks to Buy
"In a new paradigm where risk will
become a paranoid obsession with
investors, a few TIPS make sense for
income," says long-standing advisory
industry expert Curtis Hesler.
In his The Professional Timing Service,
he highlights the role of Treasury Inflation-
Protected Securities within a long-term
portfolio and reviews two ways for
investors to purchases these issues.
"You can buy them in your Treasury
Direct account. If you don't have a
Treasury Direct account, you can open one
at www.treasurydirect.gov. The problem is
that so far, you can't open a retirement
account - only an individual account. Go to
the Treasury Direct Web site and bone up
on all the details, especially if you are
going to buy them online.
"TIPS work this way. They are U.S.
government bonds issued by the Treasury.
They are marketable in that you can sell
them in the 'after' market. They come in
terms of 5, 10, and 20 years. The interest
rate on an issue is determined at auction,
and they are sold in increments of $1,000.
Continue reading Inflation protection:
Tips on TIPS Permalink| Email this|
Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Dollar concerns lead to another March U.S. consumer prices rise
record high for oil 0.3%, in-line with estimates
By Michael Fowlkes
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:12:00 AM
Filed under: Before the bell, International
markets, Consumer experience, Middle
East, Commodities, Oil Another strong
start to the day for oil prices, as the weak
dollar has led traders to push oil up to
another new high today of $114.53, though
it has moved a bit lower in early morning
trading.
As we noted last night, there were
several factors at work yesterday, but
today's move is being attributed mostly to
investor fears over the weak U.S. dollar.
The euro has been moving strongly lately,
and continuing to trade at record levels
against the dollar, currently trading at
$1.5966.
It is strange writing about oil's recent run
up because typically we would be talking
about supply and demand, but that is just
not what is pushing prices higher. Traders
are moving into oil (and all commodities)
mainly because they are just flat out out-
Real Housewives of Where???
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 12:00:00 PM
T hey're back....
The Real Housewives franchise, one of
growing importance to Bravo, will play an
even greater role in the coming
programming season, Bravo officials
announced at the channel's annual up-front
advertising-sales press breakfast this
morning.
The Real Housewives of New York City,
which has its seventh episode and season
finale tonight, will return for a second
season on Bravo, and the original Real
Housewives of Orange County series will
return for a fourth, Bravo Media general
manager Frances Berwick said at the
breakfast.
In addition, the franchise will expand to
a third locale—not Dubai, as Portfolio.com
speculated yesterday, but an as-yet-
undisclosed city in New Jersey.
The mood at the breakfast was earnest, to
use the word that Bravo Media and
performing the stock market, and with the
dollar continuing to fall, the procession
into commodities still has a way to go
before traders get tired.
Continue reading Dollar concerns lead to
another record high for oil Permalink|
Email this| Comments
Oxygen Media president Lauren Zalaznick
employed to describe herself to the
reporters and Bravo officials assembled at
Craft, the restaurant owned by Tom
Colicchio, head judge of Bravo's popular
series Top Chef.
Zalaznick kicked off the morning with a
reference to the legal fight over Project
Runway, a Bravo ratings winner and the
subject of a lawsuit between NBC
Universal, Bravo's parent company, and
the Weinstein Company, the show's owner.
Since litigation is under way, Zalaznick
said there wasn't much for her to say, and
her comment on the show "starts and ends
here." But then she cracked a joke at
Weinstein's expense, saying "Harvey was
going to come but may not make it," due to
his busy schedule of dropping his kids off
at school and washing his windows.
Things quickly returned to business with
a brief sales presentation, highlighting
Bravo's transformation during the past
several years from an obscure arts
broadcast channel to a powerhouse of
By Joseph Lazzaro
(BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 2:42:00 AM
Filed under: Economic data, Federal
Reserve U.S. inflation at the retail level
rose 0.3% in March, after almost no
increase in February, the US Department
of Labor reported.
Meanwhile, the core CPI rate, which
excludes the volatile food and energy
components, rose 0.2%.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg
News had expected the CPI and CPI core
rates to increase by 0.3% and 0.2%,
respectively in March 2008.
In March, energy prices increased 1.9%,
medical care rose 0.4%, food prices rose
0.2%, clothing increased 0.2%, and
education and communications costs
increased 0.2%.
For the 12 months from March 2007 to
March 2008, prices have increased 4.0%,
original reality programming. Advertisers
have responded: In 2007, the channel
brought in 30 percent more revenue than
the year before and snagged 110 new
advertisers.
The first quarter of 2008 saw a 60
percent jump in revenue over the same
period last year; a 38 percent increase in
the 18- to 40-year-old age group; and a 30
percent jump in total viewers, making it
Bravo's biggest quarter ever. The network
hopes to reach 90 million homes this year.
Bravo sought to emphasize its popularity
among "affluencers," a consumer hybrid of
affluent and influencer, a young
demographic of adults, ages 18 to 49, who
are engaged and educated, according to the
network.
Berwick, speaking second, reiterated
Bravo's progress from 2006, when the
channel had one show and one night of
original programming, to today, with 21
original series, 12 of which have audiences
of more than one million and three with
audiences of more than two million.
Business* Biz Buzz Tech*
compared with a year-over-year gain of
4.0% from February 2007 to February
2008. The core rate increased 2.4% from
March 2007 to March 2008, after a 2.3
percent year- over-year gain from February
2007-February 2008.
Continue reading March U.S. consumer
prices rise 0.3%, in-line with estimates
Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments
Last addressed were Bravo's digital and
new media initiatives, with a focus on the
channel's multiple branded websites. A
new initiative, the "L Bar," will shrink the
TV screen to 80 percent of its size and
introduce content along the left-hand and
bottom edges of the viewing area.
That content will allow for online and
mobile initiatives tied into Bravo content,
including live polling, voting, and quizzes.
The L Bar will be available to advertisers
who want to offer coupons or conduct
polls during their commercials, as well.
Overall, the network announced 12
returning series, including the fifth season
of Project Runway, which debuts in July,
and three new series, plus a Bravo A-List
Awards special.
The new shows include The Rachel Zoe
Project, featuring the celebrity stylist as
she runs her business and juggles her
marriage and work; Date My Ex, a reality
show starring Jo De La Rosa, a former
Orange County real housewife, as she
looks for love in L.A.; and Real
7
Blue Jean Cable Shows
One Way To Respond To
Overly Broad Patent
Threats
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 9:56:00 AM
A few folks have been submitting the
response letter sent by Blue Jean Cable's
President to Monster Cable after Monster
sent a threatening letter claiming that Blue
Jean violated various Monster design
patents and trademarks. While the response
is a bit over the top, Blue Jean's Kurt
Denke makes it clear that Monster's threat
letter appears to be nothing more than a
fishing expedition/bullying tactic and he
won't take it. He responds to each claim,
noting that Blue Jean doesn't appear to
infringe at all, and asking for much greater
detail in response, rather than simply being
bullied into submission. Design patents are
rather limited, but it looks like Monster is
acting as if they're utility patents in an
effort to scare off Blue Jean Cable, not
expecting that the company's execs might
understand the difference between the two.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Housewives of New Jersey, of which the
audience was shown a brief clip.
One of the housewives, Danielle, showed
off her cavernous mansion, which contains
her Fabergé egg, French chandelier, and
lapdog named Paradise. The video tour
provided much-needed reassurance that the
recession won't put a damper on the series.
But could the Real Housewives series
expand internationally?
"We are looking at the franchise," hedged
Andy Cohen, Bravo's senior vice president
of programming and production.
We're still rooting for Dubai.
Related Links
Hearst Cooking Up Magazine for Food
Network
Flavor Flav to the Rescue!
Globes Downgrade--Now What Of The
Oscars?
8 Biz Buzz Tech*
Citi at a Crossroads
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 6:30:00 AM
Turning around Citigroup has been
compared to steering a huge ocean liner
away from danger.
In his four months as Citi's new captain,
Vikram Pandit, has moved quickly to
stabilize the company and shore up its
balance sheet. The question—as Citigroup
prepares to report first-quarter results on
Friday—is whether a steady hand on the
helm will be enough.
While some investors have been hoping
for a radical shake-up at Citi, there is a
growing realization that a recovery will
take years and that Pandit has taken the
right—if not very splashy—steps so far.
William Smith, president of New York-
based S.A.M. Advisors, said he had hoped
that "a cost cutter" would have come in to
lead Citi and "start breaking furniture,"
ultimately splitting up the financial
supermarket that Sandy Weill built. Still,
he has a confidence that Pandit will
succeed.
"My turnaround and his might look a
little different, but I think he will pull the
turnaround off," Smith says.
On Friday, Citi is expected to announce
an additional huge write-down for the first
quarter, estimated to be as much as $18
billion. Yet investors will be focusing less
on the subprime past than on the future
direction of the bank as articulated by
Pandit.
In recent weeks, the grumblings of some
of the bank's long-standing skeptics has
grown quieter. Deutsche Bank’s banking
analysts, Michael Mayo and Christopher
Spahr, who were critical of Pandit's
predecessor, say that Pandit has "made
logical changes." And Smith now says he
backs Pandit "100 percent," after being
initially "extremely skeptical" of Pandit’s
Next Up On Movie Theaters' List To Remain Relevant: 3D Movies
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 6:52:04 PM
It is beginning to look like movie theater
owners are finally (finally!) coming to
terms with the fact that they can't just sit
back and whine about home theaters.
ability to fix Citi’s sprawling and
dysfunctional empire because of his lack of
operational experience.
Known for his cautious analytical
approach to managing risk, Pandit spent
much of his time on Wall Street at Morgan
Stanley, dealing with institutional
securities, before starting his own hedge
fund, Old Lane Partners. He only joined
Citi last April, when the company
purchased his hedge fund for $800 million,
and he has never run a Wall Street firm.
His lack of experience running a
company, along with his all-too-apparent
discomfort in his first public appearances
as Citi C.E.O., left many scratching their
heads. The widely followed banking
analyst, Meredith Whitney, then with
CIBC World Markets, gave Pandit poor
marks for his first conference call in
December, calling the details "scant" and
the tone "defensive."
Since taking charge, Citi watchers say
Pandit has worked quickly to change the
bank’s course. Among the moves: Pandit
slashed the company’s high-paying
dividend by 41 percent to bolster reserves
and removed the guesswork from about
$49 billion in possibly shaky assets in Citi-
backed investment vehicles by taking them
onto Citi's balance sheet. Citi is also
negotiating to sell off at a loss $12 billion
worth of leveraged loans to private equity
groups.
Organizationally, he has moved to
simplify the corporate structure, dividing it
into four regional units. He has brought in
new blood to run the various arms and has
moved to further reduce Citi’s workforce.
The company is also in the process of
separating its credit card business from the
company and shoring up its 900 U.S.-
based consumer branches, moves that
could portend a spin-off or sale of these
assets.
Instead, they need to actually compete and
offer a better experience, not easily
replicated at home. In the last month,
we've seen a few different stories
suggesting that theater owners at least
understand part of this. As we've noted,
they're investing in IMAX screens and
Smith, who publicly tangled with
Pandit’s predecessor, Chuck Prince, notes
that "a lot of things that were on the plate
before Pandit arrived have now been
reversed, which I think is positive."
Citi began to struggle several years after
Sandy Weill created the behemoth in the
merger of Citicorp and Travelers in 1998.
No amount of tinkering so far—be it
reshuffling of personnel, restructuring of
units, or tweaks in the game plan—has
been able to fix Citi's problems.
Last month, on the eve of the combined
company's 10-year anniversary, one of the
merger's architects, former Citibank chief
John Reed, called it a mistake. "The
stockholders have not benefited, the
employees certainly have not benefited,
and I don't think the customers have
benefited because our franchises are
weaker than they have been," said Reed in
an interview with the Financial Times.
Weill shot back that it was not that Citi
was too big, just that management had not
been strong enough.
But for many investors, these problems
seem to be intertwined. They note that
Prince consistently snubbed calls to
consider a breakup of the company even as
he failed to gain control over it and
discounted worries over the credit
markets—saying Citi should continue the
derivatives dance until the music
stopped—even as the band was packing
up. Prince resigned in November, as Citi
was disclosing it had $55 billion in direct
exposure to the American subprime
market.
Citi’s chairman, former Treasury
Secretary Robert Rubin, has scoffed at any
insinuation that he should have been more
watchful of the risk the company was
taking, even while he has shown a striking
lack of understanding about that danger.
Pandit may not be the most sociable
building luxury theaters. The latest is that
they're trying to do a lot more 3D movies
where the overall experience is enhanced
by seeing it in a big theater. These are all
steps in the right direction, and things that
need to be done, but it would be nice if
they fixed the core problems first: making
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
C.E.O. to take over Citi. But investors can
now at least take comfort that the man who
told analysts he would "undertake an
objective, dispassionate view" of Citi's
parts knows deeply which mess he
oversees. While a student, Pandit tackled
the question of "asset pricing with
heterogeneous agents" in his dissertation at
Columbia University. It was very complex
problem, says Rajnish Mehra, a finance
professor at the University of California,
Santa Barbara, who served on Pandit’s
dissertation committee.
It is also a very relevant one considering
the difficulty banks such as Citi are now
having placing a value on their diverse
portfolios of asset-backed securities. "He
has a very strong analytical background
and, looking back, I was really impressed
how much he had done early on in the
game," said Mehra, noting that he went
back over Pandit’s work shortly after he
learned his former student would take
charge of the bank. "He can think through
complex situations pretty thoroughly and
has a clarity of thoughts. So, if that is any
indication, then I think Citi is in safe
hands.”
Richard X. Bove, an analyst with Punk
Ziegel & Company, notes that one of the
smartest moves Pandit has made since
taking over has been to ignore the analysts
and the rest of the chattering class.
"He’s got to turn his back on investors
and on the analysts and he’s got to run the
business," Bove says. "This company has
gone through mismanagement for
something like 13 years and nobody steps
in for two months and turns it around."
Related Links
Phibro: Beneficiary of Citi's Benign
Neglect
Citi's New Chief
Wall Street Euphemism Watch
the theaters comfortable, clean and mostly
free from distraction. Also, it appears that
all of these stories focus on how the theater
owners are looking to increase prices for
these "new" types of movie experiences.
Considering how overpriced some folks
already think movies are, theater owners
ExitReality Turns
Social Network Profiles
Into 3D Spaces
By Duncan Riley (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 12:47:22 AM
Exit Reality from Duncan Riley on
Vimeo.
ExitReality promises to transform the
social networking experience by offering
virtual versions of every social network
site profile. I caught up with CTO Danny
Stefanic and CEO Dean Jones today for a
walkthrough, video above.
The London, UK headquartered (the dev
team, founder and CEO are in Australia)
startup is pitching its product as an
interactive value add for any social
networking site. Each space is created on
the fly so that every social networking
profile has a 3D Space in ExitReality, even
if the profiles owner doesn’t have an
account there. When the service launches
later this year users will be free to visit any
virtual representation of a social
networking profile without the need to
register, but registration will be required
for things like chat and customizing a
personal space.
ExitReality gives social networking sites
the ability to advertise to their users with
the 3D space, with CEO Dean Jones telling
me that they see the service as a value add
for social networks. They didn’t mention
any deals in place with social networking
sites, but did admit to being in discussions
with some sites, although they declined to
name them. CrunchBase Information
ExitReality Information provided by
CrunchBase
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
might want to be careful about how much
extra they're charging, or no one will come
check out these innovations in the first
place.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
You 2.0: Comparison Shopping for
Your Future
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 9:00:00 PM
I was comparison shopping in New
York's Soho neighborhood last week. The
product? My DNA—and what it can tell
me about when, or if, I might have a heart
attack and keel over one day. Or if I have a
high risk factor for acquiring exfoliate
glaucoma or Alzheimer's disease. Better
news would be that I have genetic markers
protecting me from certain dreaded
maladies.
In a few minutes I'll know my results for
17 gene-influenced diseases, delivered in a
most unlikely place: A posh storefront that
looks like an art gallery, with bare-brick
walls and hardwood floors. It's opening
day for Navigenics, a company selling
what may be a first for on-site retail:
genetic testing for the healthy, with tests
ordered and results delivered online.
Piled on a countertop are boxed kits
containing small vials that a customer will
fill with DNA-rich saliva and mail in to be
tested on a gene array—a chip that locates
and identifies more than 1 million genetic
markers, including those which scientists
have connected with certain diseases.
Navigenics, based in Redwood Shores,
California, is the latest company pushing
us into the new world of direct-to-
consumer genetic testing. I already have
results from the two other major online
genetic-testing companies that opened last
fall: 23andme in Mountain View,
California, and deCodeme in Reykjavik,
Iceland.
The three companies do what the Web
loves to do: push the edges of technology
and commerce to see if they can launch
new revolutions—and make money.
The issue is whether the science in the
fledgling field of genetic forecasting is
ready to be peddled to healthy individuals
like an iPod. As Harvard geneticist David
Altshuler asked me: "Just because you can
do something, should you?"
As we hear almost daily reports about
scientists discovering genes for this or that
trait, a vacuum has formed in what this
information means for individuals. So far,
the medical community has largely
abrogated its role to help us make sense of
all this research. This has allowed
commerce to step in and use new, cheaper
gene-testing technologies to bring DNA
directly to the people.
"We believe this is a fundamental right,
for people to have access to their own
DNA," Navigenics chief executive Mari
Baker says.
At the moment, however, Navigenics is
charging $2,500 for its service—beyond
the reach of the masses; 23andme and
deCodeme each charges close to $1,000.
That's $4,500 for all three, which
collectively offer information on genetic
risk factors for some 37 diseases. The
companies expect prices to come down
with volume and improvements in
technology.
Baker acknowledges the price is high,
though she points out that the first wave of
any new technology is pricey—think about
cell phones and personal computers. But,
she adds, value is relative. "How much
would it be worth to you to find out you
have a risk of a disease that you can do
something about?" she asks.
Each site proffers tests they consider
scientifically valid, with Navigenics
offering assessments of 17 diseases,
deCodme 19 diseases, and 23andme 30
diseases. Some tests overlap. For instance,
all three look for markers associated with
heart attack, glaucoma, and type 2
diabetes.
The sites diverge on several diseases.
Only Navigenics tests for lupus, and only
deCodeme tests for asthma and psoriasis.
23andme's larger cache includes several
maladies reported in studies that the other
companies consider less scientifically
valid.
I'll include much more detail on the tests
and how they are chosen, and their validity
and usefulness, in future columns in this
series. I also will report on my own results
as a typical consumer.
Two of the sites, 23andme and
deCodeme, offer tests for ancestral DNA.
Both also offer lists of "recreational
genomics"—genes that some people
consider fun, such as whether or not one
has wet or dry earwax, or is more inclined
to be a sprinter, an endurance athlete, or
neither.
Navigenics differentiates itself from
those companies by featuring only medical
information and by creating a look that is
more like a serious medical site, with
smiling patients and doctors that echoes
pharmaceutical sites and WebMD.
23andme's investors include Google;
deCodeme's parent is publicly traded
deCode Genetics, a pharmaceutical and
gene-hunting company; Navigenics is
funded in part by Silicon Valley venture
capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield &
Byers.
When Navigenics opened its retail store
in New York, Kleiner Perkins chief John
Doerr—whose venture successes include
Google and Amazon—dropped by to tell a
gathering of scientists, journalists,
marketers, and investors that he has been
tested on the Navigenics site. Doerr was
mum about his results, however. Also
attending was former Vice President Al
Gore, a new partner at Kleiner. He said he
hadn't been tested but was considering it.
But can the products be trusted? Do they
deliver? Can we yet determine which gene
site is better? This series is going to offer
up one consumer's thoughts and
observations about being tested on the
three sites. It's not exactly Consumer
Reports, but it aims to offer a review of
sorts.
Next week: Am I going to have a heart
attack? Related Links
Gene-Sequencing Warrior
Genes 'R' Us: The New Dot-Coms?
Welcome to the Future
Comcast's Compromise
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:30:00 PM
Two days before a second public hearing
over its controversial "network
management" practices, Comcast, the
nation's largest cable company, said it was
developing a"Bill of Rights and
Responsibilities" for file-sharing services.
Critics blasted the idea as an attempt to
deflect criticism of Comcast for having
blocked and deliberately slowed the
delivery of on-demand video services and
other peer-to-peer services offered by
competitors.
Comcast's move today follows the
company's about-face in March, when it
said that by the end of 2008 its network-
management policy will be "protocol
agnostic"—meaning it will not favor one
type of traffic over another—and will
instead focus on users who consume the
most bandwidth.
Federal regulators are looking into
complaints by rivals and consumers that
Comcast unfairly throttles some types of
internet traffic, particularly videos from
companies, like Vuze, that compete with
Comcast's video-on-demand service.
The Federal Communications
Commission scheduled this Thursday's
hearing at Stanford University in Palo
Alto, California, after Comcast was
discovered to have paid people off the
street to take up space at an earlier hearing
at Harvard.
File-sharing company Pando said it was
teaming up with Comcast on the Bill of
Rights, becoming the second peer-to-peer
firm to strike a pact with the cable giant. In
March, BitTorrent said it would work with
Comcast to devise the best way to manage
peer-to-peer traffic.
Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas
said the company's "rights" document is
"another example of how we can work
Biz Buzz 9
with the industry to solve these issues
rather than getting the government
involved."
The company's critics dismissed the plan
as "ludicrous."
"This so-called agreement is simply
another way for Comcast to try to evade
punishment for its blocking and degrading
of peer-to-peer services for its customers,"
said Gigi Sohn, president of consumer
rights group Public Knowledge. "The fact
that Comcast is trying to come up with a
Bill of Rights for customers is ludicrous."
"This is the company that not only lied
for a year about the workings of its internet
service," Sohn added, "but also created
such ill will among its cable subscribers
that one elderly woman busted up a
customer-service office with a hammer
because she and her husband were kept
waiting for hours in the heat."
Sohn was referring to an incident last
year when 75-year-old Mona Shaw,
frustrated by what she felt was Comcast's
subpar customer service, smashed up a
Comcast office in Manassas, Virginia, with
a hammer.
Public Knowledge said Comcast did not
ask it for any input regarding the Bill of
Rights.
When asked by the blog Ars Technica
why Public Knowledge—along with other
consumer groups including Free Press and
the Electronic Frontier Foundation—were
not consulted about the Bill of Rights,
Comcast spokesman Douglas said, "I don't
know."
But, he added, the company hasn't ruled
anything out.
Related Links
Piling On
Comcast Backs Down
Comcast Has Plenty of Room for Video
— Its Own
10 Biz Buzz
Peeling Bear Stearns Onion
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 8:00:00 AM
Just what exactly is J.P. Morgan Chase
getting for its $10 per share acquisition of
Bear Stearns?
It turns out that things weren't so bad,
financially speaking, at the bank before
February 29. Bear reported its first-quarter
numbers in an S.E.C. filing yesterday, and,
although income fell nearly 80 percent
from the prior year, it still managed to eek
out a profit of $115 million for the three-
month period.
As for what happened during the days
between February 29 and March 16, when
J.P. Morgan announced its surprisingly
low offer to save Bear Stearns from
bankruptcy, we still don't know just how
desperate things became. The filing gives
few details: "The company experienced a
significant liquidity crisis during the end of
the week of March 10, 2008, that seriously
jeopardized its financial viability."
Also on Portfolio.com:
The Rescue of Bear Full coverage of the
takeover.
We may find out a bit more tomorrow, as
J.P. Morgan is scheduled to report its
Lie-bor?
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 5:30:00 AM
One of the arcane financial acronyms that
has gained much prominence over the
course of the credit crisis is Libor—the
London interbank offered rate. It is the
average interest rate when banks make
short-term loans to one another.
It is one of the most important credit
benchmarks, used by banks and financial
institutions around the world.
Carrick Mollenkamp of the Wall Street
Journal reports that there are growing
suspicions that some banks may be
underreporting the rates they are paying for
short-term loans, undermining the
accuracy of the Libor.
His report is a startling revelation. If the
Libor is viewed as unreliable, the credit
quarterly numbers before the market
opens. While J.P. Morgan chief executive
Jamie Dimon may not have much detail to
report, it's all but certain he'll be asked
about what Bear Stearns will bring to its
balance sheet.
One question that's on many minds now
is whether or not J.P. Morgan will acquire
Alan Schwartz with the deal. Schwartz,
who was known as a preeminent
dealmaker before he took the reins at Bear
Stearns just 11 weeks before its fire sale,
has not made his plans known yet.
But sources told Reuters that Schwartz
will likely remain at J.P. Morgan as a
"nonexecutive rainmaker" with the title of
vice chairman. He would be responsible
for bringing in high-level clients—such as
Microsoft, which Schwartz is currently
advising in its attempt to acquire Yahoo.
Schwartz wants to hold off on making a
formal commitment to J.P. Morgan until
after more of Bear's 14,000 employees
learn their own fate, Reuters reports. J.P.
Morgan already made it known that it will
only invite five of Bear's top-26
investment bankers to join its ranks.
One thing we do know that J.P. Morgan
will acquire with Bear is a growing legal
crisis may be much worse than previously
thought, with borrowers receiving loans
tied to the index getting a cheaper rate than
they should.
Yves Smith on the Naked Capitalism
blog points to another serious implication:
"As more and more statistics and
benchmarks come into doubt, it creates
uncertainty and undermines planning,
which in turn is a deterrent to investment."
The Journal says there is no evidence
that banks are providing false data, but
bankers have expressed concerns that the
Libor does not reflect true credit costs.
The Cash and Burn blog says the
underreporting phenomenon "might just be
a blip (and it probably is), but it is having
real effects on commercial lending."
"Amongst other things, it is driving up
investment-grade syndicated-loan pricing."
mess. Bear announced in its filing that it
has received a notice from the S.E.C. that
it may be charged for its potentially
anticompetitive practices in municipal-
bond bids.
The filing also disclosed that the Federal
Trade Commission is investigating
whether or not Bear's mortgage-servicing
unit violated consumer-protection laws.
And, of course, there's the slew of class
actions and other suits related to Bear's
credit problems and the events that led to
its shotgun wedding with J.P. Morgan last
month.
As for J.P. Morgan, analysts expect it to
report a profit of 66 cents per share, and it
will likely report more write-downs from
troubled loans. Compared with many of its
competitors on Wall Street, however, the
expectations for loan losses are quite
moderate.
Related Links
Behind Bear's Sale
Whoo Hoo, WaMu
Bear Funds Being Liquidated: Who
Wants to Buy?
The British Bankers Association in
London, which gathers the rate information
from its member banks, says that it will
ban anyone who provides false rate
information, Bloomberg News reports.
"It's very important to us that we preserve
the integrity of the figures,'' an association
spokeswoman told Bloomberg News. "It's
something we have been looking at. If we
find that people have been putting in
figures which don't reflect accurately their
financial figures, the ultimate sanction is to
throw them out of the pond.''
Related Links
The Barriers to Bottom Fishing
Suprime Collateral Damage: Homes in
Chelsea (London)
The Crowning Touch
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Dimon in the Rough
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 5:00:00 AM
J.P. Morgan Chase, with its "fortress
balance sheet" and its takeover of Bear
Stearns, may be the hero of the financial
world, but that doesn't mean it is immune
to the effects of the credit crunch.
The bank said that first-quarter earnings
fell by half as it took a $5.1 billion hit on
credit losses and markdowns on
mortgages, leveraged loans, and
collateralized debt obligations.
For the banking industry overall, the first
quarter was ugly, with tight, still-fearful
credit markets and a weak economy. Even
in a slump, J.P. Morgan still impressed by
reporting results that exceeded analysts'
forecasts.
Yet many have said the rest of the year
will be equally difficult for banks, and
Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of J.P.
Morgan, gave weight to that view with an
uncharacteristically downbeat forecast.
"Our expectation is for the economic
environment to continue to be weak and
for the capital markets to remain under
stress," Dimon said. "These factors have
affected, and are likely to continue to
All's Well at Intel
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:00:00 PM
Any slowdown in the semiconductor
industry due to a weak economic climate
appears to be isolated to Advanced Micro
Devices so far.
Intel, the biggest chipmaker, reported
first-quarter results that were largely in line
with analysts' expectations, and it offered a
strong outlook for the second quarter as
well. It earned $1.4 billion, or 25 cents per
share, on revenue of $9.7 billion. Sales
were up 9 percent, while net income
dropped by 12 percent due to restructuring
charges.
"Our first-quarter results demonstrate a
strengthening core business and a solid
global market environment," said Intel
chief executive Paul Otellini in a
statement. "We saw healthy demand for
our leading-edge processors and chipsets
across all segments."
negatively impact, our firm's credit losses,
overall business volumes, and
earnings—possibly through the remainder
of the year or longer."
He emphasized, however, that J.P.
Morgan was prepared to ride through the
storm. "We are prepared to manage
through this down part of the economic
cycle, given the strength of our liquidity,
credit reserves, capital, and operating
margins, and to successfully position our
company well for the future."
J.P. Morgan earned $2.37 billion, or 68
cents per share, compared with $4.79
billion, or $1.34 per share in the quarter a
year earlier.
Net revenue, or revenue minus interest
expenses, fell 11 percent, to $16.9 billion.
The bank set aside $2.5 billion for credit
losses. It marked down $1.2 billion on
mortgages and $1.1 billion on leveraged
loans.
Related Links
Peeling Bear Stearns Onion
Whoo Hoo, WaMu
Why JP Morgan Asked for a Fed
Exemption
Plenty of technology analysts were
worried that current recessionary pressure
would hurt computer sales and orders for
new chips. Those concerns were
underscored last week, when the No. 2
chipmaker, A.M.D., said that its first-
quarter sales would fall short of
expectations.
"People might now say maybe it's safe to
put your feet in the water here,'' Raymond
James equity analyst Hans Mosesmann
told Bloomberg of Intel. "They have a
super product lineup, and A.M.D. is in a
death spiral.''
Investors were certainly pleased with the
news. Shares of Intel jumped 7 percent in
after-hours trading.
Related Links
Tech Firms Yield Mixed Results
One Billion Laptops
The Chips Fall to Abu Dhabi
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Activists Claim a Scalp
(Portfolio.com: News and Markets)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:30:00 PM
Shareholder activists have made a lot of
noise but have not been able to point to
many changes this proxy season—until
today.
Mary Pugh, a member of the board of
Washington Mutual for nine years, has
resigned. Because she was chairwoman of
the board's finance committee for the last
three years, Pugh had been the target of
several shareholder groups who held her
accountable for what they said was
WaMu's shift toward subprime and other
riskier mortgages.
"Shareholders at Washington Mutual sent
an unequivocal message today that they are
ready for more independent and
accountable directors," said CtW
Investment Group, which advises union
pension funds. "We commend Washington
Mutual's board for promptly accepting Ms.
Pugh's resignation and urge them to also
demand the resignation of any other
directors who fail to win majority
PluggedIn Wants to be Hulu For Music Videos
By Jason Kincaid (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 1:35:02 AM
At first glance, music might seem to be a
saturated market on the web. Sites like
Last.fm have music suggestions, artists
profile, and communities covered, the
iTunes and Amazon music stores make
purchasing a breeze, and music videos can
be found littered across Youtube and many
other sites.
It’s time to make room for one more, and
it has the potential to be big. Pluggedin, a
music video and community site that sees
itself as a Hulu for music, has just
launched in public beta. The site’s biggest
selling point is its high quality video
content, featuring music videos from labels
including EMI, Sony BMG, and Universal
Music Group, along with a number of
independent labels. Pluggedin is hoping to
add the last of the ‘big four’ labels, Warner
Music, in the near future.
The Hulu comparison is an apt one. The
site is very clean, video quality is generally
much better than what’s found on
shareholder support."
Glass Lewis and other advisory
shareholder groups had questioned the
relationship of Pugh's investment firm with
the savings and loan, "which might have
affected her objectivity and oversight of
the company's risk management."
She is a founder and chief executive of
Pugh Capital Management, a 17-year-old
fixed-income money management firm that
has received more than $1.1 million in
investment management fees from WaMu,
according to Glass Lewis.
WaMu, however, did not say in its
statement why Pugh had stepped down.
WaMu also announced a first-quarter
loss of $1.14 billion, and it had closed on
its sale of $7 billion of common shares and
convertible securities to investors led by
private-equity titan TPG.
Related Links
Spotlight on Mortgage Giants
WaMu Gets Its Deal
Stocks and Dollar Down; Oil and Gold
Up
Youtube, and the amount of content is
impressive, though there are some
noticeable gaps. At launch the site features
over 10,000 available videos, but most of
them are not available in true HD quality
(largely because existing footage is not hi-
def). Pluggedin hopes that as the site gains
popularity, content providers will have a
greater incentive to film music videos in
HD.
Pluggedin does a good job integrating
with other sites on the web. Users are
provided with direct links to Amazon and
iTunes if they’d like to purchase a video or
song they’ve just listened to. And the site
has formed a number of partnerships with
merchandisers, including Hot Topic for
clothing and Thumbplay for mobile
ringtones. All of this is presented in
unobtrusive menus that don’t detract from
the experience at all.
The site also features profiles for over a
million musicians, including those that
don’t have any videos on the site. Profiles
are dynamically generated using content
from a number of sources, including All
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
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
Music Guide, Last.FM, and Wikipedia.
And while these pages don’t feature any
‘HD-quality’ material, they do provide a
list of each artist’s music videos found
elsewhere on the internet, all of which play
seamlessly in the page.
Despite all of these features, the site still
has a few issues. Searching for specific
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
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
videos can be tricky - it seems that users
can only search by artist name, not song
title. And for a site that promotes its video
quality, there are surprisingly few videos
available in HD at launch (though this is
mostly a fault of content providers). And
videos cannot be embedded into other
sites, a major obstacle standing in the way
of viral growth. And the biggest issue of
all: Videos are not viewable outside of the
U.S. and Canada.
The social networking aspect is minimal,
but sufficient for sharing music between
friends. It’s a great timewaster - clicking
through random music has never been this
fun. And the playlist feature be will great
for impromptu parties. As long as
PluggedIn continues to add content and
doesn’t go overboard with their ads, this
site will be one to watch. CrunchBase
Information PluggedIn Information
provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because
it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Biz Buzz Tech* 11
Ecocho
Means Well,
I’m Sure
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 12:21:52 AM
Ecocho is a new search engine wrapper
for Google and Yahoo that calls itself the
first “green” search engine. They get to
that claim by using some of the revenue
they generate to buy carbon offsets.
They’re a bit unclear on the exact payoff,
saying only that “up to two trees” will be
sponsored for every 1,000 searches on the
site. The cynical side of me notes that zero
trees is within the definition of “up to
two,” but I’ll give them the benefit of the
doubt. Plus they do say they aim to donate
70% of revenues to carbon offsets. And
even though the carbon offset system is
flawed in many ways, I’m supportive of it
in general and we tend to offset our events
through Zero Footprint.
In general, though, I don’t like for profit
startups that try to leverage the green
movement to get attention. I make fun of
people who add email signatures pleading
with me not to print it. I noted that
Google’s attempt to draw attention to Earth
Hour actually used more electricity than
doing nothing would have. And the endless
debates about which giant Internet
company is most green are annoying.
If you want to really help the world, get
ridiculously rich doing something that you
love and that doesn’t hurt anyone else, and
then donate that money to people who
know what the hell they are doing. We’re
on the verge of actually getting Malaria
under control, for example. Now that
would be something.
In the meantime, do all your searches on
Yahoo. They need the revenue.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
12 Tech*
AdRoll Emerges From Private Beta
With Co-Op Economics For Blog
Advertising
By Erick Schonfeld (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 9:44:37 PM
When it comes to advertising for blogs,
there is Federated Media for the biggest
ones, and for everyone else there is
AdSense (or some other low-paying ad
network). Jared Kopf thinks there is room
for a better alternative in between the two.
His startup, AdRoll, (see our earlier
coverage) brings together niche publishers
into self-selecting communities that, when
rolled up, are big enough to attract brand
advertisers. Today, AdRoll is coming out
of private beta and introducing new
economics for bloggers who join.
Blogs who join AdRoll can set their own
bare minimum price that acts like a private
reserve on eBay. Advertisers bid for that
ad inventory, and whenever the AdRoll
price is higher than what the blog can get
from AdSense, AdRoll swaps in one of its
ads in the same spot normally occupied by
AdSense (or Glam or Pubmatic or
whatever ad network the blog uses). But
AdRoll only gets to show its ads if it can
beat the price that the blog is getting from
AdSense (after AdRoll takes its 30 percent
cut). And the pricing decays with time as
ad inventory gets closer to expiring, so that
Did DirecTV Hire Satellite Hackers To Leak
Dish TV Smart Cards?
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 9:31:05 PM
I had missed this story when it came out
last week, but thanks to a reader (who
prefers to remain anonymous) for sending
it in. Apparently, Dish Network is suing
DirecTV, claiming that DirecTV (and its
parent News Corp) hired notorious satellite
TV hackers to break Dish's encryption and
"flood the market" with hacked smart
an ad for tomorrow is cheaper than an ad
for next month.
But where AdRoll becomes interesting is
when blogs join communities of like-
minded blogs. For instance, there is a
community for surfing blogs, car blogs,
sports blogs, and book blogs. By joining
forces, 6 to 12 blogs with similar
readerships can offer half a million to a
million readers a month that share a
common interest. During the private beta,
about 600 publishers created 140 different
communities. In order to motivate blogs to
join a community, AdRoll only takes a 20
percent cut from ads that run across these
groups, leaving more ad dollars on the
table for the blogs. Says Kopf:
It is really about designing the right
compensation structures and incentives to
encourage sites to work together and sell
more.
This is co-op economics at work. The
idea is that small blogs should be able to
band together to command a higher price
cards. That's quite a claim, and it will be
interesting to see what evidence the
company has to back it up. After all,
reverse engineering a product is perfectly
legal -- and, indeed, DirecTV claims that's
all it did. Furthermore, it seems doubly
strange that DirecTV would go down this
route after so thoroughly pissing off smart
card hackers of all kinds a few years ago
by accusing them all of stealing DirecTV
signals with almost no evidence, and then
for ads than they would be able to on their
own. The effective CPM (cost per
thousand impressions) that blogs are
getting on AdRoll is about $1.50 (which is
much less than the $10-plus that Federated
Media is getting for the blogs in its
network, but it is better than AdSense).
Anyone can create a blog community.
That person becomes the leader of that
particular community, and he or she can
set the minimum price for ads on that
community. The leader can also set a
commission rate for participating blogs
who bring in their own advertising to the
group. That way, the bloggers themselves
can sell ads for their network. (More
details on Adroll’s economics here). Kopf
hopes all of these incentives will be
enough for community leaders to assemble
the best audiences possible.
This is a classic Long Tail business. Roll
up the niches and sell targeted advertising.
Repeat 10,000 times.
CrunchBase Information Jared Kopf
Adroll (Semantic Sugar, Inc.) AdBrite
Federated Media PubMatic Information
provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because
it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
pushing many to pay up to avoid a lawsuit.
It's also hard to see what the real benefit to
DirecTV is of such a plan. Making it easier
to get Dish for free shouldn't increase
DirecTV's market at all. One would hope
that Dish actually has some serious
evidence to go along with these claims.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Amid Fears of an Internet
Downturn, Gawker Sells
Properties
By Tom Lee (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 8:35:02 AM
Yesterday's news that Gawker Media will
be selling three of its sites caught many by
surprise. Particularly shocking was the
revelation that Wonkette was among them
— it was an early site in the network, and
one famous enough to be featured in the
newly-reopened Newseum.
But more interesting than the news was
the reasoning behind it, which was
explained by Gawker chief Nick Denton in
an email to Fishbowl NY:[S]ince the end
of last year, we've been expecting a
downturn. Scratch that: since the middle of
2006, when we sold off Screenhead,
shuttered Sploid and declared we were
"hunkering down", we've been waiting for
the Internet bubble to burst. No, really, this
time. And, even if not, better safe than
sorry; and better too early than too late.
Everybody says that the internet is
special; that advertising is still moving
away from print and TV; and Gawker sites
are still growing in traffic by about 90
percent a year, way faster than the web as a
whole. But it would be naive to think that
we can merely power through an
advertising recession. We need to
concentrate our energies... on the sites with
the greatest potential for audience and
advertising... [T]hen, once this recession is
done with, and we come up from the
bunker to survey the Internet wasteland
around us, we can decide on what new
territories we want to colonize.
Say what you will about Denton — and
many people do — but he's proven himself
to be a shrewd businessman. As he notes,
it's easy to find wishful thinking when it
comes to online advertising's capacity to
withstand the recession that most experts
say is coming or already occurring. But, as
that second link notes, there's no denying
that advertising expenditures declined
during past economic downturns, or that
online ads have fared even worse than
other media. So while Denton is just one
businessman, it's a safe bet that he's not the
only one girding for lean times.
This isn't to say that the organizations
buying these Gawker properties are
making a mistake. Mike has written before
about the need to marry content and
promotion in a way that's compelling to an
audience. Idolator and Gridskipper in
particular seem well-positioned to do just
that, as they join newly-consolidated
ventures from Buzznet and Curbed,
respectively (Wonkette, which exists in a
media environment filled with publications
that largely subsist on donor largesse, may
have a harder time of it).
But whatever the fate of these particular
sites, a recession-sparked advertising
downturn would clearly be bad news for
the web. With so much of the internet
economy built on top of ad models —
Google's foremost among them —
vulnerable startups may do well to follow
Denton's lead and hedge their bets now.
Tom Lee is an expert at the Techdirt
Insight Community. To get insight and
analysis from Tom Lee and other experts
on challenges your company faces, click
here.
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
JK Rowling Appeals To Judge's
Emotional Side, Rather Than A Real
Legal Argument Over Potter Guidebook
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 12:08:00 AM
Earlier this year, we wrote about how J.K.
Rowling's lawsuit against the publishers of
a guidebook about Harry Potter's universe
was extremely misguided. That lawsuit got
a lot more attention Tuesday, as Rowling
herself showed up in court to play an
emotional, rather than legal, strategy. The
NY Times even reports that she was
"stoically holding back tears." Cry me a
river. Rowling is basically trying to get
copyright law to do a lot more than it is
intended to do -- and all of her emotional
bunk doesn't change that. Claiming that the
"stress and heartache" of such a
publication had hurt her creativity for the
last month seems excessively questionable.
Furthermore, it doesn't change the fact that
a derivative work, such as this guidebook,
doesn't violate copyright. There are lot of
things that cause me stress and heartache
and which might make me lose my
concentration. It doesn't make them illegal.
It appears that the publisher's lawyer had
Tungle Brings Own Approach to Scheduling Meetings
By Mark Hendrickson (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 5:00:12 AM
Meeting coordination service Timebridge
now has serious competition from Tungle,
a Montreal-based service that opens up
into public beta today.
When I met with Tungle CEO Marc
Gringas this past January, he outlined the
type of technology that would address the
major pain points of scheduling meetings:
it would reduce the number of transactions
needed to pick a time, it would be simple
to use across time zones, it would be an
open system for anyone to use, and people
would be able to see each others’
schedules with it.
Tungle does a good job fulfilling most of
these principles. It comes as an Outlook
plugin that automatically loads all of your
contacts and calendar events (either from
some fun, pointing out that Rowling didn't
seem to have that same sort of stress and
heartache when she gave an award to the
website that "The Harry Potter Lexicon"
came from. And, when presented with
evidence of how the book took Harry
Potter details and did more with them
(making them more useful), Rowling
tossed out the following: "This is theft.
Wholesale theft." Well, no, it's not. If it
were anything, it would be infringement
(not theft), but more importantly, it wasn't
about republishing the content, but making
it more useful. It's the same argument we
discussed recently with people
overestimating the value of the content,
and underestimating the value of the
service of making it useful. The most
damning point might be that Rowling
herself in the past admitted to using the
lexicon to check up on facts she didn't
remember.
However, the real key point that Rowling
went back to again and again in her
complaint is that she just didn't think the
quality of the Lexicon was very good. That
Outlook itself or other calendar apps like
Google Calendar). You can choose to
share your schedule with others who also
have the plugin installed, and you can
invite others to a meeting whether or not
they even use Outlook.
The invitation system is key. Tungle
users can invite non-Tungle users by
sending them a link to a special
coordination page. This “Tungle Space”
page shows your availability and solicits
their input for when they are also available.
If your schedule changes after sending out
the invitation, the Tungle Space page will
update itself accordingly. And you can use
it to invite multiple people to the same
meeting. As people visit the page and
indicate when they are available, the
options get narrowed down until the last
invitee to respond chooses a time.
There are many similarities between
seems like a bizarre complaint, as
copyright has nothing to do with quality. In
fact, as the publisher's lawyer asked, "You
feel it's your responsibility to prevent
people from paying their hard-earned cash
for things you don't like?" At which point,
she switched arguments again, reverting to
the claim that it was "theft." Of course, if
she really thinks that the book is awful,
there's a really easy solution: to come out
with her own version of a guidebook.
Surely, people would be a lot more
interested in buying the "official" version,
written with Rowling's approval, than
some fan-created one. In fact, Rowling
admits that she's been thinking of doing
exactly that (and throws in the totally
separate from the legal issues, but good for
an emotional tug, claim that she would
donate all proceeds to charity). Of course,
there's nothing actually stopping her from
competing, other than what appears to be
her own unwillingness to actually have to
compete for readers.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Tungle and TimeBridge (see our review of
the latter here) but Gringas stresses that
TimeBridge has more of a “wish list”
approach to it, where organizers suggest a
set of times and these get either accepted
or rejected by invitees. But while Tungle
may be more about finding the overlapping
free time in participants’ schedules, it lacks
the freedom of TimeBridge, which can be
used entirely through the browser.
When it comes down to it, this type of
product will mostly appeal to a certain
Grooveshark Launches
Web Media Player
By Duncan Riley (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 10:56:14 PM
Music sharing and sales startup
Grooveshark has launched Grooveshark
Lite, a flash app that provides access to all
the songs in Grooveshark’s library.
For those unfamiliar with the company,
Grooveshark allows users to upload and
share their music collection with friends,
but with a twist: every song uploaded can
be purchased DRM-free with the uploader
getting a cut of each sale (the rest goes to
the record companies, and the service is
100% legal).
The new Grooveshark Lite player is not
dissimilar to what Last.fm offers, but
without the silly restrictions like being able
only play the single five times. It also
helps that Grooveshark has a huge
selection of music; I don’t have
comparable numbers but Grooveshark
returned better results on a couple of more
class of professionals that needs to
schedule group meetings all the time.
Many of us only schedule one-on-one
meetings that take at most a few emails to
pin down, and we won’t be bothered to
change our habits. But I imagine there are
many assistants and managers out there
who will find this very helpful and worth
the effort of picking it up.
Tungle raised $1.5M CAD from JLA
Ventures and Des Jardins Venture Capital
in May 2007. Jiffle is another competitor
we covered just last week. CrunchBase
Information Tungle TimeBridge jiffle
Information provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
Tech* Web 2.0 13
obscure searches, where as Last.fm failed
or only had 30 seconds of the song. Unlike
Seeqpod, another service that allows you
to search for and play music uninhibited
(and until now my music service of
choice), the music on Grooveshark is of a
more reliable quality as it’s vetted for sale,
although unlike Seeqpod you cant illegally
download the track, if that’s how you like
getting your music.
The player offers music by artist, album
and song title, and is free to use and
doesn’t require registration, although
registration is required to use Grooveshark
services such as playlists and sharing.
CrunchBase Information Grooveshark
Last.fm Seeqpod Information provided by
CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Twitterspy -
Twitter Meets Digg
Spy
By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 5:02:13 AM
This is one of those articles where title
literally says it all. If you’re familiar with
Digg Spy - Digg’s cool tool for displaying
new stories as they show up on the site in
real time, you’ll know what Twitterspy is
about. It displays new tweets in a similar
ajaxy fashion; nothing more, nothing less.
Unfortunately, total lack of options (you
cannot, for example, choose whose tweets
you see, or even see only the tweets from
the people you follow) renders Twitterspy
as little more than an interesting idea. If
the author spices it up with some features,
it might become a useful tool.
ShareThis
14 Tech*
Mobile WiMAX Products Finally Arrive -
- So Everyone Claiming They Were
Offering Mobile WiMAX Has To Scramble
By Derek Kerton (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 11:36:00 AM
It wasn't all Singapore Slinging ( of mud)
at WiMAX Forum Asia Congress 2008.
There was some real progress to mention
coming out of the show last week. The
Forum has announced the certification of
the first 8 products that are fully mobile
WiMAX compliant, and it's been a long
time coming. This is good news for
network providers that have been counting
on high-scale-economies for standards-
based kit, with which they can deploy their
networks. The WiMAX Forum says that
2.5GHz kit will likely be certified later this
year. 2.5GHz is of particular interest to
Sprint Xohm, which is currently working
with non-certified gear.
And what were all the prior
announcements that WiMAX certification
was available? Well, this 2005
announcement was regarding fixed
WiMAX, and this 2006 announcement was
really about a suite for equipment makers
to test their products in development. But
that's behind us, there is now real Mobile
WiMAX equipment available. Finally.
But, if certified mobile WiMAX gear is
only available as of this week, what were
all those other "mobile WiMAX" network
announcements you've been hearing for
years? Turns out many of them were what
boosters dubbed "pre-WiMAX". But pre-
Recording Industry Testing Out New Theory: It Deserves More
Money Because It Lets You Transfer Music
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 1:46:00 AM
William Patry has a long, but fascinating,
discussion on the latest trick being used by
the recording industry to try to squeeze
more money out of you: telling
governments that because it's now willing
to let people transfer the music they legally
purchased between devices, it deserves
extra money for it. To back this up, it's
claiming that there's obviously value in
WiMAX turns out to be defined as "not
really WiMAX at all but I'm eager to get
on the bandwagon." This massive reality
gap between pre-WiMAX and standards-
based WiMAX is illustrated by a recent
story in which Clearwire Chief Strategy
Officer Scott Richardson says "...Clearwire
may use dual-mode devices to support both
technologies [pre-WiMAX and WiMAX]
and may overlay WiMAX equipment on its
existing markets."
Dual-mode equipment and overlays? To
manage an upgrade from "pre-WiMAX"
equipment to "WiMAX" equipment? What
he's really saying is that the older Nextnet-
made gear is simply NOT compatible with
WiMAX(i.e., it's NOT WiMAX and never
was), and it eventually needs to be forklift-
upgraded out. If this stuff was really just
"pre-," then it should have taken no more
than a software upgrade and a tweak or
two to make it standard WiMAX (much
like 54G was pre-G, or pre-n was basically
= n WiFi). It's funny that the WiMAX
bandwagon was so attractive, that
companies that were absolutely not using
WiMAX felt the need to call their solution
WiMAX. Apparently it brought more press
coverage, more public enthusiasm, and
easier access to capital. But, it didn't mean
they were actually offering WiMAX.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
being able to transfer music around,
otherwise why would people want that
ability. The audacity of such a statement
from the industry shouldn't be understated.
After all, this is the same industry that has,
for years, ignored pleas from fans all over
the world to get rid of DRM because it
would make digital files increase in value.
And, now, that the industry has finally
been forced to recognize this, it seems to
be claiming that all of the value belongs to
the industry itself, and it's the government's
Prediction: The LTE Patent
Bundle Won't Prevent LTE
Patent Lawsuits
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 7:04:00 AM
I've been seeing a few folks take the news
that a bunch of big telco firms looking to
get into the LTE (Long Term Evolution)
market have agreed to form a patent pool.
Some are even suggesting that this is
exactly how the patent system should
work. That's wishful thinking at best. LTE
is the next generation of wireless
technology that many telcos around the
world are adopting as their choice for "4G"
technology -- and it will be important.
However, don't think that just because
some companies have agreed to pool
patents that it's a good thing. There have
been plenty of patent pools in the past, and
you can bet that one of two things is likely
to happen. First, some other company (or a
few other companies, and almost definitely
some individual patent holders) will spring
up at some point with yet another patent,
claiming that LTE technology infringes on
that patent and all these firms owe a ton of
money. And, given how so many patent
holders don't believe in apportioning
damages, they'll even claim to want more
than all the money being spread around in
the pool itself.
But, much more to the point, the fact that
job to hand over that "value."
The reasoning for this seems to go back
to the psychological explanation for why
the recording industry keeps getting itself
into trouble (and it's similar to the story we
had recently about bloggers worrying
about a new aggregator). They assume that
all of the "value" needs to be captured by
them, and not anyone else. In economics,
this is effectively an industry telling the
government that it needs to be
compensated for all of the positive
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
so many patents need to be "pooled" just to
offer this technology should be a pretty
clear warning sign that the patent system
isn't working as intended. Basically, what
you have here is a patent thicket. Many of
the patents in question are overlapping
patents that never should have been issued.
However, given all the uncertainty around
patent litigation (and how the courts will
be treating patent issues), most of these
firms realize it's better to agree to split the
pie rather than sue. That's still not a good
result, because it only encourages more
companies to suddenly push for these sorts
of marginal and totally unnecessary patents
just to get included in future patent pools --
even if their "invention" really adds
nothing to the technology. Furthermore,
this patent pool will automatically increase
the price of all LTE technology, making
sure that adoption is slowed down. So, yes,
it's better to see a patent pool created than
to see everyone just jump to lawsuits, but
the history of patent pools is littered with
additional lawsuits and companies having
to pay for patents that they shouldn't be
paying for. This is hardly a "good" solution
-- it just encourages the bad system to get
worse.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
externalities it created -- even if it's better
off at an absolute level. Basically, the
industry is so overvaluing its own content,
that it assumes that any additional value
that people get out of music, even if it's
through no effort of the recording industry
itself, should be entirely converted to more
revenue for the industry. As an analogy,
it's like your automobile maker demanding
an ongoing cut of your salary, since
without the automobile, you wouldn't be
able to drive to work. Unfortunately,
Pirate Bay Wants
IFPI To Pay Up For
Danish ISP Block
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 3:55:02 PM
The folks behind the Pirate Bay certainly
aren't ones to shy away from a fight. In
fact, they seem to enjoy it. The latest is
that they're demanding compensation from
the IFPI for downtime associated with the
IFPI's successful efforts to force Danish
ISPs to block access to The Pirate Bay.
The Pirate Bay says it will ask for a
"reasonable" sum, rather than an
extraordinary amount as is typical of the
entertainment industry. It also says it will
use any money it gets from the IFPI to
fund Danish artists who want to give away
their works online. While the guys at the
Pirate Bay reasonably complain that the
entire lawsuit between the IFPI and Danish
ISPs never involved The Pirate Bay or
gave the site a chance to make its own
argument (despite being entirely about the
site), this request for compensation may be
pushing the boundaries a bit -- especially
considering that even The Pirate Bay folks
have admitted that the ban eventually
resulted in more traffic. Perhaps they
should send some money to the IFPI to
thank them for all that "free" advertising.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
though, unless you're a copyright wonk,
you might not even notice that the
recording industry is trying to do this.
Instead, it presents its case in a logical
fashion, focusing on how much "value" it's
suddenly creating by "allowing" people to
transfer the music they already legally
purchased to the device of their choosing.
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Music Tax: The iPod
Approach
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 7:50:08 AM
Music executives from the UK continue
to try to out-dumb their counterparts in the
U.S. We’ve barely started to settle down
from the Warner Bros. led attack (with
both economic and emotional sorties) here
in the U.S., and now our UK brothers are
getting bombed( more) with the idea of an
iPod tax to counter those sneaky users who
“format shift” files from a legally
purchased CD to a MP3 player.
The UK’s Music Business Group, a
coalition of music industry entities
(composers, songwriters, performers,
managers, producers, record labels, music
publishers), said in a report
“Unquestionably, there is a value produced
by the ability to format shift. It is
imperative that creators and performers
should benefit directly from this value.”
The report also states “Composers and
performers are entitled to earn a living
from their creative endeavours” which
parallels Ethan Kaplan’s (VP Technology,
Warner Bros. Records) argument that the
quality of music shouldn’t matter when it
comes to compensation to the artist.
It is exactly this line of thinking -
righteous entitlement - that leads to the
idea of using taxes to support businesses
that can’t support themselves. Music taxes
in any form are a bad idea and always will
be.
Seagate Decides It Can't Compete With Solid
State; Sues Over Patents
By Michael Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 1:22:00 PM
Just a few weeks ago, we noted that
Seagate's CEO appeared to be admitting
that his company didn't have a real strategy
to compete with the growing threat of solid
-state flash drives competing against
traditional hard drives. Instead, he said that
if the competition got too hot, he'd just sue
for patent infringement. Basically, he was
These people won’t quit until they’re out
of business. So let’s hasten the go-out-of-
business process as quickly as possible.
Think twice before you buy any form of
music. Just send money directly to the
artist instead.
See also:
The Inevitable March of Recorded Music
Towards Free
Replacing DRM With A Music Tax Is
Incredibly Stupid
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
admitting that he was planning to use
patents in exactly the opposite of the way
they were intended to be used. He'd use
them to block an innovative new
competitor, but only once that competition
became serious enough. Apparently,
Seagate believes that moment is now, as
we're seeing more and more laptops hit the
market with solid state drives, so Seagate
has filed its first patent infringement
lawsuit against a maker of the technology.
Chinese Internet Users Say
“Enough” To International
Bullying
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 2:15:00 AM
A virus is spreading through Chinese
Internet users - they are adding a “Love
China” icon to their MSN chat names by
the thousands to show support for their
country.
The icon, according to a number of
blogs, is said to be in response to Western
bullying over recent Olympic protests.
Over the last weeks thousands of protesters
have come out in force as the Olympic
torch, destined for China this summer, has
traveled through their borders. On a
number of occasions the torch has been
extinguished, and additional security
measures have been taken in cities around
the world.
From SushiPanda, linked above:
Over half of my Chinese-Chinese friends
on MSN have put the badge on their
contact names, in defiance of all the anti-
China bullying that they’re undoubtedly
reading about in the Chinese newspapers,
watching on the Chinese news, and
scouring over on the hundreds of blogs and
BBS’s peppering China’s cyberscape and
devoted to propping up this country’s
national pride.
Outsiders are suggesting that the news in
Basically, the company is admitting that it
can't actually compete or make a better
product, so its strategy is to sue
competitors. It's a pretty weak response,
but thanks to our patent system, it may be
perfectly legal (if exactly the opposite of
what the patent system intended).
Permalink| Comments| Email This Story
China is being censored and that Chinese
citizens aren’t getting a balanced view of
the reality of the international protests. But
whatever the cause, this is a significant
showing of Chinese nationalistic behavior,
and a sign that they are paying attention to
the outside world.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
Emilio Diaz Dies from Pneumonia
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/15/2008 11:52:30 PM
Emilio Diaz(58), the father of Cameron
Diaz, died this morning from pneumonia.
Emilio was said to have been in "terrific
health," developed the flu, which
progressed to pneumonia, then he died
suddenly. Emilio worked as a foreman for
an oil company.
This is heartbreaking.
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
• Herb Peterson Died
• Leonardo DiCaprio is Single
• Scarlett Johansson Hides Pumpkins in
Tech* Gossip 15
Twitter Saves
Man From
Egyptian Justice
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 2:35:35 AM
Twitter. Don’t leave home without it.
I don’t know if this is as good for Twitter
as the Charlie Rose incident was for Apple,
but it’s close. UC Berkeley graduate
journalism student James Karl Buck was
arrested on April 10 without any charges in
Egypt for photographing a demonstration.
He used his mobile phone to twitter the
message “ Arrested” to his 48 followers,
who contacted UC Berkeley, the US
Embassy and a number of press
organizations on his behalf.
The next day Buck twittered” Alive and
ok. Still in jail,” but was released not too
long afterwards. He’s still worried about
his friend, Mohammed Salah Ahmed
Maree, who was arrested with him and
remains in jail. Buck says he is on a hunger
strike until his friend is free. CrunchBase
Information Twitter Information provided
by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over
the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Her Shirt
• Drew Barrymore is Dating Justin Long
• Jessica Simpson’s Large Mouth Betrays
Her Jealousy Over Cameron and John
16 Tech* Gadgets*
Chinese Photo Site Tuyuan May Do
Facial Recognition. Or It May Just Put
Boxes Around People’s Heads
By Michael Arrington (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 1:06:01 AM
I can’t really say much about Tuyuan yet
since it’s in Chinese and there isn’t much
information (translated page here), but it
certainly looks like they’re trying to tackle
the facial recognition problem that has
destroyed many a startup.
We’ve seen Riya(now focused on
ecommerce via Like.com), Ookles(never
launched), and Polar Rose(in private beta
GamePark's GP2X F-200 handheld gets reviewed
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 4:28:00 AM
Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds
We know, most of you even remotely
interested in the F-200 either already own
one (and you're playing it right now, aren't
for nearly a year), among others. Most
recently Tagcow came on the scene, but it
turns out it uses humans to tag photos,
which tends to produce bad data.
Will Tuyuan be any different? We have
no idea yet. But we’re contacting them to
find out. More soon. Thanks for the tip,
Orli.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile
Gadgets and Applications, Delivered
Daily.
you? Don't lie.) or are waiting intently for
the Pandora. Nevertheless, the cats over at
AnandTech managed to wrap their paws
around the GP2X F-200 and give it the full
review treatment -- needless to say,
impressions were (fairly) positive.
Immediately recognized as a "hybrid of
ASUS Eee PC 900 review
roundup
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 2:43:00 AM
Filed under: Laptops
It's like this: if you found yourself all
giddy playing with the Eee PC 701, you'll
be absolutely enthralled when handling the
900. At least, that's the verdict being
blasted out from reviewers web-wide.
More specifically, CNET found the 9-inch
subnote to be superior in quite a few ways
to the 701, and felt particularly impressed
with the ability to run multiple applications
more easily due to more screen real estate
and the included 1GB of RAM. However,
they were none too thrilled with the
Sony's PSP and the Nintendo DS," the
gaming handheld possessed a bright, clear
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
keyboard (still), and echoed Trusted
Reviews gripes of lackluster battery life.
Yeah, that last dig could be fairly
substantial if you're looking to stay
untethered completely for hours on end,
but if you're confident you can locate an
AC outlet when necessary (and can't afford
to wait for an Atom-based version of the
machine), it seems the 9-inch Eee is well
worth a look.
Read- CNET review (8.7 out of 10)
Read- Trusted Reviews review (...the
Eee PC 900 still represents staggering
value for money.) Permalink| Email this|
Comments
LCD, somewhat "tinny" speakers and the
ability to chew through batteries without
shame. Still, aside from a few minor
niggles, the critics found it to be "well
worth the $170 price tag for the emulation
capabilities alone." Hit up the read link for
the entire review, but don't even bother if
Nike+
SportBand gets
reviewed
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 4:09:00 AM
Filed under: Wearables
For those breaking into a sweat trying to
decide whether or not the Nike+
SportBand is really worth your hard earned
dollars / euros / pounds / Schrutebucks,
simmer on down. The runners over at the
Stuff offices have snapped one up and
tossed out their two pence. Summarized as
a " Nike+iPod system without music," the
unit was given fairly high marks all
around. It was noted that calibration was
highly recommended before taking on the
London Marathon, but that setup was a real
lesson in simplicity. Design wise, most
everything was kosher save for the
detachable face (Link USB drive) that may
not fit perfectly in slim laptops sitting flush
on a table and the non-backlit display that
proved difficult to see at night. Believe it
or not, critics still found the SportBand to
be a joy to use despite the aforesaid quirks,
but given the drawbacks, we'd certainly
recommend trying out a pal's before
throwing down for your own. Read|
Permalink| Email this| Comments
you're looking for excuses to hold off.
Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Enkin: digitized signage for your
Android device
By Chris Ziegler (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 1:05:00 AM
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Among the hopefuls for Google's
Android Developer Challenge(which
ended yesterday, by the way, so put down
your pencils and turn in your papers) is this
little gem, Enkin. Put simply, the
navigation app's ace card is its "live
mode," which combines a plethora of
sensory data -- camera input, GPS,
directional information, motion detection -
- to show the user an augmented view of
Cin King vehicles are just slightly ahead of their time
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 2:19:00 AM
Filed under: Transportation
Yeah, Cin King has been tickling
people's fancy for a small while now, but
with a lineup consisting of the Slim Jim,
Full Power Flagship, Naked Wonder and
Circular 360, how could we not pass this
along? Barring some sort of miracle, it's
safe to assume that all of these motorcars
are patently fake, but that doesn't mean
what they're actually looking at in their
environment. Augmented with what,
exactly? Placemarkers that indicate
landmarks, that's what, and the possibilities
are pretty endless -- restaurants in the
immediate vicinity, a gentle reminder of
your car's location in the parking lot, the
list goes on. Nokia's been toying with this
concept for a good long while now but
they've failed to commercialize it, so here's
hoping will finally see a usable product on
a retail device. Read| Permalink| Email
this| Comments
you can't get a laugh out of such a cleverly
designed website meant to showcase the
whole family, right? Go on, you know you
can't wait to read more about "the first
electric car with diesel drive," a compact
Parrot readying PARTY Black
Edition Bluetooth speaker with
NFC
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:05:00 AM
Filed under: Portable Audio, Wireless
Just days after we got wind of the NFC-
ified Nokia 6212 comes word that the
PARTY Black Edition Bluetooth speaker -
- that was introduced around a fortnight
ago -- will also include the same
technology. Yep, a NFC-enabled Bluetooth
version will soon be available for
purchase, giving owners of NFC handsets
the ability to pair up their device by simply
getting up close and personal with the
with twin turbines, anything codenamed
"Naked Wonder," and a round-mobile
ripped straight out of 2184 (or an obscure
episode of The Jetsons). 'Tis a shame these
aren't anywhere near production -- they'd
speaker. Specs wise, expect it to boast six
total watts of power, a 5-button user
interface, eight hours of battery life and an
auxiliary input for times when a vanilla
DAP will have to do. Word on the street
has this one landing in the summertime for
£79 ($156), but we've yet to see any
official details on US pricing / availability.
Check the full release after the jump.
Continue reading Parrot readying
PARTY Black Edition Bluetooth speaker
with NFC Read| Permalink| Email this|
Comments
go over so well in America.
[Via AutoblogGreen] Read| Permalink|
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Gadgets* 17
Karim Rashid-designed
Globalight champagne
cooler steals the show
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 1:29:00 AM
Filed under: Household
Typically, you'd think a pricey bottle of
Veuve Clicquot champagne would be the
star attraction on a night out, but we'd have
to suggest otherwise if said container is
being toted around in this thing. The Karim
Rashid-designed apparatus, which is
limited to just 500 pieces worldwide, is
said to be a "modern reinterpretation of the
traditional French chandelier." As for
utility, it promises to keep your alcohol
chilled for four solid hours, and
considering the built-in LEDs will also
flicker out after the same amount of time,
we suppose that's a good indicator of when
it's time to toss 'er back and get going.
Here in the US, a handful of the
Globalight's will be available exclusively
at select W Hotels, but you're not unboxing
one without laying down $4,500 first.
[Via Luxurylaunches, thanks Yoge] Read|
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18 Gadgets* TV* Gossip
New Wii homebrew hack unlocks
region-free gaming
By Paul Miller (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:27:00 AM
Filed under: Gaming
Homebrew coders over at TehSkeen
have manged the near-ultimate hacker
achievement of enabling region-free
gaming on the Wii via a software hack --
no mod chips or Freeloader disc required.
Implementation of Gecko Region Free
couldn't be simpler: you just load boot.elf
from the chain loader, stick in your Wii
Verizon XV6900 finally available for order
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 1:57:00 AM
Filed under: Cellphones
Wouldn't you know it? Just as promised,
that strikingly white XV6900 has landed
Emma Watson is 18 Today
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/15/2008 10:55:56 PM
Emma Watson made this video to say
hello to all her fans on this special day, he
game and hit reset. The hack claims to
have borrowed zero code from Nintendo or
Datel, making this pure homebrew. You'll
still need to use that Twilight Princess
hack to get thing started, and Nintendo
could always rain on this parade, but for
the time being the world (of foreign-
released games) is your oyster.
[Via Wii Fanboy] Read| Permalink| Email
this| Comments
on Verizon Wireless' website and can be
18th birthday. Yes, she’s legal now, but
she still starts her day with strawberries
and Nutella. Tonight she’ll probably go
clubbing, then fall asleep watching Disney
movies.
Streaming Networks iRecord Pro
offers up full res recordings
By Paul Miller (Engadget)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:46:00 AM
Filed under: Home Entertainment,
Portable Video
Ah, D1, that most professional of video
recording resolutions. Streaming
Networks' new iRecord Pro bests its
previous iRecord offering with some fancy
720 x 480 recording, in addition to new
DVR functionality and the ability to
convert video formats without a computer.
snapped up now by those in need. The
pain? $249.99 on contract after all
applicable rebates -- oh, and knowing the
Touch Dual is heading Stateside later this
quarter. Read| Permalink| Email this|
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© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
• Hell’s Kitchen is Too Cold and Too Hot
• Diane Neal is Leaving Law and Order
• Who’s Your Daddy
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Given the quantity of content we're
consuming on the go these days, there's
certainly room for a device that can easily
nab and convert video from our TV setup
for some viewing on the move, but time
will tell if Streaming Networks has hit the
sweet spot with this $260 device. It'll be
available sometime in the second quarter
of this year. Read| Permalink| Email this|
Comments
• Jason Beghe Says Scientology is
Dangerous
• Dwarf Soccer Team
Ten shows that
desperately need
DVDs - VIDEOS
By Allison Waldman (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:04:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, TV Squad Lists,
Reality-Free There's something really great
about being able to buy an entire season of
a TV show, or the entire run, on DVD. It
can be addictive, too. But isn't it interesting
that even though there are scads of great --
and some not-so-great -- series committed
to DVD and readily available online or at
the local superstore, there are a ton more
that aren't? And what about great TV
specials? When I read this list, it got me
thinking about which TV programs I
would buy in a heartbeat. My list is very
subjective -- maybe even eclectic -- but
here's my ten TV shows that need to be on
DVD.
The Bob Newhart Show
Recently, when the American Masters
did a special about Bob Newhart, they
showed footage from The Bob Newhart
Show. No, not the one with Suzanne
Pleshette as Emily. They had clips from
the 1961-62 Bob Newhart Show on NBC.
It was a variety hour, showcasing many of
his now classic routines. It looked really
funny, filled with his inspired sketches and
bits. And it was critically acclaimed, too,
winning Emmy and Peabody awards.
Naturally, NBC canceled it after just one
season. I'd love to think that there's enough
footage from those shows to create a DVD.
Gallery: Need to be DVDs
Continue reading Ten shows that
desperately need DVDs - VIDEOS
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
BlogPulse: Metrics Based on
Conversation
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 9:35:45 PM
Yesterday, I was late to the party with the
Shyftr bitchmeme. Today I’m going to
continue that train of thought by being
about a day late to the party talking about
BlogPulse. They recently came to the
attention of Louis Gray when he was
featured prominently on the Nielsen blog
search engine yesterday (and today too) as
being a ‘top blog post’ with his post
Should Fractured Feed Reader Comments
Raise Blog Owners’ Ire?.
I think part of the reason that BlogPulse
hasn’t gotten much press over the years
(and it has been years, since they’ve been
around since 2005) is that they’re still not
competitive on the comprehensiveness of
their blog indexing as compared to
Technorati and Google Blog Search. What
they do have an angle on is a different way
of measuring reach and value for a blog,
and it’s very much in the vein of what I
was attempting to describe yesterday:
The pageview is dying as a monetizable
metric. For us big blogs like Mashable, it
works, because we have scads of it.
Unfortunately, the smaller blogs and
communities have issues getting any return
on their work, even though they have high
levels of engagement, participation, and
value contributed. Rather than rolling them
all up into some sort of CNet competitor,
blogs should shift their focus on
monetizing their work in a way that’s more
valuable - capitalizing their expertise and
community engagement.
In that respect, these sites that shard off
the community can actually serve to
increase that blogs revenue, if they return
instead of the conversation, the metrics on
that conversation. While the actual address
where that conversation takes place may
shift around on the Internet, the derivative
ideas from that conversation remain more
or less branded by the originator.
And from what it looks like to me,
BlogPulse, similar to Technorati, seems to
be progressing down that same path of
measurement more by engagement and
conversation as opposed to simple
pageview metrics (ala Quantcast, Compete
and Alexa).
The difference as to why this matters is
that this is Nielsen, here, instead of a Web
2.0 startup. They’ve, for the last several
years, been very much on the fore of trying
to measure online text and downloadable
media. They’ve struck partnerships with
Wizzard Media to certify all their podcast
downloads. They’ve joined the Association
for Downloadable Media to find more
lasting metrics that truly value an online
video and audio piece for what it is.
They’re heavily involved with measuring
traffic with the Netratings program. Point
is, they’re busy about finding the right way
to measure our stuff.
To be real clear, here, they don’t go as
far with BlogPulse as I describe in my
piece, nor as far as most of the Rat Pack
described in our ideal situation on this
weekend’s show. The BlogPulse system
functions by measuring amount of links
into an article, not quite as simplistic as
Technorati’s linking algorithm, but
essentially the same thing. It doesn’t
account for volume of comments, and it
doesn’t go so far as to take into account
things we talked about on the show, like
measuring Shyftr comments, Readburner
comments, Twitter comments and
FriendFeed comments.
Nor would I expect it to. This meme is
barely a few days old. My point is that
Nielsen, in it’s dealings with blogosphere
rankings and measurement, has decided to
look more into the realm of discussion than
pageviews as the important metric to
watch. I think this says that my idea
(which may or may not be all that original)
has some legs and is worth exploring
further.
I got a number of interesting responses
off yesterday’s piece on this topic, but no
one has seemed to really come up with the
silver bullet yet. I’m wondering if I’m
phrasing my question the right way. What
I’m trying to find here, first of all, is the
cornerstone of what a superior method of
valuing a blog would be than simply by the
pageview; something that gives a fair
shake to the mid-size blogs (in terms of
traffic) as well as the giants. Once we get
that fleshed out a bit, then we can talk
about the best way to measure that and
then monetize it.
You, dear readers, have had a day or so
to noodle what I asked you yesterday. Any
brainstorms on that yet?
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Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Tech Startup USA: 27 Web Companies
in the Northeast
6 Key Ways to Measure Your Blog’s
Success
Google Earth 4.3
Released
By Paul Glazowski (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 8:20:24 AM
Google Earth, the 3D global mapping
application that has grown to become one
of the most popular and freely-accessible
software developments to come out of
Mountain View not directly affiliated with
its search engine nor its advertising
business, has just today received an update.
Google Earth 4.3(Beta) is now available
for download.
There are several things new with the
latest software upgrade. First, as many of
you well know, Google is regularly
looking to expand its audience and cater its
services ever more to the international
arena. So in its pursuit of linguistic
equanimity, the company now touts the
addition of 12 new languages in the new
version of Google Earth. They include:
Danish, English (UK), Spanish (Latin
American), Finnish, Hebrew, Indonesian,
Norwegian, Portuguese (PT), Romanian,
Swedish, Thai, and Turkish.
On the technical front, the new release of
Google Earth arrives with enhanced
navigation tools, which Google hopes
users will find to be more intuitively
operable. Peter Birch, a product manager at
Google Earth, explain the upgrade thusly:
“We modified the zoom control. As you
get closer to the ground, your view slowly
tilts, almost as if you are parachuting onto
the ground. We also added a new control,
the “look” joystick, which allows you to
look around. If you are on the ground, you
can change your viewpoint and look up at
buildings, down canyons, or over at the
rising sun. If you use the “pan” joystick
when on the ground, you will follow the
ground as if you were walking on it.”
Another addition to Google Earth’s
navigation controls is the much-requested
Street View option, which first arrived
under the Google nameplate back in May
2007 within the more elementary Google
Maps utility. The company’s software
engineers have employed the
PhotoOverlay feature to give Google Earth
users a view of panorama shots from
ground level, which can be seen when the
Street View layer is activated. Going from
Web 2.0 19
an overhead angle to one at the city’s street
is as simple as double-clicking an icon
associated with an overlaid photo.
Google also promises more prevalent
displays of buildings modeled in
SketchUp. The company notes that
navigation through the 3D map when
buildings are shown is significantly
quicker, too.
Lastly, for those Google Earth users who
consider the static lighting of the globe a
nuisance - in the past, you’ll have noticed
that everything is shown under a mid-day
sun - and a physical disgrace, not to worry.
Clicking the new sunlight button in
advance of hitting the play button on the
time slider will give you the chance to
watch the sun circle the globe.
(Figuratively speaking, anyhow. Google
does recognize the orbital truths of our
solar system.) You can also zoom in from
afar and watch the sunrise crest the
horizon.
By the bye, the announcement of the new
release of Google Earth also notes that it
will be gradually adding particular
mapping information in the form of
imagery acquisition dates. These details
are presumably not the focus of the broad
majority of users of the software package,
but some do wish for such data, so Google
has made sure to note that it will provide
as much in the way of photographic time
stamps as possible.Google Earth 4.3 Beta
is available for download for Windows,
Mac OS X, and Linux.
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Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Terrorists Using Google Earth to Target
Israel
Google Earth and NASA Complete
Project
Google Earth Enterprise Version Update
Released
Google Earth Shows Real-Time Traffic
Google Earth Updates Images
Twango’s New Google Earth Features
Google Earth Takes Classified Military
Data in Israel. Oops.
20 Web 2.0 TV*
SoccerGirl Due For IRS Audit Very
Soon
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 12:29:14 AM
Soccergirl, a podcaster working for Adam
Curry over at PodShow, was recently
featured in Wired’s Tech Biz blog for her
income tax filing. Given it’s the 15th of
April, I’ll lay aside any blame I’d normally
lay at the feet of someone writing about a
tax return on a Web 2.0/science blog.
The story hook, aside from the fact that
Soccergirl is obviously an attractive young
woman who frequently talks about sex
with her audience, is the type of stuff she’s
trying to get away with on her income tax
returns:
Sometime last year, podcaster Anneke
Rudegeair bought three different brands of
condoms. This month, she sat down with
TurboTax and listed the cost of rubbers as
a deduction. It was, she believes, a
business expense.
The story goes on to quote a number of
interesting folks that they’ve contact in for
their expert opinion: lawyers, accountants,
Rob Walch and Julia Allison. While Rob
made some decent points on the nebulous
nature of business and pleasure for folks in
the business of profiteering from their
daily life, it was Julia Allison that made
the most salient observation:
“The IRS doesn’t understand, isn’t
interested in understanding that your
personal life can sometimes merge with
your professional life,” she said. “It has to
be 100 percent business. If there’s even a
small percentage that is for your personal
Why television is great - The Muppets
By Paul Goebel (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 4:26:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, Reality-Free
In my line of work (whatever that is), I
am often put in the position of defending
the medium of television. There is a large
section of the population who is convinced
that television is inferior to film and all
types of print media. These people love to
use a host of specious arguments to prove
their point. Some choose advertising,
life, you can’t expense it.”
In this instance, it’s not real difficult to
make the judgement call on this one. Let
me give you the benefit of my personal
experience when it comes to taxes. I’m a
libertarian, and a former very active
member of several Libertarian Party
functions. Like every good LPer, I’ve seen
From Freedom to Fascism, and by and
large, I agree with most of the points that
others go with reality TV, I once argued
with a guy who said, "Two words...Jerry
Springer" and walked away.
the movie makes. Strictly interpreted
history and constitutional law says that the
Federal Income Tax is unconstitutional. I
personally believe that I shouldn’t have to
pay it.
Folks in the party I belong to get out
there and protest this law every year, and
some will even go so far as to protest the
law by not paying it. As is evidenced by
the many ruined lives profiled in Aaron
Russo’s film, though, the IRS really
doesn’t care one lick if you have the best
argued reasons in the world not to pay
them money. They will make your life a
living hell until you bend to their will.
And this is why I never once participated
in these tax day protests, never participated
in the activity of withholding taxes from
the government, and why I advise all those
folks that are inspired by From Freedom to
Fascism not to suddenly start making a
stink with their local taxman over Federal
Income Tax constitutionality. The IRS
does not have a sense of humor that they’re
aware of, they won’t find the expensing of
everything in your life to be amusing, or
admissable, and they will audit you from
here to the other certainty in life until you
bend to their will.
So basically what I’m saying is this: it’s
been a great run, Soccergirl. Been great
listening to your podcast all these years.
Lemme know when the IRS gets done
screwing you so we can all listen to you
talk about screwing some more.
ShareThis
I'm not going to use this blog as a way to
refute these arguments, instead I'd like to
give specific examples to defend the
medium that I have come to love.
Television is great because it is directly
responsible for the creation of the
Muppets.
Continue reading Why television is great
- The Muppets
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Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Jangl Founders Rock Out
with Messaging Convergence
and Live Music [Podcast]
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 10:28:47 PM
Jangl is one of those companies that
provides a utilitarian service that you may
easily overlook, despite the fact that
they’re absolutely everywhere. You can’t
hit up a single major social networking site
this humble geek’s opinion. Check bits of
out there without eventually running into their work out, both in the form of
their application - they’re on Bebo,
conversation about their company and
Match.com, Plentyoffish, MySpace, clips from their music.
Facebook and Tagged, just to list a few.
[This show sponsored by Audible. Get
Despite the fact that Jangl’s been out your free audiobook today at
there forever, and received exactly three
AudiblePodcast.com/Mashable]
metric tons of blog coverage, they’re still You can hear all about this in today’s
one of those companies that not everyone
episode, the embed is available below, or
knows exactly what they do. They’re you can download the MP3 file directly
essentially a convergence provider,
here.
allowing two way mobile access to social Get the Mashable Conversations podcast
network messaging by utilizing VoIP
here.
technology. In English, that means they Add directly to iTunes here(or give us a
use the various development platforms on
rating).
social networks to deliver messages from Add directly to your Zune here.
people’s voices to your inbox.
ShareThis
I recently had the chance to sit down ---
with one of Jangl’s founders, Michael
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Cerda, and we talked about the rise of his Social Networking Blog:
company, the very interesting funding and
Jangl Adds Voicemail to Facebook
founding process they went through, and Jangl Adds VoIP to Another Social
exactly what has fueled the growth of his
Network: PerfSpot
organization. Send Her Your Drink and Your Number,
An interesting tidbit I found out from the
with Jangl Now on Fubar
conversation was the the founders of Jangl Jangl Lets You Call Anyone with an
are not just bussiness partners, but also
Email Address
bandmates. A true Web 2.0 success story, Jangl Sees Big Growth Thanks to
they found each other by way of Craigslist
(see the original want ad below), and
during the ‘wait and see’ portion of the
Facebook and Bebo Apps
Jangl is 1st Application on New Tagged
Profiles
funding process, performed gigs together Jangl on TypePad
under the band name El Desayuno. The
band has actually published a CD
(available on iTunes), and is quite good, in
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
MochiAds Lands 3 New
Partners for Asian
Expansion
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:34:07 AM
MochiAds has been expanding its game
advertising network for well over a year
now, and its latest round of partnerships
takes the company further in that direction.
Wanmo, AdMax and Innovalue are all
working with MochiAds to enable it to
further reach ad sales in Asian regions,
including China, Taiwan and Southeast
Asia, respectively.
Having received $4 million in funding
earlier this year, expansion is certainly on
the minds of MochiAds’ executives,
especially as web, mobile and gaming
advertising become well saturated markets.
With these deals, Wanmo, AdMax and
Innovalue will extend options to their
buyers for selecting ads in MochiAds’
network as well, giving their brands access
to consumers.
You may recall that MochiAds works by
displaying a pre-game advertisement as
well as inter-level ads, in addition to
targeted ads that also display elsewhere on
the site. Targeted ad options include
geography, domain and game category.
Creating an ad network with a specific
focus on gaming media is a feat in itself,
and even lends to a more unique look at
behavioral and intermittent advertising
options as well. Shifting that to a more
widespread global market is an ambitious
task, and I’ll be curious to see what other
Pirate Bay To IFPI: Pay Up For Damages
By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 12:18:43 AM
Funny guys, those Bay Pirates. As you
may remember, recently the IFPI
(International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry) has tried
(succeeded) to convince Danish ISP Tele2
to block the Pirate Bay (they also tried to
do the same thing in Sweden but it didn’t
work as the ISPs pretty much said
metrics MochiAds will offer in the future
for even more targeted advertising options.
In teaming with a handful of other
advertising firms, MochiAds is leveraging
established companies for access to a
broader client base, in turn offering global
markets wider access to gamers. Being at
ad:tech this week, I’ve heard a bit of talk
about advertising firms partnering with
each other in a greater capacity to ensure a
more comprehensive solution for the
brands, and MochiAds has displayed that
such partnerships are in fact a readily
accepted byproduct of the ongoing
innovation that’s still needing to deal with
the current market for customers utilizing
online advertising solutions.
ShareThis
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Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Boy Bands, Board Games, and Mochi
Advertising
RockYou Launches RockYou Games
Slide.com Racks Up Several Partners for
Music Features
Shoutlet Announces Partnerships to
Strengthen Social Marketing Platform
Metacafe Brings On Former Yahoo
Executive
King.com Game Network Grows 138%
in One Year
Bebo Hires MTV VP
“what?”). Now, the Pirate Bay is
demanding a compensation from IFPI for
the lost traffic. The money, they say, will
be given to musicians which are willing to
put their work online for free.
Of course, there’s little chance that they
will succeed, as they weren’t really hurt by
the block. However, I love this approach
and it’s really good that someone is ready
to take the fight over to the other side.
The thing is, a lot of these piracy-related
Jaxtr Rolls Out Free SMS
Services
By Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
(Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 10:37:22 PM
Jaxtr, a company we’ve covered
extensively in the past here at Mashable, is
announcing the deployment of a new
feature that allows members to send free
SMS messages to anyone worldwide,
regardless of whether or not they’re a
member of the jaxtr service - covering
mobile phones in 38 countries. Basic
membership to jaxtr is already free, and
this new service adds new free
functionality to 10 million users with the
company - a number of folks up from a
reported 5 million back in September.
Jaxtr operatates very similarly to Jangl’s
system, a company we explored earlier
today with the founders on an episode of
Mashable Conversations. Essentially, Jaxtr
and Jangl both provide widgets that allow
folks to be messaged on virtual or pre-
existing mobile phones from just about
every social networking platform in
existence.
The death of mobile is greatly
exaggerated, according to both Jaxtr and
Jangl. Figures provided to us by Jaxtr from
the atest annual report from Research and
Markets say that in 2008, there will be
over two trillion SMS text messages sent
across the planet, a figure that spells profits
for both carriers and application providers.
lawsuits are one-sided affairs. RIAA sues
you for piracy; if they win, you give them
money; if you win, then…nothing. Little in
the way of apologies, and certainly no
compensations of any kind. Well, the
Pirate Bay is aiming to change that. After
all, if they’re a legitimate operation - and
they are until proven otherwise - why
should some third party be allowed to
force an ISP to block their site? In this
particular case, no one even asked them
To learn more about the world of social
media and its intersection with the mobile
messaging world, check out today’s
Mashable Conversations conversation with
Michael Cerda of Jangl. The embed is
available below, or you can download the
MP3 file directly here.
Get the Mashable Conversations podcast
here.
Add directly to iTunes here(or give us a
rating).
Add directly to your Zune here.
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Jaxtr Reaches 500k, Expands to 18 More
Countries
Jaxtr Raises $10M in Series A Round:
Reaches 1 Million Users
Jaxtr Doubles to Two Million Users in
30 Days
Jaxtr Grows 10x; 5 Million Users in 5
Months
Jaxtr Reaches 100,000 Users
Jaxtr Opens Door to MySpace Calls
Jaxtr - Free MySpace Phone Calls
anything, and they were never heard in the
case, although the case was obviously
about them, and them alone. We need
some law and order here, folks, and law
and order goes both ways.
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Pirate Bay Takes Over Anti-Piracy
Domain. A Major Hack?
Web 2.0 TV* 21
The Riches: Trust
Never Sleeps
By Brett Love (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 1:39:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, The Riches, Episode
Reviews, Reality-Free
( S02E05) Right about now, some of the
Malloys should probably be having some
second thoughts about returning to Eden
Falls. The lure of big money is hard to
resist, but it's certainly not going to be easy
money. The dark turn to their adventure
continues in episode five as we find Dahlia
continuing to struggle with her new triple
life, Pete causing more trouble for Wayne,
and young Cael striking out and getting
some story all his own.
Gallery: The Riches
Continue reading The Riches: Trust
Never Sleeps
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
BOiNK to Replace Recently Shut Down
OiNK
What Does The Future Hold For The
Pirate Bay?
Oodle Talks Like A Pirate
Pirates Had Photo-Sharing?
The Pirate Bay Gets Buried In Legal
Papers
Impress Your Twitter Friends With Post
Like A Pirate
22 Web 2.0 TV*
PluggedIn: Hello And
Goodbye
By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 2:19:05 AM
This article might sound unfair to our US
& Canada readers, so I’ve decided to give
you a quick recap of this new service,
called PluggedIn, before jumping to the
point. It’s a freshly launched music video
repository, focused on licensed, high
quality videos. It’s slickly designed and it
has a really solid selection with over ten
thousand videos, featuring some big labels
(UMG, EMI, Sony BMG) as well as some
indies. The videos are free too look at…
… if you live in the US or Canada.
Which makes the site completely useless
for anyone not living in these two
countries, and it’s the majority of the
world’s population we’re talking about
here.
I’ve written pretty much the same thing
when Hulu launched: sorry guys and girls,
but if the site doesn’t work for me at all,
I’m not going to write a raving review.
I don’t want to imply that PluggedIn is to
blame for this. The music industry and the
copyright laws & regulations are to be
blamed. And whatever you think of these
laws, they’ve done a lot of bad things for
all us music lovers around the world:
remember Pandora, which you cannot
access if you’re outside the US anymore?
Then it was Hulu, and now it’s PluggedIn.
Let me remind you that folks from outside
of US and Canada are not given a choice
here - you cannot do anything, even pay, to
see/hear this content. You’re simply faced
with a nice big GO AWAY sign. Well,
that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Facebook is Fastest Growing Social
Network in Europe
Google Transit Route Planning Now
Works In Europe
iPhone. Europe. Still on Track for
September Launch.
iPhone. Europe. September.
Viagogo is Official Secondary Ticketer
for NBA Europe Live
Europe Chooses YouTube
LinkedIn Opens Office in London
Video: SixApart Launches
BlogIt. Publish Across Blog
Networks from Facebook
By Kristen Nicole (Mashable!)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 10:01:05 PM
Blogging and life streaming are nearly
one and the same, and as serious bloggers
and other forms of self-publishers realize
the need to broadcast their original content
across networks (blogging platforms,
social networks, and the miniblogging
networks in order to tell everyone that
we’ve published something on our blog),
the need for an automated distribution tool
has been around for some time.
Most services that deal in social media
are now more willing to integrate such
options into their own content-creation
services. For instance, WorldTV recently
added Qik support with automatic Twitter
updates. And now that we have open
platforms within social media and
networking sites like Facebook, the ability
to republish and re-distribute is quite
commonplace.
SixApart’s blogging platform is
embracing this concept completely, with
its new BlogIt application on Facebook.
This app lets you create content directly
within your Facebook account, send it to
all the major blogging platforms (TypePad,
Blogger, Wordpress, etc.), and the
miniblogging platforms (Twitter, Pownce,
etc.) too. I stopped by the SixApart office
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
to get an early look at the new BlogIt
application earlier. See the screencast
below as David Recordon walks me
through the new product.
ShareThis
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The
Social Networking Blog:
Assignment Zero, CosmoTourist,
SueTube, Lala-Woxy, PlanHQ, ThisNext
Rob Lowe's nanny
files countersuit
claiming sexual abuse
By Kristin Sample (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 1:20:00 AM
Filed under: Celebrities, Brothers and
Sisters, Reality-Free Last week, Rob Lowe
filed a lawsuit against three former
employees. The star of Brothers and
Sisters says that one of these former
employees, former nanny Jessica Gibson,
wanted $1.5 million to remain silent about
allegations of abuse.
Gibson, who worked for Rob and Sheryl
Lowe on and off for seven years, filed a
claim in Santa Barbara yesterday. She
claims that the actor sexually abused her
on numerous occasions from September
2005 to January 2008. Why did she stay
for so long? "I always thought it would be
different when I went back, but it was not.
I stayed as long as I did because of the
children and because I needed a job,"
Gibson explained. Her lawyer added that if
the Lowes think that sueing Gibson as a
pre-emptive strike will intimidate her, "I
can assure them it will not." Gibson's
countersuit seeks an unspecified amount of
damages.
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
The Daily Show: April 15,
2008 - VIDEOS
By Annie Wu (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:21:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, The Daily Show,
Episode Reviews, Reality-Free If you've
been having trouble touching yourself
recently, it may be because the Pope is in
the States. Because he doesn't really have
anything better to do, President Bush
picked up the Pope from the airport. More
coverage has been promised for
Wednesday night, so I guess anyone that
was expecting some in-depth Popewatch
was sorely disappointed.
"House of Pain" (the alternate was "Itty-
Bitty Torture Committee", which is so
much better): To further creep out the
entire country, Bush admitted that six of
the top members of his administration have
extensively gone through what is
considered torture. No wonder CIA
Director George Tenet and company have
freely and happily repeated that the
government does not torture. Their
definition probably stops just short of
killing the interrogation subject. Asf for
Condoleezza Rice's chuckle-inducing
An Arrested Development reunion. Sort of.
By Brad Trechak (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 4:02:00 AM
Filed under: OpEd, Casting, Reality-Free
It's an Arrested Development reunion!
Well, not quite. But Jason Bateman, Will
Arnett and Henry Winkler will be lending
their voices for a new Fox animated series
called Sit Down, Shut Up.
The show centers around staff members
at a high school where the student needs
become secondary. It is based on an live-
action Australian series. Also joining the
voice cast are Cheri Oteri, Will Forte,
Nielsen ratings for the week ending April 13
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 1:07:00 AM
Filed under: Industry, Programming,
Ratings, Reality-Free
Here are the weekly ratings, by number
of viewers.
evasive maneuvering from that interview
clip, it really shouldn't have been so
chuckle-inducing. Ha-HA! Sadist
government.
Continue reading The Daily Show: April
15, 2008 - VIDEOS
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Regina King, Nick Kroll, Tom Kenny and
Maria Bamford.
It's a common strategy of television
shows to bring together two or more cast
American Idol gets three spots this week.
You know what FOX should do? Just
spread out Idol over seven nights. Why
not? Some episodes wouldn't be as highly-
rated as others, but you know fans would
tune in. They can have four performance
shows and three results shows. Ryan
Diane Neal gives her notice to
Law & Order: SVU
By Allison Waldman (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 2:01:00 AM
Filed under: Law and Order, Reality-Free
This is a bummer. (By the way, isn't there
a better expression than that to describe
disappointment? "What a shame" is just
too British to me.) Anyway, TV Guide's
Michael Ausiello reports that Law &
Order: SVU has lost Diane Neal. The
actress, who's played assistant district
attorney Casey Novak on the Dick Wolf
show for five years has turned in her
resignation. This season will be her last.
"Diane spent five years on SVU and was a
tremendous addition to the SVU team. She
is looking forward to new opportunities
and she will be missed," says the NBC
source about her departure.
Like I said, I'm not happy about this one.
Unlike so many of the faces and forms that
come in and out of the L&O universe,
Diane Neal stuck out. And I mean that in a
good way. She had a presence and a
passion, which was not only recognizable
members from previous successful series
and call it a "reunion." I've seen Lost In
Space reunions on Babylon 5 and Dukes of
Hazzard reunions on Smallville.
Arrested Development has its own cult
following, which I do not count myself
among. I enjoyed episodes of the show, but
don't go out of my way to see it or own it
on DVD. However, given AD's following,
it may mean more viewers for Sit Down,
Shut Up.
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
Seacrest can drag out the results over a few
nights. This will make sure that Idol takes
amid the many others who seem
interchangeable, it was crucial to match
fire with Christopher Meloni, Mariska
Hargitay and the other SVU cast.
Continue reading Diane Neal gives her
notice to Law & Order: SVU
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
up seven spots in the weekly top 20 and
also make sure the shows that follow all
get high ratings too.
1. American Idol- Tue (FOX)
2. American Idol- Thurs (FOX)
3. CSI(CBS)
Continue reading Nielsen ratings for the
TV* 23
Bob Barker is enjoying
his retirement, thinks
Carey is doing a good job
By Joel Keller (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 2:20:00 AM
Filed under: TV Royalty, Daytime, Game
Show, Reality-Free If anyone thought Bob
Barker was going to miss being on stage at
The Price is Right, then they'd be wrong.
At least if you listen to Bob; he not only
thinks he left "at just the right time," but is
keeping himself extremely busy.
Barker spoke to the Long Beach, CA
Press-Telegram recently, and he explained
that "I enjoyed the show right up to the last
minute of the last show. But, I don't miss it
so much that I want to go back and do it
again. I think I'm going to be very happy in
retirement." He's currently working with
various animal-rights organizations and is
writing an autobiography, which he
expects to be out late this year (ah, the
publishing world moves quickly when they
have to, know what I mean?).
Continue reading Bob Barker is enjoying
his retirement, thinks Carey is doing a
good job
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
week ending April 13
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
24 TV* Movies*
Super Skank Wednesday: Ambre,
the superior skank & A tribute to
Thing 2
By Kristin Sample (TV Squad)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:38:00 AM
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd,
Celebrities, Episode Reviews Welcome to
Super Skank Wednesday. This is where I
celebrate the awesomely skanky people on
the following shows: Rock of Love, Flavor
of Love, I Love New York, (or whatever
show Tiffany Pollard is making next), The
Surreal Life, and Charm School. Basically,
I'll discuss the skankalicious shows that
make VH1 the network it is today.
After the jump, I'll be discussing the
finale of Rock of Love 2(oh how
bittersweet it was) and Bret's past finalists.
I'll also be paying tribute to Thing 2 who
left the Flavor of Love house in the most
tearful elimination I have ever witnessed
DreamWorks Grabs
'Atlantis Rising'
By Elisabeth Rappe (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 4:02:00 AM
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy,
Deals, Newsstand, Dreamworks,
Comic/Superhero/Geek I have to concur
with the reader on Superhero Hype when
he/she said "Yet more comics I've never
heard of." Indeed. According to The
Hollywood Reporter, DreamWorks has
Indiana Jones and the Epic Running Time
By Elisabeth Rappe (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 2:32:00 AM
Filed under: Action, Classics, Thrillers,
Paramount, RumorMonger, Newsstand,
Steven Spielberg, Remakes and Sequels As
the release date for Indiana Jones and the
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull draws near,
the worried rumblings begin. First, there's
insider talk that Indiana Jones is only
going to screen for the press a day or two
on that show.
Continue reading Super Skank
Wednesday: Ambre, the superior skank &
A tribute to Thing 2
Permalink| Email this| | Comments
just optioned Platinum Comics' Atlantis
Rising five-part series to develop into a
live action movie.
The series takes a different approach
than the usual "lost city of vast
mythological wealth." Instead, seismic
disturbances at sea force the military to
investigate the deepest realm of the ocean,
before its premiere. To quote CHUD's
Devin Faraci, "I was told a long time ago -
when the movie was still filming - to not
expect to see Crystal Skull until maybe a
day or two before domestic release.
According to some insiders, this policy
was a smart one, as the movie may not
have turned out to be what people in the
industry call 'good.' I'm hoping for the
best, of course." Aren't we all. This is
being whispered elsewhere, so don't shoot
Horror Remake Machine
to Visit 'Sorority Row'?
(Seriously?)
By Scott Weinberg (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 4:32:00 AM
Filed under: Horror, Remakes and
Sequels OK, this is now moving beyond
ridiculous and venturing somewheres
towards Planet Absurd. Obviously I can
see the creative / financial appeal in
remaking something like Halloween,
Dawn of the Dead or The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre. On the creative side you get to
play around with one of the grand-daddies
of the horror genre ... and hopefully you've
got something new to add to the mix. On
the financial side, remakes with semi-
familiar titles like Prom Night, When a
Stranger Calls, The Fog and The Hitcher
are a quick way to turn a relatively easy
dollar.
But a few of these remakes just boggle
my mind. It's not a half-bad remake, but
someone actually made another version of
The Toolbox Murders a few years back. I
guess I'm just surprised to learn that
someone else besides me actually
remembers movies like The Toolbox
Murders, The Wizard of Gore, and The
House on Sorority Row... and not only
remembers 'em, but wants to remake 'em!
Yes, the latest wacky word from the
horror sites (beginning at Fangoria, I
believe) is that the justifiably obscure 1983
slasher flick The House on Sorority Row is
the next flick to be tossed into the remake
this messenger or Faraci.
Second, Crystal Skull is going to have a
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
mill. Written and directed by Mark
Rosman(who ultimately went on to direct a
lot of Hilary Duff stuff), HOSR is about a
bunch of college girls who get slashed up
after they cover up an accidental death.
Surely a plot like this simply screams for a
remake. According to Fango (and a
website called TrackingB.com), the
screenwriting team of Josh Stolberg and
Pete Goldfinger are on the job. They just
finished writing the Piranha remake for
Dimension, so I assume they'll soon be
remaking Spasms, Humongous, and The
Final Terror. Read| Permalink| Email this|
Comments
run time of rather epic proportions. Jeff
Wells reports that the final cut runs two
hours and twenty odd minutes, longer than
any previous Indy installment. There was a
great deal of groaning last summer over
needlessly long blockbusters -- I rather
think Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's
End was the most guilty. There are some
movies that scream for 2+ hours, like
anything with hobbits or scantily clad
Spartans (ok, that one is just me) but there
Shyamalan's
'Airbender' Gets
2010 Release Date
By Elisabeth Rappe (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 1:46:00 AM
Filed under: Animation, Sci-Fi &
Fantasy, Paramount, Family Films,
Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek M.
Night Shyamalan's live-action adaptation
of Avatar: The Last Airbender now has a
release date, according to Variety. Fans of
the popular Nickelodeon series can circle
their calenders for July 2nd, 2010 -- and
start complaining about the title change. In
order to avoid confusion with James
Cameron' s Avatar, the film will now
simply be titled The Last Airbender.
The anime series follows a young hero
who has the ability to manipulate the
elements, and who must stop a ruthless
nation from crushing everything in its path.
It is heavily influenced by anime legend
Hayao Miyazaki, which Shyamalan says
was the big appeal of the project. "In The
Last Airbender, I see an opportunity to
make a live-action version of a Miyazaki
film," Shyamalan said. He is penning the
script himself, which may give fans a
pause. There's been talk that an adaptation
is just what Shyamalan needs to get his
storytelling focus back on track -- but if
he's doing the writing, there's no telling
where this could go.
Continue reading Shyamalan's
'Airbender' Gets 2010 Release Date
Permalink| Email this| Comments
are others that are just fine clocking in at
90 minutes or so. That's where Indiana
Jones belongs -- he's the man who never
overstays his welcome and makes a
graceful exit, leaving you wanting more.
Don't read too much into that.
Continue reading Indiana Jones and the
Epic Running Time Permalink| Email this|
Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Mike White Sees 'The
Glory of it All'
By Monika Bartyzel (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 12:32:00 PM
Filed under: Comedy, Deals, Scripts,
Miramax Thanks to the wonderful Whit
Stillman, we've gotten lots of elite
Manhattanites in the eighties. Younger
folks have acted like 40-year-olds in
Metropolitan, and young yuppies have
pulled the last little bits of dancing wonder
from The Last Days of Disco. But now the
whole rich eighties scene is switching
coasts and coming from the hands of Mike
White.
The Hollywood Reporter has posted that
Scott Rudin and Miramax are bringing
Sean Wilsey's high-society memoir called
Oh the Glory of it All to the big screen,
with Mike White signed on to produce and
adapt it. Glory focuses on Wilsey's strange
youth in San Francisco during the 1980s,
tracking "his journey from dubious role
models to a tour of boarding schools and
an Italian 'therapeutic community.'" His
father was a strict and distant man who
drove Wilsey to rebellion, a man who
divorced Wilsey's mother to marry her best
friend. His mother, meanwhile, was the
belle of the social scene, a woman who
entertained everyone from movie stars to
Black Panthers and inspired a character in
Stan Lee Launches Another Superhero Franchise
By Elisabeth Rappe (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:32:00 AM
Filed under: Animation, Deals,
Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek Stan
Lee is one of the busiest guys in the world.
He has to be. He's just involved in
everything, and still manages to cameo in
any Marvel movie. According to The
Hollywood Reporter, Lee is now paring up
with Brighton Partners and Rainmaker
Entertainment to launch Legion of 5, a new
Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City. But
she also proved to be devoid of certain
motherly traits, like, say, keeping her son
safe -- she attempted to convince him to
commit suicide with her.
Obviously, this is retro dysfunction at its
finest, one that could make for a very
funny movie in the hands of White, as long
as there are actors to pull it off well. So,
who would you cast? Permalink| Email
this| Comments
superhero property.
Legion of 5 is being planned as a series
of CG animated films, but will be
expanded to include games, online and
mobile releases. Basically, wherever you
go, there will be something Legion of 5. It
could be ... like air!
Details of the storyline and the characters
are all being kept under wraps. There isn't
expected to be any kind of further
announcement at New York Comic Con,
where Lee is receiving the New York
Interview: Jason Kohn,
Director of 'Manda Bala
(Send a Bullet)'
By Kim Voynar (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 1:02:00 PM
Filed under: Documentary, Interviews,
Cinematical Indie
Manda Bala(Send a Bullet), directed and
produced by Jason Kohn, is a richly
painted, riveting documentary weaving
together threads of political corruption and
disparity of wealth distribution in Brazil,
frog farms, kidnappings in Sao Paulo,
reconstructive ear surgery, and the growth
of the personal security business in Brazil.
If all this sounds like a lot to meld together
into one coherent tale, it is, but Kohn
proves himself more than up to the task.
Cinematical spoke to Kohn by phone
recently about Manda Bala, which has
received numerous awards on the fest
circuit over the past year, and recently won
three awards at the inaugural Cinema Eye
Comics Legend award.
It is so hard to make any judgment call
Awards.
Cinematical: I read that at the Cinema
Eye Awards, in your acceptance speech
you talked about this film being made out
of anger; can you talk a bit more about
that?
Jason Kohn: Really that came out of my
sense of frustration at the state of
contemporary documentary films, at least
at the time when I started making the film.
There was a lot of talk going on about the
democratization of docs, how it's cheaper
to make them with new technologies, and I
thought that was mostly bullshit. This idea
that people on the marginalized fringes of
society now have access to these
technologies - it's just not true.
Continue reading Interview: Jason Kohn,
Director of 'Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)'
Permalink| Email this| Comments
on these projects when there's so little to
go on. There's always part of me that
wonders if these deals will actually come
to anything, or if the $24 million being
raised by all partners will just be spent on
failed design concepts. Plus, anything with
CG that isn't Pixar does little to excite me -
- for some reason, I'm just seeing a
superhero version of Space Chimps. I think
I'm drinking too much caffeine these days.
Permalink| Email this| Comments
Movies* 25
Finally! The Farrelly Bros.
Get Behind That Redneck
Action-Adventure!
By Erik Davis (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 1:32:00 PM
Filed under: Comedy, Deals, Newsstand
It's been quite some time since the Farrelly
Bros. have given us a gem like There's
Something About Mary, Kingpin or Dumb
and Dumber. Big-screen comedy trends
seem to be changing; moving away from
the random gross-out gags and more
toward the random pop-culture references.
But that won't stop Bobby and Peter
Farrelly from navigating toward material
they're familiar with -- and Variety tells us
their latest comes from a script written by
Mike Arnold and Chris Poole. It's called
Beaujolais. Yup. I don't know what it
means; Wiki says it's a wine.
Anyway, the Farrelly boys are going to
produce with an eye on possibly directing.
Variety describes Beaujolais as a "redneck
action-adventure with a protagonist along
the lines of Austin Powers or Ace
Ventura." So basically it's Larry the Cable
guy with a few more catchphrases. Danny
McBride is currently in talks to star; he's
popped up in films like The Heartbreak
Kid and Hot Rod, with upcoming roles in
Land of the Lost and Tropic Thunder.
Do you think Peter and Bobby Farrelly
still have a comedy classic left inside
them? Or has their type of humor simply
taken a long walk off a short pier? (Man,
would I love to see another Outside
Providence from these boys ...) Permalink|
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26 Movies* Gossip
Horror Flick Gets Tossed
From Oklahoma Film Festival
For Scary Marketing
By Scott Weinberg (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:02:00 AM
Filed under: Horror, Independent,
Celebrities and Controversy Prior to an
hour ago, I had no idea what kind of
behavior could get your film tossed out of
Muskogee's Bare Bones International
Independent Film and Music Festival... but
now I do. According to news sources out
of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the independent
horror film A Beautiful Day was scheduled
to play the festival, but the filmmakers
have been asked to take their celluloid and
go home. Why? Cuz the "little guys"
thought they could borrow some of that
viral marketing from the big boys, that's
why...
Apparently the guys put together a very
vague trailer for their film's festival
screening -- and it was so damn vague it
was mistaken for a possible terrorist threat!
The trailer never lets on that it's a ... movie
trailer, plus it had some creepy voice-over
that went a little like this: "People of
Muskogee. Open your eyes. April 25th is a
day you'll come to remember." Yikes.
Given the current state of affairs in
DREAMWORKS
continued from page 24
and an underground civilization emerges to
wage war with Earth. "The comic brings a
fresh, techno-thriller approach to a story
that holds all the tenets of a classic us-vs.-
them alien invasion movie," says
DreamWorks Alex Kurtzman, who is
producing the project.
Platinum Comics' CEO, Mitchell
Rosenberg, says the project echoes "the
American high schools, it's no surprise that
school officials caught wind of the clip and
brought it to the awareness of various
authorities.
Continue reading Horror Flick Gets
Tossed From Oklahoma Film Festival For
Scary Marketing Read| Permalink| Email
this| Comments
global debate on our impact to the
environment." That's becoming the new
buzz phrase -- I think I first heard it with
the Dune remake, and it just keeps coming
back.
If you're interested in checking out the
series, Drunk Duck has three issues up to
read free of charge. I have to confess, I
only got about halfway through the first
Cinematical Seven: Films with
Hilarious Nudity
By Eric D. Snider (Cinematical)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 2:02:00 PM
Filed under: Comedy, Cinematical Seven
One of the scenes in Forgetting Sarah
Marshall that people will be talking about
over the virtual water cooler next week is
the one that involves Jason Segel doing
full frontal nudity. Yes, he lets it all hang
out, and what's admirable is that he does it
purely for the sake of a joke. That takes
courage! That takes guts! That takes ...
well, you know.
This isn't the first film to use nudity for
laughs, of course. Comical naughty bits
one and it didn't grab my interest. But
maybe I am just not in the mood. Let me
know if I need to go back for a second look
and read up to issue three. I don't think I
have ever seen a good story centered
around Atlantis, though. Permalink| Email
this| Comments
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
have a rich history in Hollywood. Here are
seven movies with hilarious nudity.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for
Make Benefit Glorious Nation of
Kazakhstan
What's funnier than a naked dude? A
naked FAT dude. And what's funnier than
a naked fat dude? A naked fat dude
wrestling a naked skinny dude in a hotel
room, and a hotel hallway, and a hotel
elevator, etc., etc.
Continue reading Cinematical Seven:
Films with Hilarious Nudity Permalink|
Email this| Comments
Ashlee Simpson
Might Really be
Pregnant
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/16/2008 12:08:16 AM
Finally a news source we are inclined to
believe, PEOPLE, is reporting that Ashlee
Simpson is not only pregnant, but getting
married in May. The source even said the
wedding will be held at a friend’s house in
La Jolla, California, which is up the hill
from San Diego. There’s even a Walmart
nearby, so they can order a cheap cake.
Earlier today Ashlee denied her pregnancy
saying, "Some things you want to keep
personal."
The whole video of Ashlee pregnant was
just a smoke screen so we wouldn’t know
she really is.
Ashlee passed up a $4 million dollar
offer to pose for Playboy, so she must be
holding out on the pregnancy news to
score a big pay check with baby pictures.
Very sneaky.
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
• Ashlee Simpson Denies Pregnancy
• Pete Wentz Denies Ashlee Simpson Is
Pregnant
• Ashlee Simpson is Pregnant
• Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson Are
Getting Married
• Ashlee Simpson Bittersweet Album
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
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
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
Sports* 27
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
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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
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
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.
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
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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?),
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
29
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 30
30
WELCOME
continued from page 29
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,
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
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
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 31
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
WELCOME
continued from page 30
$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
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
31
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.
32 Sports*
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
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
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
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
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
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.
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
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
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.
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
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
Sports* 33
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.
34 Sports*
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
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
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
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.
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
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
David Cook Performs for his Sick Brother
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/16/2008 4:45:23 AM
The American Idol judges gave David
Cook high marks for his performance of
Always Be My Baby. Randy gave him a
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
standing ovation, and even Simon said
David is ready for a recording contract.
David Cook may just win American Idol.
Tonight Cook’s brother, who is dying from
brain cancer, was able to be in the
audience to see his brother perform.
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
During a commercial break, David
walked down to hug his brother Adam in
his seat. All three judges, Simon Cowell,
Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, also
hugged Adam.
n Is David Cook Only Getting the
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
Sympathy Vote?
• No
• Yes
View Results
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
Sports* Gossip 35
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.
• American Idol is Going Postal
• Teri Hatcher to Sing on American Idol
• Ashley Feri is Back
• David Cook Rushed to the Hospital
• Amanda Overmyer Without Clothes
36 Sports*
Fans, Former Owner Fight to Keep Sonics in Seattle
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 4/15/2008 12:42:00 PM
There are flickers of hoops hope in
Seattle. On Sunday, in the Sonics’ last
home game this season and perhaps in
franchise history, the young club upset the
Dallas Mavericks, 99-95. And on Monday,
former club owner Howard Schultz, better
known as Starbucks’ chairman and chief
executive, said he was prepared to sue to
get the team back from an ownership
group that plans to move Kevin Durant and
Co. to Oklahoma City.
Sonics fans hoped for a reprieve at the
home finale. (Reuters Photo)
A week ago, Mr. Schultz begged off
questions about the Sonics at a press event
for his coffee company, Jayda Evans
reports in the Seattle Times. The potential
lawsuit, based in part on a Times account
of emails by the new owners openly
talking about moving the team, despite
their agreement to a stipulation when
buying the team that they’d try to keep it in
place, appears unlikely to succeed, Times
columnist Jerry Brewer warns.
“Ultimately, this effort only figures to get
Schultz a considerable legal-fees tab and a
heap of disappointment,” Mr. Brewer
writes. “Nevertheless, he has given the city
an even stronger case to keep the Sonics in
their KeyArena lease through 2010.” (
Contrary to what the Fix wrote earlier, Mr.
Schultz hasn’t sued yet, but said he’s
prepared to do so.)
The team made an emotional case
Sunday, but fans responded with more
sadness than celebration, Sports
Illustrated’s Ian Thomsen writes: “What
had been won, really? A victory in their
worst season on the court; a meaningless
evening amid the bigger scheme.”
Gary Payton, who led the Sonics to the
playoffs 10 times in his 13 seasons, was in
attendance Sunday. “He signed autographs,
posed for pictures and for a few minutes
made everyone forget about this miserable
season, as if it was 1996 again,” Percy
Allen writes in the Times.
Memories of bygone franchises can be
painful. On the occasion of the debut of
arena football’s Iowa Barnstormers, Part
III, Des Moines Register columnist Sean
Keeler wonders if fans will risk a third
disappointment. Of course, for every jilted
city there’s a fan base eager to embrace a
new franchise. On the 50th anniversary of
the baseball Giants’ West Coast debut,
Lewis Abraham Leade recalls in the San
Francisco Chronicle how “San Franciscans
greeted their Giants with an outpouring of
gracious and grateful glee.”
***
The NBA playoff slate is set, but the
postseason doesn’t begin for four days. So
for now, the Fix will stick with other teams
that will be watching from home.
The 48-33 Golden State Warriors have
won more games than any team in the
franchise’s previous 13 seasons —
including last year, when the Warriors won
42 regular-season games and added five
playoff wins. They’ve also won more
games than any non-playoff team in the
NBA’s last 25 years. These are small
consolations for a Warriors season that
flamed out in dramatic and bizarre fashion
Monday night, with Baron Davis sitting on
the bench during the entire second half of a
122-116 loss to the Phoenix Suns that
eliminated Golden State from the playoffs.
“In his absence, the Warriors met their
season’s end with tributes of all that had
gone right, all that had been accomplished
and ultimately, all that was not meant to
be,” Janny Hu writes in the San Francisco
Chronicle.
Like the Warriors, the 40-win Portland
Trail Blazers would have made the
playoffs had they sported their .500 record
in the East. Instead Portland has had
several weeks to look ahead to next year,
and management started by cutting ties
with Darius Miles. The Oregonian’s John
Canzano says the disastrous $48 million
Miles signing should impart a lesson: “The
entire body of an athlete’s work, not just a
couple of inspired months at the end of an
expiring contract, or promises made in
training camp, should be considered when
handing out guaranteed contracts.”
In New York, where the Knicks’ coach
and former president has made several
trades on par with the Miles fiasco, New
York Times beat reporter Howard Beck
makes good use of what may be one of his
last opportunities to kick Isiah Thomas
around. “The Knicks thanked their fans —
their irrationally loyal, perpetually
tormented fans — with free hot dogs,
popcorn, pizza and pretzels Monday at
Madison Square Garden,” Mr. Beck writes.
“They called it fan appreciation night,
although the fans surely would have traded
the food for a higher-ticket item, namely
the termination of Isiah Thomas.”
The Miami Heat have nine fewer wins
than the Knicks, yet among moribund
South Florida pro teams, they may have
the best chance to turn things around
quickly, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s
Dave Hyde writes(clearly not putting much
stock in the Marlins’ 7-5 start).
***
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Detroit sports teams giveth, Detroit
sports teams taketh away. Right around the
time the preseason favorite Detroit Tigers
showed some life at home by coming back
to beat the Minnesota Twins, 11-9, and
improve to a majors-worst 3-10, the Red
Wings were blowing a 3-2 lead in the third
game of their NHL first-round playoff
series in Nashville. The lead vanished in
nine of the game’s final 240 seconds as the
Predators scored two goals and went on to
win, 3-2, and narrow Detroit’s series lead
to 2-1.
“The Wings do not sound terribly
worried, but they are concerned about at
least one thing,” Michael Rosenberg writes
in the Detroit Free Press. “Earlier in the
game, Nashville scored two goals barely
two minutes apart. In Saturday’s game, the
Predators scored two goals 11 seconds
apart. Astute readers will notice a trend
here.”
The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t falter in
their bid to take a 3-0 series lead over the
Ottawa Senators. In the Pittsburgh Post-
Gazette, Ron Cook credits 23-year-old
goalie Marc-André Fleury. “Much was
made before the series of how much the
Penguins have grown and matured since
their quick playoff exit against the
Senators last spring,” Mr. Cook writes. “It
seems obvious now that no one grew and
matured more than Fleury.”
***
The New York Yankees spent $30,000 to
drill for a David Ortiz jersey buried in the
cement that will form the foundation for
their new stadium. They may spend more
money on this story, if they’re serious
about suing the Red Sox-loyal construction
worker behind the prank. In reacting
seriously to this story (which, by the way,
graced the cover of the Journal’s corporate
cousin, the New York Post, on Friday,
Saturday and Monday), the 26-time world
champions “have embraced irrational
thought as their own, using Derek Jeter’s
lighthearted concerns as their alibi, their
beacon of reason,” Filip Bondy writes in
the New York Daily News. “This
supposedly aristocratic, staid franchise has
leaped into a realm normally populated by
voodoo dolls, séances, astrologers and
rabbits’ feet.”
The Yanks might want to take a cue from
two columns urging fans of the two-time
world champion Chicago Cubs not to get
bogged down in irrational thoughts about
past failures. Chicago Tribune columnist
Fred Mitchell, inspired by Bill Buckner’s
Boston homecoming, says Cubs fans
should forgive Leon Durham for a costly
error in the 1984 NLCS. And Chris De
Luca argues in the Chicago Sun-Times that
Dusty Baker deserves no blame for the
Cubs’ unraveling in the 2003 NLCS. (Mr.
Baker does have other baseball
transgressions to answer for, however.)
***
Tommy Holmes, a beloved All-Star
second baseman outfielder for the Boston
Braves for 10 years starting in 1942, died
Monday at age 91. In addition to a
remarkable 1945 season in which he hit
safely in 37 straight games, Mr. Holmes
left behind a charitable legacy. “He was
also instrumental in helping the Braves
initiate the Jimmy Fund in 1948,” Marvin
Pave writes in the Boston Globe. “He was
one of several players, along with manager
Billy Southworth, whose visit to a young
cancer patient known as ‘Jimmy’ (real
name Carl Einar Gustafson) at Children’s
Hospital was nationally broadcast on radio.
The Braves’ efforts helped raise $200,000
that year.”
– Tip of the Fix cap to readers Michelle
Alessandri and Don Hartline for link
suggestions, and to Michael McConnell
and Ed Onanian for error-spotting.
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 37
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
Wesley Snipes
Dakota that got B.C. to the final, the
Globes Barbara Matson
Faces Jail Time
asked(rhetorically). What else can be said By Hollywood Grind
about Nathan Gerbe, except perhaps where Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:34:39 PM
did he learn to skate like that?
Charging after his older brothers on a Federal prosecutors asked a court
pond in Michigan started Gerbe on the fast Monday to make an example of Wesley
track, she answers, and when he didn’t get Snipes by sentencing him to the maximum
bigger than 5 feet 5 inches, he just kept of three years in prison for failing to file a
getting fasterEvery time Gerbe had the tax return.
puck and a slice of open space in the It’s cases like this that really showcase
neutral zone, he deked and ducked to get how the IRS has too much power, and no
away from checkers, suddenly appearing watch dog to check that power. American
on the other side of the blue line, staring citizens should not face jail time for debt,
down the goalie. Even if you know where or for failing to file and pay taxes. The IRS
he is, you dont. can get a court judgement, or even a lien
For a visual of Mr. Gerbes work, check against property, to get repaid for the debt
out this jaw-dropping penalty shot against owed to them, so jail time seems more like
Providence College. an abuse of power than justice.
*** Free Wesley!
Finally, the requisite Longish Awesome n Should Wesley Go to Jail?
Feature Piece of the day comes from Dave • No
McKenna of the Washington City Paper, • Yes
who casts a not-so-fond look back at the View Results
recently retired Chris Webber and the ultra © Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
-boorish Washington Bullets/Wizards of 2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
the 1990s. The Webber Era confabs werent • Carmelo Anthony Arrested for DUI
only uncompetitiveone playoff appearance, • Richie Sambora Faces DUI and Child
zero playoff wins, Mr. McKenna writes, Endangerment Charges
but hindsight reveals their rank as the most • Foxy Brown Being Released From Jail
unlikable team to ever call this town home. • Barron Hilton Pleads No Contest to DUI
Those teams are given a soul-stirring • Naomi Campbell Racial Tirade
salute in two YouTube knockoffs of the
NBAs Where Amazing Happens ads from
the inimitable Wizznutzz. The videos are
here and here.
– 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.
38 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
(Georgetown) 1.
Chalmers finished the Final Four with
Pete Doherty is
six assists, seven rebounds, seven steals
and 29 points — three of them tying the
title game with a couple of seconds left in
Doing Drugs in
regulation. He was chosen only by contest
winner Greg Martinek.
Jail
9. Which teams will make the Final Four By Hollywood Grind
(10 points each)? Submitted at 4/16/2008 3:52:09 PM
East: North Carolina 79; Tennessee 4;
Louisville 2. According to The Sun, Pete Doherty is
South: Texas 39; Memphis 22; supposed to be receiving methadone to
Pittsburgh 12; Stanford 8; Marquette, help him stay off heroin, but he is still
Michigan State, Kentucky 1. getting and doing drugs in prison. The
West: UCLA 76; Duke 4; Drake, Xavier picture above is a real picture of Pete in
2. jail. Pete is writing IOUs and signing
Midwest: Kansas 49; Georgetown 21; autographs that can be sold on Ebay to get
Wisconsin 7; Clemson 5; Kansas State, drugs, and has an ex drug dealer protecting
USC, Vanderbilt 1. him in jail. The reports says Pete is being
10. Which team will win the treated like a celebrity, and guards have
championship (30 points)? promised him a better cell as soon as one
North Carolina 36; UCLA 32; Kansas 9; becomes available.
Memphis 3; Georgetown 2; Stanford, With Pete doing the same drugs in jail
Tennessee, Texas 1. that got him locked up in the first place,
The two reader favorites were what qualifies as good behavior in jail?
overmatched and outplayed in the semis. © Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
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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
Diane Neal is Leaving Law and Order
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/15/2008 11:24:09 PM
Just 24 hours after HG reported Gary
Dourdan would be leaving CSI next
month, Diane Neal has also decided to
leave Law & Order: SVU next month.
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.
Neal spent five years on the show. Reports
say Dick Wolf wants fresher and cheaper
talent for Law & Order. We saw this
coming in the last contract negotiations.
Actors beware. Your pay checks could
be getting smaller in the years to come.
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
“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
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
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
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Dangerous
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Sports* Gossip 39
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.
40 Sports* Gossip
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
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
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
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
week portends well.
Phil Mickelson has shown he can win
here. And his short-game coach Dave Pelz
told me in a conversation about a month
ago that Mr. Mickelson’s wrist was hurt
worse than people thought last year, but
now is completely healed. Mr. Mickelson
has already won once on Tour this year. A
third jacket for him is not farfetched.
But the Fix Pick is K.J. Choi. He is
second in greens in regulation this year,
sixth in scoring average, has won once this
year, and, after getting off to an awful start
last week, rallied to finish 11th.
And, who knows: If my prediction is
right, maybe I’ll run for president!
Mr. Carroll, a news editor at the print
Journal, always wanted his Dad to be
president so the family could bowl in the
White House. He can be reached at
tim.carroll@wsj.com. Heidi Montag Raps on TRL
By Hollywood Grind © Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
Submitted at 4/15/2008 11:41:10 PM
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
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she can’t rap, so what can she do? She can Worst by People
always put her chest to good use in skin
flicks.
Daily -Click and Print- Newspaper
Cynthia Nixon Survived Breast Cancer
By Hollywood Grind
Submitted at 4/15/2008 10:50:45 PM
Cynthia Nixon, pictured here with
Christine Marinoni at a NYC benefit,
battled breast cancer. Her mother battled
breast cancer when Cynthia was 12 years-
old, and even her grandmother battled
breast cancer.
Cynthia said she had gone for her
"completely routine mammogram" in 2006
when she got a call from her gynecologist.
Her doctor said, "Well I have some, it’s
not such great news."
Cynthia said she felt "scared … I was
very cognizant of it. If it’s going to
happen, this is the best way for it to
happen, that it’s found so early, and we can
just get right on it."
A monthly breast exam, and annual
mammogram are the best defense to
finding the cancer early.
Cynthia said she "made a big point" of
telling her two children she had the
disease. "I basically told them they found
some cancer in my right breast. It’s very
small and it’s very early. I’m going to have
an operation, they’re going to take it out,
and then we’re going to have six-and-a-
half weeks of radiation, every weekday.
This is what grandma went through, and
I’m going to be fine."
That’s a lot for kids to handle.
Cynthia said she kept her diagnosis
private because "I didn’t want paparazzi at
the hospital. As the daughter of a breast
Gossip 41
cancer survivor, knowing my personal risk
made me more aware and more
empowered when I faced my own
diagnosis."
Next year Cynthia will become the
spokesperson for the Susan G. Komen for
the Cure Foundation. There is a lot of
support for breast cancer, but let’s not
forget another leading cancer, and that is
prostate cancer.
© Copyright HollywoodGrind.com 2006-
2008. All Rights Reserved. Related posts:
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are Gross
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Lesbian
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