http://tvwatch.people.com/2009/08/17/new-dancing-stars-revealed/
It’s going to be a crowded ballroom for Dancing with the Stars’ ninth season. Sixteen celebrities — including Donny Osmond, Melissa Joan Hart and Aaron Carter — have signed on to do the cha cha and the paso doble on the ABC show, which premieres Monday, Sept. 21.
“When we increase the cast we find it makes the competition more interesting,” DWTS executive producer Conrad Green tells PEOPLE. “It was about trying to make it as big as possible and try to get that sense of fun and excitement and real character come through on the show.”
The sweet 16 lineup, which was announced live on Good Morning America Monday, also includes familiar faces like former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin, reality star Kelly Osbourne and supermodel-turned-billionaire businesswoman Kathy Ireland. Lesser-known celebrities, like snowboarder Louie Vito, Iron Chef’s Mark Dacascos and model Joanna Krupa join the cast as well. But by far the most eyebrow-raising contestant is former House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
“He’s a fairly divisive figure in as much as Democrats will probably be hoping he fails and Republicans will probably be melting down the phones to keep him in,” Green admits. “I love that kind of level of engagement.”
Adds Green: “Tom loves dancing. He dances with his wife. He watches Dancing with the Stars religiously. For him it was a no brainer, but for us it was an absolute shock.”
Professional dancer/celebrity pairings will be announced on August 24, Green says, “because of geography, people will be meeting their partners for the first time at various times throughout the week.”
The complete cast for Dancing Season Nine
Mya, singer
Melissa Joan Hart, actress
Michael Irvin, former Dallas Cowboy
Ashley Hamilton, actor, comedian, singer-songwriter
Aaron Carter, singer
Kathy Ireland, former supermodel-turned-businesswoman
Debi Mazar, actress
Natalie Coughlin, U.S. Olympic swimmer
Louie Vito, snowboarder
Chuck Liddell, ultimate fighting champ
Donny Osmond, singer
Tom DeLay, former Republican congressman
Macy Gray, singer
Joanna Krupa, model and actress
Mark Dacascos, Iron Chef personality
Kelly Osbourne, reality star
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Yang ensures major-less year for Tiger
http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/pgachampionship09/news/story?id=4403199
CHASKA, Minn. -- Y.E. Yang shook his fists and shouted with joy over a victory felt around the world. Equally stunning was the sight of Tiger Woods, standing over the final putt of the PGA Championship with nothing at stake.
The final major of the year delivered a pair of shocking developments Sunday.
Yang, a 37-year-old from South Korea who was in PGA Tour qualifying school nine months ago, became the first Asian-born player to capture a major title with a series of spectacular shots on the back nine of Hazeltine.
Fantastic Finish
Y.E. Yang's final 49 holes illustrated just how good the 37-year-old was down the stretch at Hazeltine. After starting the tournament 5-over par, Yang regrouped to shoot 13-under en route to his first major championship win.
Even more memorable was the guy he beat.
Woods was 14-0 when he was atop the leaderboard going into the final round of a major. He had never lost any tournament on American soil when leading by more than one shot.
Yang showed everyone how to beat him, from the stars who had failed so many times over the last dozen years, and perhaps to an emerging generation of golfers in Asia, the fastest-growing golf market in the world.
"It's not like you're in an octagon where you're fighting against Tiger and he's going to bite you, or swing at you with his 9-iron," Yang said through an interpreter. "The worst that I could do was just lose to Tiger. So I really had nothing much at stake."
When he saw Woods in birdie range at the 14th, Yang chipped in from 60 feet for eagle to take the lead. Clinging to a one-shot lead, a tree slightly blocking his view of the flag on the 18th hole and Woods in the fairway, Yang hit the shot of his life. His 3-iron hybrid cleared a bunker and settled 12 feet away.
And with that, Yang slew golf's giant.
Gene Wojciechowski and Bob Harig discuss Y.E. Yang's stunning upset of Tiger Woods on Sunday of the PGA Championship. Is it fair to say Tiger choked?
Yang made the final birdie to close with a 2-under 70, giving him a three-shot victory when Woods missed yet another short par putt and had a 75, his worst score ever in the final round of the major when he was in the last group.
"All the other 14 major championships I've won, I've putted well for the entire week," Woods said. "And today, that didn't happen."
Instead, it was Yang posing with the trophy and giving the longest press conference of his life. When he finally left Hazeltine, another celebration awaited. He has been eating every night at the Hoban Korean Restaurant, and the owners kept the doors open.
"They were supposed to be closed," said Michael Yim, an IMG agent who works with Yang. "All the staff and the owner's family were outside the store, giving us a standing ovation. They said, 'If you can come at 3 in the morning, we would have kept it open.' Their eyes were teary. What just happened is huge."
For Woods, it was the second time he has finished runner-up in the PGA Championship at Hazeltine, both times to a surprise winner. Seven years ago, he birdied the last four holes and came up one short of Rich Beem.
This time, Woods made one mistake after another over the last four holes, mostly with his putter.
"I did everything I needed to do, except for getting the ball in the hole," Woods said. "Just didn't make the putts when I needed to make them."
Yang's victory is massive for Asia. Perhaps even more significant is the way he stood up to Woods, the world's No. 1 player whose heritage is half-Asian through his Thai-born mother.
Yang and K.J. Choi are the only PGA Tour players who learned golf in South Korea before coming to America. South Koreans have had far more success on the LPGA Tour, with seven players combining to win 11 majors.
“
This might be my last win as a golfer. But it sure is a great day. ” -- PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang
"Golf in Asia has been growing steadily, so to have the guy who finally found a way to beat Tiger on Sunday is so big for the region," Geoff Ogilvy said. "It's hard for us here in the U.S. to imagine the impact this will have."
His victory came four days after golf was recommended to become part of the Olympics in 2016.
Yang was No. 110 in the world, his only victory on the PGA Tour coming in March at the Honda Classic, on a course across the street from headquarters of the PGA of America. He was best known for holding off Woods at the HSBC Champions in China three years ago.
This stage was far bigger and Yang was even better.
He trailed by two shots going into the final round, caught Woods at the turn, and was tied with five holes to play when Yang chipped in for eagle on the 14th. When it looked as though nerves were getting the best of him on a three-putt bogey at the 17th, he delivered his two most important shots that brought him an unlikely victory.
"This might be my last win as a golfer," Yang said. "But it sure is a great day."
Y.E. Yang became the first Asian golfer to win a major championship title, besting Tiger Woods by three strokes at Hazeltine on Sunday.
Yang still had enough strength left to hoist his golf bag over his head, and later the 44-pound Wanamaker Trophy. After a long and tearful embrace with his wife, Young Ju Park, he walked across a bridge saluting thousands of fans who couldn't believe what they saw.
In a year of spoilers at the majors, this might have been the biggest: Yang topped the mighty Tiger Woods.
Kenny Perry was poised to become the oldest Masters champion at 48 until Angel Cabrera beat him in a playoff. Phil Mickelson, reeling from news that his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, was on the verge of finally winning the U.S. Open until Lucas Glover outplayed him over the final few holes. And just last month, 59-year-old Tom Watson was an 8-foot par putt away from winning the British Open, then lost in a playoff to Stewart Cink.
Woods losing a two-shot lead in the final round of a major? That was unthinkable -- until a breezy afternoon at Hazeltine.
Yang finished at 8-under 280 and won $1.35 million, along with a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour and the majors. He became the first player since John Daly in 1991 to win the PGA Championship after going to Q-school the previous year.
One more bonus: His victory put him on the International team for the Presidents Cup in October in San Francisco.
Asian-born players had come close in the majors -- Liang-Huan Lu of Taiwan finishing one shot behind Lee Trevino at the 1971 British Open, and T.C. Chen's famous two-chip gaffe that cost him a chance at the 1985 U.S. Open, where he was runner-up to Andy North.
This could be a big breakthrough for Asian players, especially with a World Golf Championship starting this year in China.
Even South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak, got up before sunrise to watch the tournament live. He later phoned Yang to offer his congratulations.
"I woke up at dawn today to watch the broadcast, and you played in a calm manner," Lee told Yang, according to Lee's office. "First of all, you enhanced our people's morale by winning the major title for the first time as an Asian."
As for the PGA Championship, what remains is whether it will be remembered more for Yang's victory for Woods losing a 54-hole lead for the first time in a major.
"He went out there and executed his game plan," Woods said. "He was doing exactly what you have to do, especially in these conditions. I think he played beautifully."
This was a two-man race throughout the back nine, especially after defending champion Padraig Harrington imploded in the group ahead of them on the par-3 eighth. Harrington was one shot behind when he hit two shots in the water -- including a chip from behind the green, just as he did last week at Firestone -- and took a quintuple-bogey 8. He shot a 78.
Woods three-putted for bogey at No. 4 for the second straight day and made bogey from the bunker at No. 8, sending the final pairing to the back nine in a tie for the lead.
Woods regained the lead with a 3-wood on the 606-yard 11th hole onto the green, only to give it back with a bogey on the 12th after he hit a wild hook into the trees. He twice missed birdie putts inside 10 feet -- at No. 10 and No. 13 -- and then momentum shifted to Yang.
With the tees again moved forward to 301 yards, Yang came up just short. He watched Woods play a good bunker shot to 8 feet, then knocked in his chip.
"That's when I thought, 'I do have a chance,'" Yang said.
He was steady. Woods was sloppy.
Woods chunked a 3-wood trying to for the green in two at the 15th, then missed another 10-foot birdie putt to tie. Both bogeyed the 17th hole, Woods with a shot he thought was pure until it landed into thick rough over the green.
"Tiger's good, but he could always have a bad day," Yang said. "Guess this is one of those days."
CHASKA, Minn. -- Y.E. Yang shook his fists and shouted with joy over a victory felt around the world. Equally stunning was the sight of Tiger Woods, standing over the final putt of the PGA Championship with nothing at stake.
The final major of the year delivered a pair of shocking developments Sunday.
Yang, a 37-year-old from South Korea who was in PGA Tour qualifying school nine months ago, became the first Asian-born player to capture a major title with a series of spectacular shots on the back nine of Hazeltine.
Fantastic Finish
Y.E. Yang's final 49 holes illustrated just how good the 37-year-old was down the stretch at Hazeltine. After starting the tournament 5-over par, Yang regrouped to shoot 13-under en route to his first major championship win.
Even more memorable was the guy he beat.
Woods was 14-0 when he was atop the leaderboard going into the final round of a major. He had never lost any tournament on American soil when leading by more than one shot.
Yang showed everyone how to beat him, from the stars who had failed so many times over the last dozen years, and perhaps to an emerging generation of golfers in Asia, the fastest-growing golf market in the world.
"It's not like you're in an octagon where you're fighting against Tiger and he's going to bite you, or swing at you with his 9-iron," Yang said through an interpreter. "The worst that I could do was just lose to Tiger. So I really had nothing much at stake."
When he saw Woods in birdie range at the 14th, Yang chipped in from 60 feet for eagle to take the lead. Clinging to a one-shot lead, a tree slightly blocking his view of the flag on the 18th hole and Woods in the fairway, Yang hit the shot of his life. His 3-iron hybrid cleared a bunker and settled 12 feet away.
And with that, Yang slew golf's giant.
Gene Wojciechowski and Bob Harig discuss Y.E. Yang's stunning upset of Tiger Woods on Sunday of the PGA Championship. Is it fair to say Tiger choked?
Yang made the final birdie to close with a 2-under 70, giving him a three-shot victory when Woods missed yet another short par putt and had a 75, his worst score ever in the final round of the major when he was in the last group.
"All the other 14 major championships I've won, I've putted well for the entire week," Woods said. "And today, that didn't happen."
Instead, it was Yang posing with the trophy and giving the longest press conference of his life. When he finally left Hazeltine, another celebration awaited. He has been eating every night at the Hoban Korean Restaurant, and the owners kept the doors open.
"They were supposed to be closed," said Michael Yim, an IMG agent who works with Yang. "All the staff and the owner's family were outside the store, giving us a standing ovation. They said, 'If you can come at 3 in the morning, we would have kept it open.' Their eyes were teary. What just happened is huge."
For Woods, it was the second time he has finished runner-up in the PGA Championship at Hazeltine, both times to a surprise winner. Seven years ago, he birdied the last four holes and came up one short of Rich Beem.
This time, Woods made one mistake after another over the last four holes, mostly with his putter.
"I did everything I needed to do, except for getting the ball in the hole," Woods said. "Just didn't make the putts when I needed to make them."
Yang's victory is massive for Asia. Perhaps even more significant is the way he stood up to Woods, the world's No. 1 player whose heritage is half-Asian through his Thai-born mother.
Yang and K.J. Choi are the only PGA Tour players who learned golf in South Korea before coming to America. South Koreans have had far more success on the LPGA Tour, with seven players combining to win 11 majors.
“
This might be my last win as a golfer. But it sure is a great day. ” -- PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang
"Golf in Asia has been growing steadily, so to have the guy who finally found a way to beat Tiger on Sunday is so big for the region," Geoff Ogilvy said. "It's hard for us here in the U.S. to imagine the impact this will have."
His victory came four days after golf was recommended to become part of the Olympics in 2016.
Yang was No. 110 in the world, his only victory on the PGA Tour coming in March at the Honda Classic, on a course across the street from headquarters of the PGA of America. He was best known for holding off Woods at the HSBC Champions in China three years ago.
This stage was far bigger and Yang was even better.
He trailed by two shots going into the final round, caught Woods at the turn, and was tied with five holes to play when Yang chipped in for eagle on the 14th. When it looked as though nerves were getting the best of him on a three-putt bogey at the 17th, he delivered his two most important shots that brought him an unlikely victory.
"This might be my last win as a golfer," Yang said. "But it sure is a great day."
Y.E. Yang became the first Asian golfer to win a major championship title, besting Tiger Woods by three strokes at Hazeltine on Sunday.
Yang still had enough strength left to hoist his golf bag over his head, and later the 44-pound Wanamaker Trophy. After a long and tearful embrace with his wife, Young Ju Park, he walked across a bridge saluting thousands of fans who couldn't believe what they saw.
In a year of spoilers at the majors, this might have been the biggest: Yang topped the mighty Tiger Woods.
Kenny Perry was poised to become the oldest Masters champion at 48 until Angel Cabrera beat him in a playoff. Phil Mickelson, reeling from news that his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, was on the verge of finally winning the U.S. Open until Lucas Glover outplayed him over the final few holes. And just last month, 59-year-old Tom Watson was an 8-foot par putt away from winning the British Open, then lost in a playoff to Stewart Cink.
Woods losing a two-shot lead in the final round of a major? That was unthinkable -- until a breezy afternoon at Hazeltine.
Yang finished at 8-under 280 and won $1.35 million, along with a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour and the majors. He became the first player since John Daly in 1991 to win the PGA Championship after going to Q-school the previous year.
One more bonus: His victory put him on the International team for the Presidents Cup in October in San Francisco.
Asian-born players had come close in the majors -- Liang-Huan Lu of Taiwan finishing one shot behind Lee Trevino at the 1971 British Open, and T.C. Chen's famous two-chip gaffe that cost him a chance at the 1985 U.S. Open, where he was runner-up to Andy North.
This could be a big breakthrough for Asian players, especially with a World Golf Championship starting this year in China.
Even South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak, got up before sunrise to watch the tournament live. He later phoned Yang to offer his congratulations.
"I woke up at dawn today to watch the broadcast, and you played in a calm manner," Lee told Yang, according to Lee's office. "First of all, you enhanced our people's morale by winning the major title for the first time as an Asian."
As for the PGA Championship, what remains is whether it will be remembered more for Yang's victory for Woods losing a 54-hole lead for the first time in a major.
"He went out there and executed his game plan," Woods said. "He was doing exactly what you have to do, especially in these conditions. I think he played beautifully."
This was a two-man race throughout the back nine, especially after defending champion Padraig Harrington imploded in the group ahead of them on the par-3 eighth. Harrington was one shot behind when he hit two shots in the water -- including a chip from behind the green, just as he did last week at Firestone -- and took a quintuple-bogey 8. He shot a 78.
Woods three-putted for bogey at No. 4 for the second straight day and made bogey from the bunker at No. 8, sending the final pairing to the back nine in a tie for the lead.
Woods regained the lead with a 3-wood on the 606-yard 11th hole onto the green, only to give it back with a bogey on the 12th after he hit a wild hook into the trees. He twice missed birdie putts inside 10 feet -- at No. 10 and No. 13 -- and then momentum shifted to Yang.
With the tees again moved forward to 301 yards, Yang came up just short. He watched Woods play a good bunker shot to 8 feet, then knocked in his chip.
"That's when I thought, 'I do have a chance,'" Yang said.
He was steady. Woods was sloppy.
Woods chunked a 3-wood trying to for the green in two at the 15th, then missed another 10-foot birdie putt to tie. Both bogeyed the 17th hole, Woods with a shot he thought was pure until it landed into thick rough over the green.
"Tiger's good, but he could always have a bad day," Yang said. "Guess this is one of those days."
Monday, August 17, 2009
Rangers grab wild-card lead as Kinsler, Nippert combine to put down Red Sox
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290816113
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Two days after being roughed up by the Red Sox, Frank Francisco helped the Texas Rangers knock Boston out of the wild-card lead.
Francisco bounced back from the worst outing of his career to pick up the save, Ian Kinsler homered and drove in two runs, and the Rangers passed the Red Sox in the AL wild-card race with a 4-3 win Sunday.
......
Fast Facts
• This is the first time the Red Sox have not held one of the AL playoff spots on Aug. 1 or later since the final day of the 2006 season (Oct. 1) -- the last time they missed the postseason.
• Ian Kinsler homered to join Alfonso Soriano as the only second basemen in AL history to have a 25 home run/20 stolen base season.
• The Rangers had scored two runs in Dustin Nippert's previous two starts.
• Sunday is the first time since April 21st that the Red Sox do not have a share of the wild-card or AL East lead.
-- ESPN Stats & Information
......
Francisco pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to give Texas a half-game lead over Boston. Less than 48 hours earlier, the closer was booed off the mound after being touched up for six runs in Boston's 8-4 victory Friday night.
"I believe in my teammates," Francisco said. "I feel like we have a chance to win when they're out there, and they feel the same way about me."
Kinsler, back in the lineup one day after he was hit by a pitch that ricocheted off his shoulder to his head, went deep for the second straight day and had an RBI single in the third that gave Texas a 3-1 lead.
Dustin Nippert (4-1) gave up two runs and six hits as the Rangers took two of three in the weekend series. The right-hander pitched 5 2/3 innings to defeat Boston on July 22, his only other win as a starter this season.
Texas, which also got a solo shot from Taylor Teagarden, went 7-2 against the Red Sox this season.
"Regardless of the name on the jersey, we have to go out and play good baseball," Kinsler said. "We've done well against them, but everything can change in a hurry."
David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia went deep for the Red Sox. Junichi Tazawa (1-2) yielded 10 hits and four runs over five-plus innings in his second career start.
Pedroia's 10th homer in the seventh inning cut Texas' lead to 4-3 but the Rangers bullpen held on. With Red Sox runners on first and second in the eighth, C.J. Wilson struck out two consecutive batters to end the inning. Francisco then finished for his 16th save.
"We have tons of confidence in Frankie," Rangers third baseman Michael Young said. "He's been consistent for us all season. It was good to get him back on the mound."
Boston is closing out a run where it plays 15 of 19 on the road. The Red Sox are 7-9 in the stretch with three games left at Toronto.
The Red Sox were not discouraged despite losing a series to its closest playoff competitor.
"Who says we can't reel off 25 wins in September?" Victor Martinez said.
"If you feel like you're defeated by losing a series, that's not the right attitude to have."
Ortiz homered leading off the second, his 17th of the season and second of the series.
Kinsler responded with his 25th homer in the bottom half and Texas took the lead for good with two runs in the third. Josh Hamilton drove in David Murphy with a double and scored on Kinsler's single.
The Rangers activated Kinsler on Friday after he missed 15 games with a strained left hamstring. The second baseman is 4-for-6 the past two games.
"The time off was a blessing in disguise," Washington said. "He's caught his second wind and it couldn't have come at a better time."
Brian Anderson's sacrifice fly cut Texas' lead to 3-2 in the fourth and Boston threatened again in the fifth, putting runners on first and second with two out. But Nippert struck out Mike Lowell to end the threat.
Lowell hurled his bat and helmet in frustration as the Red Sox struggled for a second straight game to get runners home. Boston was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and is 0-for-10 the past two games.
"They're pitching really well," Pedroia said. "They're locating the ball. Last year, there were a lot of balls out over the plate that you could drive."
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Two days after being roughed up by the Red Sox, Frank Francisco helped the Texas Rangers knock Boston out of the wild-card lead.
Francisco bounced back from the worst outing of his career to pick up the save, Ian Kinsler homered and drove in two runs, and the Rangers passed the Red Sox in the AL wild-card race with a 4-3 win Sunday.
......
Fast Facts
• This is the first time the Red Sox have not held one of the AL playoff spots on Aug. 1 or later since the final day of the 2006 season (Oct. 1) -- the last time they missed the postseason.
• Ian Kinsler homered to join Alfonso Soriano as the only second basemen in AL history to have a 25 home run/20 stolen base season.
• The Rangers had scored two runs in Dustin Nippert's previous two starts.
• Sunday is the first time since April 21st that the Red Sox do not have a share of the wild-card or AL East lead.
-- ESPN Stats & Information
......
Francisco pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to give Texas a half-game lead over Boston. Less than 48 hours earlier, the closer was booed off the mound after being touched up for six runs in Boston's 8-4 victory Friday night.
"I believe in my teammates," Francisco said. "I feel like we have a chance to win when they're out there, and they feel the same way about me."
Kinsler, back in the lineup one day after he was hit by a pitch that ricocheted off his shoulder to his head, went deep for the second straight day and had an RBI single in the third that gave Texas a 3-1 lead.
Dustin Nippert (4-1) gave up two runs and six hits as the Rangers took two of three in the weekend series. The right-hander pitched 5 2/3 innings to defeat Boston on July 22, his only other win as a starter this season.
Texas, which also got a solo shot from Taylor Teagarden, went 7-2 against the Red Sox this season.
"Regardless of the name on the jersey, we have to go out and play good baseball," Kinsler said. "We've done well against them, but everything can change in a hurry."
David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia went deep for the Red Sox. Junichi Tazawa (1-2) yielded 10 hits and four runs over five-plus innings in his second career start.
Pedroia's 10th homer in the seventh inning cut Texas' lead to 4-3 but the Rangers bullpen held on. With Red Sox runners on first and second in the eighth, C.J. Wilson struck out two consecutive batters to end the inning. Francisco then finished for his 16th save.
"We have tons of confidence in Frankie," Rangers third baseman Michael Young said. "He's been consistent for us all season. It was good to get him back on the mound."
Boston is closing out a run where it plays 15 of 19 on the road. The Red Sox are 7-9 in the stretch with three games left at Toronto.
The Red Sox were not discouraged despite losing a series to its closest playoff competitor.
"Who says we can't reel off 25 wins in September?" Victor Martinez said.
"If you feel like you're defeated by losing a series, that's not the right attitude to have."
Ortiz homered leading off the second, his 17th of the season and second of the series.
Kinsler responded with his 25th homer in the bottom half and Texas took the lead for good with two runs in the third. Josh Hamilton drove in David Murphy with a double and scored on Kinsler's single.
The Rangers activated Kinsler on Friday after he missed 15 games with a strained left hamstring. The second baseman is 4-for-6 the past two games.
"The time off was a blessing in disguise," Washington said. "He's caught his second wind and it couldn't have come at a better time."
Brian Anderson's sacrifice fly cut Texas' lead to 3-2 in the fourth and Boston threatened again in the fifth, putting runners on first and second with two out. But Nippert struck out Mike Lowell to end the threat.
Lowell hurled his bat and helmet in frustration as the Red Sox struggled for a second straight game to get runners home. Boston was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and is 0-for-10 the past two games.
"They're pitching really well," Pedroia said. "They're locating the ball. Last year, there were a lot of balls out over the plate that you could drive."
Friday, August 14, 2009
Brady throws 2 TD passes in return to Pats
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/32410286/ns/sports-nfl/
PHILADELPHIA - Tom Brady has returned to action for the first time since tearing ligaments in his left knee in Week 1 last year, throwing two touchdown passes in New England's 27-25 victory over Philadelphia on Thursday.
The 2007 NFL MVP completed his first pass and threw an incompletion in his first series during New England’s preseason opener.
Brady handed off on his first play before tossing a 6-yard pass to Wes Welker out of a shotgun formation. On third-and-4, Brady’s pass for Joey Galloway was broken up.
Brady, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, sat out the entire exhibition season last year because of an unspecified foot injury. He was knocked out for the season in the first quarter against Kansas City. Brady had started 128 consecutive games before going down.
PHILADELPHIA - Tom Brady has returned to action for the first time since tearing ligaments in his left knee in Week 1 last year, throwing two touchdown passes in New England's 27-25 victory over Philadelphia on Thursday.
The 2007 NFL MVP completed his first pass and threw an incompletion in his first series during New England’s preseason opener.
Brady handed off on his first play before tossing a 6-yard pass to Wes Welker out of a shotgun formation. On third-and-4, Brady’s pass for Joey Galloway was broken up.
Brady, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, sat out the entire exhibition season last year because of an unspecified foot injury. He was knocked out for the season in the first quarter against Kansas City. Brady had started 128 consecutive games before going down.
Vick, Eagles agree to 2-year deal
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4397938
Quarterback Michael Vick has signed a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, his agent, Joel Segal, confirmed to ESPN.com.
Vick King Of First Down
During the first years of his career (2004-06), Michael Vick rushed the ball better than any other quarterback. He had six 100-yard rushing games and 102 10-plus yard runs, but he was also one of the top rushers amongst all players -- especially on first down.
Vick arrived in Philadelphia Tuesday morning and remained there Wednesday evening. The Eagles will hold a news conference on Friday morning to announce his signing. The first year of the deal is for $1.6 million deal with an option for the second year at $5.2 million, FoxSports.com reports.
Vick was the No. 1 draft pick in 2001, and once the highest-paid player in football. But he has not played since 2006 when his career came tumbling down. He was convicted in August 2007 of conspiracy and running a dogfighting operation, sentenced to 23 months in federal prison and suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
But after serving his time and being released from home confinement July 20, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell conditionally lifted Vick's suspension, allowing him to sign with a team.
Vick can immediately take part in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games.
Once the season begins, Vick may participate in all team activities except games, and Goodell said he would consider Vick for full reinstatement by Week 6 (Oct. 18-19) at the latest.
Vick filed for bankruptcy protection last July, listing assets of about $16 million and debts of more than $20 million.
Vick pleaded guilty after his three co-defendants had already done so. They told of how Vick participated in the killing of dogs that didn't perform well in test fights by shooting, hanging, drowning or slamming them to the ground.
Vick's appearances at federal court in Richmond, Va., prompted large groups of protesters to gather outside. Many were with PETA and held signs depicting photographs of pit bulls ravaged in dogfights.
Still, there were supporters who wore his No. 7 jersey.
The Eagles travel to meet Vick's former team, the Atlanta Falcons, in Week 13 on Dec. 6.
The Eagles went to the playoffs last season under quarterback Donovan McNabb, and are still looking for their elusive first Super Bowl win.
Quarterback Michael Vick has signed a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, his agent, Joel Segal, confirmed to ESPN.com.
Vick King Of First Down
During the first years of his career (2004-06), Michael Vick rushed the ball better than any other quarterback. He had six 100-yard rushing games and 102 10-plus yard runs, but he was also one of the top rushers amongst all players -- especially on first down.
Vick arrived in Philadelphia Tuesday morning and remained there Wednesday evening. The Eagles will hold a news conference on Friday morning to announce his signing. The first year of the deal is for $1.6 million deal with an option for the second year at $5.2 million, FoxSports.com reports.
Vick was the No. 1 draft pick in 2001, and once the highest-paid player in football. But he has not played since 2006 when his career came tumbling down. He was convicted in August 2007 of conspiracy and running a dogfighting operation, sentenced to 23 months in federal prison and suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
But after serving his time and being released from home confinement July 20, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell conditionally lifted Vick's suspension, allowing him to sign with a team.
Vick can immediately take part in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games.
Once the season begins, Vick may participate in all team activities except games, and Goodell said he would consider Vick for full reinstatement by Week 6 (Oct. 18-19) at the latest.
Vick filed for bankruptcy protection last July, listing assets of about $16 million and debts of more than $20 million.
Vick pleaded guilty after his three co-defendants had already done so. They told of how Vick participated in the killing of dogs that didn't perform well in test fights by shooting, hanging, drowning or slamming them to the ground.
Vick's appearances at federal court in Richmond, Va., prompted large groups of protesters to gather outside. Many were with PETA and held signs depicting photographs of pit bulls ravaged in dogfights.
Still, there were supporters who wore his No. 7 jersey.
The Eagles travel to meet Vick's former team, the Atlanta Falcons, in Week 13 on Dec. 6.
The Eagles went to the playoffs last season under quarterback Donovan McNabb, and are still looking for their elusive first Super Bowl win.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Woman throws mug at 'Mona Lisa'
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/08/11/mona.lisa.attack/index.html
PARIS, France (CNN) -- Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece the "Mona Lisa" was attacked with a mug earlier this month, but the world's most famous painting -- protected by thick glass -- emerged with its enigmatic smile undimmed.
The "Mona Lisa" sits behind bulletproof glass in the Louvre gallery.
French police say a woman "not in her senses" lobbed the mug at the 500-year-old painting, which hangs in the Louvre gallery in Paris.
The woman, a tourist, was later transferred from police custody to a psychiatric unit, a police spokesman told CNN. The spokesman declined to be identified, and did not say where the woman was from.
The "Mona Lisa," considered one of the world's most valuable paintings, sits behind bulletproof glass in a special wing of the Louvre, attracting visitors in their millions.
The Italian Renaissance masterpiece, which depicts a dark-haired young woman with an aloof facial expression, has been the target of attacks in the past.
In 1956 the artwork was damaged when acid was thrown at it. A rock was also thrown in a separate incident in the same year.
In 1911 it was stolen from the Louvre but was returned two years later.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
JFK’s sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver dead at 88
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32369161/
BARNSTABLE, Massachusetts - President John F. Kennedy's sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a champion for the rights of the mentally disabled and founder of the Special Olympics, has died. She was 88.
Shriver had suffered a series of strokes in recent years and died at 2 a.m. on Tuesday at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, her family said in a statement. The hospital is near the Kennedy family compound, where her sole surviving brother, Sen. Edward Kennedy, has been battling brain cancer.
As celebrity, social worker and activist, Shriver was credited with transforming America's view of the mentally disabled from institutionalized patients to friends, neighbors and athletes. Her efforts were inspired in part by the struggles of her mentally disabled sister, Rosemary.
In a statement, her family described Shriver as the “light of our lives ... who taught us by example and with passion what it means to live a faith-driven life of love and service to others.”
'She set out to change the world'Shriver organized the first Special Olympics in 1968. She was inspired in part by the struggles of her mentally disabled sister, Rosemary Kennedy.
“She was a living prayer, a living advocate, a living center of power,” her family's statement added. “She set out to change the world and to change us, and she did that and more.
“She founded the movement that became Special Olympics, the largest movement for acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in the history of the world. Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and they in turn are her living legacy.”
She is survived by her husband, Sargent Shriver. Shriver's children include Maria, a former television journalist who married California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Shriver was born in Brookline, Mass., the fifth of nine children to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. She earned a sociology degree from Stanford University in 1943 after graduating from a British boarding school while her father served as ambassador to England.
Her siblings include John F. Kennedy, who was elected president in 1960 and assassinated in 1963, Robert, a New York senator whose presidential bid ended when he was assassinated in 1968, and Senator Edward Kennedy.
Summer campWith Eunice Shriver's death, Jean Kennedy Smith becomes the last surviving Kennedy daughter.
The roots of the Special Olympics go back to a summer camp Shriver ran in Maryland in 1963. Shriver would "get right in the pool with the kids; she'd toss the ball," said a niece, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who volunteered at the camp as a teen. "It's that hands-on, gritty approach that awakened her to the kids' needs."
Realizing the children were far more capable of sports than experts said, Shriver organized the first Special Olympics in 1968 in Chicago. The two-day event drew more than 1,000 participants from 26 states and Canada.
By 2003, the Special Olympics World Summer Games, held that year in Dublin, Ireland, involved more than 6,500 athletes from 150 countries. The games are held every four years.
Well into her 70s, Shriver remained a daily presence at the Special Olympics headquarters in Washington.
Shriver was the recipient of numerous honors, including the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which she received in 1984. In May, the National Portrait Gallery installed a painting of her — the first portrait commissioned by the museum of someone who had not been a president or first lady.
'Moral force'She was a social worker at a women's prison in Alderson, W.Va., and worked with the juvenile court in Chicago in the 1950s before taking over the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation with the goal of improving the treatment of the mentally disabled. The foundation was named for her oldest brother, Joseph Jr., who was killed in World War II.
In 1953, she married Shriver. He became JFK's first director of the Peace Corps, was George McGovern's vice-presidential running mate in 1972, and ran for president himself briefly in 1976.
A 1960 Chicago Tribune profile of the women in then-candidate JFK's family said Shriver was "generally credited with being the most intellectual and politically minded of all the Kennedy women."
Peter Collier, author of "The Kennedys, an American Drama," called Eunice Shriver the "moral force" of the Kennedy family.
"When the full judgment on the Kennedy legacy is made — including JFK's Peace Corps and Alliance for Progress, Robert Kennedy's passion for civil rights and Ted Kennedy's efforts on health care, work place reform and refugees — the changes wrought by Eunice Shriver may well be seen as the most consequential," Harrison Rainie, author of "Growing Up Kennedy," wrote in U.S. News & World Report in 1993.
BARNSTABLE, Massachusetts - President John F. Kennedy's sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a champion for the rights of the mentally disabled and founder of the Special Olympics, has died. She was 88.
Shriver had suffered a series of strokes in recent years and died at 2 a.m. on Tuesday at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, her family said in a statement. The hospital is near the Kennedy family compound, where her sole surviving brother, Sen. Edward Kennedy, has been battling brain cancer.
As celebrity, social worker and activist, Shriver was credited with transforming America's view of the mentally disabled from institutionalized patients to friends, neighbors and athletes. Her efforts were inspired in part by the struggles of her mentally disabled sister, Rosemary.
In a statement, her family described Shriver as the “light of our lives ... who taught us by example and with passion what it means to live a faith-driven life of love and service to others.”
'She set out to change the world'Shriver organized the first Special Olympics in 1968. She was inspired in part by the struggles of her mentally disabled sister, Rosemary Kennedy.
“She was a living prayer, a living advocate, a living center of power,” her family's statement added. “She set out to change the world and to change us, and she did that and more.
“She founded the movement that became Special Olympics, the largest movement for acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in the history of the world. Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and they in turn are her living legacy.”
She is survived by her husband, Sargent Shriver. Shriver's children include Maria, a former television journalist who married California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Shriver was born in Brookline, Mass., the fifth of nine children to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. She earned a sociology degree from Stanford University in 1943 after graduating from a British boarding school while her father served as ambassador to England.
Her siblings include John F. Kennedy, who was elected president in 1960 and assassinated in 1963, Robert, a New York senator whose presidential bid ended when he was assassinated in 1968, and Senator Edward Kennedy.
Summer campWith Eunice Shriver's death, Jean Kennedy Smith becomes the last surviving Kennedy daughter.
The roots of the Special Olympics go back to a summer camp Shriver ran in Maryland in 1963. Shriver would "get right in the pool with the kids; she'd toss the ball," said a niece, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who volunteered at the camp as a teen. "It's that hands-on, gritty approach that awakened her to the kids' needs."
Realizing the children were far more capable of sports than experts said, Shriver organized the first Special Olympics in 1968 in Chicago. The two-day event drew more than 1,000 participants from 26 states and Canada.
By 2003, the Special Olympics World Summer Games, held that year in Dublin, Ireland, involved more than 6,500 athletes from 150 countries. The games are held every four years.
Well into her 70s, Shriver remained a daily presence at the Special Olympics headquarters in Washington.
Shriver was the recipient of numerous honors, including the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which she received in 1984. In May, the National Portrait Gallery installed a painting of her — the first portrait commissioned by the museum of someone who had not been a president or first lady.
'Moral force'She was a social worker at a women's prison in Alderson, W.Va., and worked with the juvenile court in Chicago in the 1950s before taking over the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation with the goal of improving the treatment of the mentally disabled. The foundation was named for her oldest brother, Joseph Jr., who was killed in World War II.
In 1953, she married Shriver. He became JFK's first director of the Peace Corps, was George McGovern's vice-presidential running mate in 1972, and ran for president himself briefly in 1976.
A 1960 Chicago Tribune profile of the women in then-candidate JFK's family said Shriver was "generally credited with being the most intellectual and politically minded of all the Kennedy women."
Peter Collier, author of "The Kennedys, an American Drama," called Eunice Shriver the "moral force" of the Kennedy family.
"When the full judgment on the Kennedy legacy is made — including JFK's Peace Corps and Alliance for Progress, Robert Kennedy's passion for civil rights and Ted Kennedy's efforts on health care, work place reform and refugees — the changes wrought by Eunice Shriver may well be seen as the most consequential," Harrison Rainie, author of "Growing Up Kennedy," wrote in U.S. News & World Report in 1993.
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