Filmmaker Tyler Perry is expressing his support for an alleged victim in the Penn State child sex-abuse case, calling him a hero for coming forward.
The producer and director, who went public last year with his own story of childhood molestation, made his comments in an open letter published Monday by Newsweek.
It is addressed to a boy who was 11 when he reported alleged sexual abuse by former assistant Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky. Authorities arrested Sandusky on Nov. 5 and charged him with molesting eight boys over 15 years. Sandusky says he is innocent.
“Do you know that at the young age of 11 you had more courage than all the adults who let you down?” Perry wrote. “All of the ones who didn’t go to the proper authorities, all of the ones who were worried about their careers, reputations, or livelihoods.”
Two Penn State administrators have been charged with lying to a grand jury and failing to report a 2002 allegation against Sandusky to authorities. Football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier were ousted following criticism they should have done more after learning of the accusation.
Perry said he didn’t have the courage to speak up when he was 11. When he finally did tell a family member about his own abuse, Perry said, the relative did not believe him.
“I suffered in silence,” he wrote. “But not you, my young strong hero, you have done what many of us wish we could have done. You used your voice!”
Perry later added: “No matter what happens next, just know that the hardest part is over.”
2011年11月30日星期三
2011年8月2日星期二
Giants Reach a Deal With Bradshaw but Remain at Odds With Umenyiora
The Giants solved one of their biggest training camp problems on Monday, but another continued to escalate.
Ahmad Bradshaw, the 25-year old running back who led the team with 1,235 rushing yards and caught 47 passes last season, signed a four-year contract worth a reported $18 million, $9 million guaranteed.
But Osi Umenyiora, the disgruntled two-time Pro Bowl defensive end who has been demanding a trade or a restructured contract, voiced his displeasure about his status. In an e-mail sent to The Associated Press, Umenyiora said that he hoped there was a chance of working something out with the Giants but “what really annoys me is the hypocrisy of people clamoring for my head for asking for a new deal or to be traded, saying I have two years left on my deal.”
“The fact is in the business we are in, if you get injured or they feel like you underperformed, they cut you without hesitation,” Umenyiora continued. “But if you clearly outplay your contract and ask for something to be done, you’re a bad guy and not a team player. It’s ridiculous.”
In December 2005, Umenyiora signed a six-year extension through 2012 worth $41 million, $15 million guaranteed. Dealing for Umenyiora may be difficult under the new collective bargaining agreement, which includes a strict wage scale for rookies. In the past, teams often traded first-round picks because they did not want to pay large salary bonuses for unproven players. With rookie wages under control, teams are more likely to hold onto a first-round pick — a likely asking price for Umenyiora — than pursue a veteran with a history of hip injuries.
A team that trades for Umenyiora would also have to offer him a new contract. The market for defensive ends has become pricier in the last few days: Charles Johnson signed a six-year, $76-million contract with the Carolina Panthers, and Cullen Jenkins signed a five-year deal worth $25 million with the Philadelphia Eagles. The developments have irked Umenyiora.
“How does a guy who had one good year (no disrespect to Charles Johnson) sign a deal and make more than both me and Tuck combined?” Umenyiora wrote, referring to his teammate Justin Tuck. “It’s not right.”
Coach Tom Coughlin said the issue would not be a distraction, adding, “The sooner all these things get resolved and we get Osi back on the field, the better we’re going to be.” Umenyiora reported to camp one day late on Saturday. He met with General Manager Jerry Reese on Saturday and had a physical and a meeting with the team doctor, Russell Warren, on Sunday. He attended practice on Sunday and Monday in a jersey but no pads.
Umenyiora recorded 11 ½ sacks and forced 10 fumbles last season despite playing through hip pain. He had hip surgery in January. Umenyiora expects to be paid like one of the top five defensive ends in the league. The Giants have released several veterans to get beneath the $120 million salary cap and have little breathing room for contract renegotiations.
Tuck, the defensive captain, said he did not believe that Umenyiora was sitting out practices as a ploy. “I don’t think Osi’s playing games,” he said. “I feel it’s important to play out the contract as long as you’re happy. As long as you feel they’re doing right by you.”
Like the Giants, many teams are close to the cap and trying to come to terms with their own free agents. The few teams that were in cap position to offer large salaries, like the Eagles, have already done so. For now, Umenyiora remains on the Giants’ roster, even if his practice activity is watching practice and riding a stationary bike. Perry Fewell, the defensive coordinator, said Umenyiora had not been a distraction in camp.
“He’s in my meetings,” Fewell said. “He’s paying attention, and he’s part of my football team.”
EXTRA POINTS
The Giants reportedly signed tight end Ben Patrick to a one-year deal. Patrick set a career high with 15 receptions for the Arizona Cardinals last season and will probably compete with Travis Beckum for the backup tight end job. Kevin Boss remains unsigned. David Carr, who backed up Eli Manning in 2008 and 2009 and played one game for the San Francisco 49ers last season, has signed. He will probably compete with Sage Rosenfels. ... The Giants claimed guard Herman Johnson off waivers from the Chicago Bears.
2011年3月31日星期四
Praise From Those Who’ve Run in His Shoes
STORRS, Conn. — Outside Gampel Pavilion on Tuesday afternoon, Connecticut students honked horns and screamed out car windows at the mere sight of Kemba Walker, college basketball’s most electrifying player since early March. Walker ducked inside for a scheduled news media session, only to find about two dozen reporters waiting.
Walker simply shook his head. He had no answers for the past nine games, all elimination contests, all UConn victories. Taken together, those games comprise the single best stretch not only of Walker’s career, but also perhaps in the history of UConn men’s basketball. The next installment will take place Saturday in Houston, against Kentucky in the Final Four.
“What he’s doing is unprecedented,” said Dallas Mavericks forward Caron Butler, one in a long line of N.B.A. players from Connecticut. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Starting March 8, UConn played nine games in the Big East and N.C.A.A. tournaments. Walker logged 344 of 365 possible minutes in those games and averaged 26.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.2 steals. He made a buzzer-beater against Pittsburgh, grabbed 12 rebounds against Syracuse, had 12 assists against Bucknell and scored 36 points against San Diego State.
Ben Gordon, a former UConn guard now with the Detroit Pistons, is one of the few who compiled a similar stretch of sustained brilliance. He still remembers what it felt like. In 2004, he led the Huskies to Big East and N.C.A.A. tournament titles with an unshakeable focus. Even in class, or during down time, he was consumed with basketball, with the run. He thought of nothing else.
Yet Gordon’s 2004 team featured seven future N.B.A. players, including Emeka Okafor, who was named the tournament’s outstanding player. Because the current Huskies have seven freshmen, five of whom play regularly, Butler, Okafor and Gordon, in separate telephone interviews, described Walker’s run as beyond anything they accomplished. Okafor called it “more remarkable” for its five Big East victories in five days, the first time that has been accomplished. Gordon used “more impressive” and said the N.B.A. equivalent would be sweeping every series in the playoffs.
Perhaps the closest comparison came from Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim, who invoked Carmelo Anthony’s 2003 N.C.A.A. championship run with Boeheim’s team. Most great UConn players, Boeheim said, played alongside skilled sidekicks, like Donyell Marshall with Ray Allen, or Khalid El-Amin with Richard Hamilton. Others, like Butler, saw their best runs end earlier than Walker’s.
“He’s had to do the most,” Boeheim said. “Kemba has the youngest group of guys you could possibly have, so what he’s done is more impressive than anyone in a long time.”
The seeds for Walker’s run were sown last summer, when his teammate Alex Oriakhi repeatedly told Walker he was the best point guard in the country and the associate head coach George Blaney added another dimension to Walker’s game. Blaney said Walker, a Bronx native, arrived in college like most New York City guards: he ran as fast as he could, as far as he could, at a breakneck pace that disrupted fundamentals.
Last summer, Blaney overhauled the mechanics of Walker’s jump shot. Walker took 500 to 1,000 attempts each day. By summer’s end, Blaney said he could already see a difference.
“That,” Blaney added, “was the final piece.”
Having a reliable jumper made Walker more versatile, more dangerous. But while he has scored more points (931) this season than any player in UConn history, he was not named the Big East player of the year. In fact, his star rose most sharply once the run started, and even Gordon said: “I didn’t expect him to emerge as the star that he is now. I don’t think anybody saw that coming.”
As it happened, as the interview requests and marriage proposals increased with Walker’s legend, he became tired most of hearing his own voice and seeing his own face. No matter what channel he turned to, he saw himself. “That’s frustrating,” he said Tuesday.
Walker has always showcased a similar duality. He loved to perform; as a young break dancer, he took the stage at The Apollo Theater in Harlem. The dance competitions were like N.C.A.A. tournaments: win and advance, lose and go home. In them, Walker honed his ability to please crowds.
Yet away from any kind of stage, Walker struck his teachers at nearby Rice High School as quiet, even reserved.
“A gentleman,” Sister Joan Whittle said while sitting in the library this week. “He was a sweetheart. He showed up to senior night after he graduated and stayed hidden until after the ceremony. He didn’t want to take anything away.”
Two of his teachers, John Shea and Michael Pagidas, remembered how Walker sat in the front row, how he picked up economics, or debated the novel “1984,” with ease. They also remember his basketball exploits, with his rise at Rice almost exactly like the one he has had at UConn.
Walker simply shook his head. He had no answers for the past nine games, all elimination contests, all UConn victories. Taken together, those games comprise the single best stretch not only of Walker’s career, but also perhaps in the history of UConn men’s basketball. The next installment will take place Saturday in Houston, against Kentucky in the Final Four.
“What he’s doing is unprecedented,” said Dallas Mavericks forward Caron Butler, one in a long line of N.B.A. players from Connecticut. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Starting March 8, UConn played nine games in the Big East and N.C.A.A. tournaments. Walker logged 344 of 365 possible minutes in those games and averaged 26.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.2 steals. He made a buzzer-beater against Pittsburgh, grabbed 12 rebounds against Syracuse, had 12 assists against Bucknell and scored 36 points against San Diego State.
Ben Gordon, a former UConn guard now with the Detroit Pistons, is one of the few who compiled a similar stretch of sustained brilliance. He still remembers what it felt like. In 2004, he led the Huskies to Big East and N.C.A.A. tournament titles with an unshakeable focus. Even in class, or during down time, he was consumed with basketball, with the run. He thought of nothing else.
Yet Gordon’s 2004 team featured seven future N.B.A. players, including Emeka Okafor, who was named the tournament’s outstanding player. Because the current Huskies have seven freshmen, five of whom play regularly, Butler, Okafor and Gordon, in separate telephone interviews, described Walker’s run as beyond anything they accomplished. Okafor called it “more remarkable” for its five Big East victories in five days, the first time that has been accomplished. Gordon used “more impressive” and said the N.B.A. equivalent would be sweeping every series in the playoffs.
Perhaps the closest comparison came from Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim, who invoked Carmelo Anthony’s 2003 N.C.A.A. championship run with Boeheim’s team. Most great UConn players, Boeheim said, played alongside skilled sidekicks, like Donyell Marshall with Ray Allen, or Khalid El-Amin with Richard Hamilton. Others, like Butler, saw their best runs end earlier than Walker’s.
“He’s had to do the most,” Boeheim said. “Kemba has the youngest group of guys you could possibly have, so what he’s done is more impressive than anyone in a long time.”
The seeds for Walker’s run were sown last summer, when his teammate Alex Oriakhi repeatedly told Walker he was the best point guard in the country and the associate head coach George Blaney added another dimension to Walker’s game. Blaney said Walker, a Bronx native, arrived in college like most New York City guards: he ran as fast as he could, as far as he could, at a breakneck pace that disrupted fundamentals.
Last summer, Blaney overhauled the mechanics of Walker’s jump shot. Walker took 500 to 1,000 attempts each day. By summer’s end, Blaney said he could already see a difference.
“That,” Blaney added, “was the final piece.”
Having a reliable jumper made Walker more versatile, more dangerous. But while he has scored more points (931) this season than any player in UConn history, he was not named the Big East player of the year. In fact, his star rose most sharply once the run started, and even Gordon said: “I didn’t expect him to emerge as the star that he is now. I don’t think anybody saw that coming.”
As it happened, as the interview requests and marriage proposals increased with Walker’s legend, he became tired most of hearing his own voice and seeing his own face. No matter what channel he turned to, he saw himself. “That’s frustrating,” he said Tuesday.
Walker has always showcased a similar duality. He loved to perform; as a young break dancer, he took the stage at The Apollo Theater in Harlem. The dance competitions were like N.C.A.A. tournaments: win and advance, lose and go home. In them, Walker honed his ability to please crowds.
Yet away from any kind of stage, Walker struck his teachers at nearby Rice High School as quiet, even reserved.
“A gentleman,” Sister Joan Whittle said while sitting in the library this week. “He was a sweetheart. He showed up to senior night after he graduated and stayed hidden until after the ceremony. He didn’t want to take anything away.”
Two of his teachers, John Shea and Michael Pagidas, remembered how Walker sat in the front row, how he picked up economics, or debated the novel “1984,” with ease. They also remember his basketball exploits, with his rise at Rice almost exactly like the one he has had at UConn.
2011年3月24日星期四
Hayes notches triple-double in Rockets' win over Warriors
Martin scored 34 points, Hayes got his first career triple-double and the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 131-112 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight victory.
"It was a good win," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "That's a tough game to play because they keep coming up and down the court and coming at you. You start thinking you have to shoot it quick, too."
Hayes had 14 rebounds, 13 points and 11 assists for the Rockets, who remained two games behind Memphis for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. With the crowd cheering him on, Hayes missed several chances to get the triple before his jumper with 6:26 left clinched it.
"The fan support was great," Hayes said. "The guys were really cheering me on for this achievement and once it was over, it was like the biggest relief that I've had in a long time."
Adelman was excited about Hayes' performance.
"I can't emphasize enough the improvements he's made offensively to be more than just a screener. He's becoming a great passer. We saw that tonight. He attacks them. It's a pleasure to watch a guy like that with his work ethic and everything he does is just really terrific."
Even Warriors coach Keith Smart offered some admiration for Hayes.
"It was great to see their crowd get behind him when he was going for the triple-double," Smart said. "Everyone was with him and they are very proud of the type of player he is."
Courtney Lee (FSY), starting for injured Chase Budinger (FSY), scored 25 points and Luis Scola (FSY) added 20 for Houston.
"That's the one thing that coach emphasized today," Lee said. "He said the team that's going to win is the one that is going to get down and get stops. We were able to do that today."
Dorell Wright (FSY) led the Warriors with a career-high 34 points, David Lee (FSY) had 19 and Stephen Curry (FSY) finished with 16.
"It's OK (career high) but it's a team game and we lost," Wright said. "We didn't do what we wanted to do. There are no lessons learned, it's just basketball."
Houston hit 12 of 26 attempts from three-point range, led by Martin's 4-for-7 effort.
The Rockets took a 66-57 halftime lead and stretched it to 92-76 with 3:16 to go in the third quarter.
Golden State led only once at 16-15 in the first quarter and took advantage of a 3:31 scoreless streak by Houston to tie it at 57 with 2:20 to go in the second. Two free throws by Monta Ellis (FSY), a three-point play by Lou Amundson and a basket by Al Thornton (FSY) rallied the Warriors to the tie.
Lee hit a three-pointer to put Houston back ahead, and Martin followed with a three-point play and a three-pointer to keep the Rockets in the lead at intermission.
Scola ignited the Rockets in the first quarter, scoring eight of Houston's first 11 points. He had 14 in the opening quarter and the Rockets took a 36-33 lead despite the fast-breaking success of Wright, who got six early points on fast breaks and had 10 after one quarter.
Hayes got the second triple-double in as many games for the Rockets. Kevin Lowry had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists Monday against Utah.
"This is a painful time we are in," Smart said. "Houston is fighting for a playoff spot. We're obviously not going to any dance this season. A young team has to learn to step up as a team, not an individual."
"It was a good win," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "That's a tough game to play because they keep coming up and down the court and coming at you. You start thinking you have to shoot it quick, too."
Hayes had 14 rebounds, 13 points and 11 assists for the Rockets, who remained two games behind Memphis for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. With the crowd cheering him on, Hayes missed several chances to get the triple before his jumper with 6:26 left clinched it.
"The fan support was great," Hayes said. "The guys were really cheering me on for this achievement and once it was over, it was like the biggest relief that I've had in a long time."
Adelman was excited about Hayes' performance.
"I can't emphasize enough the improvements he's made offensively to be more than just a screener. He's becoming a great passer. We saw that tonight. He attacks them. It's a pleasure to watch a guy like that with his work ethic and everything he does is just really terrific."
Even Warriors coach Keith Smart offered some admiration for Hayes.
"It was great to see their crowd get behind him when he was going for the triple-double," Smart said. "Everyone was with him and they are very proud of the type of player he is."
Courtney Lee (FSY), starting for injured Chase Budinger (FSY), scored 25 points and Luis Scola (FSY) added 20 for Houston.
"That's the one thing that coach emphasized today," Lee said. "He said the team that's going to win is the one that is going to get down and get stops. We were able to do that today."
Dorell Wright (FSY) led the Warriors with a career-high 34 points, David Lee (FSY) had 19 and Stephen Curry (FSY) finished with 16.
"It's OK (career high) but it's a team game and we lost," Wright said. "We didn't do what we wanted to do. There are no lessons learned, it's just basketball."
Houston hit 12 of 26 attempts from three-point range, led by Martin's 4-for-7 effort.
The Rockets took a 66-57 halftime lead and stretched it to 92-76 with 3:16 to go in the third quarter.
Golden State led only once at 16-15 in the first quarter and took advantage of a 3:31 scoreless streak by Houston to tie it at 57 with 2:20 to go in the second. Two free throws by Monta Ellis (FSY), a three-point play by Lou Amundson and a basket by Al Thornton (FSY) rallied the Warriors to the tie.
Lee hit a three-pointer to put Houston back ahead, and Martin followed with a three-point play and a three-pointer to keep the Rockets in the lead at intermission.
Scola ignited the Rockets in the first quarter, scoring eight of Houston's first 11 points. He had 14 in the opening quarter and the Rockets took a 36-33 lead despite the fast-breaking success of Wright, who got six early points on fast breaks and had 10 after one quarter.
Hayes got the second triple-double in as many games for the Rockets. Kevin Lowry had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists Monday against Utah.
"This is a painful time we are in," Smart said. "Houston is fighting for a playoff spot. We're obviously not going to any dance this season. A young team has to learn to step up as a team, not an individual."
2011年3月17日星期四
Roger Goodell On Adrian Peterson's 'Slavery' Comments
The NFL and NFLPA did not reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement last week and we've officially entered a lockout so plenty of NFL players have been expressing frustration at the situation.
One of those players was Adrian Peterson who compared his situation to "modern-day slavery" in an interview with Yahoo! Sports earlier this week. Peterson's words created a buzz around the league and I didn't think they'd sit well with the NFL considering the state of the league right now.
SB Nation interviewed Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL lead negotiator Jeff Pash on Thursday and brought up Peterson's comments to get their reaction but both declined to get into specifics.
Pash: "I think you have to look at those comments in the context of what Ben Dogra said right afterwards. I think he put it in context. Adrian Peterson is an outstanding player and a great contributor to this league. It's a highly emotional situation right now so I don't think you can hold everyone necessarily to every word they say."
Goodell: "Adrian Peterson was at the draft a few years ago as one of the first drafts I was a commissioner. He's an outstanding man and I have nothing but respect for him. I'm a big fan of his both as an individual and a player.
2011年3月10日星期四
Injuries and Slumps Take a Toll in the Big East
St. John’s forward D. J. Kennedy stood against a wall in a dingy back hallway at Madison Square Garden, his eyes looking hollow and his immediate basketball future bleak. As he waited for the team trainer Ron Linfonte to take him to the Hospital for Special Surgery for a magnetic resonance imaging exam, Kennedy could not recall the play early in the first half that appeared to end his season.
“I don’t even remember,” he said. “I don’t even know.”
Kennedy limped off the floor with the help of two teammates just over five minutes into a 79-73 loss to Syracuse in the Big East Conference tournament quarterfinals. Kennedy said that he experienced pain and swelling, although X-rays were negative. Coach Steve Lavin said Kennedy had a “serious knee injury.” It appeared unlikely that Kennedy, a 6-foot-5 senior who is the team’s leading rebounder, would play in the N.C.A.A. tournament, which begins next week.
It is a cruel blow for St. John’s and its nine seniors, who helped haul the program from the depths of probation and irrelevancy during their careers.
“It’s going to be devastating,” St. John’s guard Dwight Hardy said, “but we have to play basketball at the end of the day.”
Kennedy’s injury, along with the free falls that Villanova and Georgetown are experiencing, represent the other side of life in the grueling Big East. For every straight-from-Rucker buzzer beater by Connecticut’s Kemba Walker and momentum-building victory by Syracuse, there is a team leaving the Garden with its season shaken and its future riddled with question marks.
Villanova is in the middle of an epic nose-dive for the second straight season. This one was accentuated by the Wildcats squandering a 16-point halftime lead against lowly South Florida on Tuesday night. The Wildcats have lost five straight and look poised for another quick exit from the N.C.A.A. tournament, where they lost to No. 10 St. Mary’s in the second round last year. (Poor officiating kept Villanova, seeded second, from losing to 15th-seeded Robert Morris in the first round.)
Georgetown isn’t much better. The Hoyas have lost four straight games without point guard Chris Wright, who has a broken bone in left hand. Their Princeton-style offense, which is predicated on timing, is running like a tricycle missing a wheel. Only the least-informed fans in the office pool, or those who pick games based on where their cousins went to college or which uniform they like best, would predict that Villanova or Georgetown will win an N.C.A.A. tournament game.
The situation isn’t as dire for St. John’s. There’s little question, however, that Kennedy is one of the team’s most indispensible players. He is St. John’s leading rebounder (5.7 a game), its third-leading scorer (10.7) and a key defensive cog.
“He means a lot to our team, with his scoring ability, rebounding, passing and playmaking,” the St. John’s senior Justin Brownlee said. “He means a lot to us on and off the court. We just hope he’s O.K. and can come back and play for us.”
Brownlee added, “It hurts.”
Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim can relate. Last year, his starting center, Arinze Onuaku, crumpled to the floor with a right quadriceps injury during the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. Top-seeded Syracuse lost that game to Georgetown, and Onuaku did not return to the court for the rest of the season.
When asked about St. John’s dealing with losing Kennedy, Boeheim immediately brought up Georgetown losing Wright.
“You can’t absorb a loss like that, especially if you have three key guys,” Boeheim said. He later added about St. John’s, “Its difficult to lose a guy like that, there is no question about it.”
It will be interesting to see how St. John’s handles the Kennedy injury publicly. Linfonte said he was trying to stay optimistic, but that was the only dose of optimism in the funereal atmosphere of the St. John’s locker room.
After Onuaku’s injury last year, Boeheim, Onuaku and team doctors said they expected Onuaku to play in the N.C.A.A. tournament. That never happened, but those statements helped the Orange secure a No. 1 seed when the bracket was announced. If Onuaku had been declared out, the Orange could have been seeded lower.
St. John’s (21-11) looks as if it will get a No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the N.C.A.A. tournament. Without Kennedy, the committee may dock the Red Storm, which is clearly not as strong without him. St. John’s played admirably in his absence against Syracuse. The game was back and forth until a few key interior plays by the Orange’s Rick Jackson and Fab Melo — who scored a career-high 12 points — pushed it ahead in the final two minutes.
What Syracuse did last year could be called either gamesmanship or duplicity, depending on your perspective. Whether Georgetown or St. John’s tries something similar won’t become apparent until the starting lineups are announced for their first N.C.A.A. tournament games.
What is certain is that the Big East — with seemingly round-the-clock coverage on ESPN and 11 teams apparently headed to the N.C.A.A. tournament — has again flexed its muscles and shown it has the best conference tournament. But as Villanova, Georgetown and St. John’s spiral, this week in New York also exposed a darker side of the Big East tournament. The hollow look in D. J. Kennedy’s eyes said it all.
“I don’t even remember,” he said. “I don’t even know.”
Kennedy limped off the floor with the help of two teammates just over five minutes into a 79-73 loss to Syracuse in the Big East Conference tournament quarterfinals. Kennedy said that he experienced pain and swelling, although X-rays were negative. Coach Steve Lavin said Kennedy had a “serious knee injury.” It appeared unlikely that Kennedy, a 6-foot-5 senior who is the team’s leading rebounder, would play in the N.C.A.A. tournament, which begins next week.
It is a cruel blow for St. John’s and its nine seniors, who helped haul the program from the depths of probation and irrelevancy during their careers.
“It’s going to be devastating,” St. John’s guard Dwight Hardy said, “but we have to play basketball at the end of the day.”
Kennedy’s injury, along with the free falls that Villanova and Georgetown are experiencing, represent the other side of life in the grueling Big East. For every straight-from-Rucker buzzer beater by Connecticut’s Kemba Walker and momentum-building victory by Syracuse, there is a team leaving the Garden with its season shaken and its future riddled with question marks.
Villanova is in the middle of an epic nose-dive for the second straight season. This one was accentuated by the Wildcats squandering a 16-point halftime lead against lowly South Florida on Tuesday night. The Wildcats have lost five straight and look poised for another quick exit from the N.C.A.A. tournament, where they lost to No. 10 St. Mary’s in the second round last year. (Poor officiating kept Villanova, seeded second, from losing to 15th-seeded Robert Morris in the first round.)
Georgetown isn’t much better. The Hoyas have lost four straight games without point guard Chris Wright, who has a broken bone in left hand. Their Princeton-style offense, which is predicated on timing, is running like a tricycle missing a wheel. Only the least-informed fans in the office pool, or those who pick games based on where their cousins went to college or which uniform they like best, would predict that Villanova or Georgetown will win an N.C.A.A. tournament game.
The situation isn’t as dire for St. John’s. There’s little question, however, that Kennedy is one of the team’s most indispensible players. He is St. John’s leading rebounder (5.7 a game), its third-leading scorer (10.7) and a key defensive cog.
“He means a lot to our team, with his scoring ability, rebounding, passing and playmaking,” the St. John’s senior Justin Brownlee said. “He means a lot to us on and off the court. We just hope he’s O.K. and can come back and play for us.”
Brownlee added, “It hurts.”
Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim can relate. Last year, his starting center, Arinze Onuaku, crumpled to the floor with a right quadriceps injury during the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. Top-seeded Syracuse lost that game to Georgetown, and Onuaku did not return to the court for the rest of the season.
When asked about St. John’s dealing with losing Kennedy, Boeheim immediately brought up Georgetown losing Wright.
“You can’t absorb a loss like that, especially if you have three key guys,” Boeheim said. He later added about St. John’s, “Its difficult to lose a guy like that, there is no question about it.”
It will be interesting to see how St. John’s handles the Kennedy injury publicly. Linfonte said he was trying to stay optimistic, but that was the only dose of optimism in the funereal atmosphere of the St. John’s locker room.
After Onuaku’s injury last year, Boeheim, Onuaku and team doctors said they expected Onuaku to play in the N.C.A.A. tournament. That never happened, but those statements helped the Orange secure a No. 1 seed when the bracket was announced. If Onuaku had been declared out, the Orange could have been seeded lower.
St. John’s (21-11) looks as if it will get a No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the N.C.A.A. tournament. Without Kennedy, the committee may dock the Red Storm, which is clearly not as strong without him. St. John’s played admirably in his absence against Syracuse. The game was back and forth until a few key interior plays by the Orange’s Rick Jackson and Fab Melo — who scored a career-high 12 points — pushed it ahead in the final two minutes.
What Syracuse did last year could be called either gamesmanship or duplicity, depending on your perspective. Whether Georgetown or St. John’s tries something similar won’t become apparent until the starting lineups are announced for their first N.C.A.A. tournament games.
What is certain is that the Big East — with seemingly round-the-clock coverage on ESPN and 11 teams apparently headed to the N.C.A.A. tournament — has again flexed its muscles and shown it has the best conference tournament. But as Villanova, Georgetown and St. John’s spiral, this week in New York also exposed a darker side of the Big East tournament. The hollow look in D. J. Kennedy’s eyes said it all.
2011年3月3日星期四
NFL and union extend deal talks by 24 hours
The move postpones, for a day at least, the real threat of a damaging lockout from the owners and the risk of an antitrust lawsuit from the union - and came after the U.S. President Barack Obama told the feuding parties he had no interest in getting involved in a squabble between billionaires and millionaires.
"My working assumption at a time when people are having to cut back, compromise and worry about making the mortgage and pay for their kids' college educations is that the two parties should be able to work it out without the President of the United States intervening," he told reporters at the White House.
The decision to extend the negotiations by 24 hours came on the final day of talks in the nation's capital as the original deadline, which expired at midnight Thursday, was drawing closer.
NFL officials left the building without speaking to reporters. The only confirmation of the temporary truce was provided in a statement by the mediator George Cohen. "The parties have agreed to a one day extension," the statement read.
The NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith offered a brief glimmer of hope that a compromise might still be reached as he made his exit from the meeting.
"I just want to say to all of our fans who dig our game. We appreciate your patience as we work through this," he said.
"We're going to keep working. We want to play football."
The sides have been locked in negotiations with a federal mediator over the past 10 days after months of largely fruitless talks over how to divide the NFL's massive annual profits.
BUSINESS MODEL
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he believes players' salaries are rising faster than the league's revenues and that the existing business model must be changed to grow the sport.
The players are largely satisfied with the status quo, but owners want a bigger slice of revenues.
Currently, the owners take $1 billion out of the $9 billion revenue to cover their costs before dividing the rest, with the players' share of the remaining $8 billion set at just under 60 percent.
Owners have said they would be willing to leave the split, as agreed in 2006, but want at least another billion dollars put on their side of the ledger before dividing up the loot -- which could cost the players more than $500 million a year.
Other key issues include the possible move to an 18-game regular season, a rookie wage scale and pensions for former players.
The league has argued that the union wants to 'decertify', effectively becoming a trade association, to allow it to take antitrust action in the courts.
The last work stoppage in the NFL was in 1987.
"My working assumption at a time when people are having to cut back, compromise and worry about making the mortgage and pay for their kids' college educations is that the two parties should be able to work it out without the President of the United States intervening," he told reporters at the White House.
The decision to extend the negotiations by 24 hours came on the final day of talks in the nation's capital as the original deadline, which expired at midnight Thursday, was drawing closer.
NFL officials left the building without speaking to reporters. The only confirmation of the temporary truce was provided in a statement by the mediator George Cohen. "The parties have agreed to a one day extension," the statement read.
The NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith offered a brief glimmer of hope that a compromise might still be reached as he made his exit from the meeting.
"I just want to say to all of our fans who dig our game. We appreciate your patience as we work through this," he said.
"We're going to keep working. We want to play football."
The sides have been locked in negotiations with a federal mediator over the past 10 days after months of largely fruitless talks over how to divide the NFL's massive annual profits.
BUSINESS MODEL
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he believes players' salaries are rising faster than the league's revenues and that the existing business model must be changed to grow the sport.
The players are largely satisfied with the status quo, but owners want a bigger slice of revenues.
Currently, the owners take $1 billion out of the $9 billion revenue to cover their costs before dividing the rest, with the players' share of the remaining $8 billion set at just under 60 percent.
Owners have said they would be willing to leave the split, as agreed in 2006, but want at least another billion dollars put on their side of the ledger before dividing up the loot -- which could cost the players more than $500 million a year.
Other key issues include the possible move to an 18-game regular season, a rookie wage scale and pensions for former players.
The league has argued that the union wants to 'decertify', effectively becoming a trade association, to allow it to take antitrust action in the courts.
The last work stoppage in the NFL was in 1987.
2011年2月15日星期二
Girardi: Open competition for 4th and 5th starter
http://mathewfinger.tumblr.com/
TAMPA, Fla.—The Yankees may take a month or more to decide on the fourth and fifth starters in their very unsettled pitching rotation.
"The chances of the fourth and fifth starter roles cheap jerseys being answered sooner than later are not very good," manager Joe Girardi said Monday as pitchers and catchers reported for spring training. "You want to see who we feel has the best chance to help us during the course of the season."
Candidates include Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia, Sergio Mitre and Bartolo Colon. Girardi repeated that Joba Chamberlain is not an option, even though he lost his setup job late last season.
http://valstofflet.blog.com
"We've seen how dominate he can be in the bullpen," Girardi said. "Joba has a chance to be extremely important to our bullpen, and I'm looking forward to that."
Staff ace CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes and A.J Burnett fill the top three slots of a rotation that will be without Andy Pettitte, who retired.
"I know that's going to be a question that I'm asked a lot about, our rotation, and I understand that," Girardi said. "But, that question is not going to be answered, really, until we get into the middle of the season. I feel good about the guys that we have here in camp."
Burnett struggled to a 10-15 with a 5.26 ERA last season, lost seven of his last eight regular-season decisions.
"I know how disappointed he was about some of his starts last year," Girardi said. "I saw how it affected him. He's made adjustments already with (new pitching coach) Larry Rothschild. I know how much A.J. cares. I've just got a feeling in my gut that he's going to have a good year."
Sabathia, who had surgery for a small tear in his right knee last October, is 25 pounds lighter this spring training, weighing in at 290 pounds.
Cliff Lee's decision to sign with Philadelphia instead of New York has left the Yankees scrambling.
"It's disappointing, but you've got to respect him," Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner said. "He did what he wanted to do, that's the bottom line. We tried to get him harder than anybody. We offered him more money than anybody."
Steinbrenner thinks the Yankees have baseball's best bullpen following the addition of Rafael Soriano and Pedro Feliciano to go along with strong hitting and a solid defense.
"Our starting pitching, hopefully, will come around," Steinbrenner said. "We think A.J. will turn it around. All our baseball people like Nova, so we'll see what happens."
"I'm not going to pick who I think will be the best teams, but I think we're one of them," Steinbrenner added. "There's no use in predicting. You play the games for a reason, and you hope you don't have injuries."
Girardi expects shortstop Derek Jeter to improve on last season's .270 batting average. The team captain agreed to a $51 million, three-year contract in December.
"We signed him to be our shortstop and we signed him to be our leadoff hitter," Girardi said. "Will he want to prove to some people, maybe, that he's not a .280, .290 hitter, maybe. But I think he tries to prove that every year."
Notes: This is the first spring training since the death last July of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. "It's going to be weird when you're sitting up in the box for the games," Hank Steinbrenner said. "The toughest part was the first month after he died. It had nothing to do with baseball. It was my dad." ... Former Yankees LHP David Wells is in camp for the first time as a spring training instructor. Lee Mazzilli is to report later to work with outfielders. ... Holdover spring instructors include Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson, Rich Gossage and Ron Guidry. ... Numbers worn by Pettitte (46), Joe Torre (6), Paul O'Neill (21) and Bernie Williams (51) are not being used.
TAMPA, Fla.—The Yankees may take a month or more to decide on the fourth and fifth starters in their very unsettled pitching rotation.
"The chances of the fourth and fifth starter roles cheap jerseys being answered sooner than later are not very good," manager Joe Girardi said Monday as pitchers and catchers reported for spring training. "You want to see who we feel has the best chance to help us during the course of the season."Candidates include Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia, Sergio Mitre and Bartolo Colon. Girardi repeated that Joba Chamberlain is not an option, even though he lost his setup job late last season.
http://valstofflet.blog.com
"We've seen how dominate he can be in the bullpen," Girardi said. "Joba has a chance to be extremely important to our bullpen, and I'm looking forward to that."
Staff ace CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes and A.J Burnett fill the top three slots of a rotation that will be without Andy Pettitte, who retired.
"I know that's going to be a question that I'm asked a lot about, our rotation, and I understand that," Girardi said. "But, that question is not going to be answered, really, until we get into the middle of the season. I feel good about the guys that we have here in camp."
Burnett struggled to a 10-15 with a 5.26 ERA last season, lost seven of his last eight regular-season decisions.
"I know how disappointed he was about some of his starts last year," Girardi said. "I saw how it affected him. He's made adjustments already with (new pitching coach) Larry Rothschild. I know how much A.J. cares. I've just got a feeling in my gut that he's going to have a good year."
Sabathia, who had surgery for a small tear in his right knee last October, is 25 pounds lighter this spring training, weighing in at 290 pounds.
Cliff Lee's decision to sign with Philadelphia instead of New York has left the Yankees scrambling.
"It's disappointing, but you've got to respect him," Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner said. "He did what he wanted to do, that's the bottom line. We tried to get him harder than anybody. We offered him more money than anybody."
Steinbrenner thinks the Yankees have baseball's best bullpen following the addition of Rafael Soriano and Pedro Feliciano to go along with strong hitting and a solid defense.
"Our starting pitching, hopefully, will come around," Steinbrenner said. "We think A.J. will turn it around. All our baseball people like Nova, so we'll see what happens."
"I'm not going to pick who I think will be the best teams, but I think we're one of them," Steinbrenner added. "There's no use in predicting. You play the games for a reason, and you hope you don't have injuries."
Girardi expects shortstop Derek Jeter to improve on last season's .270 batting average. The team captain agreed to a $51 million, three-year contract in December.
"We signed him to be our shortstop and we signed him to be our leadoff hitter," Girardi said. "Will he want to prove to some people, maybe, that he's not a .280, .290 hitter, maybe. But I think he tries to prove that every year."
Notes: This is the first spring training since the death last July of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. "It's going to be weird when you're sitting up in the box for the games," Hank Steinbrenner said. "The toughest part was the first month after he died. It had nothing to do with baseball. It was my dad." ... Former Yankees LHP David Wells is in camp for the first time as a spring training instructor. Lee Mazzilli is to report later to work with outfielders. ... Holdover spring instructors include Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson, Rich Gossage and Ron Guidry. ... Numbers worn by Pettitte (46), Joe Torre (6), Paul O'Neill (21) and Bernie Williams (51) are not being used.
2011年1月5日星期三
I.R.S. Watchdog Calls for Tax Code Overhaul
The various calls to revamp the nation’s highly complex tax code were joined by a significant new voice on Wednesday — the I.R.S.’s own taxpayer advocate, who urged that the system be rewritten for the first time in a generation
Nina E. Olson, the National Tax Advocate who acts as an ombudsman for the I.R.S., issued a sweeping criticism of federal tax policy in her annual report to Congress. Ms. Olson found that the volume of the tax code had doubled in size during the last decade — to 3.8 million words in February 2010 from 1.4 million in 2001. She estimated that Americans spent 6.1 billion hours preparing their returns each year — the equivalent of 3 million employees working full time. By comparison, the federal payroll has 2.1 million full-time workers.
The byzantine tax regulations also deprived the government of revenue by causing accidental underpayments and encouraging cheating, the report concluded, stating that the most practical remedy would be for Congress to scrap the existing code, which was last overhauled in 1986.
“The time for tax reform and tax simplification is now,” Ms. Olson said.
While the report amplifies many frequently voiced criticisms, and is likely to be welcomed by many of the tax critics who ignited the Tea Party movement, most policy experts consider it unlikely that the federal government will take up the issue before the 2012 presidential election.
Howard Gleckman, an analyst at the Tax Policy Center, has said that neither President Obama nor Congress has shown any eagerness to confront the combination of spending cuts and rate increases that would be needed to address the budget deficit.
Still, the fact that the I.R.S.’s own internal watchdog concedes that the federal tax system has become unmanageable underscores the severity of the problem.
The report’s prescriptions are likely to be more controversial than the diagnosis. Like the deficit commission set up by Mr. Obama, the National Tax Advocate’s office suggests that the tax system could be simplified and rates lowered if the federal government eliminated most of the $1.1 billion in write-offs, loopholes and deductions known as “tax expenditures.”
The report cites some of the most controversial loopholes for wealthy individuals and specific industries — including tax subsidies for electric cars and golf carts, movie production and a byproduct of the papermaking process known as “black liquor.” It also points out that some of the most expensive tax expenditures are collected by tens of millions of lower- and middle-class Americans who receive tax breaks on home mortgage interest, employer-provided health care plans, 401(k)’s and state and local taxes.
“The dirty little secret is that the largest special interests are us — the vast majority of U.S. taxpayers,” the report said. “Virtually all of us benefit from certain exclusions from income, deductions from income or tax credits.”
Unlike the deficit commission’s tax overhaul proposal, which sought to raise additional revenue, the taxpayer advocate’s plan would be revenue neutral.
The report also raised two troubling administrative issues facing the I.R.S. — the agency’s growing reliance on tax liens for collections and its greatly expanded responsibilities under the new health care law.
Noting that the I.R.S. had filed 1.1 million tax liens against delinquent taxpayers in 2010, the report urged the agency to use less “hard-core” enforcement tools on people who were still financially distressed because of the economic slowdown.
The taxpayer advocate also warned that as the new health care law takes effect in coming years, the I.R.S. would need to expand and retrain its staff.
“As the I.R.S. prepares to administer large portions of the health care legislation, it will have to shift from being an enforcement agency that primarily says, in effect, ‘you owe us’ to an agency that places much greater emphasis on hiring and training caseworkers to help eligible taxpayers receive benefits and work one-on-one with taxpayers to resolve legitimate disagreements,” the report said.
Nina E. Olson, the National Tax Advocate who acts as an ombudsman for the I.R.S., issued a sweeping criticism of federal tax policy in her annual report to Congress. Ms. Olson found that the volume of the tax code had doubled in size during the last decade — to 3.8 million words in February 2010 from 1.4 million in 2001. She estimated that Americans spent 6.1 billion hours preparing their returns each year — the equivalent of 3 million employees working full time. By comparison, the federal payroll has 2.1 million full-time workers.
The byzantine tax regulations also deprived the government of revenue by causing accidental underpayments and encouraging cheating, the report concluded, stating that the most practical remedy would be for Congress to scrap the existing code, which was last overhauled in 1986.
“The time for tax reform and tax simplification is now,” Ms. Olson said.
While the report amplifies many frequently voiced criticisms, and is likely to be welcomed by many of the tax critics who ignited the Tea Party movement, most policy experts consider it unlikely that the federal government will take up the issue before the 2012 presidential election.
Howard Gleckman, an analyst at the Tax Policy Center, has said that neither President Obama nor Congress has shown any eagerness to confront the combination of spending cuts and rate increases that would be needed to address the budget deficit.
Still, the fact that the I.R.S.’s own internal watchdog concedes that the federal tax system has become unmanageable underscores the severity of the problem.
The report’s prescriptions are likely to be more controversial than the diagnosis. Like the deficit commission set up by Mr. Obama, the National Tax Advocate’s office suggests that the tax system could be simplified and rates lowered if the federal government eliminated most of the $1.1 billion in write-offs, loopholes and deductions known as “tax expenditures.”
The report cites some of the most controversial loopholes for wealthy individuals and specific industries — including tax subsidies for electric cars and golf carts, movie production and a byproduct of the papermaking process known as “black liquor.” It also points out that some of the most expensive tax expenditures are collected by tens of millions of lower- and middle-class Americans who receive tax breaks on home mortgage interest, employer-provided health care plans, 401(k)’s and state and local taxes.
“The dirty little secret is that the largest special interests are us — the vast majority of U.S. taxpayers,” the report said. “Virtually all of us benefit from certain exclusions from income, deductions from income or tax credits.”
Unlike the deficit commission’s tax overhaul proposal, which sought to raise additional revenue, the taxpayer advocate’s plan would be revenue neutral.
The report also raised two troubling administrative issues facing the I.R.S. — the agency’s growing reliance on tax liens for collections and its greatly expanded responsibilities under the new health care law.
Noting that the I.R.S. had filed 1.1 million tax liens against delinquent taxpayers in 2010, the report urged the agency to use less “hard-core” enforcement tools on people who were still financially distressed because of the economic slowdown.
The taxpayer advocate also warned that as the new health care law takes effect in coming years, the I.R.S. would need to expand and retrain its staff.
“As the I.R.S. prepares to administer large portions of the health care legislation, it will have to shift from being an enforcement agency that primarily says, in effect, ‘you owe us’ to an agency that places much greater emphasis on hiring and training caseworkers to help eligible taxpayers receive benefits and work one-on-one with taxpayers to resolve legitimate disagreements,” the report said.
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