google trends

Sally Hershberger Predicts Penelope Cruz for Best Oscars 2010 Hair

2010-03-06T02:31:00.000-08:00

Since she's styled the hair of many of this year's Oscar nominees, we thought we'd tap Sally Hershberger for a few red-carpet style predictions. StyleList caught up with Hershberger yesterday for a little Hollywood talk.

"I think we'll see romantic 1940's hair, maybe waves, or pulled-back romantic looks. Nothing so severe. Usually it's a case of figuring out what kind of hair works with the dress," says Hershberger. "This year's nominees are pretty laid back and low-key, so I doubt they'll do anything crazy."

When asked who Hershberger thinks will have the best 'do: "I'll put money on Penelope Cruz."

As long as we're on the topic of style predictions, we asked her what to expect for Spring's biggest hair trends and her emphatic response was, "Bohemian, sexy, long layers. Think Daria [Werbowy] and Gisele [Bundchen]. I like good, healthy texture -- bigger hair than we've seen lately. And side braids -- very bohemian."

The Google Trends Website can make you money.

2010-03-06T02:23:00.000-08:00

The Google Trends Website was made public in 1996 but many marketers on the Internet don't know about it. Some know but don't understand it and so don't get the benefits out of it that are possible.

The Google Trends website is a service offered by Google to users that want to get some fantastic data about keyword searches in the Google search engine. For example if you wanted to know how popular Levi jeans were over the past 6 years you could type in "Levi Jeans" and get data that would show you the search trend for Levi Jeans. It will not only give you the search trend but you can begin to focus the searches on country, city or even by language.

For anyone looking for a Niche to market and make money Google Trends is something they should not do without.

How to use the Google Trends website Practically?

PPC Marketing - If you are primarily a PPC marketer Google Trends is going to help you in your geo-targeting. I was involved in a niche that was hot in the United States but it gradually tapered off in the USA but got real hot in the Japanese market and so you set up your Adwords campaigns to target Japan. Thank you Google for saving me money on advertising and making me money by knowing where the buyers were.

Spying on Competition - To the right of the trends graph there are a list of links that show you articles that are ranked high for the keyword that you chose. Look over those articles, get some ideas, spin it and submit it. Have you seen our page about Online Article Marketing?

Hot Trends for Bloggers - Google Hot Trends is a separate service and URL. When you are blogging you are in need of content and if you want to have something relevant to your crowd that is timely with world events or something else you can use Google Hot Trends to see what is real relevant. Not long ago Tiger Woods went through his hardship with his family and the reporters. If you type Tiger Woods into the Google Trends website you will see the spike that was created over the bad press. I would not use Hot Trends to determine a niche because it is only reporting the hot things that are very current and as we know, news is changing all the time.

Keyword Analysis - The Google Trends website should be a part of your keyword research in conjunction with a program like Traffic Travis (download Traffic Travis for FREE) and the Google external keyword tool. Google trends will save you money from choosing keywords or a niche that is no longer active in a particular country that you may be targeting.

Another cool part of the keyword analysis that I should mention is something I saw in a webinar. The Google Trends website was used to compare "table tennis" and "ping pong". Which do you think is more popular? Which country would you think either is more popular? Curious? Well I am not going to tell you. Go to the Google Trends website and check it out for yourself. While you are there play with it and see if you should alter some of the marketing that you are doing.

Note - Remember that this is only Google traffic and does not account for the traffic on other search engines like Ask, Yahoo and Bing. Clearly Google dominates as a search engine and gives a good picture of what is most likely taking place in the other search engines.

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Bill Wynne has been an Internet Marketer since 1999. He has been successful in a number of niche markets. Recently he decided to create his own blog where he has decided to share his knowledge of Internet Marketing. He offers many free tools and articles like Google Trends Website on his blog as well as special offers.

This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1401325_3.html

Apple punts on lower-cost MacBook

2009-10-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

By not coughing up a low-cost MacBook, as some had expected, Apple has ceded a potentially huge market to PC makers. But is this just all part of Apple's marketing genius?

$999 is as low as Apple will go.

(Credit: Apple) The announcement Tuesday of the $999 white polycarbonate MacBook was pretty ho-hum as product refreshes go (same price, same color as before) but the implication was important: Apple is surrendering a large, emerging laptop market to Microsoft and its coterie of PC makers.

Not that it's necessarily a bad strategy. Market researcher Gartner said recently that Apple's shipments in the U.S. grew year-over-year by 6.8 percent to total 1.57 million during the third quarter, putting it right behind Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Acer. Comparatively, overall PC shipments in the U.S. grew by 3.5 percent from a year earlier.

But among those unimpressive overall PC numbers (HP's third-quarter shipments grew only 2.7 percent), was an impressive statistic for Acer: buoyed by Netbooks, Acer's shipments grew by 61.4 percent year-over-year, and it blew past Dell to become the No. 2 PC maker worldwide based on this growth.

Granted, Netbooks are a relatively low-profit segment (i.e., profit on a $400 Netbook is going to be a lot less than that on a $999 laptop). Nevertheless, they're a hot market. Intel CEO Paul Otellini has stated numerous times that Intel was able to create a market that grew faster than either the iPhone or Nintendo Wii. Case in point: Windows 7-based Acer Netbooks are now big on the Home Shopping Network--which claims to have sold more than 5,000 in one segment on Saturday.

And that's not the only market Apple is punting on. A new category of inexpensive, thin laptops has emerged with the roll-out of Windows 7 on Thursday. Like Netbooks, these laptops are light (typically 4 pounds) and don't include an optical drive. But they are relatively powerful and full featured. The 15.6-inch Acer Aspire Timeline, for example, with a 320GB hard disk drive and dual-core Intel processor is fairly well-endowed at only $500.

Apple is not receiving a lot kudos in the mainstream business press by sticking to its $999 guns. The Wall Street Journal said that users can get roughly equivalent laptops for a lot less at Dell and HP. And other publications have said that Apple is not just ignoring new market realities but, in fact, ignoring the Mac lineup as a whole in favor of the iPhone.

So, do consumers lose by not getting the chance to buy a competitive low-cost Apple MacBook? The short answer to that rhetorical questions is yes--because Apple offers no alternative to, for example, a thin, light $650 HP Pavilion dm3 laptop.

But an apples-to-apples (pun not intended) comparison shows that while Apple skimps on a couple of white MacBook features, it's not an egregiously bad deal for $999. Let's do a quick side-by-side of the cheapest MacBook with a mainstream HP laptop.

• For $999, you get white polycarbonate wrapped around a 13.3-inch 1280-by-800 LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of memory, a 250GB (5400RPM) hard disk drive, an optical drive, and the standard wireless features. All in a 4.7-pound package.

• For $997, HP will sell you (online) an HP Pavilion dv3t series with a 13.3-inch 1280-by-800 LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of memory, a 500GB (5400RPM) hard disk drive, an optical drive, and the standard wireless features. Also, in 4.7-pound package.

Apple beats the HP by a hair in the processor category and loses in the memory and storage departments. If polycarbonate is, in fact, better than the plastics HP uses, then that aspect of the design would be a win for Apple.

The real win, though, is for Apple the company. It avoids the cut-throat sub-$900 laptop market and still sells--quite profitably--a lot of laptops. But will Apple be able to snub this growing market of inexpensive Windows 7 laptops indefinitely? We should know in about six months when Gartner reports first-quarter 2010 numbers.

Firing up the newest Tasers

2009-10-25T16:38:00.004-07:00

CNET News' Caroline McCarthy gets to test out a Taser T3 device, but much to her chagrin, she wasn't allowed to shoot it at a live human.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

DUBLIN, Calif.--Don't tase me, bro. Really.

CNET News took a trip to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Regional Training Center on Friday to have a look at some of the newest equipment from Taser, which was among the companies showing off weaponry at the UrbanShield 2009 training event. The electric-shock gadgets are controversial and have drummed up some bad press over the years for causing the occasional serious injury or even fatality. But the company has maintained its insistence that they are significantly safer than the alternative (i.e. guns).

We didn't get to tase anybody. But we did get to see the Shockwave, a big Taser device that can incapacitate five or six people at a time, which company representatives told us is designed for crowd-control situations and can be triggered remotely via a 100-foot firing wire.

There are also two recently released handheld Tasers: the X3, which unlike its single-shot predecessors can fire off a total of three shots at once; and the XREP, a Taser projectile that's fired out of a modified 12-gauge shotgun (the modifications ensure that regular cartridges can't be used instead). Both devices are bright yellow, which representatives told us means they're easily identified as non-lethal weapons.

You can't go to your local sporting goods store and buy these Tasers--unlike the smaller, consumer-grade C2 devices, the X3 and XREP lines are only sold to police, military, and sometimes animal-control professionals. Taser International's vice president of training, Rick Guilbault, told us that a Taser was once used to pry off a rogue python that had wrapped itself around a woman's arm and wouldn't let go.

Another time, a Taser was successfully used to safely deter an out-of-control alligator in Florida. "But then they tried it in Australia on those big salt-water crocodiles," Guilbault related, "and that didn't work. It just made them mad."

Nokia pushes back N900 Net tablet

2009-10-25T16:38:00.003-07:00

Nokia has delayed the release of its N900 Internet tablet.

Nokia N900 photos

View the full gallery
The N900 was previously set to arrive in October--and Nokia's preorder site still states that. However, it is now set for release "during November," Peter Schneider, head of Maemo marketing at Nokia, said Thursday in a post. Schneider did not state the reason for the delay, but Reuters reported that the company is waiting for more feedback from developers.

N900, which costs $649, is part cell phone and part computer. It's considered a potential game-changer for Nokia, which is pushing it as "fusing the power of the computer, the Internet and the mobile phone."

The device uses Nokia's Linux-based Maemo 5 operating system to offer multitasking, Web browsing via Mozilla, a touch screen, and slide-out keyboard. It includes an ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 1GB of application memory, and 32GB of storage (expandable to 48GB with a MicroSD card). It measures 4.4 inches by 2.4 inches and features a 3.5-inch widescreen display.The device also sports a 5-megapixel camera.

Q&A: Schneier warns of marketers and dancing pigs

2009-10-25T16:38:00.001-07:00

In a security industry full of FUD and hype, cryptographer and consultant Bruce Schneier offers a no-nonsense reality check verging on social commentary.

He has worked on numerous ciphers, hash functions, and other cryptographic algorithms that are arcane to the average computer user but which have been instrumental in protecting the privacy of data. But his influence extends beyond the world of encryption.

Schneier wrote several bestselling books--including "Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World," "Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World," and his latest, "Schneier on Security"--that provide perspective on risks and threats in everything from e-mail to airport security. And his Cryto-Gram newsletter and blog are considered must-reads inside and outside the industry.

Opinionated and cynical, he doesn't hesitate to point out that one of the biggest limitations of technology is people. ("The user's going to pick dancing pigs over security every time," he has been quoted as saying.)

In an e-mail interview with CNET News, Schneier pokes fun at National Cyber Security Month, talks about his background in crypto and working for the U.S. Defense Department, and says he fears privacy invasion more from marketers than governments or criminals.

Q: You started out as a cryptographer but are considered an expert on all types of security threats, hypes, and realities. Do you still do much cryptography?
Schneier: Some. I'm a member of the cryptographic team that developed the Skein hash function, currently a second-round candidate in NIST's competition to choose an SHA-3. These competitions are kind of like cryptographic demolitions derbies: all the teams put their algorithms in the ring and try to beat up everyone else's. NIST received 64 submissions, of which 51 met the submission criteria. Of those 51, 14 proceeded to the second round. It's great fun to be working on this.

Overall, though, I am not doing a lot of cryptography. Over the past several years I have been studying security economics, and more recently, the psychology of security. These are important new fields that will have many lessons for security technology.

"I don't think I could effectively keep my public life and my private life separate (on Facebook). I would want to use Facebook as a way to keep in touch with my friends, but it seems inevitable that my public life would bleed over." What are your thoughts on the state of cryptography today? There doesn't seem to be anything going on as exciting as the crypto battles of the 1990s.
Schneier: We really have all the cryptography we need for the foreseeable future; the problem is using it securely. Computer and network security are by far the weaker links. Even worse are things like user interface, installation, implementation, configuration, use, and update. There's so much good cryptography that doesn't get used properly because of one of these issues. These are hardly new areas, but they're the areas that need the most work.

Do you encrypt your e-mail?
Schneier: I do not, except for special circumstances.

When will we see more people using encryption for communications, people who aren't geeks and privacy freaks?
Schneier: I used to say when it was enabled by default in the major e-mail readers: Outlook, Thunderbird, Opera. But these days, many people read their e-mail using their browser, and don't have a local e-mail reader at all. People will start using encrypted e-mail when services like Gmail offer encrypted e-mail by default. That means, basically, never.

Has it really even taken off inside the corporate world? If not, why not?
Schneier: It hasn't, because there's no real reason to encrypt corporate e-mail. When we started thinking about security on the Internet, we thought about it in the classic way. Alice wanted to send a message to Bob, and Eve the eavesdropper was in the middle trying to listen in. In that model, encrypting e-mail is important because it prevents eavesdropping. But that's not the real risk to Internet communications. Nobody intercepts e-mails to steal credit card numbers or learn corporate secrets; instead, they break into servers and corporate networks and get at those e-mails before they're sent or after they're received. E-mail encryption doesn't protect against that threat at all. The primary risk to the data is when it's at rest, not when it's in motion. Ubiquitous hard drive encryption improves security much more than ubiquitous e-mail encryption, and good network security is even more effective.

That being said, we now know that the NSA vacuums up all sorts of electronic communications, e-mail included. So maybe it would be a good idea for all of us to routinely encrypt our e-mail. But since most corporations don't regard the NSA as a threat--they're supposedly on the side of the good guys--defending against them isn't high on a CSO's (chief security officer) to-do list, even CSOs of international companies.

Don't people care about their privacy?
Schneier: Of course they do. Survey after survey demonstrates this. What you really want to know is why, if people care about their privacy, do they continue to give up their privacy in return for what seems to be so little? The answer to that question is complicated, and psychologists are not studying it sufficiently. In short, though, it has to do with immediate vs. long-term consequences, the fact that privacy is something people don't notice until it's gone, and how salient privacy is when the decision is being made.

What do you think are the most serious legitimate threats to consumer privacy?
Schneier: Marketing. The legal collection, storage, resale, and reuse of personal information. Information brokers are doing more to hurt consumer privacy than anything criminals or the government can do. And, even worse, the government can buy information from them, and criminals can break into their databases.

"The legal collection, storage, resale, and reuse of personal information. Information brokers are doing more to hurt consumer privacy than anything criminals or the government can do." What about threats to computer security?
Schneier: Crime. It may come with fancy names like identity theft, but it's really just fraud due to impersonation. That's the key threat, and it's not changing. The tactics might change--phishing, pharming, key logging, social engineering, password guessing, whatever--as security measures make some tactics harder and others easier, but the underlying issue is constant.

Do you use Facebook?
Schneier: I do not. It's not because I don't trust the site's privacy--although their dozens of privacy settings are pretty bewildering--it's because I don't think I could effectively keep my public life and my private life separate. I would want to use Facebook as a way to keep in touch with my friends, but it seems inevitable that my public life would bleed over. I could put up a public Facebook page and basically mirror my Web site and my blog there, but that seems like a lot of work for not a lot of benefit.

I don't use Twitter for much the same reason, even though I have a Twitter account. My social network of choice is LiveJournal.

What advice do you give your friends about how to protect themselves online?
Schneier: First and foremost, keep good backups. When a computer gets infected with malware, the most common thing you lose is your data. Second, acquire and install a good antivirus program (there are good free ones), and configure your OS and router to protect you. And third, pay attention to what you do online. So many attacks these days prey on the ignorance, gullibility, or naivete of users; it's important to have a good bullshit detector.

It's National Cyber Security Awareness Month. What are your thoughts on cyber security in the U.S.?
Schneier: Really? We have a National Cyber Security Awareness Month? You're kidding. Whose idea was that?

Does it seem to you like our critical infrastructure, government, and corporate networks are just as vulnerable to attack as they were 15 or 20 years ago? Are we making any progress in that area?
Schneier: If anything, they're more vulnerable because there's more of it and it's more critical. We're making some progress against specific attack tactics, but I don't think we're making any real progress overall against the broad threats. Cybercrime is still getting worse.

Do you think the smart grid will be secure or just offer more ways for attackers to disrupt things?
Schneier: "Secure" isn't an absolute; there's just more secure and less secure. I think the smart grid will be more secure than some of the older systems it will replace, but less secure than others. It will defend against some attacks, and some accidents, and it will certainly offer attackers additional ways to disrupt things. This doesn't mean it isn't a good idea, mind you. Security considerations are just one of the things that should influence the decision to implement a smart grid.

Do you expect the Obama administration to be able to make a difference, or will it be business as usual?
Schneier: I wish I knew. I hope the Obama administration can make a difference; there are serious problems that need government intervention to solve. But I worry that the U.S. is fundamentally ungovernable at the highest levels, that the political process is simply not capable of tackling the major problems of society. So until increased computer and network security has lobbying groups capable of buying legislators and political parties, it's business as usual.

How much of a priority should cybersecurity be, if at all?
Schneier: It should be a major priority. More and more of society--government, corporate, and personal--is in cyberspace. Cyberspace is now where you go if you want to steal money, engage in espionage, or disrupt corporate and government operations. The real world is still more important, but cyberspace is increasingly important.

"We're making some progress against specific attack tactics, but I don't think we're making any real progress overall against the broad threats. Cybercrime is still getting worse." Are we still using security theater?
Schneier: Always, since the beginning of humanity and until the end of humanity.

What do you do now for BT?
Schneier: BT bought Counterpane three years ago. Since then, Counterpane's managed security services have been fully integrated into BT's offerings and I have become the chief security technology officer for BT. As CSTO, my primary job is to evangelize computer and network security. I also get involved with BT's service offerings, and in customer engagements.

How well has the idea of managed security taken off?
Schneier: It's everywhere, but not in the way you're thinking about it. When you use Gmail, you let Google manage your e-mail security. You use managed security on your cell phone, on Facebook--everywhere you buy an outsourced service. Managed security is doing okay as a separate service, but it's doing great when it's part of a broader service.

How did you first get into the area of computer security? Were you one of those third-grade math nerds who could recite pi?
Schneier: No, but I was friends with that guy. I was never good at memorization; in high-school and college physics I would rederive formulas during tests because I could never remember them. But I always liked math, and was always good at it.

I also always liked cryptography. I read the few standard kids' crypto books that everyone read, and practiced making and breaking codes. In eighth grade, I had access to my first computer: a punch-tape terminal connected to a mainframe at a nearby college that could be programmed in BASIC. In college, I majored in physics--basically, mathematics with boundary conditions--and then worked for the U.S. Department of Defense in secure communications. I didn't work for the NSA, although I did work with the NSA. And no, I didn't work directly in cryptography, I worked on the implementation side of the black boxes the NSA developed. I always kept my interest in cryptography, and in 1991 when AT&T Bell Labs laid me off, I decided to write Applied Cryptography and go into consulting. It was the right book at the right time. I really didn't start paying attention to computer security until I noticed that all these fantastically secure cryptographic systems were being broken because the computers and networks they were running on were insecure.

I have read that you are quite the foodie and that you write restaurant reviews for an alternative newspaper in Minneapolis and even wrote a guide book. Tell us more.
Schneier: I am and I do. My wife and I have written restaurant reviews for several Minneapolis newspapers and magazines, including the Star Tribune. Occasionally, I post restaurant reviews on the eGullet Web site--although these days I'm pretty lazy about it. It's a nice change from security writing, I think. I also cook--savories, not sweets--and maintain a decent wine cellar.

Do you bank online? If so, do you ever use a mobile device to do it? If not, why not?
Schneier: I don't do a lot of banking online. I have online access to my accounts, primarily to check balances and receive some credit card statements via e-mail, and I've set up some of my regular bills to be automatically paid. Other than that, I prefer to pay my bills manually. This is less for security reasons, and more because doing banking explicitly makes me more aware of where the money is going.

I've never done any online banking using a mobile device. I can't even imagine why I might want to.

What have I not asked that readers might find interesting?
Schneier: You haven't mentioned the squid at all.

European laws present challenges for Google Books

2009-10-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--As Google closes in on a November 9 deadline to submit a revised settlement in the Google Books case, it continues to pull out all the stops to reassure the world it has the best of intentions.

The controversy over Google's settlement with groups representing book authors and publishers rages on, almost a year after it was first reached. After Google was sued in 2005 for digitizing books without explicit permission, it reached a proposed settlement in October 2008 that would give it unique rights to scan out-of-print yet copyright-protected books, exciting some librarians but raising the ire of many within the publishing and literary communities.

Nevertheless, Google has made painstaking attempts to engage with its enemies in the publishing world. Dan Clancy, engineering director for Google Books, has traveled the country meeting with opponents and supporters, patiently explaining Google's position and preaching the value of a publicly available archive of digital books.

On Thursday, Google hosted a group of four librarians from Europe, where Google has signed partnership agreements with five libraries to discuss the benefits of the project. The settlement is obviously a U.S. matter, but the contentious issues in the settlement do not exactly apply to Europe, because Google says it has not scanned out-of-print but copyright-protected books published in Europe.

Therefore, in Europe Google has only scanned public domain works held by its library partners and books for which it has negotiated scanning rights with rights holders. Still, the settlement process is being watched closely by European authors who have had books published in the U.S., as well as European librarians who are a little jealous over the resources their American counterparts could enjoy under the settlement.

"It's like everyone in the U.S. gets to use cell phones and I'm stuck with a landline," said Sarah Thomas, Bodley's librarian and director of Oxford University's Library Service. "It's a tremendous barrier to advancing knowledge."

Make no mistake: getting this settlement finalized is easily one of Google's highest priorities of the year. There are financial incentives--Google will host links to book stores and place ads on the search result pages--but this is also a core part of Google's mission to organize the world's information.

Even the hardiest Google opponents agree that a digital library of the scope Google is proposing will have tangible benefits for the world. This is especially true for the European libraries, which store books dating as far as the 17th century that are crumbling with the advance of age. Few people are able to see those books because of their value and the remoteness of their location, but putting them online could allow the world to read books they would have once traveled thousands of miles to see, allow researchers from around the world to study their contents, and preserve the knowledge for future generations.

But some, such as German Prime Minister Angela Merkel, are wary about a single company controlling such a library. "The German government has a clear position: copyrights have to be protected on the Internet," The Guardian quoted her as saying last week.

In any event, at the moment European libraries are on the outside when it comes to unlocking the knowledge stored in the millions of out-of-print but copyright-protected books on their shelves. Google's argument all along in the U.S. has been that it was allowed to scan those types of books under fair-use laws, which was disputed by authors and publishers in 2005 but authorization to do so is a key part of the proposed settlement.

Copyright laws vary across Europe, but the concept of fair use generally does not exist, and most books are protected by copyright for 70 to 80 years after the death of the author, the librarians said. Historical works are in the public domain, but that's just a fraction of the overall number of books stored in libraries throughout the world.

Out-of-print books will only be available as limited previews to searchers with links to stores at which they can be bought, but those books will be part of a database that is available to researchers and librarians through an institutional subscription. Researchers outside the U.S. won't have access to that database, which means U.S. libraries and universities would have an advantage.

"We ask our researchers what they want, and they say, 'we need a Google Books European settlement. We need access to books that are out of print but are still in copyright,'" said Klaus Ceynowa, deputy director general for the Bavarian State Library in Germany.

Manuela Palafox, head of digital editions at the University of Complutense of Madrid, Spain, took it a step further. "The most important thing in Europe is to review our copyright laws. We need to adapt it to the digital age."

This, of course, is part of the opposition to Google's settlement in the U.S. Instead of leaving it up to Congress to reform U.S. copyright laws to settle once and for all whether digitizing out-of print but copyright-protected books should be allowed, the settlement is granting that unique sweeping right to a single corporation, and forcing others who may want to digitize these books to cut licensing deals with an organization funded by Google and staffed by directors picked by the groups representing authors and publishers.

So while Google works feverishly on a new settlement in the U.S. ahead of a November 9th deadline, its legal battles may be just beginning. Chinese authors are reportedly gearing up to oppose Google's efforts, and its mission of organizing the world's information may be stymied if European copyright laws forbid the digitization of a huge swath of books published in the last century.

Tillman on covering Chad and being a dad

2009-10-25T16:24:00.001-07:00

October 25, 2009
BY BRAD BIGGS bbiggs@suntimes.com
Shadowing Chad Ochocinco, Charles Tillman’s expected assignment today, won’t be an easy task, but the Bears cornerback can put it in perspective.

Tillman will travel Tuesday with his wife, Jackie, to Washington, where they’ll speak with lawmakers about the Berlin Heart, the device that saved his daughter Tiana’s life just before the start of last season. She was the first patient in Illinois to benefit from the small, computerized device that helps the heart pump blood until a donor transplant is available. The device is not FDA-approved yet and has been used on a clinical basis.

» Click to enlarge image

Bears cornerback Charles Tillman, who has been drawing tough assignments, could be covering Chad Ochocinco today.

(Tom Cruze/Sun-Times)

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‘‘I’ve got the easy part; talking about my daughter is easy,’’ Tillman said. ‘‘Obviously, she’s the reason I’m going, and it’s a good reason. I just hope to get the message across. I hope they listen. We’ll see what happens.’’

There’s no guarantee the Bears will assign Tillman the Ochocinco detail, but he followed Roddy White last week in Atlanta and tailed Calvin Johnson for the second half of the game before that. In six quarters, White and Johnson combined for seven receptions and 70 yards, and that includes White’s 40-yard touchdown on a bubble screen that really wasn’t Tillman’s fault. He was blocked out of the play by Tony Gonzalez.

Ochocinco, whose social-media prowess might obscure his on-field talent at this point, is the only player in NFL history to lead a conference in receiving yards four consecutive seasons. He has been doing his homework.

‘‘Beautiful. I’ve been studying film on Peanut since training camp actually,’’ Ochocinco said. ‘‘He’s really, really good, man. I know I’ve been playing around on Twitter and going back and forth with the nonsense — it’s the way I play the game — but he looks really good, and he’s put up some shutdowns on some pretty good top receivers. It’s going to be a fun, interesting matchup.’’

In the past, the Bears rarely matched cornerbacks up on wide receivers, choosing to leave each corner on his side. But right cornerback Zack Bowman was torched by Johnson, so coach Lovie Smith made a halftime adjustment and kept it in place for White. The footwork is the opposite, but Tillman doesn’t make a big deal out of it. He won’t be surprised if he’s asked to follow 85.

Tillman has had a strong season, and, like it or not, he was a considerable question mark. Shoulder surgery in January was followed by a hyperextended knee in June, then back surgery in July. He missed nearly the entire offseason program, all of training camp and didn’t play in preseason. You wouldn’t know it watching film, and right now he feels better than he did at almost any point last season, when it was a struggle to raise his arms over his head.

‘‘The body can take damn near anything,’’ Tillman said. ‘‘It’s just being prepared mentally. I think if you approach it with the right mind-set, you can do anything. Your body can take a pretty good beating before it can’t go anymore. Mentally, you just have to train yourself.

‘‘At one point, I [said it’s one thing after another]. Is the shoulder OK? Bam. Now it’s the knee. Bam. Now it’s the back. It does get a little overwhelming with injuries when they keep coming back boom, boom, boom. That’s never happened before with me. It gets stressful, but you have your pity party for the day, and you wake up the next day ready to work.’’

Conquering some injuries is nothing compared to what he went through when it was touch-and-go with Tiana.

‘‘The one thing I can always say: It’s never as bad as you think,’’ he said. ‘‘Someone out there has it worse than you. Given the fact that my daughter got sick last year and all that we went through, someone had it worse than we did. Someone actually lost their kid for our daughter to live.

‘‘At the end of the day, that’s what I try to tell myself. Look at us. I play football. I make good money. I’m young. I’m healthy. I’m truly blessed.’’

St. Paul boy dies while waiting for new heart

2009-10-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

By Rhoda Fukushima
rgfukushima@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 10/20/2009 03:46:57 PM CDT

Connor Tucker of St. Paul didn't let his heart defect get him down.

He loved fishing at his grandparents' cabin near Eveleth — so long as he didn't have to touch the fish. He loved chewing cinnamon gum — until it got so hot that he put it in the refrigerator. He loved making up silly songs — like the hot sauce ditty from the grocery store.

"He was funny, smart, energetic, happy," said his dad, Michael Tucker.

That is how Tucker, his wife, Amber, their younger son, Peter, and numerous relatives and friends will remember Connor, who died Sunday while waiting for a new heart. He was 16 days shy of his fourth birthday.

Connor was born in November 2005 with a defect that left one side of his heart smaller than normal. He underwent three open-heart surgeries and in September 2009, had surgery for a new pacemaker. The next day, Connor suffered cardiac arrest. Doctors stabilized him, but he would eventually need a heart transplant.

Doctors were waiting for Connor to get stronger so they could implant a Berlin Heart, a long-term support device. Connor suffered another cardiac arrest, developed pneumonia and had complications from being sedated.

"Doctors were waiting for that to get better," Michael Tucker said.

Michael Tucker said the heart condition never really dragged Connor down. Occasionally, Connor had trouble eating and sleeping, but those were the only real outward signs of his condition. The Tuckers would get his liquid

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medication ready for him, but Connor would take it himself.
"He was pretty good about going to the doctor," Michael Tucker said.

Michael Tucker will remember the special things they did — like camping, fishing and going to SpongeBob Square Pants at the Mall of America.

But most of all, he'll remember "how proud of him we were and are and how brave he was."

Connor's visitation is scheduled for 4 to 8 p.m. tonight at Honsa Family Funeral Home in White Bear Lake and a half-hour before his funeral Wednesday. His funeral is at 11:30 a.m. at St. Pius X Church in White Bear Lake.

Friends have organized a benefit to help the Tuckers pay medical bills.

The benefit will be Nov. 7 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Casa Vieja, 2176 West Seventh St. in St. Paul.

Donations can be sent to the Highgrove Community Federal Credit Union, 1804 West Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55116 to the attention of Love for Connor Benefit.

This report includes information from the Associated Press. Rhoda Fukushima can be reached at 651-228-5444.

Bears cornerback Charles Tillman puts injuries behind him

2009-10-25T16:22:00.000-07:00

By Andrew Seligman (CP) – 3 days ago

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — A serial Twitter tweaker, it figures that Chad Ochocinco would have something to say about Bears cornerback Charles Tillman this week, and he certainly took his share of playful jabs.

This, however, was not one of them.

"He's really, really good, man," the Cincinnati Bengals' flashy receiver told Chicago reporters.

Tillman continues to play at a high level despite a run of injuries that might have limited him in the early going and his likely matchup with Ochocinco figures to be one to watch when the Bears visit Cincinnati on Sunday.

A five-time Pro Bowl pick, Ochocinco took note after Tillman contained Detroit's Calvin Johnson and Atlanta's Roddy White in the Bears' past two games.

For a guy who had shoulder and back surgeries in the off-season and sat out the pre-season, Tillman's doing just fine.

"The one thing I can always say is it's never as bad as you think because somebody out there has it worse than you," he said.

That message hit him with the force of a blindside tackle last year when he found out his infant daughter Tiana needed a heart transplant. She became the first patient in Illinois to benefit from a computerized device called a Berlin Heart, a small pump located outside the body that helps the heart pump blood to the lungs and body. It serves as a bridge to a transplant, helping patients buy time until an organ becomes available.

Tiana is doing well. Others aren't so fortunate.

The experience made Tillman see his own ailments in a different light, and the list was long.

He finished with 91 tackles and a team-high four forced fumbles last year even though both shoulders were injured. He had surgery on the right one in January, limiting his participation in organized activities, and he sat out the pre-season after having a back operation in July, just before the start of training camp. Yet he was determined to be ready for the opener.

"I think the body can take damn near anything," Tillman said. "I think if you approach it with the right mindset, you can do anything. Your body can take a pretty good beating before it actually can't go anymore. Mentally, you've just got to train yourself. I think mentally, I prepared myself for it to be hard, to come back in a short amount of time. I had a good training staff to help me get prepared and get me ready."

Safety Danieal Manning said he had no doubt Tillman would make an early impact. He saw the work his teammate put in during the off-season.

It was Tillman who shut down Johnson in the second half against Detroit, holding him to three catches for 14 yards after he burned Zackary Bowman in the first two quarters. He followed that up last week with a good effort against White, who turned a short screen into a 40-yard touchdown in which Tillman got taken out by Tony Gonzalez but wound up with just 56 yards in all.

On Sunday, he figures to come pad-to-pad with a receiver who's had his share of fun at the expense of the Bears. Back when he was known as Chad Johnson in 2005, Ochocinco scored two touchdowns in a game at Soldier Field and gave a not-so-subtle nod to Brian Urlacher by performing a rendition of Michael Flatley's Riverdance in the end zone. Urlacher at the time was in a custody dispute with the mother of his son, a woman who had also falsely accused Flatley of rape.

This week, Ochocinco's been pouring out a steady stream of playful tweets.

He took credit for Jay Cutler's contract extension and called out the defensive backs, writing the Bears' secondary will "kiss da baby."

"My opinion, if you're that good, you can say whatever you want," Tillman said.

Good-natured jabs aside, Ochocinco had plenty to say about Tillman.

"He looks really good and he's put up some shut-downs on some pretty good top receivers, so it's going to be a fun, interesting matchup come Sunday," Ochocinco said.

What We Learned: Week 8

2009-10-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

Each Sunday, our bloggers review what happened over the past weekend. What did they learn in Week 8?

ACC
Georgia Tech and Clemson both control their own destiny. Clemson has already beaten Boston College and Wake Forest, so the Tigers would win their division with wins in their final three ACC games -- versus FSU, at NC State and against Virginia. With Miami's loss, Georgia Tech can represent the Coastal in the title game. All the Jackets need are wins over Duke and Wake Forest in their final two conference games.

Big 12
Nebraska's game of dropsy Saturday afternoon defied all logic. The Cornhuskers had eight turnovers -- including four fumbles inside the Iowa State 6-yard line in a tough 9-7 loss to the Cyclones. With Nebraska forcing no turnovers, the Cornhuskers' minus-8 turnover margin was the worst in school history. But more amazingly, where was Cody Green? The ballyhooed freshman quarterback didn't have to start the game, but his addition into the lineup for a possession or two might have provided a jump-start for the Cornhuskers' sputtering offense. Instead, Nebraska's struggles continued a trend where the Cornhuskers have produced only 20 points in their last 14 quarters against BCS opposition. Bo Pelini and Shawn Watson have their work cut out for them -- pronto.

WHAT WE LEARNED
Click below to see what our bloggers learned this past weekend.

ACC
Big 12
Big East
Big Ten
Pac-10
SEC
Non-AQs
Notre Dame

Big East
And then there were three. I wrote last week that the Big East was looking like a three-team race. Well, now it's official. Cincinnati, Pitt and West Virginia are all undefeated in league play, while everybody else has at least two conference losses. It's hard to envision a scenario where anyone but one of the top 3 goes to the BCS. That could make for an anticlimactic next couple of weeks while we wait for the first of the three showdowns between the contenders, when West Virginia goes to Cincinnati on Nov. 13.

Big Ten
League title race likely down to three. The Big Ten race could have gotten pretty wild had Michigan State and Michigan pulled off upsets on Saturday. But Iowa's win and dominant performances by both Penn State and Ohio State decrease the likelihood that a team with two losses in league play can win the championship. Iowa remains in the driver's seat, though Ohio State can claim its fifth consecutive Big Ten title by winning out. Penn State needs to win out and hope Iowa loses twice in the final four weeks. The two decisive games likely come Nov. 7 (Ohio State at Penn State) and Nov. 14 (Iowa at Ohio State).

Pac-10
USC's defense can be had, Take 2. This was a "What we learned" last week after the Trojans gave up 159 yards in the fourth quarter at Notre Dame. Well, Oregon State clearly saw some vulnerabilities in the pass defense -- hey USC! Cover the tight end! -- while throwing for 329 yards and three TDs in a 42-36 loss. As noted last week, "Oregon coach Chip Kelly will raise an eyebrow over some of these potential chinks in the Trojans' armor."

SEC
Tebow is human. First of all, Tim Tebow is the epitome of a man. Anybody who's watched him play football knows that. But for him not to man up and face the media Saturday after throwing not one but two pick-sixes in Florida's 29-19 win over Mississippi State makes you wonder whether the pressure is starting to get to Tebow. Florida coach Urban Meyer admitted afterward that a lot of people, including him, were pressing. Well, Tebow made a couple of awful decisions in that game, the kind that would have beaten the Gators had they been playing a more talented team or a team capable of moving the ball and scoring points. Keep in mind that Florida's defense didn't allow a touchdown. Only Tebow did -- two, to be exact. For a team ranked No. 1 in the BCS standings and riding a 17-game winning streak, the Gators looked and sounded pretty frustrated late Saturday night. But then, some of the issues they're having right now offensively will do that to you. Just ask Tebow … when you get a chance.

Non-AQ
Two in the BCS. TCU coach Gary Patterson put it out there after Saturday's win that that he thought both TCU and Boise State would deserve a bid to a BCS bowl should both schools go undefeated. He stated that there weren't a lot of "great teams" in the top 10, and that's been proved with the late-game heroics that have been needed to preserve some wins during the past two weeks. Boise State handled Hawaii fairly easily thanks to a defense that forced six turnovers that were turned into 30 Boise State points.

Notre Dame
Roby Toma was not just a Te'o throw-in. Rival fans accused Notre Dame of giving receiver Toma a scholarship just because he was the high school teammate and best friend of stud recruit Manti Te'o. Well, Toma proved his value by catching two passes for 13 yards in his first career game Saturday, pressed into action because of Robby Parris' injury. Even if Toma had been merely a recruiting enticement, he might have been worth it. Te'o continues to improve at linebacker and recorded nine tackles -- two of them for losses -- against Boston College.

Our Week 9 College Football BCS Standings

2009-10-25T16:10:00.002-07:00

There are going to be quite a few changes in the week 9 college football BCS standings and we’ll let you know what’s new.

We are still a few hours away from the actual week 9 college football BCS standings but they are fairly easy to predict for this week and we’ll do our best to give you the sneak peak at what you’ll see when the rankings come out.

First of all, look for the top 3 teams in the BCS standings to remain exactly the same with Florida at #1, Alabama at #2, and Texas at #3. Florida struggled a little against Mississippi State and Alabama barely survived Tennessee but I can’t see Texas overtaking either of them in the week 9 BCS standings considering the lead they had prior. Texas had it easy against Missouri and will be close to taking out Alabama but will fall just short.

These week 9 college football BCS standings are brought to you by BoDog Sportsbook, which is currently offering a 10% sign-up bonus for new customers who want to get down some money on the college football and NFL games.

Boise State dominated Hawaii but will likely fall behind Cincinnati since the Bearcats’ win over Louisville will be bigger in the minds of the BCS standings’ computers. Iowa barely squeaked by Michigan State but might also pass the Broncos in the BCS standings. I don’t see USC moving up from their #7 spot in the BCS standings after narrowly beating Oregon State and might even fall behind TCU (beat top-20 BYU) and LSU (dominated Auburn). Miami is out of the week 9 college football BCS standings after losing to Clemson which will put Oregon in their spot.

Thanks to BoDog Sportsbook for sponsoring our predictions for the week 9 BCS standings.

Throwing Great Halloween Bash for Grownups

2009-10-25T16:10:00.001-07:00

CBS) Who says Halloween is just for kids?

Why not plan a spooky, original Halloween party for adults?!

On "The Early Show Saturday Edition," Food & Wine magazine's Grace Parisi offered a trick or two for preparing a spooky, original bash with a bit of style and making it a treat for grownups -- and without a scary prcietag.

She had fun ideas for creative food and decorations to make any Halloween party one to remember.

Parisi says, "I love preparing for parties with a theme, and what better opportunity than Halloween. There are so many different ways to be kitschy and creative and have fun at this time of year with basic ingredients straight from the grocery store. There are great tricks to create your own sweet and savory Halloween bash that is affordable, while at the same time still very elegant. Simple, store bought treats are a great way to spice up your food and drink and give it that extra kick that guests of every age will love."

Among her favorite suggestions for making sure your party goes off without a hitch:

Trick: Adding atmosphere brings the spirit out and completes the look for your party

Use thick black ribbon to tie white utensil rollups and pile them in a rustic wood tray. This creates a very dramatic and elegant effect without costing a ton. You can also use black flatware and alternate with a white ribbon, like disposable sets by Kikkerland.com $18

Use decals on glass hurricane lamps with black pillar candles -- these decorations are chic and will cast a moody glow - they are also great to use on glasses. Decals from $10, Jansen + Co Wabnitzeditions.com

Group mini pumpkins around your hurricanes -- We love to use mini white pumpkins and green gourds displayed in ordered rows along the buffet table, as it puts a spin on your typical orange pumpkin.

For bold and modern decorations (that are also delicious), fill tall glass apothecary jars with monochromatic candy. You can go to your local candy wholesaler and buy white, black and orange M&Ms, candy corn, jelly beans, etc.

DARING DECOR

1. Dry ice -- Dry ice in a bowl creates fog on your table, in addition to the foggy punch

2. Music -- A Must have Halloween Music playlist is also key to keep the party full of Halloween spirit, Monster Mash, Thriller, Devil Inside, etc.

3. White Sheets -- Cover your furniture in all white sheets to create a haunted house vibe

4. Leaves -- Place fall leaves on the floor, on tables and around the house for a windblown, stormy feel.

5. Cobwebs -- Buy store-bought cobwebs and string them along mirrors, bookcases, and tables.

6. Candles -- Add candles everywhere - they are the easiest way to set the tone of the party and are romantic and chic.

TIP #1: SAVORY FOODS MAKE A SPOOKY SPLASH (Think About Colors and Shapes)

Since we're planning a party that is for grown ups, you need to have more than just sweets and candy. You need things that grown ups can eat but that are still fun and keep the Halloween spirit. Savory finger foods are an enjoyable way to give your guests something delicious and fun to eat, while keeping the event sophisticated and chic. They are very striking, easy to make nibbles that everyone will love. If you keep things simple and think about variations on colors and shapes, you will make life easy for yourself. These three suggestions all put a twist on some classic bites for Halloween:

Devilish Delicacies:

1. Devils on horseback

2. Deviled eggs with black caviar

3. Biscuits with deviled ham

4. Mac and cheese bites - the orange color keeps with the Halloween theme and macaroni and cheese is a dish that kids of all ages love.

5. Batty Tapanade Toast - I love this item because it's a delicious nibble that guests will love, but you can make it Halloween focused by changing the usual shape with a simple cookie cutter. You jut need to take tapenade on toasted white bread, cut out in to fun Halloween shapes with bat cookie cutters, pumpkin cookie cutters, etc.

Tip #2: SCARY SWEETS ARE A MUST (Simple additions will make treats deliciously creepy)

1. Candy Corn Cupcakes

2. Mini candy bars - I like the idea of bowls and canisters of black candy, like licorice, since most kids hate licorice but it's a great candy for adults. It's so simple and inexpensive. The colors are perfect, and you can put the black licorice in to an orange bowl which is fun.

3. Mini Candy Bar Cake: I also love to arrange trick-or-treat-size candy bars in a domino pattern on top of a round or rectangular cake. It's really fun and is a great visual for guests:

4. Meringue Phantom Cookies: using currants for eyes: Again, another simple way to take a basic cookie and make it more exciting and spooky looking by simply adding eyes to them.

5. Graveyard Cake - If you take a plain cakes and pipe a spider web made from icing on top of a it, it takes something very plain and makes it unusual. It's really fun and so simple to make at home.

Tip #3: FRIGHTENINGLY FANTASTIC DESSERTS

Everyone loves dessert, so it's a must -have at any party, especially at Halloween, when the food centers on sweet goodies. We have some fabulous, simple recipes that put a twist on ordinary desserts and really spice up your party, without creating too much work for yourself.

1. Simple Witches Hat Cookies

2. Using orange food coloring to transform things like a basic black-and-white cookie

3. Meringue Phantom Cookies

4. Mini Caramel apples --Uusing tiny lady apples, which are delicious at this time of year.

5. Graveyard Cake -- pipe a spider web made from icing on top of a plain chocolate or vanilla cake; it's really fun and so simple to make at home

All of the above are easy and also very inexpensive to make. The colors are beautiful and fall-like, so they will really create a gorgeous Halloween color scheme that truly pops throughout the party.

Tip #4: CREEPY COCKTAILS COMPLETE THE BASH

SPOOKY SPIRITS:

I feel strongly that serving signature cocktails makes it so much easier for the host - while still allowing you to have fun with your theme and be creative. This way you have only one or two delicious cocktails to serve and they can be very tongue-in-cheek.

1. Bubbling Cauldron Cocktails -- made with champagne and simple melon or pear balls to make eye balls in the glass - people can serve themselves and it's a very chic trick that spices up the drink. The punch can also sit in dry ice for effect.

2. Rouge Dead Guy ale -- Serve buckets with holiday beer and wine.

Halloween Calendar: October 24

2009-10-25T16:09:00.000-07:00

Norwich Bulletin
Posted Oct 23, 2009 @ 11:41 PM

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Adult Halloween costume party, 8 p.m. to midnight, today , Danielson Elks Lodge, 13 Center St. Music, dancing and prizes for the best costume. A limited number of tickets are available for only $13 per person. For information, call (860) 774-9775.

Little Goblins Halloween party, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., today, R Farm, 253 Tobacco St., Lebanon. Rain or shine. Crafts, hayrides and a scavenger hunt. Tickets are $1 per person; corn maze is $6 per person. Bring a nonperishable food item to donate to the town’s food bank. For information, call (860) 642-4085.

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” 8 p.m. today and Oct. 31, Black Box Theatre, Putnam. A midnight showing Oct. 31. Reservations suggested. Information: (860) 963-7170. $15 for adults and $12 for students/seniors. Participation packs available for $3. Due to adult content, this show is not recommended for children.

Murder-mystery performance, 6 p.m., today and Sunday, Colchester Federated Church. “Polster-Heist,” a murder-mystery play, will include a performance both nights. Buffet dinner and dessert included Saturday. The Sunday performance will be a matinee with ice cream and homemade pie at intermission. Today’s performance: adults $20, children 12 and younger $10. Sunday performance: adults $12, children 12 and younger $6. Call (860) 537-5189 for tickets.

Sixth annual Sea Scare, 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., today, Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration. A night of family festivities against a backdrop of the ocean’s dark and mysterious waters. Enjoy special animal shows, games, a creepy exploration station, pumpkin painting, a haunted marsh, DJ and costume contest. Cost is $14 for adults, $12 for children ages 3 to 17. Members costs are $10 for adults, $8 for children. Children 2 and younger free.

Haunted Norwichtown Lantern Light Graveyard Walk, 5:30 p.m., today , Norwichtown Green. Led by ghost hunter Donna Kent, president of the Cosmic Society of Paranormal Investigation. Take a one-hour guided tour of the Old Norwichtown Burial Ground and the Norwichtown Green. Bring a camera and a flashlight. Tickets are $14 for adults, $10 for seniors and $3 for children younger than 10. One dollar from each ticket sold will be donated to the Connecticut Gravestone Network. For information, call the Norwich Tourism Office at (860) 886-4683 or visit www.connectionsgrouptours.com.

Halloween breakfast for dinner, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday , Lebanon Fire Safety Complex, Lebanon. Hosted by Boy Scout Troop 58. Eggs, pancakes, French toast, sausage, bacon, home fries, muffins, sweetbreads, coffee and orange juice. Cost is $7 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 12 and seniors. Tricks or treats for all in costume. Information: (860) 450-9463.

Halloween and sundae blood drive, 1:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., Tuesday, Knights of Columbus, Taftville. Any child dressed in a Halloween costume accompanied by an adult donor gets a free ice cream sundae. Information: (860) 448-3543. Drop-ins welcome.

Trick or Trunk, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Oct. 30, Colchester Town Green. Sponsored by Colchester Parks and Recreation, participants may park their vehicles on the green between 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and let their children trick-or-treat from car to car while passing candy to children visiting each car. Each car must bring one carved and lit jack-o-lantern to be added to a display. To register, call (860) 537-7297 or e-mail parksandrec@colchesterct.gov. A parade will begin at 6:15 p.m. Check www.colchesterct.gov or call (860) 537-7297 for weather updates. There is no rain date.

An Evening of Spirit Communication, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Oct. 30, Capitol Theater, 896 Main St., Willimantic. Featuring psychic medium Joanne Gerber. Cost: $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Information: (860) 779-3770 or www.eastconn.org/communityed.

Winning Authors Series, 7 p.m., Oct. 30, Cabaret Theatre, Mohegan Sun. Horror novelist John Saul, author of “Faces Of Fear,” will host a live discussion, followed by a book signing at 8 p.m. in The Shops at Mohegan Sun, Spring Gateway.

Halloween Fashion Show, Oct. 30, Celebrity Ballroom at MGM Grand at Foxwoods. “Thrill the World” VIP tickets are $50 and include show, dinner and after party. General admission is $35 and includes show and after party. Must be 21 to attend.

Howling Halloween Bash, 8 p.m., Oct. 30, The Haunted Ballroom in the historic Crocker House. Join Hygienic Art Gallery for its 30th anniversary celebration. For tickets, call (860) 443-8001. Information: www.hygienic.org.

Corn maze Fright Nights, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, Pomfret Recreation Park, Route 97, Pomfret Center. Bring a flashlight. Maze may not be appropriate for young children. Fright Night admission is $5. Regular admission: $5 for ages 12 and older, $4 for ages 4-11. Ages 3 and younger are free. Information: www.pomfretct.org

Halloween story time, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 30, Slater Library, Jewett City. Halloween stories and refreshments. Costumes are optional. No registration required. Information: (860) 376-0024.

Halloween costume party, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., Oct. 30, Otis Library, Norwich. For all ages. Enjoy stories, songs and rhymes. March in a costume parade. Registration not required. Information: (860) 889-2365, Ext. 114.

Halloween costume dance, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Oct. 30, Grist Mill, Sprague. For children in grades 5-8. For information, call (860) 822-3000.

Children’s movies, 11 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., Oct. 31, Cragin Memorial Library, Colchester. Movies are: 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. “Dora’s Halloween” (NR); 11:30 a.m. to noon “Diego’s Halloween” (NR); 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. “Eloise’s Rawther Unusual Halloween” (NR); 1 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. “Coraline” (PG). Free popcorn. Information: (860) 537-5752.

Pumpkin decorating party, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., Oct. 31, Preston Public Library, Preston. For children of all ages. Information: (860) 886-1010.

Wee Faerie Village Halloween Costume Parade and Pumpkin Party, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 31, Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme St., Old Lyme. Parade and Pumpkin Party free with regular museum admission: $9 adults, $8 seniors, $7 students. Admission is free for children 12 or younger. Costume prizes will be awarded for Best Fairy or Elf, Very Very Scary and Laugh-Out-Loud Funny. Enjoy candy, cider and doughnuts. Information: (860) 434-5542 or www.florencegriswoldmuseum.org.

Trunk or Treat, 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Oct. 31, Canterbury Elementary School. Hosted by the Canterbury Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization. Children will enjoy going from trunk to trunk to receive pre-packaged candy from costumed car owners. All cars are welcome, but must be registered to participate. The event includes trick-or-treating and live entertainment. Trunk or Treat is free and open to all Canterbury residents. For information, call Christine Bright at (860) 546-9484 or Theresa Bodinger at (860) 546-6932.

Trick or treat, 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Oct. 31, Brooklyn Community Center, Tiffany Street, Brooklyn. Check out scary decorations and collect treats. Prizes will be given for creative costumes. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Information: www.brooklynct.org.

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” 7 p.m., Oct. 31, Norwich Community Cinema, Donald L. Oat Theater, 60-64 Broadway, Norwich. Information: www.norwichcinema.org or (860) 887-2789.

Halloween Calendar: October 25

2009-10-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

Norwich Bulletin
Posted Oct 24, 2009 @ 10:37 PM

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Murder-mystery performance, 6 p.m., today, Colchester Federated Church. “Polster-Heist,” a murder-mystery play, will include a performance both nights. Buffet dinner and dessert included Saturday. The Sunday performance will be a matinee with ice cream and homemade pie at intermission. Today’s performance: adults $20, children 12 and younger $10. Sunday performance: adults $12, children 12 and younger $6. Call (860) 537-5189 for tickets.

Halloween breakfast for dinner, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., today, Lebanon Fire Safety Complex, Lebanon. Hosted by Boy Scout Troop 58. Eggs, pancakes, French toast, sausage, bacon, home fries, muffins, sweet breads, coffee and orange juice. Cost is $7 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 12 and seniors. Tricks or treats for all in costume. Information: (860) 450-9463.

Halloween and sundae blood drive, 1:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., Tuesday, Knights of Columbus, Taftville. Any child dressed in a Halloween costume accompanied by an adult donor gets a free ice cream sundae. Information: (860) 448-3543. Drop-ins welcome.

Trick or Trunk, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Friday, Colchester Town Green. Sponsored by Colchester Parks and Recreation, participants may park their vehicles on the green between 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and let their children trick-or-treat from car to car while passing candy to children visiting each car. Each car must bring one carved and lit jack-o-lantern to be added to a display. To register, call (860) 537-7297 or e-mail parksandrec@colchesterct.gov. A parade will begin at 6:15 p.m. Check www.colchesterct.gov or call (860) 537-7297 for weather updates. There is no rain date.

An Evening of Spirit Communication, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday, Capitol Theater, 896 Main St., Willimantic. Featuring psychic medium Joanne Gerber. Cost: $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Information: (860) 779-3770 or www.eastconn.org/communityed.

Winning Authors Series, 7 p.m., Friday, Cabaret Theatre, Mohegan Sun. Horror novelist John Saul, author of “Faces Of Fear,” will host a live discussion, followed by a book signing at 8 p.m. in The Shops at Mohegan Sun, Spring Gateway.

Halloween Fashion Show, Friday, Celebrity Ballroom at MGM Grand at Foxwoods. “Thrill the World” VIP tickets are $50 and include show, dinner and after party. General admission is $35 and includes show and after party. Must be 21 to attend.

Howling Halloween Bash, 8 p.m., Friday, The Haunted Ballroom in the historic Crocker House. Join Hygienic Art Gallery for its 30th anniversary celebration. For tickets, call (860) 443-8001. Information: www.hygienic.org.

Corn maze Fright Nights, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday through Nov. 1, Pomfret Recreation Park, Route 97, Pomfret Center. Bring a flashlight. Maze may not be appropriate for young children. Fright Night admission is $5. Regular admission: $5 for ages 12 and older, $4 for ages 4-11. Ages 3 and younger are free. Information: www.pomfretct.org

Halloween story time, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, Slater Library, Jewett City. Halloween stories and refreshments. Costumes are optional. No registration required. Information: (860) 376-0024.

Halloween costume party, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., Friday, Otis Library, Norwich. For all ages. Enjoy stories, songs and rhymes. March in a costume parade. Registration not required. Information: (860) 889-2365, Ext. 114.

Halloween costume dance, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday, Grist Mill, Sprague. For children in grades 5-8. For information, call (860) 822-3000.

Children’s movies, 11 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., Saturday, Cragin Memorial Library, Colchester. Movies are: 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. “Dora’s Halloween” (NR); 11:30 a.m. to noon “Diego’s Halloween” (NR); 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. “Eloise’s Rawther Unusual Halloween” (NR); 1 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. “Coraline” (PG). Free popcorn. Information: (860) 537-5752.

Pumpkin decorating party, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Preston Public Library, Preston. For children of all ages. Information: (860) 886-1010.

Wee Faerie Village Halloween Costume Parade and Pumpkin Party, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme St., Old Lyme. Parade and Pumpkin Party free with regular museum admission: $9 adults, $8 seniors, $7 students. Admission is free for children 12 or younger. Costume prizes will be awarded for Best Fairy or Elf, Very Very Scary and Laugh-Out-Loud Funny. Enjoy candy, cider and doughnuts. Information: (860) 434-5542 or www.florencegriswoldmuseum.org.

Trunk or Treat, 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Canterbury Elementary School. Hosted by the Canterbury Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization. Children will enjoy going from trunk to trunk to receive pre-packaged candy from costumed car owners. All cars are welcome, but must be registered to participate. The event includes trick-or-treating and live entertainment. Trunk or Treat is free and open to all Canterbury residents. For information, call Christine Bright at (860) 546-9484 or Theresa Bodinger at (860) 546-6932.

Trick or treat, 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, Brooklyn Community Center, Tiffany Street, Brooklyn. Check out scary decorations and collect treats. Prizes will be given for creative costumes. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Information: www.brooklynct.org.

"The Rocky Horror Picture Show," 7 p.m., Saturday, Norwich Community Cinema, Donald L. Oat Theater, 60-64 Broadway, Norwich. Information: www.norwichcinema.org or (860) 887-2789.

Mower County residents gear up for Halloween, remember 1991 ice storm

2009-10-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

By David Richards (Contact) | Austin Daily Herald

Published Saturday, October 24, 2009

It depends on the neighborhood and the neighbors, but Halloween is a tradition that’s alive and well in the United States, including in southeastern Minnesota.

From Austin to Lyle and throughout Mower County, houses are decorated with bats and skeletons and spooky cobwebs.

The fright fest also falls on a Saturday this year, meaning no school the next day.

Residents such as Lyle’s Gary and Margaret Harrison are ready.

The couple’s Pine Street front yard is packed with pumpkins and blow-up decorations, including a Frankenstein and a tree with ghosts coming out of it.

The Harrisons have been married 47 years, are long-time Lyle residents and enjoy Halloween.

“You betcha we do,” Gary said. “(We like) watching the little ones. We’ve been here so long watching kids that they’ve graduated and now they bring their kids.”

The Harrisons are indeed prepared.

Their candy stash includes a little bit of everything — from candy bars to taffy to milk duds to mints.

“I just hope the weather holds, so it’s nice for the kids to enjoy,” Gary said.

Some residents feel the popularity of trick-or-treating has declined over the years.

Gary said he thinks it’s simply a changing of the times.

“I think the scare factor is there,” he said. “I think parents are a little leery of sending their kids out at night and what might be in the candy.”

Alyssa Wagner, a young adult who lives in west Austin with her boyfriend, feels her generation has yet to embrace handing out candy — preferring parties to staying home.

“I loved Halloween when I was a kid, and I want kids to still have that opportunity,” she said.

Wagner will be home on Oct. 31, and she’s going all out.

Trick-or-treaters in her Fourth Avenue neighborhood will be treated to fun dip candy and animal crackers for the younger kids.

The house will also be decorated with bloody hand prints on the windows, and a fog machine near the basement will set the scene for a witch’s cauldron.

“I wish more people would plan on the trick-or-treaters because it’s a fun tradition,” Wagner said.

Wagner — pardon the pun — might consider herself a dying breed.

“My generation doesn’t take the time to decorate,” she said. “Most of my friends go to their own parties.”

Remember 1991?

Wagner said she was so into Halloween as a kid that her mother still took her out during the Halloween blizzard/ice storm of 1991.

“We still went out,” she said. “Granted, every door we went, they had to ask what we were because we were so bundled up in our coats.”

The National Weather service has an entire page devoted to that blizzard and ice storm.

“Snow moved into southern Iowa during the afternoon of Oct. 30 and then spread into northern Iowa and Minnesota early on Oct. 31,” according to the site.

A mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain moved across southeast Minnesota, and two to three inches of ice accumulated.

In Iowa, Interstate 35 was closed by fallen power lines, and 80,000 homes were without power.

The Harrisons also remember that storm well.

In 1991, Gary was a part-time police officer in Adams and a corrections officer in Mower County.

The couple lived on a farm, which lost power during the storm.

Margaret, known by many as “Margie,” left the farm to be closer to Gary that night.

“My wife actually slept in the jail,” Gary said. “I put her to sleep in one of the cells. It was actually the exercise room, but there was a bunk in there.”

Safety

Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi also feels the popularity of trick-or-treating has declined. One reason for this, she said, might be that there are more alternatives.

“They never used to have trick-or-treating at the mall,” she said.

This year, trick-or-treating will be held at the Oak Park Mall from 4 to 5 p.m. Oct. 31, giving youngsters a chance to go from store to store in search of candy.

“It’s a safe environment where you don’t have to worry about your kids,” said Lynnette Jarvis, the mall’s marketing coordinator. “It works well for the parents and the mall. We enjoy doing it.”

Sheriff Amazi urged people to use flashlights when trick-or-treating, to make sure reflective clothing is used and to make sure masks have the widest holes possible for eyes.

Amazi also urged motorists to especially be aware of trick-or-treaters this year because Halloween falls on a weekend.

“Drive very slowly through the neighborhoods,” she said. “You don’t know which goblin is going to come out, and we don’t want to turn that into a tragedy.”

As for the weather, it looks like temperatures will be below normal, but National Weather Service experts also said — as of now anyway —Oct. 31 appears to be dry.

That, of course, would mean no ice-caused power outages like the one in 1991 that led to “Margie” Harrison spending the night in a jail cell.

“She slept like a rock,” Gary said.

NFL scores Week 7

2009-10-25T16:04:00.001-07:00

October 25, 2009 | 2:03 pm
New England 35, Tampa Bay 7: In London, the touchdown drives are always on the wrong side of the field.

San Diego 37, at Kansas City 7: The whole Matt Cassel acquisition isn’t working out like the Chiefs imagined.

Indianapolis 42, at St. Louis 6: It was “Bring your daughter to work day,” but Rams thought it was “Play like you daughters day.”

Green Bay 31, at Cleveland 3: Browns have a very logical reason for losing: They just aren’t very good.

at Houston 24, San Francisco 21: What happened to all of that “Mike Singletary, coaching genius and master motivator” talk?

at Pittsburgh 27, Minnesota 17: Looks like the Brett Favre end-of-season collapse is going to start early this season.

Chicago at Cincinnati:

Buffalo at Carolina:

N.Y. Jets at Oakland:

Atlanta at Dallas:

New Orleans at Miami:

Arizona at N.Y. Giants:

Open date: Baltimore, Denver, Detroit, Jacksonville, Seattle, Tennessee.

You can get more information, including game summaries, here.

-- Houston Mitchell

Yankees, Angels tied at 2 through 9 in ALCS Game 2

2009-10-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK – The Yankees and Angels escaped late-inning jams, and New York and Los Angeles were tied at 2 after nine innings Saturday on another bitterly raw night in the AL championship series.
Coming off a 4-1 victory in Friday night's opener, the Yankees were trying to take a two-game lead as the best-of-seven series heads to the warmth of Southern California. Robinson Cano's RBI triple in the second and Derek Jeter's solo homer in the third had given New York a 2-0 lead.
But Erick Aybar singled in a run in the fifth off a suddenly shaky A.J. Burnett, who sent home another run with his second wild pitch of the inning.
Burnett, following up on CC Sabathia's eight innings of four-hit ball, started 13 of his first 15 batters with strikes and allowed one hit through four innings, but started 10 of his last 12 with balls. He gave up three hits in 6 1-3 innings, walked two and hit two batters.
Angels starter Joe Saunders, who hadn't pitched since Oct. 4, gave up six hits in seven innings, struck out five and walked one.
Los Angeles loaded the bases in the seventh after Cano misplayed a grounder to second for an error, but Joba Chamberlain struck out Vladimir Guerrero to end the threat. After Jeter botched what should have been an inning-ending, double-play grounder in the eighth, Phil Hughes struck out Gary Matthews Jr. and Mariano Rivera came on and retired Aybar on a slow roller.
Hideki Matsui singled for the Yankees off Kevin Jepsen in the ninth and Brett Gardner's hit-and-run single sent pinch-runner Freddy Guzman to third. After Gardner advanced on defensive indifference, Cano hit a nubber in front of the plate was thrown out at first by catcher Jeff Mathis.
Saunders retired his first five batters before walking Nick Swisher on five pitches. Cano then reached out for an 0-2 pitch and drove it to right-center to score Swisher.
Jeter, 7 for 15 against Saunders coming in, hit an opposite-field homer a few rows into the right-field seats with one out in the third. With 19 postseason homers, Jeter moved past former Yankees Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson into sole possession of third place, trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers' Manny Ramirez (29) and former Yankees teammate Bernie Williams (22).
The Angels tied it in the fifth, with the top of the inning taking 23 minutes as Burnett threw 33 pitches.
Maicer Izturis doubled, just the second leadoff runner to reach for the Angels in the series. Aybar singled him home with one out and stole Los Angeles' first base of the series, and Chone Figgins became Burnett's second hit batter of the game. Bobby Abreu chased a high 3-1 fastball, fouled off three pitches and flied out to Johnny Damon in foul territory, just in front of the left-field wall.
Torii Hunter walked, with ball four bouncing into the stands for a wild pitch. With Vladimir Guerrero at the plate, Burnett bounced a 1-2 pitch that scored Aybar with the tying run. Guerrero grounded out on the next offering.
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira made two more excellent stretches for outs, on Aybar in the third and Hunter in the fourth.
After a scheduled travel day Monday, the series was set to resume Tuesday afternoon in Anaheim with Jered Weaver pitching for the Angels against Andy Pettitte. The Yankees appeared set to bring back Sabathia on three days' rest for Game 4 the following day, but manager Joe Girardi wouldn't commit.
"We'll talk about it," he said, "if we know we get through this game and what's going to happen to our rotation. We have an off day to prepare what we're going to do."
Weaver won Game 2 of the first round against Boston, allowing one run and two hits in 7 1-3 innings. Pettitte got the victory in the clincher of the Yankees' sweep of Minnesota, giving up one run and three hits in 6 1-3 innings.
However, there was a chance of a schedule change. Rain was forecast for later Saturday, and under a rules change adopted after last year's storm-disrupted World Series in Philadelphia, no postseason game can be shortened. Instead, it would be suspended and then resumed the following day, or whenever the weather cleared.
It was 47 degrees at gametime, 2 degrees warmer than on Friday, but it was again blustery, with a 15 mph wind from the north-northeast and gusts up to 23 mph that made the ceremonial red-white-and-blue bunting flap.
Teixeira, Damon and Swisher again wore Elmer Fudd-style caps with ear flaps, and Cano had on a ski mask. Alex Rodriguez remained the only Yankees starter in short sleeves
Aybar went without the hood he wore in the opener, when he allowed a popup to drop between himself at shortstop and Figgins at third. Izturis, who didn't start in the opener, wore a hood.
Saunders, like John Lackey the night before, was in short sleeves.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg sat in the front row to the third-base side of the plate, and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani sat in the first row to the plate side of the Yankees' dugout

Pens off to 7-1 start after 4-1 win over Lightning

2009-10-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

PITTSBURGH – Sergei Gonchar had a goal and an assist and the Pittsburgh Penguins improved to 7-1 on the season with a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
Pittsburgh's start is the franchise's second-best. The best was 7-0-1 in 1995 and another 7-1 start came in 1986.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each added an assist and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury improved to 7-0 after making 22 saves.
Bill Guerin and Gonchar gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead in the first period, Guerin ramming Malkin's power-play rebound into a vacated net and Gonchar slapping an unscreened point shot past goaltender Antero Niittymaki.
Tampa Bay pulled within 2-1 early in the second period when Steven Stamkos swatted a Martin St. Louis rebound out of the air for a power-play goal.
But less than two minutes later, Pascal Dupuis nullified that by deflecting Gonchar's wrist shot over Niittymaki.
Pittsburgh went ahead 4-1 at 11:21 of the third on Mike Rupp's wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle. Crosby set him up with a whirling pass from behind the net.
Tampa Bay remained winless on the road at 0-2-1. And Vincent Lecavalier and Alex Tanguay each remained goal-less through seven games.
Notes: The Penguins are 7-2 in their past nine against the Lightning. Lecavalier's goal drought is at 14 games, counting the final seven of last season. Crosby's assist was just his second of the season. Since Dan Bylsma took over as coach, the Penguins are 20-0-2 when scoring first.

Chargers try to buck Broncos' AFC West dominance

2009-10-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

SAN DIEGO – This might be the biggest game the San Diego Chargers have played in October in a long time.
Under siege from everyone from their fans to the general manager, the Chargers host the surprising Denver Broncos on Monday night in a tussle that could go a long way toward deciding the AFC West title.
This is as close to must-win as it gets for the Chargers, and it's not even Halloween. Denver (5-0) comes in with a 2 1/2-game lead in the division. If the Broncos win, and don't collapse the way they did at the end of last season, it could be hard for the Chargers (2-2) to catch them.
The Broncos are coming off an overtime win over the New England Patriots, giving rookie coach Josh McDaniels a victory over his mentor, Bill Belichick.
The Broncos have an impressive offense led by wide receiver Brandon Marshall and rookie running back Knowshon Moreno, and their defense is greatly improved.
The Chargers thought they'd be the ones in control of the division, but have misfired enough, especially on defense, that they're looking up at the Broncos in the standings.
"Obviously you've got have to have great players, and they have a handful of them," San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers said about the Broncos. "Also, they're just playing with an attitude and a fire, a relentlessness. When they get it going, you see them get it going. I think more than anything they have that attitude, that they're going to play well, they're going to keep you out of the end zone.
"It'll be a challenge. We've played a lot of great defenses these first few weeks and you get to add another one to the list."
The Chargers' record might not be that big of a surprise, considering that they had three straight games against playoff teams from 2008. But they were exposed physically once again by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who raced to a 28-0 lead and gained 497 yards en route to a 38-28 win two weeks ago.
The Chargers can't run the ball, and they can't stop the run. General manager A.J. Smith was quoted last week as saying the team's play at times this year has been "soft and bewildered."
The Chargers said their bye week came at the right time, giving them the chance to get right physically and mentally.
"I think we're going to be a real confident bunch out there on Monday night," Rivers said. "The bye week allowed us to kind of zero in on ourselves. It allowed us to get some guys healthy. We have no reason not to be confident. We didn't play well in our last outing, but sitting at 2-2 with 12 to play, obviously we know how big this one is. There's not a reason this can't be our best year yet."
The Broncos are probably thinking the same thing, especially with their fast start. They've been the beneficiary of the offseason acquisition of quarterback Kyle Orton in exchange for Jay Cutler.
Orton is coming off a big performance against New England, when he completed a career-high 35 of 48 passes for 330 yards and two touchdown throws to cap drives that covered 90 and 98 yards. He then drove the Broncos methodically downfield for the winning kick in overtime.
"This is a huge week for us, obviously," Orton said. "Any time you play a divisional opponent, it shouldn't be hard for you to get up for a game. Any divisional opponent is going to be a tough game. I don't think we will have any issue being emotionally ready to play this game."
The Broncos unveiled their version of the wildcat, called the wild horses, against the Patriots.
"New England is the type of team that they are just going to give you a different look every single time," Orton said. "We thought that we could kind of settle them down just a little bit and get them into some looks that we could tell what was going on. It worked for the most part. We were able to get some — we liked to do it on first down and keep us in phase and get some completions and get the chains moving. It worked for the most part. They did a nice job of adjusting to it later on in the game, so we kind of got away from it."
Orton is looking forward to getting a pass thrown to him out of the formation.
"I will catch it. I don't know how far I could run. I will catch it for sure," he said.
The Chargers have had such a hard time on defense that starting strong safety Clinton Hart was released on Wednesday to make room for defensive tackle Ian Scott.

Yankees, Angels tied at 2 through 9 in ALCS Game 2

2009-10-17T20:39:00.000-07:00