Sunday, 2 December 2012

Final bowl projections [news]

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Final bowl projections[news], Six teams clinched an automatic bid to a BCS bowl between Thursday and Saturday: Alabama, Stanford, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Florida State and Louisville.

Of those six, Louisville is the only team whose BCS bid has yet to be made official. Due to the logjam of 5-2 teams atop the Big East, Louisville must wait until the final BCS rankings are released Sunday evening; the Big East champion will be the team with the highest ranking. Louisville entered this week ranked No. 26, and after beating No. 27 Rutgers should have no trouble taking home the Big East's BCS bid.

Alabama's going to play for it all after defeating Georgia in the SEC title game. Where does Georgia go? From within five yards of Miami on Jan. 7 to outside the BCS picture altogether. The Bulldogs will likely play in the Cotton Bowl.

Stanford and Wisconsin clinched BCS berths against UCLA and Nebraska, respectively - one by a field goal, one by 13 field goals (39 points). Kansas State's win over Texas gave the Wildcats the Big 12 title, thanks to their head-to-head tiebreaker against Oklahoma.

Florida State sewed up the ACC crown in a sloppy 21-15 win over 6-7 Georgia Tech. Much of the BCS dance card has already been punched. How many spots are left after the automatic bids are spoken for? Just three: one in the Fiesta and either two in the Sugar or one in the Sugar and one in the Orange. The Sugar Bowl will have at least one spot open because the SEC winner, Alabama, will play in the BCS championship game.

Let's fill in the rest of the blanks. Who's going where? With the standings set to be released on Sunday, here are our final BCS bowl projections.

BCS National Championship Game: Notre Dame vs. Alabama

The Irish were in last Saturday, when they clinched a 12-0 season by beating USC. Alabama is No. 2 after squeezing past Georgia 32-28. We knew heading into the SEC title game that the winner would meet Notre Dame.

Rose Bowl: Stanford vs. Wisconsin

We're no longer surprised when Stanford reaches a BCS bowl. Nor should anyone be surprised when Wisconsin heads to Pasadena in January. While the Rose Bowl might have preferred Nebraska, the Badgers always put on a good show.

Fiesta Bowl: Kansas State vs. Oregon

At one point in November, this was your national championship game. Instead, this will be the premier bowl game of the season outside Notre Dame and Alabama. Can Kansas State's defense keep pace with the Ducks?

Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Louisville

Since the Sugar Bowl can't get Alabama, the SEC champs, it'll opt for the next-best thing in 11-1 Florida. The Gators will face Louisville, so we'll get to see former Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong go up against his former team.

Orange Bowl: Florida State vs. Northern Illinois

This all hinges on one factor: Northern Illinois' ranking in the human polls. More specifically, the Huskies' BCS chances depend on how far Nebraska plummets after Saturday's loss to Wisconsin.

Consider last week's BCS standings. NIU was No. 21. A win over No. 17 Kent State should move NIU ahead of No. 20 Boise State (which beat Nevada) and No. 19 Michigan (which was idle). No. 18 Texas lost. Kent State lost, obviously. No. 16 UCLA lost to Stanford.

Nebraska was No. 12 before giving up 70 points to Wisconsin. If enough voters knock Nebraska below NIU in the polls, the Huskies could get enough of a boost to move up to No. 16 in the final standings. If NIU is No. 16, it would earn an automatic at-large BCS bid because it has a higher ranking than the winner of an automatically qualifying conference (either Wisconsin or Louisville). Make sense?
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Highway tunnel collapse news

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Highway tunnel collapse news, At least seven people were feared missing Sunday after about 150 concrete panels fell from the roof of a tunnel on the main highway linking Tokyo with central Japan.

Efforts to rescue any survivors trapped inside the tunnel were hindered by heavy smoke after one vehicle caught fire inside the Sasago Tunnel, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) outside Tokyo.

Rescuers also temporarily suspended work because of fears of a further collapse. They were attempting to reach at least several vehicles believed buried in the rubble, including a truck whose driver was trapped inside and had called his company for help.

"I could hear voices of people calling for help, but the fire was just too strong," said a woman interviewed by public broadcaster NHK after she escaped from the tunnel.

Local media reported that at least three bodies had been found inside the tunnel. However, Norio Furusawa, a spokesman for the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, said he could not confirm that information.

Executives for Central Japan Expressway Co. said the company was investigating why the concrete panels had given way. A check of the tunnel's roof in September and October found nothing amiss, they said.

A woman who escaped from a rental car that was trapped in the 4.7-kilometre (3-mile) tunnel told authorities that she was unsure about the condition of five other people who had been in the vehicle with her. Two other vehicles were known to be buried in the rubble, suggesting at least seven people were trapped inside, according to a statement by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

It said two people were confirmed injured, one of them moderately.
The tunnel, which opened in 1977, is one of many in mountainous Japan. The location of the collapse, about 1.7 kilometres (a mile) inside the tunnel, was complicating rescue efforts, reports said.

Police vehicles, fire trucks and ambulances were massed outside the tunnel's entrance.
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Cabbie voodoo trick

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Cabbie voodoo trick, Tweeps are praising a West African cabbie who may have thwarted a tragic school shooting today by convincing a pistol-wielding teen he had voodoo medicine.

The anonymous New Jersey driver told reporters he picked the teen up outside Trenton Central High School for a roundtrip fare.

After stopping at the boy's house, the kid got back in with bloodshot eyes and shaking, pulling out a gun and saying he was going to kill classmates in the cafeteria.

The quick-thinking cabbie stayed calm, falsely persuading him he'd been a rebel fighter and telling the teen if he could wait until 3 p.m., he'd give him medicine to make him "disappear." It worked — not quite voodoo but pretty magical negotiating skills.
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Miami bus crash

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Miami bus crash, A bus slammed Saturday into an overpass at Miami's airport, killing two passengers, authorities said.

The driver of the tour bus mistakenly drove the wrong route -- on the lower level for arrivals rather than a higher one for departures, which buses could clear -- when it crashed into the 8-foot, 6-inch high overpass, Miami International Airport spokesman Greg Chin said.

The Miami-Dade Police Department explained, in a news release, that "the bus driver was not familiar" with the airport when the crash occurred around 7:25 a.m. Saturday. Signs in the area clearly mark bus restrictions in the airport, according to Chin.

Miami-Dade police "immediately began to remove injured passengers from a window" until firefighters arrived.

Except for one person who died at the scene, all 31 others aboard the bus were transported to local hospitals, according to police. One of them later died at a hospital.

The two victims were men, identified by police as 86-year-old Serafin Castillo and 56-year-old Francisco Urana, both of Miami.

Investigators said the bus was chartered by a congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, on its way to an assembly about 75 miles north in West Palm Beach.

The bus driver was among those hurt, suffering what police described as "minor injuries."

Authorities addressed and assessed the situation all morning, with the bus finally removed and the area cleared around 2 p.m., said Chin. Vehicles were moving through the area by late afternoon.

Officials will check the integrity of the overpass to make sure the crash didn't cause any significant structural damage, Chin said.
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Red Sox sign Gomes

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Red Sox sign Gomes, The Boston Red Sox have signed outfielder Jonny Gomes to a two-year contract through the 2014 season, the team said on Saturday.

Financial terms were not announced. Boston media reported Gomes, who has played in the Major Leagues for 10 years, will earn $10 million over two years.

"I see him playing a lot of left field - we think his bat fits well in the lineup, in the ballpark," Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington told Major League Baseball's website.

Gomes, 32, played for the Oakland Athletics last season, hitting .262 with 18 home runs and 47 runs batted in 99 games for the American League West champions. (Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Julian Linden)
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Highway House Bulldozed

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Highway House Bulldozed, A five-storey home marooned in the middle of a new road in China for more than a year because its owner refused to leave has finally been demolished. BBC Reported

The road, in China's's eastern Zhejiang province, was built around the house because duck farmer Luo Baogen was holding out for more compensation.

Mr Luo, 67, said he had just finished the home at a cost of $95,000 and had been offered only $35,000 to move.

Officials say he finally accepted $41,000, and the bulldozers moved in.

Media attention
The home had earned the nickname "nail house" because, like a stubborn nail, it was difficult to move.

China's official Xinhua news agency said Mr Luo and his wife had accepted the new compensation offer and had moved to a relocation area with the help of relatives on Saturday morning.

The agency described the situation as "bizarre" and having "achieved notoriety" because of images posted online.

It quoted Mr Luo as saying: "It was never a final solution for us to live in a lone house in the middle of the road. After the government's explanations, I finally decided to move."

Xiayangzhang village chief Chen Xuecai told the Associated Press news agency Mr Luo had grown tired of the media attention, saying the home owner "had received dozens of people from the media every day".

The road is a key infrastructure project - linking the city to a new railway station on the outskirts.

Mr Luo was the only owner of 459 households to reject the relocation plans.

The case has highlighted what is a major cause of unrest in China, as huge infrastructure and real estate developments spark hundreds of thousands of relocations.

Many people come under extreme pressure to leave, although Mr Luo has said this has not been his experience.
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Rockwell Fetches $2.8 Million

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Rockwell Fetches $2.8 Million, Norman Rockwell’s World War Two painting “Willie Gillis Food Package from Home” fetched $2.8 million from a private buyer at an auction in Chicago on Saturday, the auction house said. Reporte cnews.canoe.ca

The winning bid for the iconic artwork was less than the up to $5 million estimated ahead of the auction, said Emily Betts Susanin, director of marketing and communications for Susanin’s Auctions in Chicago.

But it was “great news” nonetheless, she said, adding that no other painting had ever fetched more at a Chicago auction.

Renowned American artist Rockwell did a series of Willie Gillis paintings for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post magazine, starting with the “Package from Home” on Oct. 4, 1941, and continuing through “Willie Gillis in College” on Oct. 5, 1946.

“Package from Home” had been privately held in Chicago for decades. Susanin did not disclose the identity of its new owner.

As America entered World War Two, Rockwell introduced Willie Gillis, a fictional character, as an enlisted man surrounded by fellow servicemen, receiving a food package from home. Rockwell was most known for his cover illustrations of everyday life he created for the Post over 47 years.

The Willie Gillis series is among Rockwell’s best-known work but other famous paintings include “Rosie the Riveter,” “Saying Grace” and the “Four Freedom” series.

Rockwell’s “Rosie the Riveter” sold at auction in 2002 for nearly $5 million. In 2006, Rockwell’s “Breaking Home Ties” fetched a record $15.4 million from an anonymous buyer.

The previous record high for a painting sold at a Chicago auction was set in 1991 when Vincent van Gogh’s “Still Life with Flowers” brought $1.43 million.

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N.C. State Hires Coach

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N.C. State Hires Coach, Dave Doeren is leaving Northern Illinois after two straight championship seasons to take over at North Carolina State.

According to sportsillustrated.cnn.com N.C. State announced Doeren's hiring Saturday - less than 24 hours after he guided the 19th-ranked Huskies to their second consecutive Mid-American Conference championship, and just six days after firing Tom O'Brien.

Doeren claimed a MAC title both years he was at NIU and is 23-4 since taking over the Huskies with a 17-1 record in conference play.

Doeren "is a highly motivated overachiever who shares our goals to pursue aggressively a high level of achievement in the classroom and on the field of competition," N.C. State athletic director Debbie Yow said in a statement.

The school planned a Sunday afternoon news conference to introduce him.

Doeren - who turns 41 on Monday - said he was "honored and excited" to join the Wolfpack. He replaces O'Brien, who was fired following six inconsistent seasons and no Atlantic Coast Conference championship-game appearances at the school that hasn't won the ACC since 1979.

Doeren came to Northern Illinois in December 2010 after five seasons as Wisconsin's defensive coordinator. He replaced Jerry Kill at NIU and led the Huskies to an 11-win season in 2011 that was capped by a MAC title and a win over Arkansas State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.

That was followed by an even bigger finish this year. He became one of the up-and-coming names for bigger jobs as he guided Northern Illinois to a school-record 12 wins and a top-20 national ranking.

The Huskies beat No. 18 Kent State on Friday night in double overtime for their second straight league title.

He helped develop two-way threat Jordan Lynch into a possible Heisman Trophy contender - with nearly 3,000 yards passing and 1,771 yards rushing, he ranks third nationally in total offense - and his Husky teams scored at least 40 points in 16 of 27 games. They average 40.8 points this season and rank in the top 15 in the nation in five offensive stat categories.

The 64-year-old O'Brien was fired after going 40-35 in six seasons in Raleigh, won't coach the Wolfpack in their bowl game and will receive a buyout of $1.2 million over four years.

His teams were just 22-26 in ACC play and finished with a winning conference record just once, going 5-3 in 2010. He was 1-14 in Atlantic Division road games.
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Highway Tunnel Collapse

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Highway Tunnel Collapse, At least seven people were feared missing Sunday after about 150 concrete panels fell from the roof of a tunnel on the main highway linking Tokyo with central Japan.

Efforts to rescue any survivors trapped inside the tunnel were hindered by heavy smoke after one vehicle caught fire inside the Sasago Tunnel, about 50 miles outside Tokyo.

Rescuers also temporarily suspended work because of fears of a further collapse. They were attempting to reach at least several vehicles believed buried in the rubble, including a truck whose driver was trapped inside and had called his company for help.

"I could hear voices of people calling for help, but the fire was just too strong," said a woman interviewed by public broadcaster NHK after she escaped from the tunnel.

Local media reported that at least three bodies had been found inside the tunnel. However, Norio Furusawa, a spokesman for the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, said he could not confirm that information.

Executives for Central Japan Expressway Co. said the company was investigating why the concrete panels had given way. A check of the tunnel's roof in September and October found nothing amiss, they said.

A woman who escaped from a rental car that was trapped in the 3-mile tunnel told authorities that she was unsure about the condition of five other people who had been in the vehicle with her. Two other vehicles were known to be buried in the rubble, suggesting at least seven people were trapped inside, according to a statement by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

It said two people were confirmed injured, one of them moderately.

The tunnel, which opened in 1977, is one of many in mountainous Japan. The location of the collapse, about a mile inside the tunnel, was complicating rescue efforts, reports said.

Police vehicles, fire trucks and ambulances were massed outside the tunnel's entrance.
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Bachelorette's Hebert Married

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Bachelorette's Hebert Married, "Bachelorette" couple Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum got married on Saturday!

The happy pair tied the knot in Pasadena, Calif. shortly after announcing that their wedding would be televised on ABC this month. The nuptials took place outdoors in a ceremony officiated by "Bachelor" host Chris Harrison, People magazine reported.

'Bachelorette' couple Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum shop for wedding bands

"Today is all about our friends and family," Ashley told People, "It's about standing with J.P., looking around at all the people we love in the same room there to celebrate our love."

Among the lucky guests were past "Bachelor/ette" contestants Emily Maynard, Michelle Money, Ali Fedotowsky, Michael Stagliano, Jason and Molly Mesnick and Ryan and Trista Sutter.

'Bachelorette's Ashley Hebert, JP Rosenbaum to get married on TV this December

Ashley and J.P. famously got engaged on the finale of "The Bachelorette" August 2011 in Fiji, and the two enjoyed a happy and long engagement together. The pair moved in together to a chic New York City apartment about a year ago.

The wedding, which is only the second one to happen for a couple engaged on the dating show in 24 seasons, will be aired December 16 during a two-hour special on ABC.
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Deadly overpass bus crash

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Deadly overpass bus crash, A charter bus carrying 32 members of a church group hit a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport after the driver got lost Saturday, killing two elderly people on board and leaving three others critically injured, officials said.

The large, white bus was too tall for the 2.59-metre entrance to the arrivals area, said airport spokesman Greg Chin. Buses are supposed to go through the departures area, which has a higher ceiling, he said.

Chin said passengers told him they were part of a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses headed to West Palm Beach. Police said in a news release that the group had chartered the bus to take them to a church convention there.

The group was made up of congregation members of Sweetwater’s Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, said Sweetwater Mayor Manny Maroño.

“This is a tragic accident that has affected many families, as well as, our Sweetwater family,” Maroño said in a press release. “I am pursuing all avenues to get in touch with the appropriate persons to officially extend our help to the congregation and those who were hurt.”

A phone number listed for the centre in Sweetwater went unanswered.

At the airport, two large signs warn drivers of large vehicles not to pass beneath the concrete overpass. One attached to the top of the concrete barrier reads: “High Vehicle STOP Turn Left.” The other, placed to the left of the driveway and several feet in front of the barrier, says all vehicles higher than the 8-foot-6 threshold must turn left.

Three people were at hospitals in critical condition. The other 27 surviving passengers were hurt, but their injuries were less extensive, authorities said.

One person died at the scene; the second died later at a hospital.

Eight of the 14 patients taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital were in stable condition while two others were in critical, said hospital spokeswoman Lidia Amoretti. Three others were expected to be discharged later Saturday.

A majority of the injuries were facial due to the frontal impact, said Miami-Dade Police spokesman Det. Alvaro Zabaleta.

Zabaleta said it was “too early to tell if in fact any charges are going to be filed.”

Osvaldo Lopez, an officer with the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, said he first heard a loud noise Saturday morning and was certain it was some sort of car wreck.

He said he went inside the bus to help and found several passengers thrown into the centre aisle. He said the passengers, many of whom were elderly, remained calm after the wreck.

“It was just very bloody,” he said of the scene.

After helping the passengers, Lopez suffered some injuries of his own — his left arm and a finger on his right hand were both bandaged.

Fire trucks and police cars swarmed the area after 8 a.m. Saturday, and the bus was blocked off by yellow police tape. The front of the bus remained wedged beneath the overpass for hours before the vehicle was towed away.

The bus was privately owned and typically used for tours, said Miami-Dade police Lt. Rosanna Cordero-Stutz. The driver was unfamiliar with the area near the airport and did not intend to wind up at the arrivals area, Cordero-Stutz said. Investigators were interviewing the driver, she said.

The bus was going about 32 kph when it struck the overpass Saturday morning, Chin said.

The bus model is commonly used for charters and tours, with the driver seated low to the ground and passenger seats in an elevated area behind the driver’s seat.

Markings on the bus show it was owned by Miami Bus Service Corp.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records found online show the company has had no violations for unsafe driving or controlled substances and alcohol. It also had not reported any crashes in the two years before Oct. 26, 2012.

The records show it did receive three citations related to driver fatigue in April 2011.

Miami Bus Service Corp. officials did not immediately respond to a phone message Saturday.
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Fan critical after fall

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Fan critical after fall, A 22-year-old man is in critical condition after sustaining life-threatening injuries after falling about 40 feet off a fourth-floor ramp outside Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night at the ACC Championship between No. 13 Florida State and Georgia Tech.

The Charlotte Observer reported that Charlotte-Mecklenburg police identified the victim as Sean Michael Powers, a resident of New Port Richey, Fla. It's unclear if he was a student at Florida State.....cnn

Michael Stanford, the supervisor of special operations for Mecklenburg County EMS, said his agency responded to an incident in which a spectator fell from a ramp leading to the stands shortly after the 8 p.m. kickoff.

The fall is the first of its kind from Bank of America Stadium, home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers.

The stadium opened in 1996.

Stanford said the spectator was transported by ground to the trauma center at Carolinas Medical Center with ''life-threatening injuries.''

Major Eddie Levins of the Charlotte Police Department said officers are ''investigating what is being referred to as a public accident. A 22-year old male fell from what is thought to be the fourth level of the stadium.''

They had no comment on the extent of his injuries.

Bank of America Stadium has switchbank ramps that that take fans to the upper level of the stands.

The man fell on to a grassy area, which was taped off by police. Witnesses were taken to the police office for questioning.

Bud Elliott, 47, from Fort Myers Fla., said he came across the accident just after it happened around kickoff and several fans were looking down from the ramps.

''I came upon a crowd of people who were running,'' Elliott said. ''They said this guy jumped or fell off. It didn't look good. It's just really sad to have something like that happen.''
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Final Bowl Projections

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Final Bowl Projections, In the end, Wisconsin ended up being this year's BCS crasher. The 8-5 Badgers will be making their third consecutive trip to Pasadena after destroying Nebraska in Saturday's Big Ten title game, bringing the worst winning percentage of any Rose Bowl participant since 1928.

The rest of my projected BCS lineup remains the same. However, there is still the slight possibility that 12-1 Northern Illinois will move into the final top 16. If that happens, the Huskies would steal away Oklahoma's at-large berth and head to the Orange Bowl (Louisville would move to the Sugar Bowl).

Wisconsin's win shakes up the Big Ten's expected Florida bowl lineup. The Capital One Bowl had coveted Michigan, but neither that game nor the Outback Bowl can take the eight-win Wolverines over the 10-win Huskers.

If the Capital One Bowl opts for 9-3 Northwestern to face 10-2 Texas A&M, Nebraska will fall to the Outback. That would likely send South Carolina plummeting to the Gator, because the Gamecocks faced the Huskers last year, and the Chick-fil-A Bowl is obligated to select South Carolina's rival, Clemson, from the ACC.

The lower half of the Big 12 pecking order is a bit muddy. I have the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl taking TCU, followed by the Holiday Bowl taking West Virginia, but some think the Mountaineers will fall to the Pinstripe Bowl. If that does happen, look for the New York bowl to take Pittsburgh from the Big East, reuniting rivals and sparing the 6-6 Panthers a third straight trip to Birmingham.

Other mysteries heading into Sunday:

• Will the Sun Bowl figure out a way to get out of taking 6-7 Georgia Tech for a second straight year? Contractually, the ACC title game loser can't fall below El Paso, but there have been conflicting reports as to whether the Sun Bowl can circumvent that.

• Where will the various MAC teams wind up? The Little Caesars Bowl has first choice but may pass on NIU for Kent State. The rest is a guess.

• Where the heck is Louisiana Tech going? The school reportedly turned down an offer from the in-state Independence Bowl. It must have something better lined up. The Liberty is a possibility.

• Will 7-5 Western Kentucky get snubbed for a second straight year? It's entirely possible. Pitt knocked the Hilltoppers out of my lineup Saturday.

As always, remember:

• After the No. 1 and 2 teams are slotted and replaced, the BCS at-large selection order this year is 1) Fiesta, 2) Sugar and 3) Orange. The highest-ranked champion from a non-automatic qualifier is guaranteed a BCS berth if it finishes in the top 12 or in the top 16 and ahead of an AQ-conference champion.

• Most bowls are not obligated -- I repeat, NOT OBLIGATED -- to choose in exact order of conference standings. For instance, "Big 12 No. 3" means "third selection of Big 12 teams," not "the Big 12's third-place team." Bowls often pick a team with an inferior record due to geography, anticipated fan travel, the need to avoid a regular-season rematch, or just plain politics.
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Fugees Rapper Sues

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Fugees Rapper Sues, Fugees rapper Pras Michel's movie about being held hostage by Somali pirates is being held hostage -- by the film's director ... this according to a new lawsuit filed by Pras. TMZ REPORTED

According to legal docs filed Monday, Pras hired Marshall Tyler back in 2009 to direct a documentary film called "Paper Dreams"-- about the rapper's real-life, death-defying incident with pirates off the East African coast.

In the suit, Pras claims he was "taken captive" by Somali pirates sometime in 2009 -- however multiple reports say Pras, and his film crew, merely witnessed the famous capture of the Maersk Alabama in April 2009.

According to his lawsuit, Pras says he put up $70k of his own money to cover filming and travel expenses --but says after the footage was shot, Marshall failed to hand it over.

Pras claims he's repeatedly asked for the goods, but never heard a word back. Now he's suing to get the footage ... or at least recover his 70 grand, plus damages.

A rep for Marshall says, "Pras is trying to assert ownership on material that Marshall owns the copyright to."

A judge has yet to rule.
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Katt Williams Slap

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Katt Williams Slap, A comedy tour by comedian Katt Williams is turning out to be more like a rampage, and police say he has even brought his antics to Woodland.

According to several reports, Williams had a busy day Sunday after getting booted by police from the downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel, then later - in a separate incident - leading CHP officers on a pursuit through downtown Sac as he rode his three-wheeled motorcycle the wrong way down one-way streets.

At one point, the Sacramento Bee reports, Williams took his vehicle up on the sidewalk and nearly hit several pedestrians. He also reportedly ran red lights and took off his helmet to tell officers he wasn't going to stop for them. Pursuing officers called off the chase for safety reasons.

But Williams wasn't done, as he then popped up at the Target store on Bronze Star Drive in Woodland later that evening, where he allegedly smacked an employee.

Another store patron took a video of the incident and posted it on YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5Y4w1UidpU).

"He just got slapped," the video-taker says, chuckling.

The store employee, who was unhurt, is seen calling police on his cell phone, and Williams gets on a store cart and begins rolling away.

"Katt Williams is leaving. He's leaving in a cart," the video-taker says.

That was inside the store, however. Outside, "He left on a three-wheeled motorcycle deal," said Woodland police Sgt. Steve Guthrie.
Guthrie said Williams entered the store to do some shopping, and that "the people in the store recognized him immediately. Individuals were getting their pictures taken with him and whatnot."

Woodland police forwarded witness testimony and other evidence to the Yolo County District Attorney's Office for suspected misdemeanor battery. In all, Williams' actions Sunday attracted the attention of Sacramento police, Woodland police, the California Highway Patrol and DA's offices in two counties.

"He's alleged to have been involved in a high-speed felonious pursuit (in Sacramento), but because of traffic and stuff like that they called it off," Guthrie said.

Guthrie described the vehicle in the pursuit as "three-wheeled, high-powered - I guess they call it a trike." Earlier this month, Williams was arrested in Oakland for alleged assault on a fellow entertainer. A couple days afterward he had a performance at Oracle Arena that several reports are calling a "meltdown."

In that episode, Williams reportedly took off his clothes, spat on people in the audience and challenged them to fight him. The "performance" was over within 10 minutes, and two lawsuits are said to be filed against him by disappointed audience members.

Williams' comedy tour was next scheduled to take him to Seattle for shows on Thursday and Friday night. As of Thursday afternoon employees of the venue there had not heard of the show being canceled.
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'Impossible' Find After Sandy

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'Impossible' Find After Sandy,  Donna Gugger's heart was heavy as she sifted through the scattered debris and devastation left by Superstorm Sandy along the Jersey Shore. Pieces of broken furniture. Shards of metal. Chairs ripped off patios. Blue jeans tossed out of bureaus.

But there was something different about that swath of gray cloth with shiny brass buttons. She stopped to take a second look, leaning down to tug on an edge of the fabric that peeked out from under the sand. At first glance, she thought it was an elaborate Halloween costume — a jacket that reminded her of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper.

It was no costume. Gugger had stumbled across an 80-year-old tunic owned by a 1933 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a World War II hero described in his West Point yearbook as a soldier with a "heart like a stormy sea."

The jacket's journey is as mysterious as its history. No one knows how it ended up on the Jersey Shore, hundreds of miles north of the late warrior Chester B. deGavre's home on Virginia's Eastern Shore. His 98-year-old widow, Tita deGavre, didn't even know it existed.

But now that it has been found, the jacket is more than just a recovered forgotten relic.

For deGavre, it is another part of her late husband to cherish. She plans to hang it on the wall along with some of his other military garb and awards at the Deep Creek Plantation, a sprawling Virginia landscape along the shore where she also found her husband's missing West Point ring years ago.

"I found it most impossible to believe," deGavre said after Gugger drove five hours earlier this week to deliver the ornate jacket. "Where could it have been all this time?"

Chester deGavre's parents used to live in Red Bank, less than 10 miles southwest of where the jacket was found. But that was years ago and the house has been sold many times over.

"Somebody must have had (the jacket) under great care, and whether their house blew away with Sandy, I don't know," said deGavre, who met her husband while he was overseas in her native England. They married in 1948.

"It's all a big mystery, but I'm happy about it."

To Gugger, the jacket is nothing less than a symbol of resurrection and renewal in a landscape scarred by sorrow and loss.

The 48-year-old pharmaceutical consultant from Holland, Pa., found the military clothing while she and other members of the Sandy Hook Bay Catamaran Club helped clean up damage from Sandy, which struck in late October.

"I saw blue jeans, I had seen jackets, chairs, backpacks — all kinds of things," she said. "And to go from a point of looking at devastation and the sadness that was associated with that, to find that something so good could potentially come out of the findings in all of that debris, I was just overjoyed."

Gugger took the jacket home, shook out the sand, and washed it off. It was in extraordinary condition, and upon closer examination, she noticed the words "West Point" and "issued to deGavre" on the inside. Determined to get the jacket back to its rightful owner, she contacted West Point's Association of Graduates, which cleaned and preserved it and tracked down deGavre's family.

The heavy coat, studded with brass buttons down the front and sleeves, hasn't changed much since it was first adopted at the academy around 1816, said retired Army Col. Chris Needels, a 1965 graduate of West Point and family friend of the deGavres. With its tails, intricate stitching, and diagonal gold braids on the shoulders, the jacket is still worn by cadets for formal occasions and in parades.

Before his death in 1993 at age 85, Chester deGavre was a Retired Army brigadier general, a pioneering paratrooper and chief of staff for the 1944 airborne invasion of southern France. He was one of the first Army officers to take parachute training at the start of World War II, joining the Airborne Command at Fort Bragg, N.C.

The Newark, N.J., native improved techniques and standardized equipment for the airborne forces as a parachute-training officer and chief of test and development. His decorations included a Silver Star from the Korean War and the Legion of Merit with three oak-leaf clusters.

"This was a soldier, this was a war hero, somebody who risked his life for our country, and I was determined to get it back to the family," Gugger said of the jacket.

"It's a miracle because it's still a mystery how it made it to that beach and for me to have even had the opportunity to pick it up. It's not really about the jacket, it's about the journey."
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Your Workout May Not Matter

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Your Workout May Not Matter, Running, long considered a healthy hobby, may actually be dangerous for some. At least that’s the prevailing opinion of a number of the country’s top cardiologists and a new study due out next month from British journal Heart.

According to the editorial, endurance training and marathon running can literally push your heart to its limit, causing a variety of acute problems, such as arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat, and lasting damage, including calcification and scarring.

Some of these problems are impossible to predict, even if you’re an athlete who has been extensively pre-screened with cardiac tests prior to training. For older athletes, the toll that running takes may even outweigh the benefits gained from exercise, the study claims.

For many, the new information doesn’t add up. Why, for instance, would athletes who have been training for many years suddenly experience heart trouble associated with running?

The answer is simple. Intense physical exercise for long periods has the potential to take a toll on the body, in some cases aging it more quickly.

According to James H. O’Keefe, M.D. of the Mid-America Heart Institute of Kansas City, who co-authored an extensive 2012 study that examined the cardiac risks faced by athletes: “Physical exercise, though not a drug, possesses many traits of a powerful pharmacologic agent. A safe upper dose limit potentially exists, beyond which the adverse effects of physical exercise, such as musculoskeletal trauma and cardiovascular stress, may outweigh its benefits.”

In short, exercise is great in small doses, but too much physical exertion too quickly or for too long a period can actually put a person’s heart at risk, especially if he or she is over age 35.

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Aguilera's Racy Outfit Mocked

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Aguilera's Racy Outfit Mocked, Chelsea Handler has gotten a lot of mileage out of jokes about Christina Aguilera's questionable fashion decisions, so we were a tad bit worried when the singer appeared on "Chelsea Lately" last month and the two women appeared to make nice. We wondered: Will that be the end of Handler's Aguilera jokes? Thankfully, the answer to that question is no.

On Thursday, the talk show host welcomed Blake Shelton as a guest on her E! talk show, so to have some fun with the strapping country singer, she dressed like his "The Voice" co-star Aguilera.

For the segment, Handler donned a black bustier bodysuit — a nod to Aguilera's racy star-spangled ensemble at the American Music Awards earlier this month — with fishnet stockings and black boots. The 37-year-old comedian was a little more conservative than Aguilera was, showing less cleavage and covering up with a sparkly jacket.

Shelton was in the dark about Handler's plans to wear the wild ensemble, so when he walked out and drank it all in, he immediately started laughing … and laughing. After pretending to run off the stage, the 36-year-old "Hillbilly Bone" crooner, who is married to Miranda Lambert, turned back around and cracked, "Happy Christmas to me!"
"I wanted to dress like Christina to make you more comfortable," Handler shot back. "I wanted you to feel like you were at your own job."

Handler has long poked fun at Aguilera's risqué wardrobe, so last month the 31-year-old "Your Body" singer agreed to appear on "Chelsea Lately" — but only if Handler would conduct her hosting duties without pants on as a sort of punishment. Handler complied, wearing a modified version of the outfit she wore with Shelton.

At the start of the show, Aguilera teased, "I've heard all about the sh-t Chelsea has talked about me not being a fan of wearing pants — and proudly. So when they asked me to come on I thought, 'I'll do it, if Chelsea did one thing for me…'" When Hander walked on stage — sans bottoms — Aguilera told her, "You look hot. I think it's a good look for you."

During her appearance on the show, Aguilera went on to practically spoon feed Handler new material for some of her jokes by talking about how she doesn't wear underwear. It was a true TMI moment.

Hopefully Aguilera won't hold Handler's latest prank against her — after all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
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Why Goldie Looks Great At 67

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Why Goldie Looks Great At 67, Goldie Hawn might be one of the most youthful 67-year-olds on the planet! Her personality is bubbly, her body is rockin' and her head-to-toe style rivals most women half her age.

So, what's her secret? A good diet and solid exercise routine are part of her age-defying plan, she reveals to Prevention magazine. "I do try to do some form of exercise 4 days a week. At home in California, I'll bike up the mountain. Or I'll do Pilates or Spin. And I do eat a lot of greens. I eat healthy, but I'm not a vegetarian."

Goldie, who opens up in the 2012 Winter issue of Prevention, reveals the biggest key to her youthful vibe is a healthy inner life. "It's not the idea of a particular religion that's important; it's the development of a spiritual life. Because spirituality creates well-being, health, and happiness."

A daily meditation practice helps Goldie settle her mind and be more peaceful with life. "You'll see the benefits of meditation aren't just in your head. They're as physiological as the benefits of exercise on your muscles."

The actress has been practicing meditation since the 70s, and for the last 10 years has put her acting on the back burner to help bring meditation into the classroom. She started up with MindUp program, which teaches kids how to reduce stress and anxiety through mindfulness.

"I just had such a need to concentrate on this one thing, on the foundation and on helping kids become better able to focus and organize their brains, to help them toward happiness."

Goldie recommends everyone no matter their age should meditate and it doesn't have to be intimidating. Research shows that meditating for 3 minutes 5 times a day is as beneficial as doing it in a single 20-minute block. "Think of meditation not as something woo-woo but as an everyday task, like brushing your teeth. It's all about habituation," Goldie reveals to Prevention.
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Dolly Parton's reclusive husband

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Dolly Parton's reclusive husband, Country music icon Dolly Parton has been happily married for 46 years, but the world would never know it if she didn't say so.

Despite having been with the same man, Carl Dean, since the couple first met back in 1964 at a laundromat, Parton's husband is almost never spotted in public.

The singer/actress has previously said he simply stays out of the spotlight, and in a recent interview with Reuters, jokes about the fact that some fans have doubts there even is a Carl Dean.

"They don't think he really exists!" exclaims Parton, 66. "When I was doing my show, we were thinking about having a different guy knock on the door every night, as my husband, and then one night he would be a midget, and one night he would be a black man, and one night he would be like a boxer or a wrestler, all these different things that people imagine what my husband looks like."

Despite the fact that many celebs who tie the knot at a young age end up divorcing, Parton and husband Dean, who were 20 and 24 respectively when they wed, are still together, in part, because Dean isn't interested in the celebrity lifestyle, Parton explained in a 2010 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

"He's proud of me. He's just basically shy about things like that. He doesn't like crowds," she told Winfrey. "And I respect his privacy. I respect the fact that he loves to be out of the limelight.

That's one of the reasons I think we've lasted so long." The couple met on the day Parton arrived in Nashville in 1964. "I wasn't a star then, so I've never had to worry that he loves me because I'm a star and I've got money or make money or whatever. I know he loves me for me, and that means a lot to me."

So who is Dean? Now 70, he made his career running an asphalt paving business out of Nashville, though it's unclear if he's retired or not. But for those wondering what Parton's better half looks like, well, Dean is so good at keeping a low profile that's it's pretty much impossible to find any recent photos of the guy.

There are, however, a few old shots floating around, including this one that Parton shared of the couple during her 2010 Oprah interview, and some retro shots that a fan included in this YouTube video of Parton and Dean, who looks to be a good foot taller than the 5-foot dynamo.

Parton, who recently released a book titled Dream More, made headlines this week when she addressed longstanding rumors she is actually a lesbian in a relationship with her childhood friend Judy Ogle. Rumors she put to rest with a laugh.

"Judy and I have been best friends since we were like in the third and fourth grade," she said in an interview with "Nightline," which aired on Monday. "I mean, I love her as much as I love anybody in the whole world, but we're not romantically involved."

Back in January, Parton told "Access Hollywood Live" that she and Dean may be opposites, but 46 years later, the couple's still going strong.

"He's very kind, very understanding, crazy, funny, witty," she said. "He's a homebody… I have my freedom. He likes to stay at home and he doesn't want me in his face all the time and I don't want to be in it, so it works good!"
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Famous December Birthdays

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Famous December Birthdays, MSN is the Famous & Main Source of Celebrities Birthdays Detail...December is the time to deck the halls and to celebrate the birthdays of an NFL coach, a cake master and a comic creator. Check out these celebrities and others who will end 2012 another year older.

Woody Allen

Date of birth: Dec. 1

Legendary writer and director Woody Allen brought many well-known hits to the big screen (see his filmography), including his latest movie. Originally a stand-up comedian, he has also acted in many of his films.

Britney Spears

Date of birth: Dec. 2

After a public breakdown, former teen pop princess Britney Spears made a comeback with her latest album. This year she signed on as a judge on “The X Factor.”

Amanda Seyfried

Date of birth: Dec. 3

Actress Amanda Seyfried showcased her vocal talent with her role in a movie based on a Broadway musical. She will return in another film adaptation of a Broadway hit this month.

Tyra Banks

Date of birth: Dec. 4

Supermodel Tyra Banks is widely recognized as a Victoria’s Secret Angel as well as a “Sports Illustrated” swimsuit cover girl (see her modeling pictures). As host of “America’s Next Top Model,” she mentors aspiring models and searches for the next supermodel

Jessica Paré

Date of birth: Dec. 5

Canadian actress Jessica Paré can be seen on the hit drama “Mad Men.” She recorded a song that her character sang on the show.

Judd Apatow

Date of birth: Dec. 6

Recognized for his raunchy comedies, director Judd Apatow is best known for “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up.” His next film (its name?) will be released this month.

Noam Chomsky

Date of birth: Dec. 7

Retired Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Noam Chomsky is known as the “father of modern linguistics.” The philosopher and political activist has written numerous books throughout his career

Ann Coulter

Date of birth: Dec. 8

Conservative political commentator Ann Coulter has shared her views through her syndicated column, and television and radio appearances. She has written several best-selling books; The most recent was published earlier this year.

Judi Dench

Date of birth: Dec. 9

British actress Judi Dench has played two different queens during her impressive career. She recently reprised her role as M in the latest movie of the James Bond series.

Kenneth Branagh

Date of birth: Dec. 10

Kenneth Branagh is well known for his acting and directing in several movie adaptations of Shakespearean plays. He returned to his directing role in a superhero movie

Mo’nique

Date of birth: Dec. 11

Actress and comedian Mo’nique won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her dramatic role in “Precious.” She hosted a short-lived talk show for two seasons.

Mayim Bialik

Date of birth: Dec. 12

Mayim Bialik got her start as a child actress in the 1990s sitcom “Blossom.” She now stars as a socially awkward neuroscientist in “The Big Bang Theory.”

Rex Ryan

Date of birth: Dec. 13

NFL head coach Rex Ryan successfully led his team to two consecutive AFC Championship Games. He shares his birthday with his fraternal twin and fellow coach

KaDee Strickland

Date of birth: Dec. 14

Actress KaDee Strickland gained recognition as a “scream queen” when she starred in two horror movies in one year. She currently stars on the hit television drama “Private Practice.”

Don Johnson

Date of birth: Dec. 15

Actor Don Johnson found success in two cop dramas a decade apart. He was widely recognized in the 1980s in a T-shirt and blazer (in what show?) and in a yellow sports car in the 1990s

Flo Rida

Date of birth: Dec. 16

Rapper Flo Rida quickly rose to the top of the charts with his first single. He released his fourth album this year.

Duff Goldman

Date of birth: Dec. 17

Celebrity chef Duff Goldman (see pictures) showed off his amazing cake creations for 10 seasons on “Ace of Cakes.” He continues to run his cake shop, Charm City Cakes

Katie Holmes

Date of birth: Dec. 18

Actress Katie Holmes got her start in television, but rose to fame on the big screen. Her marriage and divorce from Tom Cruise has recently made more headlines than her work

Criss Angel

Date of birth: Dec. 19

Famed illusionist Criss Angel wowed audiences on his television show for five years. He collaborated his magic with the artistic styling of Cirque du Soleil for a unique show in Las Vegas.

Todd Phillips

Date of birth: Dec. 20

Director and screenwriter Todd Phillips is best known for his raunchy comedies (see his filmography), including a hit bachelor party movie and its sequel. He can be seen in cameo roles in most of his movies wearing a track suit and black wig.

Ray Romano

Date of birth: Dec. 21

Stand-up comedian and actor Ray Romano (see pictures) is best known for his long-running role of Ray Barone on the hit show “Everybody Loves Raymond.” He is currently guest starring in a family drama show

Ralph Fiennes

Date of birth: Dec. 22

Stage and film star Ralph Fiennes is well known for his portrayal of Lord Voldemort in the “Harry Potter” film series. He joined the ranks of MI6 in the latest James Bond movie

Eddie Vedder

Date of birth: Dec. 23

Grunge rocker Eddie Vedder is the voice behind the revolutionary alternative rock band Pearl Jam. Following the break up of the band, he recorded a couple of solo albums, including the soundtrack for a movie

Ryan Seacrest

Date of birth: Dec. 24

Television personality Ryan Seacrest branched out from his “American Idol” success to host several television programs (you can see him here and here). Also a successful producer, his production company has produced several reality shows

Christina Romer

Date of birth: Dec. 25

Economist Christina Romer is the former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers for President Baracj Obama and was instrumental in the economic recovery plan following the president’s election. She currently teaches economics at University of California, Berkeley.

Caroll Spinney

Date of birth: Dec. 26

Puppeteer Caroll Spinney has been the man behind two of the most beloved characters on “Sesame Street”. A documentary about his life is in the works

Savannah Guthrie

Date of birth: Dec. 27

Rookie co-anchor Savannah Guthrie joined the “Today” show team in July. She co-hosted the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade last month.

Stan Lee

Date of birth: Dec. 28

Stan Lee has created some of the most memorable comic book characters. He’s made cameo appearances in many of the movies based on his characters.

Ted Danson

Date of birth: Dec. 29

Actor Ted Danson is best known as the charismatic bartender Sam Malone from the hit series “Cheers.” He now stars in his third television series as the shift supervisor on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigator.”

Laila Ali

Date of birth: Dec. 30

Retired boxer Laila Ali has a 24-0 record as a super middleweight (watch her fight). She placed third in the fourth season of “Dancing with the Stars”

Gabby Douglas

Date of birth: Dec. 31

Gymnast Gabby Douglas made Olympic history as the first African-American gymnast to win the all-around competition and the first American to win both the all-around and team competition at the 2012 London Olympics

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New eyeless fish

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New eyeless fish, A cave-dwelling fish with no eyes and no scales has been discovered on a tiny island in Vietnam's scenic Ha Long Bay, according to conservation group Fauna & Flora International.

The newly described fish, a type of loach, has been named Draconectes narinosus, which derives from the Greek words for dragon "drakon" and swimmer "nectes," as well as the Latin word "narinosus," which means "who has large nostrils."

Its lack of eyes and scales are actually common adaptations for animals that have evolved in the darkness of deep limestone caverns. Like other cave fish, D. narinosus is limited to a life in freshwater, which means it is likely confined to a system of subterranean caves on Van Gio Island, unable to swim out into the surrounding sea.

Researchers with Fauna & Flora International say it's amazing that the fish has survived in such a small, precariously positioned habitat. Van Gio Island is a formation in Ha Long Bay with long, narrow arms that have a maximum width of just 1,300 feet (400 meters). Moreover, the freshwater lake in the cave where the fish was found is hardly 650 feet (200 meters) from the salty sea.

Scientists do not yet know whether there are analogous species on nearby islands, or whether this is the only surviving species in its genus. (Draconectesis a newly described genus.) A number of loaches, however, are already known from caves in the region and more await description, researchers said.
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National park fire

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National park fire, More than 1,000 evacuation notices to people living near Estes Park were sent out Saturday morning because of the explosive growth of the Fern Lake Fire in Rocky Mountain National Park. Some of the evacuation notices were "be prepared to evacuate."

Evacuation Information, as of 2 p.m. today:

The Highway 66 corridor, including all adjacent streets, remains in evacuation.

Residents of High Drive and adjacent streets have been notified that they are now on pre-evacuation notice. The residents in this area may return home, presenting identification to law enforcement at the High Drive road block. No others will be allowed in the area.

Residents who were evacuated earlier today from the west side of Marys Lake Road and all adjacent streets are now allowed to return home and are on pre-evacuation notices. Access to the neighborhood is unrestricted.
Pre-evacuation means that residents should be prepared to evacuate at any moment.

The evacuations began at 1:50 a.m. at the Moraine Park campground, according to John Schultz with the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.

The fire was pushed by 75 mph winds, throwing embers a mile in front of the fire.

Schultz said 1,100 emergency notifications were sent out.

Frank Lancaster, town administrator, said evacuees will be out of their homes for at least 24 to 36 hours.

"The fire grew rapidly until about four this morning, the winds started laying down, we were able to get an upper hand on it, RMNP spokeswoman Traci Weaver said.

The fire has not crossed Bear Lake Road, officials said at a 10 a.m. fire update. One personal cabin has been lost in the fire and the owner has been notified.

About 60 firefighters were on the fire overnight. A Type 1 Incident Management Team -- the highest level available -- has been ordered to manage the firefighting effort.

"We have at least two hotshot crews coming, maybe four. Within 2 hours we should have two heavy tankers, coming In from southern California, Weaver said. "We are cautiously optimistic because we have been able to stop the fire -- its forward spread."

It was later learned the air tankers were grounded bybad visibility in California and were not on their way.

A Type 1 Skycrane helicopter has also been ordered for the fire.

Evacuees were told to go to Estes Park High School, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office. About 50 people were there as of 10 a.m., the American Red Cross reported.

Large animals may be taken to the Stanley Park fairgrounds.

The fire has been burning since Oct. 9. It has burned 1,515 acres in steep, rugged terrain that includes beetle-killed trees which has limited firefighters' ability to fight the fire from the ground, officials said.

The fire may have started from an escaped campfire, Weaver said Saturday. She added that the campfire would have been illegal.

At last report, the fire was 40 percent contained but Schultz said he expects that containment to have dropped.

Firefighters were moved off the fireline on Friday afternoon due to the risk of falling trees from high winds. Helicopters were also grounded on Friday because of the increased wind speed.

The winds were gusting at 74 mph at 3 a.m. in Larimer County said 24/7 Weather Meteorologist Maureen McCann. Conditions in the area have also been abnormally dry, she added.

The higher winds not only increased the main fire's behavior, the winds also started a spot fire in the southwest corner of the fire, west of the confluence of the Forest and Spruce Canyons.

Flying embers from that spot fire were creating additional spot fires on Friday.

About 60 personnel were assigned to the fire as of Friday afternoon. Officials said their objective was to keep the fire on the north side of the Spruce Creek Drainage and to suppress any spot fires that ignite to the south or east of the active fire area.

The fire is burning near Fern Lake, west of Moraine Park on western edge of Estes Park. The fire forced the closure of the following trails/areas:

The immediate area of western Moraine Park
Fern Lake Road beyond the winter parking lot
Fern Lake Trail all the way to Lake Helene (by The Pool, Fern Falls, Fern Lake, Odessa Lake to Helene)
The Cub Lake Trail from the trailhead to The Pool
The Mill Creek Trail from the Mill Creek Basin campsites to the Cub Lake Trail.
The east side of Rocky Mountain National Park is closed, although Fall River Visitor Center remains open from the west side.

Members of the public affected by the fire may call 970-498-5500 for recorded information on the fire.

"What we really need is snow. It would be great if we could get some good snowfall on this fire," Weaver said.

In response to the evacuations, The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services team will also be providing support for evacuees in Estes Park.


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Iron Man stills

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Iron Man stills, Four new stills from director Shane Black's upcoming Iron Man 3 are now online, courtesy of Marvel's official site. Check them all out below!

Opening in 3D and 2D theaters on May 3, 2013, the action adventure stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley.

Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle.

With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?
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Magician set on fire

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Magician set on fire, Wayne Houchin was appearing on a show in the Dominican Republic when, in an apparently unscripted prank, its host dropped flammable liquid on his head, setting him alight.

Houchin's own crew, who were at the show, rushed to save him and put out the flames - but not before he had suffered burns to his head, face, neck and right hand.The illusionist, who hosts Breaking Magic on the Discovery Channel, was rushed to hospital where he says he is "in pain" but recovering.

Houchin, who was in the country promoting his Curiosidades show, wrote on Facebook after the incident: "I was not aware he was going to do this. This was not a stunt or part of an act - this was a criminal attack.

"The fast actions of the rest of our Curiosidades team saved my life. The fire was put out and I was rushed to the emergency room.

"I have bad burns on my head, face, neck and right hand. I am in pain, but am recovering. I will update you on the situation when I can."He has continued to report on his progress on Twitter and in one of his more recent posts wrote: "The doctors are cautiously optimistic that I will fully recover with no scars."

He has extended his stay in the Dominican Republic following the incident on Monday so he can remain in hospital to receive treatment for his injuries.

The host used a liquid called Aqua De Florida to set Houchin alight.

It is a flammable cologne popular in Latin countries, which is also used as a sacred cleaning spray by shamans and witch doctors in the Caribbean.
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Derek Jeter Weight [NEWS]

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Derek Jeter Weight [NEWS], Derek Jeter's weight gain photo after ankle injury goes viral. Consumer Reporter releases a new video report about a natural way to lose weight while boosting energy and burning fat to help people avoid the faith of Derek Jeter.Derek Jeter weight gaining photo has now gone viral.

Jeter is on rest from baseball due to the ankle injury he suffered in early October during Game 1 of the 2012 ALCS, while the New York Yankees was playing against the Detroit Tigers, as he attempts to reach for a ground ball.
The New York Post featured Derek Jeter on its back cover Friday with the headline "DEREK EATER," a reference to the slightly-paunchy offseason frame of the injured Yankees shortstop.

Nobody likes to be fat and even less an object of fun making. Fortunately, there are safe and natural ways of losing extra pounds before 2012 ends. Consumer Reporter investigated all the latest fat loss methods and created an insightful report out of this.

The reason why most diets and supplements don’t work right away is because people don’t become overweight in a matter of weeks or months. Most likely it has been consistent weight gain for years before realizing what has been occurring inside ones body.
Excessive fat build up will start causing major health implications if not dealt with properly. The liver can become enlarged, causing gallstones.

Fatty deposits can block the arteries and cause stroke. Increased fat around the neck can cause sleep apnea. Lungs will have less room to move, causing breathing problems and testosterone levels can also decline.

Consumer Reporter put together a new video series report for those not interested in sharing the faith of Derek Jeter. This video report features a new, natural way to lose weight while boosting energy and burning fat.

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Kim Kardashian Bahrain [NEWS]

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Kim Kardashian Bahrain [NEWS],Bahrain (AP) — Just hours after reality TV star Kim Kardashian gushed about her impressions of Bahrain, riot police fired tear gas to disperse more than 50 hardline Islamic protesters denouncing her presence in the Gulf kingdom.

The clashes took place just before Kardashian opened the Bahrain branch of her Millions of Milkshakes shop.

An Associated Press journalist saw protesters chanting "God is Great" near the shopping complex in Riffa, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the capital Manama. The demonstrators were cleared before Kardashian appeared late Saturday.

Earlier, she posted glowing remarks about Bahrain on her Twitter account, calling it "the prettiest place on earth." It was re-Tweeted by Bahrain's foreign minister.

Kardashian was in Kuwait earlier this week to open another branch of the shop.
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Lindsay Lohan Accuser [NEWS]

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Lindsay Lohan Accuser[NEWS], Tiffany Mitchell, the woman who Lindsay Lohan punched at New York City nightclub Avenue, didn't feel the need to hide following the incident.

The well-known psychic was spotted walking around NYC recently, though she wore big sunglasses that hid any evidence of injuries that occurred as a result of Lohan punching her on the left side of her face.

The fight resulted in Lohan being arrested for assault by NYC police. It has yet to be determined whether she was drunk or on drugs when the incident broke out, and if her alleged intoxication had anything to do with her aggressive behavior. TMZ posted the images of Mitchell and also claims that Lohan called her a "f**king gypsy" while at the nightclub.

That racial slur caused tensions to rise between Lohan and Mitchell's friends, and eventually resulted in the "Liz & Dick" star punching Mitchell.

"The bouncer was having a fight with somebody else and I grabbed my wife next to me," Mitchell's husband Wayne Stevens said in his police report. "My friend had their wife, and there were girls behind us. After it was over she [Lohan] went over and pushed my wife hard. I don't even know why she pushed her ... About five minutes later she comes around and told my wife 'I need space' or something like that. And then she just punched her."
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Crazy Tony Arrested [NEWS]

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Crazy Tony Arrested [NEWS], Crazy Tony arrested after cops spotted him in a gorilla suit? It sounds crazy, but it's true. Tony Lindsey, who is Honey Boo Boo's cousin, was part of a potentially deadly and definitely stupid stunt on Highway 20 in Georgia. Lindsey, who is definitely old enough to know better, was wearing a gorilla suit and jumping into traffic when he was spotted by a local police officer, and he wasn't acting alone.

TMZ first broke the news about Crazy Tony's arrest on Nov. 30, 2012, but the incident actually took place earlier in the month. Deputy Joe Rozier officer told TMZ, "I observed a white male dressed in a gorilla suit acting as if he was going to jump into my lane of travel.

I swerved into the left lane to avoid an accident with the person." When Rozier got out of his vehicle, he witnessed a group of grown men and two minors running for the woods. Upon advising the suspects that he was planning to release his K-9, the men agreed to come back under their own power.

Deputy Joe Rozier observed that none of the individuals he apprehended, seven in total, was in possession of a gorilla suit. However, the suspects confessed to hiding the suit in the woods, where Rozier recovered it.

The five adults including Crazy Tony were arrested for reckless conduct. Of course, they are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but anyone who would put drivers in jeopardy by running around a highway in a gorilla suit deserves to be arrested. A stunt like that could cause a potentially fatal accident, and that's no laughing matter.
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Manny Ramirez Drug [NEWS]

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Manny Ramirez Drug [NEWS], The substance that caused Manny Ramirez to test positive for a banned substance last year was testosterone, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

The administrator of baseball's drug program issued his annual report on Friday. The document lists the substances that resulted in seven positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs that led to discipline.

Six players were suspended earlier this year for taking prohibited substances and, in each case, the substance that triggered the positive test was announced under a change to baseball's drug agreement.

However, one positive test was unaccounted for and it came from Ramirez, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because that detail wasn't included in the report.

Ramirez, then playing for Tampa Bay, at first retired in April 2011 rather than face a 100-game suspension for his second failed drug test. He changed his mind last December — after the Independent Program Administrator's 2011 report — and an agreement was reached that suspended him for 50 games rather than 100 because he sat out nearly all of the 2011 season. The failed testosterone test was then included in the 2012 figures.After signing a minor league contract with Oakland this year, Ramirez asked to be released in mid-June without reaching the majors.

Ramirez, 14th on the career list with 555 home runs, was suspended for 50 games in 2009 while playing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. While the substance causing that suspension was not announced, at the time a person familiar with the details said Ramirez used the female fertility drug HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin. The substance stimulates natural testosterone production, which shuts down during a cycle of steroids use.

Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon and Yasmani Grandal also tested positive for testosterone in 2012. The other PED positives came up in tests from Guillermo Mota (Clenbuterol), Marlon Byrd (Tamoxifen) and Freddy Galvis (Clostebol). All were given 50-game suspensions.

Ryan Braun's test, which was overturned in a grievance, was not included because it did not lead to discipline.

There were 11 positive tests for banned stimulants, two of which led to 25-game suspensions for Carlos and Ryan Adams. The other nine were for initial positive tests, which result in follow-up testing but not suspensions.

Ten of the stimulant positives were caused by Adderall and the other by amphetamine.The report showed MLB granted 116 therapeutic use exemptions to treat attention deficit disorder in the past year, up 11 from last year and the most since the sport started releasing statistics in 2008. There were 25 new TUEs, down from 28 in 2011, and 91 holdovers. The exact substances allowed under the TUEs are not specified.

ADHD drugs were the overwhelming majority of the 119 exemptions granted, according to Friday's annual report by Dr. Jeffrey M. Anderson, baseball's new IPA. There were two for hypertension and one for hypogonadism.

Dr. Gary Wadler, former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency's committee that considers which substances should be banned, has for several years criticized baseball for its total of ADHD exemptions. The sport says its experts maintain the condition is more frequent in young adult males than among the general population.

Anderson, who replaced Dr. Bryan Smith, said there were 1,181 blood tests in baseball's first year of checks for human growth hormone. No positives were reported. There also were 3,955 urine tests for drugs, an increase of 87 tests.

Baseball does not break out how many of the tests were during the off-season.

Each player was given a blood test for HGH during spring training as part of the labour contract that was agreed to a year ago, which allows blood testing during the off-season and spring training, and if there is reasonable cause. Players and management are discussing whether to expand HGH testing.
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Dennis Quaid Divorce [NWES]

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Dennis Quaid Divorce [NWES], Dennis Quaid filed for divorce from his wife, Kimberly, after 8 years of marriage. On Dec. 1, TMZ reported that Quaid officially filed papers just 6 weeks after Kimberly filed for legal separation.

This was something expected given the fact that Kimberly actually filed divorce papers back in March. A month later, she changed her mind for whatever reason and then decided to go the route of legal separation. Quaid, however, is now ending things.

"Quaid is seeking joint legal and physical custody of the couple's 4-year-old twins, Thomas and Zoe. He is also offering to pay spousal support," TMZ reports.

Dennis Quaid and his wife's divorce won't be official for another 6 months, which is typical in the state of California. As TMZ points out, the pair moved to California over the summer and it is the law in that state that a person cannot file for divorce until they have lived there for 6 months. It has been about 6 months now, so this was more than likely the plan all along.

It is unknown why the two have decided to split, but it is safe to assume that "irreconcilable differences" will be the cause—at least that's what will undoubtedly be listed on the court documents. Everyone seemed to think that it was only a matter of time for these two, given their not-so-subtle hints over the past year.

Dennis Quaid's divorce from Kimberly will be his third. He was also married to actresses Meg Ryan and P.J. Soles. Evidently third time was not the charm for Quaid.
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Baseball Hall Of Fame [NEWS]

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Baseball Hall Of Fame [NEWS], The continued exclusion of union leader Marvin Miller from the Baseball Hall of Fame is an act of pettiness on the part of baseball executives. Miller’s death on Tuesday, at age 95, means that the man who revolutionized the sport that he loved as a child growing up in Brooklyn will never be properly honored in person. But the Cooperstown committee that chooses retired officials should still induct Miller posthumously in 2013.

No single individual did more to turn baseball into the business juggernaut it is today than Miller, a former steelworkers’ union official who took the helm of the moribund player’s association in 1966. When Miller began his tenure, baseball players had little negotiating power.

They were underpaid, yoked to a single team, and provided with scant pensions for a job that few could perform past their 30s. Miller turned the union into an aggressive force, driving up salaries and winning free agency — the radical notion that players should be allowed to sign with the team that offered the highest salary. Owners and traditionalists feared free agency would destroy the sport.

Instead, it has enlivened baseball, the sport’s revenues have surged, and other major sports have followed suit, giving players a more equitable share of revenues and greater say over their destinies.

Friction between labor and management is to be expected; many owners loathed Miller. But for the executives on the Hall’s veterans committees to continue to deny Miller’s legacy is, at this point, simply churlish.
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Keith Jerome Wright

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Keith Jerome Wright, A former NFL player has been sentenced to life in prison for a series of home-invasion robberies and a sexual assault in Sacramento.

Keith Jerome Wright, who is 32, was sentenced Friday in Sacramento County Superior Court to multiple life terms. He was convicted last month of 19 charges that included forcible oral copulation, armed robbery, kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment.

Prosecutors say DNA evidence and stolen items found in Wright's home connected him to three home invasion robberies in July and August 2011.

The former University of Missouri defensive lineman saw little playing time in the NFL after being selected in the sixth round of the draft by the Houston Texans in 2003. He also was with the Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions.
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Wyoming Community College Attack

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Wyoming Community College Attack, At least one person was killed and another wounded Friday morning in an attack at a central Wyoming community college.

Police took into custody one person who was injured and may also have died following the attack that happened just before 9 a.m. at Casper College, school spokesman Rich Fujita said.

Authorities were searching the campus for any additional suspects, Fujita said.

"They are reasonably certain that the one and only suspect is in custody, but they told us they can't be 100 percent certain there is not a second suspect," he said.

The campus was locked down and students were advised to stay where they were until police gave the all clear.

Fujita said he had no additional information, including how the attack happened, what type of weapon may have been used, or who was killed.

Casper police said they couldn't provide information because all their officers were at the scene. The Wyoming Highway Patrol was helping to direct traffic at the college, but a patrol spokesman said he had no information about what happened.

Political science instructor Chris Henrichsen said he was showing the film "Frost/Nixon" to his Wyoming and U.S. government class when he stepped into the hall to get something for a student and was told a homicide had occurred on campus.

He went back to his classroom, where students were getting messages about the campus lockdown on their phones.

"We locked the door and waited for further instruction," Henrichsen said.

The class finished watching the remaining 10 minutes of the movie and remained locked down 20 minutes after that, he said.

The students then were sent home, but some who parked near a different campus building where the attack occurred had to leave their cars there, Henrichsen said.

Henrichsen said he saw nothing unusual or suspicious on campus before the attack.

Casper College is a two-year community college in Wyoming's second-largest city. Casper, population 56,000, is about 250 miles northwest of Denver.

Wyoming residents refer to Casper as the "Oil City" because it's a hub for the state's small oil industry. The city is flanked to the south by Casper Mountain, scene of a massive wildfire in September that burned more than 24 square miles of forest and meadows and destroyed 37 homes and cabins.

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Obama Keystone Pipeline

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Obama Keystone Pipeline, It's a decision U.S. President Barack Obama put off during this year's election campaign, but now that he's won a second term, his next move on the proposed oil pipeline between Alberta and Texas may signal how he will deal with climate and energy issues in the four years ahead.

Obama is facing increasing pressure to determine the fate of the $7-billion Keystone XL project, with environmental activists and oil producers each holding out hope that the president, freed from the political constraints of re-election, will side with them on this and countless other related issues down the road.On its surface, it's a choice between promises of jobs and environmental concerns. But it's also become a proxy for a broader fight over U.S. energy consumption and climate change.

"The broader climate movement is absolutely looking at this administration's Keystone XL decision as a really significant decision to signal that dirty fuels are not acceptable in the U.S.," said Danielle Droitsch, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Once content with delays that have kept Calgary-based TransCanada Corp.'s proposed pipeline from moving forward at full speed, opponents of Keystone XL have launched protests in recent weeks at the White House and in Texas urging Obama to kill the project outright. On Capitol Hill, support for the pipeline appears to be gaining.

But Obama has shown little urgency about the pipeline, which would carry Alberta's oilsands crude nearly 2,700 kilometres from Hardisty, Alta., to refineries on Texas's Gulf Coast. The pipeline requires U.S. State Department approval because it crosses an international boundary.

The pipeline became an issue in the campaign, and Obama put it on hold while a plan was worked out to avoid routing it through Nebraska's environmentally sensitive Sandhills region.

TransCanada revised the route, but that caused the lengthy environmental review process to start over. In the meantime, the company split the project into two parts, starting construction in August on a southern segment between Oklahoma and Texas even as it waits for approval for the northern segment that crosses the Canadian border.

Although the lower leg didn't require Obama's sign-off, he gave it his blessing in March anyway, irking environmental activists who see the pipeline as a slap to efforts to reduce oil consumption and fend off climate change.

"At a time when we are desperately trying to bend the emissions curve downwards, it is wrong to open up a new source of energy that is more carbon intensive and makes the problem worse," wrote former U.S. vice-President Al Gore, now a Nobel Prize-winning climate activist, in an email.The pipeline's proponents are touting access to affordable energy to try to find bipartisan appeal on the issue.

"It's just a no-brainer," Senator Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, said. "Canada is going to export this oil. It's either going to come to the U.S. or it's going to go to Russia or China. Even Democrats that aren't really excited about oil and gas development generally can figure that out."But critics point out that there's abiding questions about how much of the oil piped to the U.S. would actually remain there. Oil companies' own plans show they intend to export much of the refined products to Asia and Europe.

And it's been hotly debated whether the increased oil-carrying capacity from the pipeline is even needed. A report commissioned by the U.S. government itself rebuts the idea, saying that there is already enough pipeline capacity to the U.S. to deliver petroleum from Western Canada until at least 2030.

The messy politics may demonstrate why Obama punted the decision until after the election. Now both sides are applying pressure with renewed vigour.

A TransCanada spokesman said the company expects a decision by the State Department, which is determining whether the pipeline is in the national interest, in the first quarter of 2013, and hopes to start construction on the upper portion shortly thereafter. The longer the decision drags on, the less realistic that timeline appears to be.

Officials in Nebraska are close to completing their own study of the revised route, with a public hearing planned for Tuesday ahead of a final decision by Gov. Dave Heineman.
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Galaxy VS. Dynamo

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Galaxy VS. Dynamo, And so, the moment of truth is upon us. Sure, we are several days away from the greatest day in American professional soccer from taking place. But it is never too early to forecast MLS Cup 2012, which will take place once again at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. and will feature, as with last year, Bruce Arena’s Los Angeles Gaaxy and Dominic Kinnear’s Houston Dynamo.Emotions are sure to run high on both sides.

Houston’s Brad Davis is ready for his shot at redemption as Houston look to make up for their misfortunes last year. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Galaxy look to give David Beckham one final sendoff as he concludes his MLS career.
Who will prevail in this, the seventeenth edition of the MLS Cup Final? It is time to find out in our 10 Bold Predictions!

1. David Beckham with at least an assist
Win or lose, you can expect David Beckham to put on one final curtain call for his fans. He will get at least an assist in this match because he has a supporting cast that is built to make things happen. A strong effort from Beckham on offense and defense in this year’s MLS CUp Final will be the final chapter in a long, up-and-down, prolific and storied career.

2. Los Angeles scores first
The weather conditions should be a little bit better this time around. Last year it was raining, it was cold, it was wet, and the pitch was a mess. This year, the conditions should make for excellent football, and that is where the Galaxy flourished. Bruce Arena’s men open up the scoring within the first 30 minutes thanks to Robbie Keane, who will get a brace in this contest.

3. Brad Davis with at least an assist
This was the match that got away from him last year. The Houston Dynamo were missing Brad Davis and his playmaking ability in the 2011 MLS Cup Final, but he is healthy and he is ready to make amends. Look for Houston’s No. 11 to deliver with an assist this contest.

4. The unlikeliest of goalscorers…Boniek Garcia
Honduran international Boniek Garcia has been a driving force behind the Dynamo’s resurgence this year. Garcia has been a viable third option in the attack behind Davis and Will Bruin, and because of this, the View from Avalon expects Boniek to barrel his way in for a score in the second half.

5. Magee time once again
While the Houston Dynamo have Boniek Garcia as their X-factor, Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Mike Magee has also been clutch. Time and time again, Magee—who is not too bad as a goalkeeper—has developed a knack for scoring key goals and offering some key leadership to help his team. Magee will score on Houston and make his own amends from a sorry display in the Galaxy’s only regular season meeting with the Dynamo on May 26. In that contest, Magee scored an own goal and was issued a yellow card.

6. Landon Donovan…back to full fitness
Los Angeles captain Landon Donovan has had a season full of nagging injuries and his action on the pitch has been limited as times. Indeed, his hamstring issues caused the Galaxy to struggling in holding off the Seattle Sounders on Sunday. But come the MLS Cup Final, the Galaxy’s No. 10 is expected to be match-fit and ready for a chance to earn his fifth MLS Cup. Donovan will score in the second half, as he did last year.

7. Tally Hall…on notice!
Goalkeeper Tally Hall put on a solid display at last year’s MLS Cup but just couldn’t make enough saves to help his team. The View from Avalon is calling for more of the same, but he will make a number of stops to keep the Houston Dynamo in the running. Hall will make at least four saves on Dec. 1.

8. A.J. DeLaGarza is back…with a vengeance
Central defender A.J. DeLaGarza was unfortunate to be injured late in the season but thanks to some clutch performances in the MLS Cup Playoffs, DeLaGarza could earn a start in the MLS Cup Final alongside Omar Gonzalez. Look for DeLaGarza to rack up the stats on the Opta Chalkboard with at least five interceptions, six clearances and seven recoveries with a pass success of at least 70 percent.

9. At least 25 fouls and three yellows
It’s a cup final. It’s the last game of the season. Therefore, it’s all hands on deck and every player for himself. In this contest, there will be at least 25 fouls whistled and three yellow cards issued. Ferocious tackling, tempers flaring and an intensity that fuels both the orange of Houston and the white of Los Angeles. That’s the MLS Cup Final for you.

10. Los Angeles gets the job done
Better weather means better football, and this time the Los Angeles Galaxy are going to exact some payback against a Houston Dynamo side who held sway in May at BBVA. Compass Stadium, that is. The Galaxy must come into this game with a huge chip on their shoulders and the need to pull off a more compelling effort unlike their 2-1 defeat on the road against Seattle.

As for Houston, they have nothing to lose from this match. They were the last team to make it to the postseason, and they have everything to gain from this contest. But Los Angeles are fully aware that this is all business for them. And they have a hero to send off. The Galaxy take MLS Cup 2012.
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Alabama VS. Georgia

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Alabama VS. Georgia, Until questionable clock management eliminated the unimaginable. Until a tipped pass led to a caught pass and there was no way to stop the clock—and this heavyweight fistfight finally found a place in history.

“We needed a miracle,” said Alabama offensive tackle D.J. Fluker.

They got the one thing that means more to anyone in this meatgrinder of a conference; the one thing that has come to define the college football season. An SEC championship.

“This is the game that matters to me,” said Alabama tailback Eddie Lacy. “I’m not even thinking about that other game right now.”

That’s why it wasn’t over here until Alabama’s 32-28 victory over Georgia allowed the Tide to finally close out last season. This is the way it works in the biggest, baddest conference of all.Winning a national championship can’t replace this feeling. Earning the right to play for another on Jan. 7 against Notre Dame can’t, either.

Alabama was a state away from the Georgia Dome this time last year, caught up in a BCS beauty pageant with Oklahoma State while LSU was strutting around this field with the biggest prize of all. Getting a shot at LSU in the national championship game with some funky BCS math couldn’t ease the sting—no matter how good it looked.

“Having to watch that was one of the worst days of my football life,” Alabama linebacker Nico Johnson said of last year’s SEC title game.

Starting to see where this is headed? So when Georgia decided against spiking the ball with 14 seconds to play and setting up for a final play or two; when the Dawgs put an entire game of strongest man wins on a hurried final pass play from the Alabama 8, two years of work—last year and this year—had come to this.

For Alabama, it has come full-circle: A season as the controversial champion. A new season as the hunted unbeaten. A week as the upset victim of the year. And finally, a moment of good fortune in a week of crazy that allowed the Tide back into a national title chase that made this SEC game that much more important.

The call came from upstairs in the coaches box. As Georgia hurried to the line of scrimmage after a 28-yard pass to Arthur Lynch moved the ball to the 8, Bulldogs offensive coordinator Mike Bobo called for a fade to Malcolm Mitchell.

Instead of clocking the ball and having—at the very least—12 seconds remaining with no timeouts, quarterback Aaron Murray threw the fade. Tide linebacker C.J. Mosley tipped the pass, which was caught, on instinct, by wideout Chris Conley at the 4 as the clock ran out and Georgia couldn’t get another play off. Alabama had its miracle.“In hindsight, maybe we should have (clocked it),” Bobo said in the middle of the Georgia locker room, his arms folded, his legs crossed, his eyes staring into nothing. “We thought we could get two (plays) there. It just didn’t happen.”

Somehow it came down to that one play; that one moment of chance in a game of two physical, athletic teams seeing who would blink first. It just didn’t seem right—but then again, what about this game did?

Here were two of the best defenses in the nation getting gashed by each other time and again. Here was Alabama, with a team full of experience and many guys who already have won two national titles, finding a way to earn an opportunity to win three of the last four with mega games from two freshmen.

Tailback T.J. Yeldon ran for 153 yards and a touchdown, and wide receiver Amari Cooper had seven catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. The two were critical in Alabama’s 14-point fourth quarter, allowing the Tide to withstand an average game from AJ McCarron—and a downright disappointing game from its defense.

But this team that found a rallying point before the season began; that found motivation where many wouldn’t expect it, found a way to win again. The difference: this time, the call from the coaches booth nailed it.

Tide offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier called a play action pass to Cooper, who had single coverage with Georgia’s safeties creeping toward the line to stop the run. Cooper got inside cornerback Damian Swann off the line, then ran by him toward the post.

McCarron, after a perfect play action fake, heaved the ball as far as he could from midfield.

“I knew I wasn’t going to overthrow him,” McCarron said.

It landed right in the hands of Cooper, who didn’t break stride, for a 45-yard game-winning touchdown. All it took was two defensive stops, officials overturning an Alabama interception, poor clock management, a tipped pass and, yes, a miracle, for Alabama to have its prize.

“This game is so different than any other,” said Alabama center Barrett Jones. “It’s hard to put into words how important it is to win this game.”

After the game, after Georgia coach Mark Richt had answered every question in a somber postgame interview, he was asked before he walked out about how this loss would contribute to the narrative of he and Murray not winning big games.

Had Georgia won, it would be playing Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship Game, a goal that has for too long seemed out of reach for the Bulldogs.

One of the coolest customers in the game, Richt answered politely and walked off the dais—before turning around, pointing his finger at the questioner and saying sternly, “If you don’t think this team played their butts off in this game, you don’t get it.”

If you don’t think this game means as much—or more—than the national championship for those involved, you don’t get it, either.
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