Inside the Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center, a mobile shopping mall was assembled for the 3,466 race participants who began arriving in Augusta on Friday. First, they check in and sign a waiver. Then, they pull out the credit card.
St. Louis athletes Julie Ellis and her training partner, Kierstin Coovert, filled several shopping bags with gear. A trophy for their efforts was the official Ironman Augusta race shirt that includes every preregistered participant’s name. The two squinted their eyes to read the tiny writing.
“You busted your butt all season training. You know you gotta get it,” Ellis said.
Mobile vendors sold running shoes, bike racks and tires, energy food, hats, shirts, wetsuits and anything with an official Ironman logo. Some athletes lined up for a stretch with a chiropractor.
Dennis Geiser, the mobile store manager for Inside-Out Sports of Cary, N.C., said the products available have advanced far beyond what was on the market when he began triathlon training in the early 1990s. Jelly beans were his energy source then, not the endless variety of power bars he sold Friday.
“You don’t need any of this stuff except a helmet and a set of clothing to cover yourself up,” Geiser said.
The most popular item in Geiser’s store Friday was a $3.99 cartridge of carbon dioxide used to inflate bike tires. The tiny bottles don’t pass airport security regulations.
Geared up and ready, Nick and Barbara Vetere, of Pennsburg, Pa., pedaled from the hotel entrance for a 17-mile bike ride. With less than two days until the race, the athletes are shortening their exercise time.
“It’s hard not to train hard. The body is used to it,” Nick Vetere said.
His strategy for the swim, bike and run: one leg at a time. “Just like a workout,” he said. “Hope I make it through the whole thing.”
2012年9月28日星期五
2012年9月27日星期四
Alternate uniforms make bold statement
When Mark Daniels and his team of designers at Adidas America laid out a number of alternate uniform options for Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne, they discovered something that seems fitting after Osborne’s retirement announcement.
“He can very quickly assess what he likes and doesn’t,” said Daniels, the director of football for Adidas. “And he gets his point across. He can yell in a whisper.”
They discovered something else: Osborne didn’t opt for the safest choice. Not the boldest one, either — the design of which Daniels, with a chuckle, declined to disclose. But considering the black helmet, black accents and all-red uniform, Osborne’s pick went far beyond vanilla.
“If 10 was phenomenally aggressive and one was phenomenally conservative, this was a seven,” Daniels said. “It’s a bold use of color and a bold use of the logo.”
And it’ll be on national TV — along with Wisconsin’s all-white alternate look in the new Adidas “Unrivaled” uniform game. NU-UW — dubbed “The Quick and The Red” — is the first in the series, and Adidas will be bringing a number of reps from its Portland, Ore.-based headquarters for the game.
If Nike grabbed the early alternate uniform spotlight with its guinea pig at Oregon, Adidas — which outfits NU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and UCLA, among other schools — has taken some of the attention with its own spin on the alternate look. The Adidas “Techfit” uniforms — which Daniels said are 30 percent lighter than regular uniforms and offer 17 percent better range of motion — provide the substance behind the style.
The design emphasis: Building on traditional school logos and concepts with bold color, accents and special accessories, like the new Smoke gloves and shoes that Nebraska and Wisconsin players will wear Saturday. Daniels said a specific department with more than 50 designers, marketing experts and administrators manages the handful of alternate looks each year.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck effort,” Daniels said.
When the Wolverines showed off their futuristic throwbacks vs. Notre Dame last September — the first night game in Michigan history — Daniels thought Adidas had “nailed it” in concept and design. The centered school logo. The number on the shoulder pad. Bright. Identifiable on TV.
Daniels said that not long after that game Adidas America pinpointed the Nebraska-Wisconsin matchup as an opportunity to build on Michigan’s look. The plan solidified by the end of the last season, and Adidas started showing Osborne design concepts. Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, Daniels said, wanted to make sure players and high school prospects would like it.
“Bo asked a lot about athlete feedback,” Daniels said.
Although Adidas didn’t specifically survey Husker players, Adidas reps occasionally attend practice and pose questions about look and fit in that environment. Osborne rejected a few ideas, approved the current look and the final version was uploaded to YouTube in late July, while Nebraska attended Big Ten media days.
Of all the 2012 YouTube videos featuring alternate uniforms — by Adidas, Nike, any brand — Nebraska’s look remains No. 1 in viewers, Daniels said. Maryland, outfitted by Under Armour, is No. 2. Notre Dame, which is ditching its classic all-gold helmet for a two-tone look in its “Shamrock Series” game vs. Miami, is No. 3. Oregon is fourth.
“He can very quickly assess what he likes and doesn’t,” said Daniels, the director of football for Adidas. “And he gets his point across. He can yell in a whisper.”
They discovered something else: Osborne didn’t opt for the safest choice. Not the boldest one, either — the design of which Daniels, with a chuckle, declined to disclose. But considering the black helmet, black accents and all-red uniform, Osborne’s pick went far beyond vanilla.
“If 10 was phenomenally aggressive and one was phenomenally conservative, this was a seven,” Daniels said. “It’s a bold use of color and a bold use of the logo.”
And it’ll be on national TV — along with Wisconsin’s all-white alternate look in the new Adidas “Unrivaled” uniform game. NU-UW — dubbed “The Quick and The Red” — is the first in the series, and Adidas will be bringing a number of reps from its Portland, Ore.-based headquarters for the game.
If Nike grabbed the early alternate uniform spotlight with its guinea pig at Oregon, Adidas — which outfits NU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and UCLA, among other schools — has taken some of the attention with its own spin on the alternate look. The Adidas “Techfit” uniforms — which Daniels said are 30 percent lighter than regular uniforms and offer 17 percent better range of motion — provide the substance behind the style.
The design emphasis: Building on traditional school logos and concepts with bold color, accents and special accessories, like the new Smoke gloves and shoes that Nebraska and Wisconsin players will wear Saturday. Daniels said a specific department with more than 50 designers, marketing experts and administrators manages the handful of alternate looks each year.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck effort,” Daniels said.
When the Wolverines showed off their futuristic throwbacks vs. Notre Dame last September — the first night game in Michigan history — Daniels thought Adidas had “nailed it” in concept and design. The centered school logo. The number on the shoulder pad. Bright. Identifiable on TV.
Daniels said that not long after that game Adidas America pinpointed the Nebraska-Wisconsin matchup as an opportunity to build on Michigan’s look. The plan solidified by the end of the last season, and Adidas started showing Osborne design concepts. Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, Daniels said, wanted to make sure players and high school prospects would like it.
“Bo asked a lot about athlete feedback,” Daniels said.
Although Adidas didn’t specifically survey Husker players, Adidas reps occasionally attend practice and pose questions about look and fit in that environment. Osborne rejected a few ideas, approved the current look and the final version was uploaded to YouTube in late July, while Nebraska attended Big Ten media days.
Of all the 2012 YouTube videos featuring alternate uniforms — by Adidas, Nike, any brand — Nebraska’s look remains No. 1 in viewers, Daniels said. Maryland, outfitted by Under Armour, is No. 2. Notre Dame, which is ditching its classic all-gold helmet for a two-tone look in its “Shamrock Series” game vs. Miami, is No. 3. Oregon is fourth.
2012年9月26日星期三
who always owns her dress and the Giambattista
Sofia Vergara and Heidi Klum ramped up the sizzle Sunday night on the Emmy Awards red carpet that already had TV's biggest stars talking about just how hot they were because of the sweltering temperatures in Los Angeles.
Vergara wore a teal gown by Zuhair Murad with beads all over and a cutout reverse halter neckline, and Klum chose a seafoam-colored gown by Alexandre Vauthier with plunging Vs from every angle on the top and super-high slits that left very little in the middle.
They helped fuel the trend toward bright, bold color that was also worn by pregnant Claire Danes in strapless daffodil-yellow Lanvin, Julianne Moore in a long-sleeve, stretchy gown by Raf Simons for Christian Dior and Nicole Kidman in a blue-on-white-beaded gown by Antonio Berardi. All brought bona fide fashion credibility to the Nokia Theatre, even if they weren't necessarily the favorites.
Hayden Panettiere plucked her sari-style Marchesa straight from the runway, and Ginnifer Goodwin's flame-red-on-sheer-champagne strapless gown by Monique Lhuillier announced there's a new generation of style stars to reckon with.
Goodwin "went out on a limb — and it could have gone wrong — but it was great," said Stacy London, co-host of TLC's "What Not to Wear" and co-founder of Style for Hire, a personal fashion service. "It had the biggest impact on me."
Lhuillier had a banner night with Julie Bowen's strapless, trumpet-hem gown and Padma Lakshmi's orange strapless dress.
Goodwin and Klum also were early favorites of Louise Roe, Glamour editor-at-large and "Fashion Star" host. She wasn't crazy about Elisabeth Moss' printed, peplumed Dolce & Gabbana gown, which she said had a little too much "fussy detail."
And, Roe said, Emily VanCamp could have gone edgier than her still-lovely J. Mendel gown with pleats and hints of sexy sheer fabric. "She's young and has a killer body — she could have played around a bit more."
Hal Rubenstein of InStyle magazine, however, saw the beauty of VanCamp's gown up close and — like Moore's gown, which was Simons' red-carpet debut for Dior — needed to be appreciated for the details. "Julianne's will be the one to remember," he said. "It's a lot — and it's a blazing, flaming color — but if you saw the dress, the construction was extraordinary."
Moore said before the show: "I love the color. It's so fresh."
It didn't hurt that she also got to wear European-cut diamond earrings, weighing in at 5 carats each, and an 8.5-carat Art Deco bracelet — both by Fred Leighton.
Vergara's gown was over the top and not as sophisticated as some of her earlier red-carpet looks, but she has mastered a va-va-voom character and she consistently gives the audience what they want, the experts said. "If Sofia Vergara showed up in a tuxedo or a boatneck gown in sable brown, you'd be furious," Rubenstein said.
When stars go for gowns that they seem more comfortable in, which is itself a trend, they look better, Rubenstein explained. Julianna Margulies is someone who always owns her dress and the Giambattista Valli strapless brocade floral fell into her pattern of making fashionable choices.
London felt the same way about Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her dark red, ruched and draped Vera Wang that she paired with Irene Neuwirth's one-of-a kind black opal and rose-cut diamond earrings set with turquoise. "She can show the little girls how to do it. She's nuanced and talented. You never feel like her acting and you always like her, and I feel that way about her dress choices."
There was plenty of red to go with the carpet, including a cleavage-baring Kat Dennings of "2 Broke Girls" in J. Mendel and Tina Fey, who has mastered the awards-show look as she nears the end of the run of "30 Rock," in a dark red strapless with gold bust details by Vivienne Westwood.
Vergara wore a teal gown by Zuhair Murad with beads all over and a cutout reverse halter neckline, and Klum chose a seafoam-colored gown by Alexandre Vauthier with plunging Vs from every angle on the top and super-high slits that left very little in the middle.
They helped fuel the trend toward bright, bold color that was also worn by pregnant Claire Danes in strapless daffodil-yellow Lanvin, Julianne Moore in a long-sleeve, stretchy gown by Raf Simons for Christian Dior and Nicole Kidman in a blue-on-white-beaded gown by Antonio Berardi. All brought bona fide fashion credibility to the Nokia Theatre, even if they weren't necessarily the favorites.
Hayden Panettiere plucked her sari-style Marchesa straight from the runway, and Ginnifer Goodwin's flame-red-on-sheer-champagne strapless gown by Monique Lhuillier announced there's a new generation of style stars to reckon with.
Goodwin "went out on a limb — and it could have gone wrong — but it was great," said Stacy London, co-host of TLC's "What Not to Wear" and co-founder of Style for Hire, a personal fashion service. "It had the biggest impact on me."
Lhuillier had a banner night with Julie Bowen's strapless, trumpet-hem gown and Padma Lakshmi's orange strapless dress.
Goodwin and Klum also were early favorites of Louise Roe, Glamour editor-at-large and "Fashion Star" host. She wasn't crazy about Elisabeth Moss' printed, peplumed Dolce & Gabbana gown, which she said had a little too much "fussy detail."
And, Roe said, Emily VanCamp could have gone edgier than her still-lovely J. Mendel gown with pleats and hints of sexy sheer fabric. "She's young and has a killer body — she could have played around a bit more."
Hal Rubenstein of InStyle magazine, however, saw the beauty of VanCamp's gown up close and — like Moore's gown, which was Simons' red-carpet debut for Dior — needed to be appreciated for the details. "Julianne's will be the one to remember," he said. "It's a lot — and it's a blazing, flaming color — but if you saw the dress, the construction was extraordinary."
Moore said before the show: "I love the color. It's so fresh."
It didn't hurt that she also got to wear European-cut diamond earrings, weighing in at 5 carats each, and an 8.5-carat Art Deco bracelet — both by Fred Leighton.
Vergara's gown was over the top and not as sophisticated as some of her earlier red-carpet looks, but she has mastered a va-va-voom character and she consistently gives the audience what they want, the experts said. "If Sofia Vergara showed up in a tuxedo or a boatneck gown in sable brown, you'd be furious," Rubenstein said.
When stars go for gowns that they seem more comfortable in, which is itself a trend, they look better, Rubenstein explained. Julianna Margulies is someone who always owns her dress and the Giambattista Valli strapless brocade floral fell into her pattern of making fashionable choices.
London felt the same way about Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her dark red, ruched and draped Vera Wang that she paired with Irene Neuwirth's one-of-a kind black opal and rose-cut diamond earrings set with turquoise. "She can show the little girls how to do it. She's nuanced and talented. You never feel like her acting and you always like her, and I feel that way about her dress choices."
There was plenty of red to go with the carpet, including a cleavage-baring Kat Dennings of "2 Broke Girls" in J. Mendel and Tina Fey, who has mastered the awards-show look as she nears the end of the run of "30 Rock," in a dark red strapless with gold bust details by Vivienne Westwood.
2012年9月25日星期二
Armani stuck to an androgynous style for his collection
Designers at Milan Fashion Week delivered lightweight and flowing dresses for the thrifty woman seeking a timeless look that will last more than a season in the age of austerity.
Sheer dresses in pastel colours dominated the 2013 spring/summer shows, which ended yesterday with a call for restraint on the catwalk from designer Giorgio Armani.
“Our work as designers is to suggest what people wear. What’s the point of showing 30 pieces that don’t go into the stores?” Armani asked reporters.
Fashion executives meeting in Milan acknowledged that the economic environment was getting tougher for luxury makers as growth slows in China and recession hits southern Europe.
Sales of Italian fashion are expected to fall 5.6 percent this year after growing 6 percent last year, according to the National Chamber of Italian Fashion.
The decline makes Italy the worst performing market in a global luxury industry expected to grow 7 percent this year.
Luxury goods makers Salvatore Ferragamo and Prada dismissed concerns of a sharp slowdown among global players with retail exposure to emerging countries.
“We follow China with great attention. But the (growth) trend remains,” Ferragamo Chief Executive Michele Norsa said on the sidelines of his label’s show.
Global economic concerns were echoed on Milan catwalks where most designers opted for wearable shapes and neutral shades.
Armani stuck to an androgynous style for his collection, where flowing trousers were cut above the ankle and masculine jackets were tailored to fit like a glove.
Trend-setter Miuccia Prada however surprised her audience with a Japanese-inspired collection that confirmed the designer as one of the most independent creative minds in the industry. Prada stitched white flowers on kimono-like dresses, while shoes were either impossibly high or replaced by leather socks.
“I thought of a woman who is strong and sweet,” Prada told reporters after her packed show in a black-and-white theatre.
Asked whether her bold creations were to be found in stores, Prada said everything she showed would be on sale.
Italian brands insisted on the value of craftsmanship, a quality for which Italy is famous.
From Roberto Cavalli to Roccobarocco, designers elaborated embroideries difficult to copy by fast fashion chains.
Florentine designer Cavalli, known for making his own animal prints, created deco motifs for his robes in natural shades.
Gucci’s creative head Frida Giannini proposed aristocratic looks in bright colours with matching shoes. Bell sleeves and ruffles added movement to her sophisticated looks.
Lightweight dresses returned at Blumarine and Versace, where platinum-blonde designer Donatella Versace turned mini-dresses in intimate wear tie-dyed in pastel colours.
Almost every collection offered mixed lengths from mini shorts to flowing trousers in a wide appeal to differing body shapes and styles.
Brands such as Gianfranco Ferre, Genny, Versace and Frankie Morello cut new shapes from trapezoidal to A-shaped dresses.
Although the clothes were linear, practical and the most dramatic catwalk excesses toned down this season, handbags and shoes with gold and silver details stole into the limelight.
The fashion pack descend on Paris next for the finale of the spring/summer 2013 catwalk season.
Sheer dresses in pastel colours dominated the 2013 spring/summer shows, which ended yesterday with a call for restraint on the catwalk from designer Giorgio Armani.
“Our work as designers is to suggest what people wear. What’s the point of showing 30 pieces that don’t go into the stores?” Armani asked reporters.
Fashion executives meeting in Milan acknowledged that the economic environment was getting tougher for luxury makers as growth slows in China and recession hits southern Europe.
Sales of Italian fashion are expected to fall 5.6 percent this year after growing 6 percent last year, according to the National Chamber of Italian Fashion.
The decline makes Italy the worst performing market in a global luxury industry expected to grow 7 percent this year.
Luxury goods makers Salvatore Ferragamo and Prada dismissed concerns of a sharp slowdown among global players with retail exposure to emerging countries.
“We follow China with great attention. But the (growth) trend remains,” Ferragamo Chief Executive Michele Norsa said on the sidelines of his label’s show.
Global economic concerns were echoed on Milan catwalks where most designers opted for wearable shapes and neutral shades.
Armani stuck to an androgynous style for his collection, where flowing trousers were cut above the ankle and masculine jackets were tailored to fit like a glove.
Trend-setter Miuccia Prada however surprised her audience with a Japanese-inspired collection that confirmed the designer as one of the most independent creative minds in the industry. Prada stitched white flowers on kimono-like dresses, while shoes were either impossibly high or replaced by leather socks.
“I thought of a woman who is strong and sweet,” Prada told reporters after her packed show in a black-and-white theatre.
Asked whether her bold creations were to be found in stores, Prada said everything she showed would be on sale.
Italian brands insisted on the value of craftsmanship, a quality for which Italy is famous.
From Roberto Cavalli to Roccobarocco, designers elaborated embroideries difficult to copy by fast fashion chains.
Florentine designer Cavalli, known for making his own animal prints, created deco motifs for his robes in natural shades.
Gucci’s creative head Frida Giannini proposed aristocratic looks in bright colours with matching shoes. Bell sleeves and ruffles added movement to her sophisticated looks.
Lightweight dresses returned at Blumarine and Versace, where platinum-blonde designer Donatella Versace turned mini-dresses in intimate wear tie-dyed in pastel colours.
Almost every collection offered mixed lengths from mini shorts to flowing trousers in a wide appeal to differing body shapes and styles.
Brands such as Gianfranco Ferre, Genny, Versace and Frankie Morello cut new shapes from trapezoidal to A-shaped dresses.
Although the clothes were linear, practical and the most dramatic catwalk excesses toned down this season, handbags and shoes with gold and silver details stole into the limelight.
The fashion pack descend on Paris next for the finale of the spring/summer 2013 catwalk season.
2012年9月24日星期一
Michael Jordan brings charisma and cigars to help cart off Ryder Cup
Is it possible that the only person on the USA side in the Ryder Cup who will not hit a single drive, line up one putt, play out of any bunkers or have his name written on a solitary page of the Ryder Cup record book could end up playing one of the most pivotal roles this week at Medinah Country Club?
It does not require an extreme bend of the imagination for such a scenario to come true, at least not in the mind of the USA captain, Davis Love, who is stirring a special ingredient into his team mix – a bald, 49-year-old, cigar-chomping, billionaire former basketball player named Michael Jordan.
He plays neither pro basketball nor Ryder Cup golf but make no mistake, Jordan's presence as one of Love's assistants will somehow affect the outcome. We've seen this before. This is not the first occasion that Jordan, the one-time superstar of the National Basketball Association, has been brought on board by a USA captain in international golf competition. Fred Couples had Jordan as an assistant in the 2009 Presidents Cup, a 19–14 victory for USA over the International team.
Couples said Jordan had one mission to accomplish and one mission only. "His role was to have fun with the guys," Couples said. "That's it. He's certainly not telling them how to hit a chip shot." And Love envisages a similar outcome happening again, this time on the tree-lined layout of Medinah's famed Course No3 in suburban Chicago. "Air Jordan," said Love, invoking Jordan's nickname earned by the manner in which he seemed to play the game above the court. "Michael's going to be hanging around … and be an influence."
Working out the details on exactly how that happens is probably going to be more extemporaneous than planned. At best, Jordan, motivator extraordinaire, is on hand to keep the players loose, to serve as possibly the greatest role model for success in sport and to pass out cigars. At worst, the USA lose for the fifth time in six Ryder Cup matches since 1999 and the Michael Jordan Experiment comes to an abrupt conclusion.
Jordan and the Ryder Cup began their association in 1997 at Valderrama, where USA's captain, Tom Kite, plucked Jordan out of the gallery, invited him on to his golf cart and spent a great deal of time driving him around the course.
Europe won by one point and one of the lasting images is that of a worried Kite behind the wheel chauffeuring Jordan while Europe's captain Seve Ballesteros charismatically steered his team to victory through sheer will.
Of course, not everyone feels that way. Love thought the Jordan-Kite thing was an inspired moment then and continues to do so now. "I thought one of the neatest things I ever saw in the Ryder Cup was Michael riding in the golf cart with Tom Kite," Love says. "One of the coolest things. I want him to be seen and I want him to be in our team room."
Certainly Jordan's influence has been broad and even unprecedented, not only in the world of professional sport, but also in the world of commerce, brand marketing and global reach. Jordan's brand of Nike sneakers have surpassed $1bn in sales and made Jordan a major contributor to Nike's $19bn worldwide empire. It was Nike who took a gamble in 1984 on the first-year pro basketball player when it signed the 21-year-old Jordan to a 5-year, $25 million contract.The more Jordan's legend grew, the more success he had, his fans wanted a piece of him, and so that translated into sales of his sneakers. A phrase arose, 'Be Like Mike.' And one of the best ways to be like Mike was to wear the shoes he wore
With Jordan as the star attraction, the Chicago Bulls won six NBA championships, he was the league's most valuable player five times, a 14-times All-Star and he also led the NBA in scoring 11 times. Jordan was considered a great team-mate, although he demanded excellence of others, because he made his fellow players better. The Lakers' Magic Johnson was the same. Jordan brought out the best in his team-mates, perhaps in no greater case than that of Scottie Pippen, a little-known college player who went from a bit-part performer to a Hall of Fame career that never would have happened without Jordan's influence bringing it out of him.
Although he has not had much success in his current job as head of basketball operations for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats – their 7-59 record last season was the worst of any team in NBA history – Jordan remains an iconic figure and enjoys cult status, which is important to Love. And he retains a love affair with golf, which is important to Jordan.
His only public stumble in recent years was possibly his 2009 speech when he was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, curiously turning the occasion into an opportunity to say something bad about everyone he perceived to have wronged him somewhere along the way.
But in the golf world Jordan is unassailable and also valuable for what he seems to offer to captains such as Love and Couples. Jordan is devoted to golf, he represents success and he gains even more traction with the players because he is both instantly recognisable and authoritative. He established a bond with the younger USA players Sean O'Hair and Hunter Mahan at the Presidents Cup, although neither are in the team at Medinah.
Tiger Woods, however, is in the USA team and Jordan was one of Woods' earliest friends and boosters, largely because of their business affiliation with Nike. Woods still refers to Jordan as MJ and considered him a close confidante because of their shared superstardom in their particular sports. They are no longer as close, largely because Woods tightened his inner circle after his personal meltdown in 2009.
But as the ultimate professional from a team sport, this week Jordan may fill a major need to help bring together as a team golfers who are accustomed to playing the game purely as individuals.
As for Jordan's view of what he brings to the table, he offered a rare insight into his thoughts about individuals in sports and team sports at the Presidents Cup. "When I walk away from this … I know that as a team you have leaders, you have followers, you have certain role players within a team … any championship team I ever played on, everybody makes their own contribution," Jordan said. "That means a lot when you talk about winning. It's about bringing that guy up … to take guys who had not really been successful on certain days … giving them confidence to help them rebound and get back to their game form. That, to me, symbolises what a team is all about."
That may be the way the play is drawn up on paper for the USA side. If Jordan can influence one extra putt to disappear into the hole, it may all be worthwhile and he will be then free to pass out more cigars.
It does not require an extreme bend of the imagination for such a scenario to come true, at least not in the mind of the USA captain, Davis Love, who is stirring a special ingredient into his team mix – a bald, 49-year-old, cigar-chomping, billionaire former basketball player named Michael Jordan.
He plays neither pro basketball nor Ryder Cup golf but make no mistake, Jordan's presence as one of Love's assistants will somehow affect the outcome. We've seen this before. This is not the first occasion that Jordan, the one-time superstar of the National Basketball Association, has been brought on board by a USA captain in international golf competition. Fred Couples had Jordan as an assistant in the 2009 Presidents Cup, a 19–14 victory for USA over the International team.
Couples said Jordan had one mission to accomplish and one mission only. "His role was to have fun with the guys," Couples said. "That's it. He's certainly not telling them how to hit a chip shot." And Love envisages a similar outcome happening again, this time on the tree-lined layout of Medinah's famed Course No3 in suburban Chicago. "Air Jordan," said Love, invoking Jordan's nickname earned by the manner in which he seemed to play the game above the court. "Michael's going to be hanging around … and be an influence."
Working out the details on exactly how that happens is probably going to be more extemporaneous than planned. At best, Jordan, motivator extraordinaire, is on hand to keep the players loose, to serve as possibly the greatest role model for success in sport and to pass out cigars. At worst, the USA lose for the fifth time in six Ryder Cup matches since 1999 and the Michael Jordan Experiment comes to an abrupt conclusion.
Jordan and the Ryder Cup began their association in 1997 at Valderrama, where USA's captain, Tom Kite, plucked Jordan out of the gallery, invited him on to his golf cart and spent a great deal of time driving him around the course.
Europe won by one point and one of the lasting images is that of a worried Kite behind the wheel chauffeuring Jordan while Europe's captain Seve Ballesteros charismatically steered his team to victory through sheer will.
Of course, not everyone feels that way. Love thought the Jordan-Kite thing was an inspired moment then and continues to do so now. "I thought one of the neatest things I ever saw in the Ryder Cup was Michael riding in the golf cart with Tom Kite," Love says. "One of the coolest things. I want him to be seen and I want him to be in our team room."
Certainly Jordan's influence has been broad and even unprecedented, not only in the world of professional sport, but also in the world of commerce, brand marketing and global reach. Jordan's brand of Nike sneakers have surpassed $1bn in sales and made Jordan a major contributor to Nike's $19bn worldwide empire. It was Nike who took a gamble in 1984 on the first-year pro basketball player when it signed the 21-year-old Jordan to a 5-year, $25 million contract.The more Jordan's legend grew, the more success he had, his fans wanted a piece of him, and so that translated into sales of his sneakers. A phrase arose, 'Be Like Mike.' And one of the best ways to be like Mike was to wear the shoes he wore
With Jordan as the star attraction, the Chicago Bulls won six NBA championships, he was the league's most valuable player five times, a 14-times All-Star and he also led the NBA in scoring 11 times. Jordan was considered a great team-mate, although he demanded excellence of others, because he made his fellow players better. The Lakers' Magic Johnson was the same. Jordan brought out the best in his team-mates, perhaps in no greater case than that of Scottie Pippen, a little-known college player who went from a bit-part performer to a Hall of Fame career that never would have happened without Jordan's influence bringing it out of him.
Although he has not had much success in his current job as head of basketball operations for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats – their 7-59 record last season was the worst of any team in NBA history – Jordan remains an iconic figure and enjoys cult status, which is important to Love. And he retains a love affair with golf, which is important to Jordan.
His only public stumble in recent years was possibly his 2009 speech when he was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, curiously turning the occasion into an opportunity to say something bad about everyone he perceived to have wronged him somewhere along the way.
But in the golf world Jordan is unassailable and also valuable for what he seems to offer to captains such as Love and Couples. Jordan is devoted to golf, he represents success and he gains even more traction with the players because he is both instantly recognisable and authoritative. He established a bond with the younger USA players Sean O'Hair and Hunter Mahan at the Presidents Cup, although neither are in the team at Medinah.
Tiger Woods, however, is in the USA team and Jordan was one of Woods' earliest friends and boosters, largely because of their business affiliation with Nike. Woods still refers to Jordan as MJ and considered him a close confidante because of their shared superstardom in their particular sports. They are no longer as close, largely because Woods tightened his inner circle after his personal meltdown in 2009.
But as the ultimate professional from a team sport, this week Jordan may fill a major need to help bring together as a team golfers who are accustomed to playing the game purely as individuals.
As for Jordan's view of what he brings to the table, he offered a rare insight into his thoughts about individuals in sports and team sports at the Presidents Cup. "When I walk away from this … I know that as a team you have leaders, you have followers, you have certain role players within a team … any championship team I ever played on, everybody makes their own contribution," Jordan said. "That means a lot when you talk about winning. It's about bringing that guy up … to take guys who had not really been successful on certain days … giving them confidence to help them rebound and get back to their game form. That, to me, symbolises what a team is all about."
That may be the way the play is drawn up on paper for the USA side. If Jordan can influence one extra putt to disappear into the hole, it may all be worthwhile and he will be then free to pass out more cigars.
2012年9月23日星期日
Games need to stop telling us where to go
If you’re playing Resident Evil 6, BioShock, or any Modern Warfare title, stop and pause the game for a second.
Do you feel someone holding your hand? Does it seem like that person is pushing you toward your goal?
Hit start and return to the game. Take a look around as you battle your way to your objective.
You see it? That big arrow? That target?
Yeah, it’s that reoccurring and seemingly in-demand destination pointer.
I’ve seen them in in the Call of Duty franchise. And that was OK. I didn’t mind being told where the goal was. The games presented straightforward campaigns.
BioShock featured something similar. The arrow, working like a compass, helped me figure out where to go next, but at the same time, it didn’t help me get past the threats that plagued me along the way.
Recently, I took a stab at the Resident Evil 6 public demo. And once again, this GPS thingy was lurking around in Capcom’s latest survival-horror adventure.
Resident Evil is all about making it on your own. You have to figure out its puzzles and endure its hellish counterpoints. You find hints along the way, but without an arrow swinging around your radar, the experience feels more realistic. You don't have a big, bright icon indicating where to escape from an army of zombies. You have to find out yourself.
A majority of current-generation games are more forgiving. They hold your hand no matter the consequences. The game’s difficulty doesn’t count. You see, when I grew up, video games kicked our asses. The only alternative (or nice pedestrian who helped us cross the road) was the third-party Game Genie add-on. And that was more than a pointer. It was what I like to call “El Cheapo.” Think of it as the equivalent of hacking at its finest.
Titles were less complex and more straightforward back then, but you didn’t see this absurdly big arrow in role-playing games or platformers. It was more like, “Have fun and good luck. Call Nintendo Power’s Counselors’ Corner if you need help."
I also believe that modern-day navigation takes away fun, and it slaps our general logic in the face.
If you’re going to point where to go, you might as well point to the secrets and off-trail scenery I’ll probably miss out on. Why? Because you’re telling me where to go, stripping me away from what I should be doing: questing off as the hero I’m supposed to be.
Games are meant for enjoyment, and a large portion of that fun (for certain genres) is exploring. We are diving into another dimension. We want to put ourselves into the shoes of the hero or heroine while navigating into the vibrant world so many digital offerings provide.
Marines sure as hell don’t have a target icon to follow during a real-life war, so maybe if developers want to be accurate, they should make experiences more lonesome and not remind me that I’m playing a game.
In-game navigation seems to be mandatory now. Sure, technology has changed tremendously. We all have trackers on our iPhones and carry our GPS devices while traveling. But I still cringe at the idea of current adventures providing these helping hands.
I mean, why make your game so complex if it’s not worth the time to scour all of its pixelated environment?
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is great, and it is how long-enduring RPGs should be. But please, give us the opportunity to delve into its complexity without any help.
Do you feel someone holding your hand? Does it seem like that person is pushing you toward your goal?
Hit start and return to the game. Take a look around as you battle your way to your objective.
You see it? That big arrow? That target?
Yeah, it’s that reoccurring and seemingly in-demand destination pointer.
I’ve seen them in in the Call of Duty franchise. And that was OK. I didn’t mind being told where the goal was. The games presented straightforward campaigns.
BioShock featured something similar. The arrow, working like a compass, helped me figure out where to go next, but at the same time, it didn’t help me get past the threats that plagued me along the way.
Recently, I took a stab at the Resident Evil 6 public demo. And once again, this GPS thingy was lurking around in Capcom’s latest survival-horror adventure.
Resident Evil is all about making it on your own. You have to figure out its puzzles and endure its hellish counterpoints. You find hints along the way, but without an arrow swinging around your radar, the experience feels more realistic. You don't have a big, bright icon indicating where to escape from an army of zombies. You have to find out yourself.
A majority of current-generation games are more forgiving. They hold your hand no matter the consequences. The game’s difficulty doesn’t count. You see, when I grew up, video games kicked our asses. The only alternative (or nice pedestrian who helped us cross the road) was the third-party Game Genie add-on. And that was more than a pointer. It was what I like to call “El Cheapo.” Think of it as the equivalent of hacking at its finest.
Titles were less complex and more straightforward back then, but you didn’t see this absurdly big arrow in role-playing games or platformers. It was more like, “Have fun and good luck. Call Nintendo Power’s Counselors’ Corner if you need help."
I also believe that modern-day navigation takes away fun, and it slaps our general logic in the face.
If you’re going to point where to go, you might as well point to the secrets and off-trail scenery I’ll probably miss out on. Why? Because you’re telling me where to go, stripping me away from what I should be doing: questing off as the hero I’m supposed to be.
Games are meant for enjoyment, and a large portion of that fun (for certain genres) is exploring. We are diving into another dimension. We want to put ourselves into the shoes of the hero or heroine while navigating into the vibrant world so many digital offerings provide.
Marines sure as hell don’t have a target icon to follow during a real-life war, so maybe if developers want to be accurate, they should make experiences more lonesome and not remind me that I’m playing a game.
In-game navigation seems to be mandatory now. Sure, technology has changed tremendously. We all have trackers on our iPhones and carry our GPS devices while traveling. But I still cringe at the idea of current adventures providing these helping hands.
I mean, why make your game so complex if it’s not worth the time to scour all of its pixelated environment?
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is great, and it is how long-enduring RPGs should be. But please, give us the opportunity to delve into its complexity without any help.
2012年9月20日星期四
Memory of freestyle skier Sarah Burke fills loved ones with life
“I just remember holding her within seconds of her being born, and holding her hand on her last breath, and everything in between was perfect,” said her father, Gordon Burke, his eyes drooping and bright. “I’m not saying this now because she’s not here, or because memories are different or anything, but it’s just as her dad I was always stunned by the amount of what she sought to do for everybody.
“I never had a bad day in my life with her. It truly was like something magical fell into our lives. It left a little too soon, but she was just awesome every day.”
Her mother, Jan Phelan, told the the story of cooking in the kitchen when she heard four-year-old Sarah tumbling down the stairs, crash-crash-bang, and she ran to check on her daughter and Sarah was getting up, and said, “I meant to do that.” Rory remembered how last week, at the ski camp at Whistler where Sarah had created a Girls’ Week, the kids would go silent when her name came up, all these girls, instantly reverential. All three of them tried to explain what they had lost.
“It breaks your heart,” said her mother, an artist who separated from Sarah’s father when they were young, and who moved to Squamish in 2008 to be closer to Sarah and Rory. “I know I run away from home. I keep going away, and I know I’m going back soon, but … there’s a part of you that wants to sink into the despair and sorrow of it, and it would be so easy to do.
“But you would be doing a disservice to Sarah, to everybody. So you figure out a way to get through the next week, get through the next few days, get through the next month. Something you can deal with rather than looking at the whole expanse of life without Sarah. You can’t go there.”
Jan shudders when she says the last few words. Rory is the same; it’s like he can’t talk too deeply about Sarah because he might shudder and break, but he does his best. They lived in a world of mountain biking and hiking, skiing and daring, backcountry and bush planes. They were married in 2010, and they looked beautiful and young and limitless, and he was the luckiest man in the world.
On this day Rory was dressed all in black — slightly rumpled black dress shirt, black pants, black shoes. And he wore a button on his chest and this little purple ribbon pinned to his sleeve. Purple was Sarah’s favourite colour. The button had her picture on it. He carries her around a lot, literally and figuratively. He had never really lost anybody before.
“No, I haven’t, man,” he said. “That was the toughest part; I mean, I’m so blessed with my life, and so lucky to do everything that I get to do, and Sarah — as you can tell, [she] is the most amazing girl ever. I just basically … I had it all.”
Then it was gone, and it has been a long road alone. Rory, an extreme skier, has spent some time running away in his own fashion: touring Australia as part of an extreme-sports traveling show called The Nitro Circus, skiing in Nepal as part of a film. He is trying not to say no when people ask him to do things, because she wouldn’t want him to say no. It took him a while to do anything after she died, but he is distracting himself, when he can. He thought about her the first time he was back on skis, back in a dangerous place. He didn’t stop.
“Sarah passed away doing what she loved to do, and to be honest, that’s what I want to do,” Rory said. “To be able to give it your all, and live completely in the moment, absolutely. I don’t know. Absolutely it crosses your mind that it’s dangerous, but every risk is weighed, and it’s always worth it.”
His old roommate — their old roommate — just came back to Squamish and moved back in, and that helps. Rory is working on Sarah’s soon-to-be-launched foundation, and tries to ignore the rain, and goes for hikes that he and Sarah used to enjoy. He takes Duckster.
“Sarah and I had a dog, and I’m so thankful,” Rory said, “because I never wanted a dog, and Sarah brought Duckster in. I love dogs, but we travelled so much, and she always wanted a dog. She waited until I was concussed, and then gave me this dog. She said, ‘He was abandoned, under a car. We could take him to the pound.’ ” He gave in. He laughed. “So happy to have him.”
He was asked if this year has made him stronger, and said he doesn’t know. It was suggested that this was a terrible, beautiful day; having to remember, getting to remember, but Rory smiled. “A beautiful day,” he said. Jan murmured agreement; Gordon nodded. A beautiful day. They walked out laughing at something, all three of them, trying not to break without the one person who brought them together.
“I never had a bad day in my life with her. It truly was like something magical fell into our lives. It left a little too soon, but she was just awesome every day.”
Her mother, Jan Phelan, told the the story of cooking in the kitchen when she heard four-year-old Sarah tumbling down the stairs, crash-crash-bang, and she ran to check on her daughter and Sarah was getting up, and said, “I meant to do that.” Rory remembered how last week, at the ski camp at Whistler where Sarah had created a Girls’ Week, the kids would go silent when her name came up, all these girls, instantly reverential. All three of them tried to explain what they had lost.
“It breaks your heart,” said her mother, an artist who separated from Sarah’s father when they were young, and who moved to Squamish in 2008 to be closer to Sarah and Rory. “I know I run away from home. I keep going away, and I know I’m going back soon, but … there’s a part of you that wants to sink into the despair and sorrow of it, and it would be so easy to do.
“But you would be doing a disservice to Sarah, to everybody. So you figure out a way to get through the next week, get through the next few days, get through the next month. Something you can deal with rather than looking at the whole expanse of life without Sarah. You can’t go there.”
Jan shudders when she says the last few words. Rory is the same; it’s like he can’t talk too deeply about Sarah because he might shudder and break, but he does his best. They lived in a world of mountain biking and hiking, skiing and daring, backcountry and bush planes. They were married in 2010, and they looked beautiful and young and limitless, and he was the luckiest man in the world.
On this day Rory was dressed all in black — slightly rumpled black dress shirt, black pants, black shoes. And he wore a button on his chest and this little purple ribbon pinned to his sleeve. Purple was Sarah’s favourite colour. The button had her picture on it. He carries her around a lot, literally and figuratively. He had never really lost anybody before.
“No, I haven’t, man,” he said. “That was the toughest part; I mean, I’m so blessed with my life, and so lucky to do everything that I get to do, and Sarah — as you can tell, [she] is the most amazing girl ever. I just basically … I had it all.”
Then it was gone, and it has been a long road alone. Rory, an extreme skier, has spent some time running away in his own fashion: touring Australia as part of an extreme-sports traveling show called The Nitro Circus, skiing in Nepal as part of a film. He is trying not to say no when people ask him to do things, because she wouldn’t want him to say no. It took him a while to do anything after she died, but he is distracting himself, when he can. He thought about her the first time he was back on skis, back in a dangerous place. He didn’t stop.
“Sarah passed away doing what she loved to do, and to be honest, that’s what I want to do,” Rory said. “To be able to give it your all, and live completely in the moment, absolutely. I don’t know. Absolutely it crosses your mind that it’s dangerous, but every risk is weighed, and it’s always worth it.”
His old roommate — their old roommate — just came back to Squamish and moved back in, and that helps. Rory is working on Sarah’s soon-to-be-launched foundation, and tries to ignore the rain, and goes for hikes that he and Sarah used to enjoy. He takes Duckster.
“Sarah and I had a dog, and I’m so thankful,” Rory said, “because I never wanted a dog, and Sarah brought Duckster in. I love dogs, but we travelled so much, and she always wanted a dog. She waited until I was concussed, and then gave me this dog. She said, ‘He was abandoned, under a car. We could take him to the pound.’ ” He gave in. He laughed. “So happy to have him.”
He was asked if this year has made him stronger, and said he doesn’t know. It was suggested that this was a terrible, beautiful day; having to remember, getting to remember, but Rory smiled. “A beautiful day,” he said. Jan murmured agreement; Gordon nodded. A beautiful day. They walked out laughing at something, all three of them, trying not to break without the one person who brought them together.
2012年9月19日星期三
Turning Vegas into a hot spot for work
By the time he's through, he hopes to help create the world's largest co-working space -- where fledgling companies, independent entrepreneurs and angel investors toil in an informal cooperative setting -- and a thriving tech ecosystem of young start-ups while burnishing downtown's downtrodden reputation.
"It is the revitalization of the city's core," says Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman. "We're seeing the fruits of a dream that started with my husband."
Like so many entrepreneurs, Hsieh and his team of advisers are pursuing tech companies to jump-start the regional economy. An influx of tech start-ups has proved to be a driver for local businesses and an impetus for cultural enrichment. In San Francisco, there are some 36,600 people who work in tech, up 13% from the dot-com peak in 2001, says real estate services firm CBRE. More than 500 start-ups have set up shop in Los Angeles and its environs.
There is competition from elsewhere in Nevada, too. In Reno, Apple plans to set up shop in a big way. In late June, Apple said it would build a $1 billion data center there. Just down the interstate from Reno in nearby Fernley,It has a 322,000-square-foot fulfillment center.
"This project could be insane," says Zappos co-founder Nick Swinmurn, who left the company in 2006 and now lives in Northern California. "could be the next Austin or just another sleepy couple of blocks in Vegas. I think it will take five years." But "Tony is in it for the long haul," he says. "He wants to live in a cool place, a utopia."
By the end of 2013, Zappos plans to relocate more than 1,500 employees from its suburban Henderson, Nev., headquarters, where it has been based since 2004, to Las Vegas' City Hall building downtown. The 300,000-square-foot campus, which broke ground in July and is under construction, can accommodate 2,000 workers.
"The idea went from 'let's build a campus' to 'let's build a city,'" Hsieh says in his soft voice.
Naturally, Hsieh wants as many Zappos employees to move downtown as possible, so one of the first uses of all that money was to snap up about 50 units in the 25-story The Ogden, one of the neighborhood's only luxury high-rise condo buildings.
Think of The Ogden as tech's version of New York's legendary Chelsea Hotel, known for its celebrity residents. But at The Ogden, engineers and technicians -- not artists and poets -- live and work side by side in a building that is equal parts dormitory and office complex.
One tenant, Romotive, wants to create the world's first affordable personal robot, for $150. Perched on the 21st floor, covering some 22,000 square feet, the transplanted Seattle start-up has sweeping vistas of the Strip. But the company's 18 employees aren't tempted by gambling, bars and other diversions. They typically work 18-hour days, eating and socializing with one another at the Ogden.
"We're building the strongest.culture here," says Romotive CEO Keller Rinaudo.
Online marketer Digital Royalty and Ticket Cake, a ticketing agency, are among The Ogden's other occupants.
A block away, Las Vegas Fashion Lab, a 5,600-square-foot co-working space, is about to open. "There's so much momentum and excitement," says owner Meghan Boyd. "Things are popping up on the grid."
The immediate neighborhood is dotted with several new businesses -- Le Thai restaurant, Tech Cocktail video production, the Coterie boutique, and the forthcoming Eat and Commonwealth restaurants. The crown jewel is the city-funded Smith Center, a $150 million theater currently home to a production of Wicked. Switch Communications opened a co-working space for midsize tech businesses in the southwest part of town.
To be sure, plenty of work needs to be done. There are pockets of vacant buildings, plenty of homeless people, and sirens from emergency vehicles puncture the night.
Still, longtime local businessman Michael Cornthwaite contends that "people go where the jobs and vibrant new businesses are."
2012年9月18日星期二
MyBreastCancerTeam offers community
MyBreastCancerTeam formally launched today, announcing the availability of its social network for women facing breast cancer.
The site is designed to provide all forms of support women with breast cancer may need. First and foremost, it provides an empathetic, engaged, and welcoming community.
Upon signing up, members create a profile, and like any social network, it is up to the user how much information to disclose. In addition to basic information, like a profile picture, location, and age, women have the opportunity to tell their story.
The story can be as short as a few sentences, but many women choose to share detailed accounts of who they are and their personal battle with breast cancer. They include information about their background, personalities, families, and lives, as well as what their journey has been like.
Another profile element centers around diagnosis and treatment. Women put up specifics about their condition, including the type of breast cancer, stage, the treatments they have gone through, and Hormone Receptor Info. All of this information is searchable, so members can search for women in their area, seek out kindred spirits with similar interests and beliefs, or look for patients suffering from the same type of disease.
While there are hundreds of websites that provide medical advice, online and offline support groups, and multiple social media platforms, cofounder Mary Ray said there are none that address the complicated and specific needs of those dealing with a serious disease.
“Women want to talk about their condition and connect with people who know what they are join through,” she said. “There are hospital support groups, online groups, and list serves, but it is all basic technology you’d find in the year 2000. This is the kind of information people don’t post on Facebook, but that they do want to share, and to share it with people who have been in their shoes.”
MyBreastCancer team incorporates multiple internet trends into their platform. There is an activity feed, and users can post updates and add people to their team, like they would add Twitter followers. There are “hug” and “like” options, and a percentage bar to tell users how complete their profile is. There is even a “pinboard” a la Pinterest where women can assemble collections of images, whether it be modeling head scarves, pictures from an Avon walk, or recipes that appeal to radiation-sensitive stomachs.
The company has also created mobile apps for iOS and Android. Aside from being a smart move for any business, this is particularly useful for the user that spends extensive amounts of time at doctors offices, hospitals, and in waiting rooms.
Discussion is also a key component on MyBreastCancerTeam.
In the q+a section, women ask and answer each others’ questions and the best answers are up voted by the community. The content is, of course, searchable. A patient looking for knowledge on a specific treatment type can type in the name of that treatment, and not only view relevant threads, but also comment or directly message women who responded to ask follow up questions.
There is even a Yelp like feature, where women recommend local doctors and other healthcare providers based on their personal experiences.
Due to HIPAA regulations, healthcare providers cannot disclose medical information. While this serves to protect patient privacy, it can make tapping into a disease-centered community more challenging. However, on MyBreastCancerTeam, women have control how much information they share, which enables a meaningful dialogue about sensitive, and private, medical issues.
“We heard so many women say they don’t know what their choices are and they are overwhelmed,” said cofounder Eric Peacock. “MyBreastCancerTeam lets women empower each other, not just with information, but with a sense of perspective. The fear in the back of your mind quickly gets mediated when you see other women feeling similar situations.”
The site is created by MyHealthTeams, which launched its first network called MyAutismTeam last year. It started with 30 parents in California and grew to over 30,000 members. The founders realized they had struck a nerve by providing a safe, online forum for people affected by disease to interact with each other.
They chose breast cancer for the second network because it is so widespread- about 1 in 8 American women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. As Peaock put it, chances are everyone knows someone afflicted with breast cancer. The community is there, its just a central, consolidated network that is not.
MyBreastCancerTeam is free for members. It is pre-revenue right now, although there is a business model on deck for the future. The founders do not want to plaster the site in advertising or violate their members’ trust by selling data. But they do intend to make sure of their large, engaged, and targeted user base to market products that their members may need.
Due to privacy regulations, it can be difficult for certain businesses to reach their desired audience. Working through MyBreastCancerTeam could give them the opportunity to place their product in front of potential consumers. On the other side, a formerly dispersed community could benefit from a new collective bargaining power.
MyHealthTeams is based in San Francisco and received $1.75 million in seed funding from Adams Street Partners, 500 Startups, and angel investors.
The site is designed to provide all forms of support women with breast cancer may need. First and foremost, it provides an empathetic, engaged, and welcoming community.
Upon signing up, members create a profile, and like any social network, it is up to the user how much information to disclose. In addition to basic information, like a profile picture, location, and age, women have the opportunity to tell their story.
The story can be as short as a few sentences, but many women choose to share detailed accounts of who they are and their personal battle with breast cancer. They include information about their background, personalities, families, and lives, as well as what their journey has been like.
Another profile element centers around diagnosis and treatment. Women put up specifics about their condition, including the type of breast cancer, stage, the treatments they have gone through, and Hormone Receptor Info. All of this information is searchable, so members can search for women in their area, seek out kindred spirits with similar interests and beliefs, or look for patients suffering from the same type of disease.
While there are hundreds of websites that provide medical advice, online and offline support groups, and multiple social media platforms, cofounder Mary Ray said there are none that address the complicated and specific needs of those dealing with a serious disease.
“Women want to talk about their condition and connect with people who know what they are join through,” she said. “There are hospital support groups, online groups, and list serves, but it is all basic technology you’d find in the year 2000. This is the kind of information people don’t post on Facebook, but that they do want to share, and to share it with people who have been in their shoes.”
MyBreastCancer team incorporates multiple internet trends into their platform. There is an activity feed, and users can post updates and add people to their team, like they would add Twitter followers. There are “hug” and “like” options, and a percentage bar to tell users how complete their profile is. There is even a “pinboard” a la Pinterest where women can assemble collections of images, whether it be modeling head scarves, pictures from an Avon walk, or recipes that appeal to radiation-sensitive stomachs.
The company has also created mobile apps for iOS and Android. Aside from being a smart move for any business, this is particularly useful for the user that spends extensive amounts of time at doctors offices, hospitals, and in waiting rooms.
Discussion is also a key component on MyBreastCancerTeam.
In the q+a section, women ask and answer each others’ questions and the best answers are up voted by the community. The content is, of course, searchable. A patient looking for knowledge on a specific treatment type can type in the name of that treatment, and not only view relevant threads, but also comment or directly message women who responded to ask follow up questions.
There is even a Yelp like feature, where women recommend local doctors and other healthcare providers based on their personal experiences.
Due to HIPAA regulations, healthcare providers cannot disclose medical information. While this serves to protect patient privacy, it can make tapping into a disease-centered community more challenging. However, on MyBreastCancerTeam, women have control how much information they share, which enables a meaningful dialogue about sensitive, and private, medical issues.
“We heard so many women say they don’t know what their choices are and they are overwhelmed,” said cofounder Eric Peacock. “MyBreastCancerTeam lets women empower each other, not just with information, but with a sense of perspective. The fear in the back of your mind quickly gets mediated when you see other women feeling similar situations.”
The site is created by MyHealthTeams, which launched its first network called MyAutismTeam last year. It started with 30 parents in California and grew to over 30,000 members. The founders realized they had struck a nerve by providing a safe, online forum for people affected by disease to interact with each other.
They chose breast cancer for the second network because it is so widespread- about 1 in 8 American women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. As Peaock put it, chances are everyone knows someone afflicted with breast cancer. The community is there, its just a central, consolidated network that is not.
MyBreastCancerTeam is free for members. It is pre-revenue right now, although there is a business model on deck for the future. The founders do not want to plaster the site in advertising or violate their members’ trust by selling data. But they do intend to make sure of their large, engaged, and targeted user base to market products that their members may need.
Due to privacy regulations, it can be difficult for certain businesses to reach their desired audience. Working through MyBreastCancerTeam could give them the opportunity to place their product in front of potential consumers. On the other side, a formerly dispersed community could benefit from a new collective bargaining power.
MyHealthTeams is based in San Francisco and received $1.75 million in seed funding from Adams Street Partners, 500 Startups, and angel investors.
2012年9月17日星期一
She has also appeared in the West End musical Chicago
She became a household name after appearing in a popular soap opera at the age of 20 and has barely stopped working since.
But for actress Claire Sweeney, her two decades of success on stage and screen has come at a price.
Yesterday the former Brookside and Strictly Come Dancing star admitted her relentless ambition and drive to further her career has left her suffering from ‘emotional infertility’.
It is a condition she say all modern women occupied with working will be able to identify with.
But she added, despite being 41 she is determined she will have children.
She says: ‘I read an article about ‘emotional infertility’ which is where you’re just so busy you never bother to think or make space for having a family and I can relate to that definitely.
'I’ve suffered from putting my career first like a lot of women. When I was coming up to forty it did cross my mind- oh blooming hell here’s another job that’s going to take me away for the year and before you know it more times goes by’.
Miss Sweeney is probably still best-known for her role as Lindsey Corkhill in long-running soap Brookside.
In 2007, Miss Sweeney ended her six year relationship with businessman Tony Hibbard and spent the last few years focused on work- starring in the BBC drama Candy Cabs and presenting ITV’s 60 minute makeover.
She has also appeared in the West End musical Chicago.
But last Christmas, Miss Sweeney began a romance with an old friend- Liverpool-based businessman, Daniel Riley.
And although it’s early days, Claire says the relationship has helped to restore her dream of having children.
She says: ‘I definitely want to have children, that’s still part of my plan, so hopefully watch this space. I believe in fate but I think you do start thinking; yes I am at an age now where I do have to think about it and consider it.
But then a friend of mine has just got pregnant at 46. She had been trying for years for a baby and then got pregnant naturally at 46’.
Miss Sweeney has just completed a nationwide tour of Willy Russell’s classic play Educating Rita, opposite former Stars in their Eyes presenter Matthew Kelly.
Stepping into the award-winning shoes of actress Julie Walters, who starred as Rita in the film version, Liverpool-born Sweeney said she felt at home playing the role of Rita- a working-class hairdresser who seeks to better herself through education.
And the actress has also often spoken about the challenge of maintaining a slender figure.
In 2008 she fronted an ITV documentary where she put on two stone in just six weeks- to prove how easy it is to become obese.
Although she is back to her slimmer self, Claire admits she finds her figure far from perfect. She confesses: ‘Since doing that documentary I got a belly and I can’t get rid of it.
'I think if you store fat in a certain area it stays - I just can’t shake the stubborn little belly. But I find staying slim really hard, because I love food I am a butcher’s daughter.
But for actress Claire Sweeney, her two decades of success on stage and screen has come at a price.
Yesterday the former Brookside and Strictly Come Dancing star admitted her relentless ambition and drive to further her career has left her suffering from ‘emotional infertility’.
It is a condition she say all modern women occupied with working will be able to identify with.
But she added, despite being 41 she is determined she will have children.
She says: ‘I read an article about ‘emotional infertility’ which is where you’re just so busy you never bother to think or make space for having a family and I can relate to that definitely.
'I’ve suffered from putting my career first like a lot of women. When I was coming up to forty it did cross my mind- oh blooming hell here’s another job that’s going to take me away for the year and before you know it more times goes by’.
Miss Sweeney is probably still best-known for her role as Lindsey Corkhill in long-running soap Brookside.
In 2007, Miss Sweeney ended her six year relationship with businessman Tony Hibbard and spent the last few years focused on work- starring in the BBC drama Candy Cabs and presenting ITV’s 60 minute makeover.
She has also appeared in the West End musical Chicago.
But last Christmas, Miss Sweeney began a romance with an old friend- Liverpool-based businessman, Daniel Riley.
And although it’s early days, Claire says the relationship has helped to restore her dream of having children.
She says: ‘I definitely want to have children, that’s still part of my plan, so hopefully watch this space. I believe in fate but I think you do start thinking; yes I am at an age now where I do have to think about it and consider it.
But then a friend of mine has just got pregnant at 46. She had been trying for years for a baby and then got pregnant naturally at 46’.
Miss Sweeney has just completed a nationwide tour of Willy Russell’s classic play Educating Rita, opposite former Stars in their Eyes presenter Matthew Kelly.
Stepping into the award-winning shoes of actress Julie Walters, who starred as Rita in the film version, Liverpool-born Sweeney said she felt at home playing the role of Rita- a working-class hairdresser who seeks to better herself through education.
And the actress has also often spoken about the challenge of maintaining a slender figure.
In 2008 she fronted an ITV documentary where she put on two stone in just six weeks- to prove how easy it is to become obese.
Although she is back to her slimmer self, Claire admits she finds her figure far from perfect. She confesses: ‘Since doing that documentary I got a belly and I can’t get rid of it.
'I think if you store fat in a certain area it stays - I just can’t shake the stubborn little belly. But I find staying slim really hard, because I love food I am a butcher’s daughter.
2012年9月16日星期日
Contest in Memphis reveals soul of jookin
Jookin, an increasingly popular dance style that originated in Memphis, doesn't claim the flashiest or most difficult of urban dance moves.
The kung-fu windmill spins of break dancing or the spastic aggression of west-coast krumping seem far more physically taxing. But jookin has a unique elegance that — unlike breaking or krumping — allows it to be emotionally poignant in various musical contexts, from rap to classical.
On Saturday evening, in the shadow of the Sears Tower in Crosstown, organizers of a dance "battle" attempted to acquaint jookin's technique and footwork with the world's most established dance form — classical ballet.
In this "Urban Ballet Showcase," staged by Memphis Urban Dance (MUD) Entertainment, competitive stylists paired off in one-on-one matches, competing for a final showdown with one of the evening's two headliners, who were also dueling each other.
A key move in jookin is known universally to ballerinas as being "en pointe," or on the tips of the toes. Jookers, however, are predominately male. Instead of pink satin pointe shoes, they wear colorful sneakers emblazoned with logos such as Nike and Adidas.
The ability to balance on the ends of the toes, frozen in elaborate contortions of torso and limb, is the hallmark of a top dancer. But also, as in classical ballet, the more control a jooker has over his body (especially the feet), the closer he comes to perfecting this mostly improvisational style.
One of the most instructive rounds of the evening, between master jookers G-Nerd and Daniel Price, was danced to a live string quartet playing a Mozart sonata. Their smooth-flowing arms and streamlined footwork might have put a Nutcracker prince to shame.
Personality — aka "showmanship" on the score cards of three anonymous judges — further engaged the audience, and Dr. Rico's humorous costume changes, Spider's mime-like comedy improvisations, and LaShonté Anderson's playful references to Michael Jackson, drew shouts of approval from the crowd of around 2,000.
For the finale, G-Nerd squared off against Division I-ranked Brandon "B. Frank" Franklin. G-Nerd's slow-motion, 360-degree pirouette while dramatically removing his baseball cap resulted in other competitors showering the stage with their own hats. He was declared the winner.
The exhibition was peppered with group dance routines by local schools U-Dig Dance Academy and SubRoy Studios. The Beale Street Flippers also exhibited their skills.
Now that future jookin competitions are in the works, organizers should try to inform viewers about the style's finer points so that distinctions can be made between showmanship and expert technicality. Sure, jookin sizzles to high-energy music. But a quiet Mozart melody reveals it to have unexpectedly light and lyrical soul.
The kung-fu windmill spins of break dancing or the spastic aggression of west-coast krumping seem far more physically taxing. But jookin has a unique elegance that — unlike breaking or krumping — allows it to be emotionally poignant in various musical contexts, from rap to classical.
On Saturday evening, in the shadow of the Sears Tower in Crosstown, organizers of a dance "battle" attempted to acquaint jookin's technique and footwork with the world's most established dance form — classical ballet.
In this "Urban Ballet Showcase," staged by Memphis Urban Dance (MUD) Entertainment, competitive stylists paired off in one-on-one matches, competing for a final showdown with one of the evening's two headliners, who were also dueling each other.
A key move in jookin is known universally to ballerinas as being "en pointe," or on the tips of the toes. Jookers, however, are predominately male. Instead of pink satin pointe shoes, they wear colorful sneakers emblazoned with logos such as Nike and Adidas.
The ability to balance on the ends of the toes, frozen in elaborate contortions of torso and limb, is the hallmark of a top dancer. But also, as in classical ballet, the more control a jooker has over his body (especially the feet), the closer he comes to perfecting this mostly improvisational style.
One of the most instructive rounds of the evening, between master jookers G-Nerd and Daniel Price, was danced to a live string quartet playing a Mozart sonata. Their smooth-flowing arms and streamlined footwork might have put a Nutcracker prince to shame.
Personality — aka "showmanship" on the score cards of three anonymous judges — further engaged the audience, and Dr. Rico's humorous costume changes, Spider's mime-like comedy improvisations, and LaShonté Anderson's playful references to Michael Jackson, drew shouts of approval from the crowd of around 2,000.
For the finale, G-Nerd squared off against Division I-ranked Brandon "B. Frank" Franklin. G-Nerd's slow-motion, 360-degree pirouette while dramatically removing his baseball cap resulted in other competitors showering the stage with their own hats. He was declared the winner.
The exhibition was peppered with group dance routines by local schools U-Dig Dance Academy and SubRoy Studios. The Beale Street Flippers also exhibited their skills.
Now that future jookin competitions are in the works, organizers should try to inform viewers about the style's finer points so that distinctions can be made between showmanship and expert technicality. Sure, jookin sizzles to high-energy music. But a quiet Mozart melody reveals it to have unexpectedly light and lyrical soul.
2012年9月13日星期四
Ordinary being acclimated for extraordinary
At aboriginal glance, a new building display in Kentucky seems to be an array of accustomed stuff: a hammer, shoes, accurate instruments. On afterpiece inspection, these backward items accomplished the extraordinary.
The accumulating at Western Kentucky University appearance added than 140 accepted items acclimated by luminaries in entertainment, politics, art, literature, sports and science.
There's accessories acclimated by charlatan Robert Ballard, who apparent the bones of the Titanic; a blur splicer from documentarian Ken Burns' alteration allowance and ball shoes beat by Liza Minnelli in a Tony Award-winning performance.
Other items cover a bang acclimated by above President Jimmy Carter to body Habitat for Humanity houses, Jay Leno's board microphone for several years on "The Tonight Show" and lab accessories acclimated by Nobel Prize-winning scientists.
It's a mish-mash of "ordinary accoutrement that helped ascertain a nation's greatness," WKU President Gary Ransdell said.
The abiding exhibit, alleged the "Instruments of American Excellence Collection" — opens Sept. 21 at the Kentucky Building on Western's campus in Bowling Green.
The accumulating is the abstraction of Dan Murph, a country songwriter who lives abreast the WKU campus and in Nashville, Tenn.
Murph, the accumulating chairman, hopes the display inspires visitors to accompany their own aerial ambitions.
"If the accumulating causes just one being to amend their career aisle or dream bigger or appear up with a new abstraction or cartel to try something they consistently capital to try, again the accumulating is a absolute success," he said.
Murph approached Ransdell about two years ago with his abstraction for the exhibit. Soon, a baby accumulation of acceptance and administrators was alive with Murph on accumulation a account of noteworthy humans to acquaintance for donated items to body the collection.
It didn't yield long: Sculptor Raymond Kaskey beatific an old board mallet acclimated in some of his award-winning work. Again came addition big bolt — accessories acclimated by Ballard, the acclaimed underwater explorer, to advice affix his command centermost with abysmal sea robots.
"That's the aboriginal account area we looked at anniversary added and realized, 'OK this can work, this is possible,'" Murph said.
The acknowledgment amount would be the backbiting of any solicitor. About three-quarters of those contacted accept contributed, Ransdell said. The university spent about $125,000 to clean and adapt the display space.
Items ambit from bookish to whimsical.
There's a apprenticed archetype of the U.S. Constitution that now-retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor kept in her accommodation and lab accoutrement acclimated by Roger D. Kornberg, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.
There are antic backdrop from Hunter "Patch" Adams, a doctor and amusing activist who was portrayed in a cine by Robin Williams.
There's a flat microphone acclimated by Sam Phillips to almanac the aboriginal hits of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis at Sun Flat in Memphis, Tenn. There's a dabble from Charlie Daniels, a customized billy from Boston Pops aqueduct Keith Lockhart and ballet shoes beat by acclaimed ballerina Sara Mearns.
There's a agitation from tennis abundant Chris Evert, a skateboard from Tony Hawk, a soccer shoe from Mia Hamm and a golf club from Jack Nicklaus.
Murph's admired item, though, is from anyone who's not a domiciliary name.
It's an old brace of tennis shoes beat by award-winning abecedary Rafe Esquith, accepted for accepting amazing bookish after-effects from acceptance at an burghal school. Esquith said he believes agents should consistently be on their anxiety disposed to students.
"That affectionate of gave me goosebumps," Murph said.
Carter's bang looks like "it's apprenticed in 10,000 nails," Murph said.
"It afflicted what is accepted of presidents already they leave office," he said. "They are no best accustomed to sit down and address their memoirs until the day they die. They are accepted to get off the couch now and accomplish a aberration in the world."
The items announce the harder plan that went into their endeavors.
"Sometimes abundance can be accomplished with the simplest of instruments or tools, if you've got the mind, the affection and the spirit to put those accoutrement to work," Ransdell said.
The accumulating at Western Kentucky University appearance added than 140 accepted items acclimated by luminaries in entertainment, politics, art, literature, sports and science.
There's accessories acclimated by charlatan Robert Ballard, who apparent the bones of the Titanic; a blur splicer from documentarian Ken Burns' alteration allowance and ball shoes beat by Liza Minnelli in a Tony Award-winning performance.
Other items cover a bang acclimated by above President Jimmy Carter to body Habitat for Humanity houses, Jay Leno's board microphone for several years on "The Tonight Show" and lab accessories acclimated by Nobel Prize-winning scientists.
It's a mish-mash of "ordinary accoutrement that helped ascertain a nation's greatness," WKU President Gary Ransdell said.
The abiding exhibit, alleged the "Instruments of American Excellence Collection" — opens Sept. 21 at the Kentucky Building on Western's campus in Bowling Green.
The accumulating is the abstraction of Dan Murph, a country songwriter who lives abreast the WKU campus and in Nashville, Tenn.
Murph, the accumulating chairman, hopes the display inspires visitors to accompany their own aerial ambitions.
"If the accumulating causes just one being to amend their career aisle or dream bigger or appear up with a new abstraction or cartel to try something they consistently capital to try, again the accumulating is a absolute success," he said.
Murph approached Ransdell about two years ago with his abstraction for the exhibit. Soon, a baby accumulation of acceptance and administrators was alive with Murph on accumulation a account of noteworthy humans to acquaintance for donated items to body the collection.
It didn't yield long: Sculptor Raymond Kaskey beatific an old board mallet acclimated in some of his award-winning work. Again came addition big bolt — accessories acclimated by Ballard, the acclaimed underwater explorer, to advice affix his command centermost with abysmal sea robots.
"That's the aboriginal account area we looked at anniversary added and realized, 'OK this can work, this is possible,'" Murph said.
The acknowledgment amount would be the backbiting of any solicitor. About three-quarters of those contacted accept contributed, Ransdell said. The university spent about $125,000 to clean and adapt the display space.
Items ambit from bookish to whimsical.
There's a apprenticed archetype of the U.S. Constitution that now-retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor kept in her accommodation and lab accoutrement acclimated by Roger D. Kornberg, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.
There are antic backdrop from Hunter "Patch" Adams, a doctor and amusing activist who was portrayed in a cine by Robin Williams.
There's a flat microphone acclimated by Sam Phillips to almanac the aboriginal hits of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis at Sun Flat in Memphis, Tenn. There's a dabble from Charlie Daniels, a customized billy from Boston Pops aqueduct Keith Lockhart and ballet shoes beat by acclaimed ballerina Sara Mearns.
There's a agitation from tennis abundant Chris Evert, a skateboard from Tony Hawk, a soccer shoe from Mia Hamm and a golf club from Jack Nicklaus.
Murph's admired item, though, is from anyone who's not a domiciliary name.
It's an old brace of tennis shoes beat by award-winning abecedary Rafe Esquith, accepted for accepting amazing bookish after-effects from acceptance at an burghal school. Esquith said he believes agents should consistently be on their anxiety disposed to students.
"That affectionate of gave me goosebumps," Murph said.
Carter's bang looks like "it's apprenticed in 10,000 nails," Murph said.
"It afflicted what is accepted of presidents already they leave office," he said. "They are no best accustomed to sit down and address their memoirs until the day they die. They are accepted to get off the couch now and accomplish a aberration in the world."
The items announce the harder plan that went into their endeavors.
"Sometimes abundance can be accomplished with the simplest of instruments or tools, if you've got the mind, the affection and the spirit to put those accoutrement to work," Ransdell said.
2012年9月12日星期三
Accident highlights increasingly problematic scooter issues
The headlights were bearing down and the speed limit had just shot up to 60 mph, but Perry Smith wasn't worried.
As he cruised down Highway 25, the longtime high schoolteacher assumed the driver behind him would do what most did when they came up to their relatively slow-moving counterparts -- flick a quick signal, dart into the other lane and pass him and his scooter on by.
That didn't happen this time.
The 22-year-old driver of the other vehicle, he learned later, was eating a taco as she drove and she didn't see him. The 4,000-pound Chevrolet never slowed, hitting him directly from behind. Smith was knocked up on the roof of her car, his head hitting the windshield as he flew. He dropped to the hard pavement, injuring his back and giving him a severe case of road rash.
His scooter rolled underneath her Chevy, and both caught fire.
"Had I not been wearing a helmet, I don't imagine I would be alive," Smith said Wednesday, two years after the incident. "I heard about what happened with the college student. My heart goes out to her. It's just an awful tragedy. I wish she had been wearing a helmet. She'd probably be in a lot better shape."
As it is, Meg Herndon, the 21-year-old Southeast Missouri State University student, remained in critical condition Wednesday at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, according to spokeswoman Ann Vassett. The senior from Fenton, Mo., was airlifted there Sunday after a motor vehicle accident that involved a full-size four-by-four pickup colliding with the scooter she was riding at the corner of Sprigg Street and Normal Avenue.
She was not wearing a helmet, law enforcement confirmed in the days since. But officers have been quick to point out that, unlike those who ride motorcycles, scooter riders are not required to by Missouri law.
And Herndon, a popular soccer player who is studying to be a nurse, is nowhere near the rule's exception. Most local scooter drivers don't wear a helmet.
Sgt. Kevin Orr, who heads the Cape Girardeau Police Department's traffic division, said the city has an "extremely large" number of scooters on the road right now. They also are involved in several accidents each year, he said. According to police records, 11 scooters were in crashes in 2010, 14 in 2011 and five so far this year.
But a lot of them take place in the warmer months after the university resumes classes, he said, because many of those who ride scooters in town tend to be college students. While helmets may not be a legal requirement, Orr said he'd like to see scooter drivers volunteer to wear them.
"If I was going to give you the best and safest advice," Orr said, "in my opinion, helmets ought to be required for scooter riders. They're on two wheels as opposed to four. If they do everything they're required to do, it's still not as safe as being in a four-wheeled vehicle."
Doug Richards, director of the university's police department, said he knows students are driving the scooters in droves. Almost 400 students have registered as scooter riders this semester. He expects that number to continue to grow in the coming years, considering that scooters don't require insurance, can be bought for about $1,000, don't call for state registration and are cheap on gas.
"It's all about the economics," Richards said. "We've seen the numbers just escalate, and it is posing a major safety problem. It's becoming a real issue."
Scooters offer little crash protection, are sometimes hard to see and have few safety requirements, he said.
"When that motorized vehicle goes up against cars and trucks, it's going to lose," he said.
The university sends letters to students who register scooters offering safety tips, such as being familiar with the vehicle, making sure all components are functioning and to follow the rules of the road, Richards said. He's also interested, he said, with working with city officials to see if making helmets legal can be mandated by law.
Still, Todd Rapp, owner of Campus Scooters in Cape Girardeau, is dubious that anything short of that will work. He sells 300 to 400 new scooters a year -- more than half of those to college-age buyers -- and he's tried to encourage buyers to wear helmets. He's even had promotions where he has given helmets to new owners, but few seem interested.
"They just don't want to wear a helmet," he said. "The guys don't think it looks cool, and the girls say it will mess up their hair. They need to realize that when their head hits concrete at 30 miles an hour, it's going to hurt."
Coincidentally, Rapp was nearby when Herndon had her accident and he rushed to the scene. He remembers seeing her lying still on the street from an impact so hard it knocked off her shoes.
"That's not something that you forget," he said.
As he cruised down Highway 25, the longtime high schoolteacher assumed the driver behind him would do what most did when they came up to their relatively slow-moving counterparts -- flick a quick signal, dart into the other lane and pass him and his scooter on by.
That didn't happen this time.
The 22-year-old driver of the other vehicle, he learned later, was eating a taco as she drove and she didn't see him. The 4,000-pound Chevrolet never slowed, hitting him directly from behind. Smith was knocked up on the roof of her car, his head hitting the windshield as he flew. He dropped to the hard pavement, injuring his back and giving him a severe case of road rash.
His scooter rolled underneath her Chevy, and both caught fire.
"Had I not been wearing a helmet, I don't imagine I would be alive," Smith said Wednesday, two years after the incident. "I heard about what happened with the college student. My heart goes out to her. It's just an awful tragedy. I wish she had been wearing a helmet. She'd probably be in a lot better shape."
As it is, Meg Herndon, the 21-year-old Southeast Missouri State University student, remained in critical condition Wednesday at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, according to spokeswoman Ann Vassett. The senior from Fenton, Mo., was airlifted there Sunday after a motor vehicle accident that involved a full-size four-by-four pickup colliding with the scooter she was riding at the corner of Sprigg Street and Normal Avenue.
She was not wearing a helmet, law enforcement confirmed in the days since. But officers have been quick to point out that, unlike those who ride motorcycles, scooter riders are not required to by Missouri law.
And Herndon, a popular soccer player who is studying to be a nurse, is nowhere near the rule's exception. Most local scooter drivers don't wear a helmet.
Sgt. Kevin Orr, who heads the Cape Girardeau Police Department's traffic division, said the city has an "extremely large" number of scooters on the road right now. They also are involved in several accidents each year, he said. According to police records, 11 scooters were in crashes in 2010, 14 in 2011 and five so far this year.
But a lot of them take place in the warmer months after the university resumes classes, he said, because many of those who ride scooters in town tend to be college students. While helmets may not be a legal requirement, Orr said he'd like to see scooter drivers volunteer to wear them.
"If I was going to give you the best and safest advice," Orr said, "in my opinion, helmets ought to be required for scooter riders. They're on two wheels as opposed to four. If they do everything they're required to do, it's still not as safe as being in a four-wheeled vehicle."
Doug Richards, director of the university's police department, said he knows students are driving the scooters in droves. Almost 400 students have registered as scooter riders this semester. He expects that number to continue to grow in the coming years, considering that scooters don't require insurance, can be bought for about $1,000, don't call for state registration and are cheap on gas.
"It's all about the economics," Richards said. "We've seen the numbers just escalate, and it is posing a major safety problem. It's becoming a real issue."
Scooters offer little crash protection, are sometimes hard to see and have few safety requirements, he said.
"When that motorized vehicle goes up against cars and trucks, it's going to lose," he said.
The university sends letters to students who register scooters offering safety tips, such as being familiar with the vehicle, making sure all components are functioning and to follow the rules of the road, Richards said. He's also interested, he said, with working with city officials to see if making helmets legal can be mandated by law.
Still, Todd Rapp, owner of Campus Scooters in Cape Girardeau, is dubious that anything short of that will work. He sells 300 to 400 new scooters a year -- more than half of those to college-age buyers -- and he's tried to encourage buyers to wear helmets. He's even had promotions where he has given helmets to new owners, but few seem interested.
"They just don't want to wear a helmet," he said. "The guys don't think it looks cool, and the girls say it will mess up their hair. They need to realize that when their head hits concrete at 30 miles an hour, it's going to hurt."
Coincidentally, Rapp was nearby when Herndon had her accident and he rushed to the scene. He remembers seeing her lying still on the street from an impact so hard it knocked off her shoes.
"That's not something that you forget," he said.
2012年9月11日星期二
when suddenly a fireball came from the staircase
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Factory fires in two of Pakistan’s major cities killed 45 people and injured dozens more on Tuesday, officials said, including some who had to break through barred windows and leap to the ground to escape the flames.
Survivors recounted how their colleagues were trapped behind blocked exits, and firefighters said that one reason why the blazes were so deadly is that the buildings — a shoe factory in the eastern city of Lahore and a garment factory in the southern port of Karachi —lacked clear escape routes.
Such safety issues are common through Pakistan, where buildings also lack emergency equipment like alarms and sprinklers and municipal rules are rarely enforced.
The fire that swept through the four-story shoe factory in Lahore killed 25 people, some from burns and some from suffocation, said senior police officer Multan Khan. The factory was illegally set up in a residential part of the city.
It broke out when people in the building were trying to start their generator after the electricity went out. Sparks from the generator made contact with chemicals used to make the shoes, igniting the blaze. Pakistan faces widespread blackouts, and many people use generators to provide electricity for their houses or to run businesses.
One of the workers, Muhammad Shabbir, said he had been working at the factory for six months along with his cousin. He said all the chemicals and the generator were located in the garage, which was also the only way out of the building. When the fire ignited, there was no way out. Shabbir said he had just gone outside the factory when the fire started, but his cousin was severely burned and died at the hospital.
A firefighter at the scene, Numan Noor, said the reason most of the victims died was because the main escape route was blocked.
‘‘The people went to the back side of the building but there was no access, so we had to make forceful entries and ... rescue the people,’’ said Noor.
Firefighters broke holes in the factory’s brick walls to reach victims inside. At the morgue, bodies were lined up on a hallway floor, covered with white sheets.
The second blaze at the garment factory in the southern port city of Karachi, the country’s economic heart, killed at least 20 people, said the head of the emergency department at the Civil Hospital in Karachi, Tariq Kamal Ayubi.
More than 40 others were injured, said another hospital official, Nazir Abbasi. All were workers at the factory.
Pakistani television showed video of the five-story factory with flames leaping from the top-floor windows and smoke billowing into the night sky. Firefighters could be seen pounding on the metal grates covering some of the windows and pulling out smoke-covered bodies.
Many of the workers were injured when they jumped from the burning building, said another doctor at the hospital, Karar Abbasi.
One was a 27-year-old pregnant woman who had to leap from the second floor and was now suffering complications with her pregnancy, said hospital officials.
An injured factory worker Mohammad Ilyas, speaking at the hospital, said he was working along with roughly 50 other men and women on one of the floors when suddenly a fireball came from the staircase.
‘‘I jumped from my seat as did others and rushed toward the windows, but iron bars on the windows barred us from escaping. Some of us quickly took tools and machines to break the iron bars,’’ he said. ‘‘That was how we managed to jump out of the windows down to the ground floor.’’
His leg was injured in the fall.
Others weren’t so lucky. An Associated Press reporter saw a charred body partially hanging out one of the factory’s barred windows. It appeared the victim tried to escape but couldn’t make it through the bars.
Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in a statement expressed his shock and grief over the deaths in both cities.
Survivors recounted how their colleagues were trapped behind blocked exits, and firefighters said that one reason why the blazes were so deadly is that the buildings — a shoe factory in the eastern city of Lahore and a garment factory in the southern port of Karachi —lacked clear escape routes.
Such safety issues are common through Pakistan, where buildings also lack emergency equipment like alarms and sprinklers and municipal rules are rarely enforced.
The fire that swept through the four-story shoe factory in Lahore killed 25 people, some from burns and some from suffocation, said senior police officer Multan Khan. The factory was illegally set up in a residential part of the city.
It broke out when people in the building were trying to start their generator after the electricity went out. Sparks from the generator made contact with chemicals used to make the shoes, igniting the blaze. Pakistan faces widespread blackouts, and many people use generators to provide electricity for their houses or to run businesses.
One of the workers, Muhammad Shabbir, said he had been working at the factory for six months along with his cousin. He said all the chemicals and the generator were located in the garage, which was also the only way out of the building. When the fire ignited, there was no way out. Shabbir said he had just gone outside the factory when the fire started, but his cousin was severely burned and died at the hospital.
A firefighter at the scene, Numan Noor, said the reason most of the victims died was because the main escape route was blocked.
‘‘The people went to the back side of the building but there was no access, so we had to make forceful entries and ... rescue the people,’’ said Noor.
Firefighters broke holes in the factory’s brick walls to reach victims inside. At the morgue, bodies were lined up on a hallway floor, covered with white sheets.
The second blaze at the garment factory in the southern port city of Karachi, the country’s economic heart, killed at least 20 people, said the head of the emergency department at the Civil Hospital in Karachi, Tariq Kamal Ayubi.
More than 40 others were injured, said another hospital official, Nazir Abbasi. All were workers at the factory.
Pakistani television showed video of the five-story factory with flames leaping from the top-floor windows and smoke billowing into the night sky. Firefighters could be seen pounding on the metal grates covering some of the windows and pulling out smoke-covered bodies.
Many of the workers were injured when they jumped from the burning building, said another doctor at the hospital, Karar Abbasi.
One was a 27-year-old pregnant woman who had to leap from the second floor and was now suffering complications with her pregnancy, said hospital officials.
An injured factory worker Mohammad Ilyas, speaking at the hospital, said he was working along with roughly 50 other men and women on one of the floors when suddenly a fireball came from the staircase.
‘‘I jumped from my seat as did others and rushed toward the windows, but iron bars on the windows barred us from escaping. Some of us quickly took tools and machines to break the iron bars,’’ he said. ‘‘That was how we managed to jump out of the windows down to the ground floor.’’
His leg was injured in the fall.
Others weren’t so lucky. An Associated Press reporter saw a charred body partially hanging out one of the factory’s barred windows. It appeared the victim tried to escape but couldn’t make it through the bars.
Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in a statement expressed his shock and grief over the deaths in both cities.
2012年9月10日星期一
Using Broad Design to Block Competition
You might think that a fight over smartphones has nothing in common with a spat over stilettos. But in fact, both are about a critical frontier in copying and competition: using design to gain control over function — and thereby gain control over markets.
The two disputes about copying that have dominated the business headlines over the last month are Apple v. Samsung, where Apple accused Samsung of copying the design of its iPhone and iPad; and Christian Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent, where Louboutin accused YSL of copying its signature red soles. While some measure of protection for new design features is justified, these cases illustrate the perils of letting our concern over copying override the need for competition.
Consider Apple’s attack on Samsung. Apple claims rights over not only familiar touchscreen features like tap-to-zoom and pinch-to-zoom. It also claims a monopoly in the rectangular shape of its electronic devices. In the courtroom, Apple sought to use its patents on the iPad and iPhone shapes to block Samsung’s growing arsenal of look-alike products.
Is the basic shape of the iPhone and iPad novel or distinctive? No. The rectangle is the shape of the television, the computer monitor, the magazine, the book. Indeed, it is the basic shape that has dominated content consumption since Moses presented the original tablets.
Consequently, there is good reason to question whether a design patent over such a basic shape should ever have been granted in the first place. Especially because Apple is not the first to design a rectangular phone – LG’s Prada used the same basic shape before the iPhone did.
A second problem has to do with the inevitable intertwining of design and function. While shape may seem like a simple matter of aesthetics, it actually has critical functional advantages for users. Can you imagine a smartphone or tablet in any other shape? Sure, on NBC’s The Office Dunder Mifflin tried to roll out a triangular tablet. But that just proves the point. If Apple can control the rectangle, it can keep a lot of serious tablet and smartphone competition out.
Now, the jury didn’t find Samsung liable for violating Apple’s patent covering the rectangular shape of the iPad. But it did hold Samsung liable for violating several Apple patents covering the rectangular shape of the iPhone. And even with respect to the iPad rectangle patent, the court did not say that Apple’s design patent was invalid.
So Apple is free to go after other manufacturers for making tablets, and phones, that are similar in shape to Apple’s. And we emphasize the word similar. Because Samsung’s phones, while rectangular with similar rounded corners, were not identical to Apple’s. If future courts and juries follow this approach, a lot of other cell phone manufacturers might be in trouble: paging HTC’s lawyers… and Nokia’s… and other competitors.
The Christian Louboutin vs. Yves Saint Laurent battle is not about shape, but color. Louboutin argues that he – and only he – could use bright red soles on women’s shoes. The lower court that first heard the dispute denied this claim, reasoning that in fashion, color isn’t just aesthetic. It is also functional. After all, women don’t buy stilettos to keep their feet warm; they buy them for the looks. Color is an essential part of that look. To give a fashion house control over a color would limit competition in the market too much.
In the decision just handed down this past week, an appeals court in New York didn’t disagree that color could have functional attributes in the fashion context – attributes that might give a firm competitive advantage. But the court ultimately ruled for Yves Saint Laurent, stating that its competing shoe had a red sole AND a red upper, so did not violate Louboutin’s rights. Why? Because Louboutin’s trademark was in contrasting red soles. An all-red shoe, as a result, was just fine.
While the Apple and Louboutin cases are different in many ways, they both illustrate an important point. Intellectual property (IP) rights in product designs can have powerful effects on competition. These cases highlight the pitfalls of IP rights in product designs that are too broad.
And this leads to a bigger point about such rights. They can serve an important, even critical, function in our innovation-based economy. But they can also squelch competition and slow down innovation.
One way IP rights can harm both competition and innovation is by blocking the ability of competitors to refine and improve an existing design. Innovation is often glorified as being about the big “a-ha!” moment or breakthrough, but in many cases it is much more about tweaking a good idea and making it a great one.
The ability to copy is essential to this process. Giving firms broad control over shapes and colors stymies that process – especially if they are permitted to lock up a basic feature that crosses the uncertain boundary between pure design and function.
Apple vs. Samsung and Christian Louboutin vs. Yves Saint Laurent raise a set of tough questions about IP rights and innovation. Do we really think that without a patent on the iPhone’s shape, Apple wouldn’t innovate? And if women prefer their stilettos with red soles, is it right to give Christian Louboutin a monopoly that lasts forever (trademarks never expire) on that style of shoe? We know that doing so limits competition, which means consumers pay more… and what exactly do we gain in return?
The two disputes about copying that have dominated the business headlines over the last month are Apple v. Samsung, where Apple accused Samsung of copying the design of its iPhone and iPad; and Christian Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent, where Louboutin accused YSL of copying its signature red soles. While some measure of protection for new design features is justified, these cases illustrate the perils of letting our concern over copying override the need for competition.
Consider Apple’s attack on Samsung. Apple claims rights over not only familiar touchscreen features like tap-to-zoom and pinch-to-zoom. It also claims a monopoly in the rectangular shape of its electronic devices. In the courtroom, Apple sought to use its patents on the iPad and iPhone shapes to block Samsung’s growing arsenal of look-alike products.
Is the basic shape of the iPhone and iPad novel or distinctive? No. The rectangle is the shape of the television, the computer monitor, the magazine, the book. Indeed, it is the basic shape that has dominated content consumption since Moses presented the original tablets.
Consequently, there is good reason to question whether a design patent over such a basic shape should ever have been granted in the first place. Especially because Apple is not the first to design a rectangular phone – LG’s Prada used the same basic shape before the iPhone did.
A second problem has to do with the inevitable intertwining of design and function. While shape may seem like a simple matter of aesthetics, it actually has critical functional advantages for users. Can you imagine a smartphone or tablet in any other shape? Sure, on NBC’s The Office Dunder Mifflin tried to roll out a triangular tablet. But that just proves the point. If Apple can control the rectangle, it can keep a lot of serious tablet and smartphone competition out.
Now, the jury didn’t find Samsung liable for violating Apple’s patent covering the rectangular shape of the iPad. But it did hold Samsung liable for violating several Apple patents covering the rectangular shape of the iPhone. And even with respect to the iPad rectangle patent, the court did not say that Apple’s design patent was invalid.
So Apple is free to go after other manufacturers for making tablets, and phones, that are similar in shape to Apple’s. And we emphasize the word similar. Because Samsung’s phones, while rectangular with similar rounded corners, were not identical to Apple’s. If future courts and juries follow this approach, a lot of other cell phone manufacturers might be in trouble: paging HTC’s lawyers… and Nokia’s… and other competitors.
The Christian Louboutin vs. Yves Saint Laurent battle is not about shape, but color. Louboutin argues that he – and only he – could use bright red soles on women’s shoes. The lower court that first heard the dispute denied this claim, reasoning that in fashion, color isn’t just aesthetic. It is also functional. After all, women don’t buy stilettos to keep their feet warm; they buy them for the looks. Color is an essential part of that look. To give a fashion house control over a color would limit competition in the market too much.
In the decision just handed down this past week, an appeals court in New York didn’t disagree that color could have functional attributes in the fashion context – attributes that might give a firm competitive advantage. But the court ultimately ruled for Yves Saint Laurent, stating that its competing shoe had a red sole AND a red upper, so did not violate Louboutin’s rights. Why? Because Louboutin’s trademark was in contrasting red soles. An all-red shoe, as a result, was just fine.
While the Apple and Louboutin cases are different in many ways, they both illustrate an important point. Intellectual property (IP) rights in product designs can have powerful effects on competition. These cases highlight the pitfalls of IP rights in product designs that are too broad.
And this leads to a bigger point about such rights. They can serve an important, even critical, function in our innovation-based economy. But they can also squelch competition and slow down innovation.
One way IP rights can harm both competition and innovation is by blocking the ability of competitors to refine and improve an existing design. Innovation is often glorified as being about the big “a-ha!” moment or breakthrough, but in many cases it is much more about tweaking a good idea and making it a great one.
The ability to copy is essential to this process. Giving firms broad control over shapes and colors stymies that process – especially if they are permitted to lock up a basic feature that crosses the uncertain boundary between pure design and function.
Apple vs. Samsung and Christian Louboutin vs. Yves Saint Laurent raise a set of tough questions about IP rights and innovation. Do we really think that without a patent on the iPhone’s shape, Apple wouldn’t innovate? And if women prefer their stilettos with red soles, is it right to give Christian Louboutin a monopoly that lasts forever (trademarks never expire) on that style of shoe? We know that doing so limits competition, which means consumers pay more… and what exactly do we gain in return?
2012年9月9日星期日
Zimbabwe offers strong story of progress
Resource-rich Zimbabwe has great partnership potential with China, officials from both nations said at a promotion seminar at the China International Fair for Investment and Trade on Saturday in Xiamen.
The seminar, themed "Zimbabwe - your business partner in southern Africa", tells "a Zimbabwe story of trade and investment opportunities", said Walter Chidakwa, Zimbabwe's deputy minister of state enterprises and parastatals.
The Zimbabwean economy is recovering and has "registered impressive growth over the past three years", he said.
China is Africa's largest trade partner, as well as one of its most important investment sources and aid providers. Africa is emerging as an important base for China to expand international business relationships and one of the most attractive investment destinations for Chinese companies.
"Along with China's reform and opening-up over recent decades and the economic development of African nations, Sino-African mutual interest and demand is increasing, and the potential of trade cooperation is expanding," said Yao Jinglin, director of the investment promotion agency at China's Ministry of Commerce.
Zimbabwe has brought a number of projects seeking investment to the fair in Xiamen this year in a wide range of categories, such as auto manufacturing, air transportation, food processing, mining and infrastructure.
Many other countries, including the United States, India, Egypt, Poland and Russia, have also sent delegations to the fair in search of investment and partnership opportunities for projects.
Italy is promoting its Marche Region as a major investment destination.
"Italy doesn't need to promote. It just delivers," said Marinella Loddo, an Italian Trade Commission official in charge of industrial collaboration.
The Marche Region has "a dynamic production system", said Loddo, especially in a number of key sectors such as leather, shoes and accessories, fashion, furniture, machinery and shipbuilding.
The main investment opportunities in Italy lie in power generation - such as the solar sector - manufacturing and R&D in high-tech industries.
The seminar, themed "Zimbabwe - your business partner in southern Africa", tells "a Zimbabwe story of trade and investment opportunities", said Walter Chidakwa, Zimbabwe's deputy minister of state enterprises and parastatals.
The Zimbabwean economy is recovering and has "registered impressive growth over the past three years", he said.
China is Africa's largest trade partner, as well as one of its most important investment sources and aid providers. Africa is emerging as an important base for China to expand international business relationships and one of the most attractive investment destinations for Chinese companies.
"Along with China's reform and opening-up over recent decades and the economic development of African nations, Sino-African mutual interest and demand is increasing, and the potential of trade cooperation is expanding," said Yao Jinglin, director of the investment promotion agency at China's Ministry of Commerce.
Zimbabwe has brought a number of projects seeking investment to the fair in Xiamen this year in a wide range of categories, such as auto manufacturing, air transportation, food processing, mining and infrastructure.
Many other countries, including the United States, India, Egypt, Poland and Russia, have also sent delegations to the fair in search of investment and partnership opportunities for projects.
Italy is promoting its Marche Region as a major investment destination.
"Italy doesn't need to promote. It just delivers," said Marinella Loddo, an Italian Trade Commission official in charge of industrial collaboration.
The Marche Region has "a dynamic production system", said Loddo, especially in a number of key sectors such as leather, shoes and accessories, fashion, furniture, machinery and shipbuilding.
The main investment opportunities in Italy lie in power generation - such as the solar sector - manufacturing and R&D in high-tech industries.
2012年9月6日星期四
Will Jets give Tebow his shot at starting?
Where that ultimately leaves the New York Jets— and Mark Sanchez, who remains on the marquee as starting quarterback — is anyone's guess. Sanchez, who once was considered can't-miss, has watched his bright light flicker with diminished performances.
The question that begs to be asked: Is it only a matter of time before Tim Tebow — the NFL's most unique, scrutinized player — takes over as the Jets' starter?
Welcome to the football theater of the absurd, according to the Jets' critics.
Tebow's mere presence creates an intriguing dynamic and a compelling story line. The franchise has waited 44 often-painful years for a sequel to Broadway Joe Namath's guarantee, and deliverance, of a Super Bowl trophy.
The Jets, and head coach Rex Ryan, lost swagger during a tension-filled, non-playoff 2011 season, even as their MetLife Stadium cohabitants, the New York Giants, took home their second NFL championship in five years. The Jets envision that Tebow's unconventional playmaking ability, peerless work ethic, positive locker room influence and looming presence will help lift the franchise to its first AFC East Division title since 2002.
So can the Jets gamble on a quarterback whose best single-season completion percentage is an underwhelming 56.7% and whose career passer rating is a pedestrian 73.2?
That would be Sanchez, by the way. So is New York headed for an unavoidable quarterback controversy?
"You just can't make this stuff up," ESPN analyst Cris Carter said. "We know what is going to happen. It's going to end badly for Mark Sanchez."
The Jets maintain that Sanchez remains their unquestioned leader. "He is the cornerstone of our franchise," Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum told USA TODAY Sports.
"We're just bringing in this other guy to enhance our offense," Tannebaum said, a reference to Tebow's deployment in new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano's Wildcat option package.
Except, this "other guy" is no other guy: Tebow generates some of the most polarizing opinions in pro football.
"Whatever my role is," Tebow told USA TODAY Sports, "I will make the most of it. I am going to be the best quarterback I can be in whatever they ask me to do. I think that sometimes people don't really grasp that. It's a great situation. I'm excited."
But ominous clouds gather overhead that could create turbulence for Sanchez and the Jets. Of course, the chief reasons that prompt a head coach to make a change at the critical position are injury and ineffectiveness, particularly if the fan base and the news media are restless. In 2011, 59% of NFL teams (19 of 32) started the same quarterback every game.
If the Jets have difficulty in pass-protection schemes, which they did in the preseason, Tebow's sturdy legs make him an appealing alternative. After the third preseason game, the Jets traded former starting right tackle Wayne Hunter to the St. Louis Rams for tackle Jason Smith, 2009's No. 2 overall pick who had also moved into a reserve role. For now, journeyman Austin Howard remains the starter at right tackle.
The Jets also have a difficult early-season schedule that includes road games with the Pittsburgh Steelers and two AFC East rivals, the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, plus home games against the San Francisco 49ers and the Houston Texans, two 2011 division champions.
Sanchez and Tebow, both 25, were friends before sharing the green and white.
"He's a great teammate," Sanchez said.
But how will the fourth-year signal-caller respond if he is yanked routinely in favor of Tebow in the red zone? Or if the Jets offense sputters, as it did in the preseason, and Ryan replaces him?
Preferring the element of surprise for the regular season, Ryan and Sparano declined to unveil the change-of-pace Wildcat package in the preseason. Sparano estimates using it about 100 snaps during the season (less than 10% of the team's offense).
"Just because we have a player in the building that has some history running the football ... doesn't necessarily mean that's exactly what we're going to do," he said.
The Jets failed to score a touchdown in their first three preseason games.
"The way I see it," Sanchez wryly told news reporters, "we are saving all the good stuff for the regular season."
Fans will know more when the curtain rises Sunday with the Jets' season opener at home against the Buffalo Bills. For now, Tebow, a 6-3, 245-pound tough-to-tackle left-hander, carries the proverbial clipboard — and the knack for being an instant game-changer.
"Tebow makes plays," said Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, who watched the quarterback, then with the Denver Broncos, beat the Jets 17-13 with a 20-yard scoring run in the final minute of a 2011 game, capping a 95-yard drive. "I really don't know where his role is going to go, (but) he gets respect because that Wildcat is hard to stop. I'm sure he's going to do great things for us this year."
The question that begs to be asked: Is it only a matter of time before Tim Tebow — the NFL's most unique, scrutinized player — takes over as the Jets' starter?
Welcome to the football theater of the absurd, according to the Jets' critics.
Tebow's mere presence creates an intriguing dynamic and a compelling story line. The franchise has waited 44 often-painful years for a sequel to Broadway Joe Namath's guarantee, and deliverance, of a Super Bowl trophy.
The Jets, and head coach Rex Ryan, lost swagger during a tension-filled, non-playoff 2011 season, even as their MetLife Stadium cohabitants, the New York Giants, took home their second NFL championship in five years. The Jets envision that Tebow's unconventional playmaking ability, peerless work ethic, positive locker room influence and looming presence will help lift the franchise to its first AFC East Division title since 2002.
So can the Jets gamble on a quarterback whose best single-season completion percentage is an underwhelming 56.7% and whose career passer rating is a pedestrian 73.2?
That would be Sanchez, by the way. So is New York headed for an unavoidable quarterback controversy?
"You just can't make this stuff up," ESPN analyst Cris Carter said. "We know what is going to happen. It's going to end badly for Mark Sanchez."
The Jets maintain that Sanchez remains their unquestioned leader. "He is the cornerstone of our franchise," Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum told USA TODAY Sports.
"We're just bringing in this other guy to enhance our offense," Tannebaum said, a reference to Tebow's deployment in new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano's Wildcat option package.
Except, this "other guy" is no other guy: Tebow generates some of the most polarizing opinions in pro football.
"Whatever my role is," Tebow told USA TODAY Sports, "I will make the most of it. I am going to be the best quarterback I can be in whatever they ask me to do. I think that sometimes people don't really grasp that. It's a great situation. I'm excited."
But ominous clouds gather overhead that could create turbulence for Sanchez and the Jets. Of course, the chief reasons that prompt a head coach to make a change at the critical position are injury and ineffectiveness, particularly if the fan base and the news media are restless. In 2011, 59% of NFL teams (19 of 32) started the same quarterback every game.
If the Jets have difficulty in pass-protection schemes, which they did in the preseason, Tebow's sturdy legs make him an appealing alternative. After the third preseason game, the Jets traded former starting right tackle Wayne Hunter to the St. Louis Rams for tackle Jason Smith, 2009's No. 2 overall pick who had also moved into a reserve role. For now, journeyman Austin Howard remains the starter at right tackle.
The Jets also have a difficult early-season schedule that includes road games with the Pittsburgh Steelers and two AFC East rivals, the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, plus home games against the San Francisco 49ers and the Houston Texans, two 2011 division champions.
Sanchez and Tebow, both 25, were friends before sharing the green and white.
"He's a great teammate," Sanchez said.
But how will the fourth-year signal-caller respond if he is yanked routinely in favor of Tebow in the red zone? Or if the Jets offense sputters, as it did in the preseason, and Ryan replaces him?
Preferring the element of surprise for the regular season, Ryan and Sparano declined to unveil the change-of-pace Wildcat package in the preseason. Sparano estimates using it about 100 snaps during the season (less than 10% of the team's offense).
"Just because we have a player in the building that has some history running the football ... doesn't necessarily mean that's exactly what we're going to do," he said.
The Jets failed to score a touchdown in their first three preseason games.
"The way I see it," Sanchez wryly told news reporters, "we are saving all the good stuff for the regular season."
Fans will know more when the curtain rises Sunday with the Jets' season opener at home against the Buffalo Bills. For now, Tebow, a 6-3, 245-pound tough-to-tackle left-hander, carries the proverbial clipboard — and the knack for being an instant game-changer.
"Tebow makes plays," said Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, who watched the quarterback, then with the Denver Broncos, beat the Jets 17-13 with a 20-yard scoring run in the final minute of a 2011 game, capping a 95-yard drive. "I really don't know where his role is going to go, (but) he gets respect because that Wildcat is hard to stop. I'm sure he's going to do great things for us this year."
2012年9月5日星期三
The basic dilemma of work and home was addressed
“Are we proud of Michelle Obama last night?” Nancy Pelosi called from a stage in the atrium of the Knight Theatre, in Charlotte. “Weren’t we proud of my women of the House?” The crowd was mostly made up of women, and they answered that they were. They had come for a town-hall meeting on women in politics, organized by EMILY’s List and co-sponsored by Marie Claire. The attendees seemed to come out of it happily united in their anger at Republicans (they would rather shut down the government than fund Planned Parenthood, Pelosi said, and added, “What more do you need to know?”) and with a sense that ambition was nothing to be ashamed of. Ellen Malcolm, the founder of EMILY’s List, which works to elect pro-choice Democratic women, was there, along with the group’s president, Stephanie Schriock, and Senator Patty Murray; they were joined onstage by about a dozen women who were in Congress or trying to be. Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, was at the event, too, wandering in an upper gallery dressed in a black party dress and wearing zebra-pattern shoes. Pelosi joked that the Secretary wasn’t listening.
When Pelosi addressed the larger convention, a few hours later, she would say, “I stand before you as the first mother and grandmother to serve as Democratic leader.” (Soon after she spoke, all twelve Democratic women in the Senate came onstage in the convention hall.) The delegates applauded; but earlier at the town hall no one had pretended that that equation was simple. A good part of the discussion there was about what a career in politics meant for—and did to—women’s lives and those of their children. Michelle Obama’s speech, as proud as it may have made Pelosi and everyone there, had for long stretches been about her worries about what the Presidency would do to her daughters. She had also called herself the “Mom-in-Chief”—one of the few mannered phrases in an otherwise brilliant performance, and a confusing one. (Chiefly a mom? A chief among moms? Or does “in chief,” in this sense, just mean you are married to the President?)
Michelle Obama’s clarification, at the end, was somewhat lost in the applause: what she essentially concluded was not that there was no cost to her daughters, but that politics—and giving Sasha and Malia the example of the work that politics entailed—was important and valuable, too. She wasn’t exactly saying that the cost to them was worth it: the point was more that she had realized that politics could be good for her girls. She was both saying that her daughters were paramount and that the work of raising them would never be completely sundered from the work her husband did. Domesticity, politics, and work were intertwined. (I’ve written more about Michelle’s speech over at Daily Comment.)
The basic dilemma of work and home was addressed, if not resolved, at the town hall. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand talked about how being elected meant getting to set your own office’s hours; she acknowledged that most jobs don’t work that way. Val Demings, the police chief of Orlando, who is running for Congress—and had the most gripping presence of any of them—talked about how “it is not easy, but the mission is bigger.” Demings also said that women had to be able to ask for help—for child care, for example—and what it meant to discover that others were willing to be there to give it. Everyone spoke about how women running for office had to learn to ask for money. Ashley Judd, who was on the panel, and is also a Tennessee delegate, railed, in amusing terms, against Todd Akin.
The crowd knew a lot about Todd Akin, who is running for Senate in Missouri and has spoken about “legitimate rape” and sharply limiting abortion rights. His name got a reaction every time it was mentioned. Schriock, in her remarks in the atrium afterward, said that everyone needed to remember that Akin was “not an outlier here,” and that if his wing of the Republican Party prevailed, “we will know every day what it was like for our mothers and grandmothers,” in the years before Roe v. Wade was passed. The goal, she said, was to instead “talk about what it will be like for our granddaughters.”
Afterward, Tulsi Gabbard, who is running for Congress in Hawaii, said that when she started her primary campaign, against the mayor of Honolulu, no one knew who she was: “My opponent was already looking for a chief of staff.” She had come back from two deployments with the Hawaii National Guard, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Gabbard is now thirty-one. She thought she could beat the mayor; and she did.
When Pelosi addressed the larger convention, a few hours later, she would say, “I stand before you as the first mother and grandmother to serve as Democratic leader.” (Soon after she spoke, all twelve Democratic women in the Senate came onstage in the convention hall.) The delegates applauded; but earlier at the town hall no one had pretended that that equation was simple. A good part of the discussion there was about what a career in politics meant for—and did to—women’s lives and those of their children. Michelle Obama’s speech, as proud as it may have made Pelosi and everyone there, had for long stretches been about her worries about what the Presidency would do to her daughters. She had also called herself the “Mom-in-Chief”—one of the few mannered phrases in an otherwise brilliant performance, and a confusing one. (Chiefly a mom? A chief among moms? Or does “in chief,” in this sense, just mean you are married to the President?)
Michelle Obama’s clarification, at the end, was somewhat lost in the applause: what she essentially concluded was not that there was no cost to her daughters, but that politics—and giving Sasha and Malia the example of the work that politics entailed—was important and valuable, too. She wasn’t exactly saying that the cost to them was worth it: the point was more that she had realized that politics could be good for her girls. She was both saying that her daughters were paramount and that the work of raising them would never be completely sundered from the work her husband did. Domesticity, politics, and work were intertwined. (I’ve written more about Michelle’s speech over at Daily Comment.)
The basic dilemma of work and home was addressed, if not resolved, at the town hall. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand talked about how being elected meant getting to set your own office’s hours; she acknowledged that most jobs don’t work that way. Val Demings, the police chief of Orlando, who is running for Congress—and had the most gripping presence of any of them—talked about how “it is not easy, but the mission is bigger.” Demings also said that women had to be able to ask for help—for child care, for example—and what it meant to discover that others were willing to be there to give it. Everyone spoke about how women running for office had to learn to ask for money. Ashley Judd, who was on the panel, and is also a Tennessee delegate, railed, in amusing terms, against Todd Akin.
The crowd knew a lot about Todd Akin, who is running for Senate in Missouri and has spoken about “legitimate rape” and sharply limiting abortion rights. His name got a reaction every time it was mentioned. Schriock, in her remarks in the atrium afterward, said that everyone needed to remember that Akin was “not an outlier here,” and that if his wing of the Republican Party prevailed, “we will know every day what it was like for our mothers and grandmothers,” in the years before Roe v. Wade was passed. The goal, she said, was to instead “talk about what it will be like for our granddaughters.”
Afterward, Tulsi Gabbard, who is running for Congress in Hawaii, said that when she started her primary campaign, against the mayor of Honolulu, no one knew who she was: “My opponent was already looking for a chief of staff.” She had come back from two deployments with the Hawaii National Guard, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Gabbard is now thirty-one. She thought she could beat the mayor; and she did.
2012年9月4日星期二
Just Call Me Roger won easily
Former champion jockey Nobel Abrego celebrated the 50th Anniversary of this country’s Independence in style by piloting Just Call Me Roger to victory in the feature Bernard Dulal-Whiteway Independence Cup. The flambouyant Abrego gave the Glenn Mendez trained gelding a peach of a ride, to burst clear at the far turn and continue the gallop to the line. In the process, Just Call Me Roger became the first winner Abrego ever rode for the Mendez, while ensuring Mendez saddled his first winner in the prestigious event.
Just Call Me Roger proved too strong for Montejo and the well backed Mob The Warrior last Friday at Santa Rosa Park, Arima. It was the superb skill of Abrego that ensured that Paul Mouttet’s five-year-old stayed in front, to land the $120,000 first prize cheque. An elated Abrego had this to say:“Big races are for big jockeys. Glenn Mendez did a great job to get him here in such great shape. I was always travelling sweetly behind the early pace, set by Joezel and Montejo. However, going to the far turn the pace began to slacken and I sent my horse on. When he quickened up, none of his rivals could go with him. In the straight, I just kept him up to his work and he won easier than the winning margin suggests. His acceleration at the far turn was decisive and this was a great performance.”
He ended by saying he was happy to win the opening event on a day when T&T celebrated its Golden Jubilee. Just Call Me Roger also gave 50-year-old Mendez his first Independence Cup success, and the trainer was just as happy adding to his already bulging bag of successes at the centralised venue. Mendez stated: “This a very good horse, he has proven that. Over the past six weeks, we had a lot of problems with him and we were not happy. He has had his hoof problems and we even brought in bar-shoes for him. Today though, the turf surface was kind to him. Once he quickened at the far turn, that was it. It was a great performance, but credit must be given to Abrego for a superb ride” said Mendez.
It was the second victory in this event for owners Paul and Gervan Mouttet, whose Bruceontheloose won this event three years ago. On Friday, the Mouttets watched joyfully as his royal blue and light green silks were carried triumphantly to victory. Gervan intimated, “Glenn Mendez is the one who normally will speak about the performance of the horse, but winning this event is great. He has not been an easy horse to train but came good again today. Abrego rode him well and we hope he will stay sound and win many more races. But, winning this one on the 50th anniversary is something worth savouring.”
Just Call Me Roger proved too strong for Montejo and the well backed Mob The Warrior last Friday at Santa Rosa Park, Arima. It was the superb skill of Abrego that ensured that Paul Mouttet’s five-year-old stayed in front, to land the $120,000 first prize cheque. An elated Abrego had this to say:“Big races are for big jockeys. Glenn Mendez did a great job to get him here in such great shape. I was always travelling sweetly behind the early pace, set by Joezel and Montejo. However, going to the far turn the pace began to slacken and I sent my horse on. When he quickened up, none of his rivals could go with him. In the straight, I just kept him up to his work and he won easier than the winning margin suggests. His acceleration at the far turn was decisive and this was a great performance.”
He ended by saying he was happy to win the opening event on a day when T&T celebrated its Golden Jubilee. Just Call Me Roger also gave 50-year-old Mendez his first Independence Cup success, and the trainer was just as happy adding to his already bulging bag of successes at the centralised venue. Mendez stated: “This a very good horse, he has proven that. Over the past six weeks, we had a lot of problems with him and we were not happy. He has had his hoof problems and we even brought in bar-shoes for him. Today though, the turf surface was kind to him. Once he quickened at the far turn, that was it. It was a great performance, but credit must be given to Abrego for a superb ride” said Mendez.
It was the second victory in this event for owners Paul and Gervan Mouttet, whose Bruceontheloose won this event three years ago. On Friday, the Mouttets watched joyfully as his royal blue and light green silks were carried triumphantly to victory. Gervan intimated, “Glenn Mendez is the one who normally will speak about the performance of the horse, but winning this event is great. He has not been an easy horse to train but came good again today. Abrego rode him well and we hope he will stay sound and win many more races. But, winning this one on the 50th anniversary is something worth savouring.”
2012年9月3日星期一
Bandits with meat cleavers terrorise eastern suburbs supermarkets
MEAT cleavers and kitchen knives have been used in a series of armed robberies across Melbourne’s east over the past two months.
Starting on Monday, June 18, bandits have hit supermarkets in Vermont South, Mt Waverley and Blackburn North.
Police today released an image of a woman they want to speak to in relation to the incidents, which they say started about 11.15pm at a Burwood Highway supermarket in Vermont South.
They believe two men, one brandishing a meat cleaver and the other a large kitchen knife, demanded money from store attendants before fleeing with cash in the vehicle driven by a third offender.
The first man was described as Caucasian-looking, 182cm and wearing a light-coloured hoodie, grey pants, black sports shoes, black facial covering mask.
The second man is described as Caucasian, 187cm and wearing a dark hoodie, dark pants, black sports shoes, white facial covering mask.
A second armed robbery took place at 9.25pm on Thursday, July 5, at a Mt Waverley supermarket, when two men entered the store with meat cleavers and fleeing with cash to a waiting vehicle.
The first man is described to be tall and thin with light blue eyes and blonde hair. He was wearing a mask over his face, a black hoodie, dark pants and carrying a meat cleaver.
The second man is described as being tall, thin and wearing black clothing with a mask over his face and carrying a meat cleaver.
The third robbery occurred on Sunday, July 29, about 6.40pm at a Blackburn North supermarket.
Police allege a woman driving three men parked a stolen Subaru sedan in the loading bay on the eastern side of the carpark, near Springfield Rd.
The three men entered the store carrying a knife and meat cleavers, approached staff at tills and demanded cash.
The men fled the store with cash in the vehicle, which had allegedly been stolen from Burwood on July 26. The car was later recovered by police at 4.50am on July 30 in Box Hill.
The first man is described as 190cm and wearing a green hoodie, navy blue trade men work pants and carrying a large kitchen knife.
The second man was wearing a dark hoodie, balaclava and carrying a meat cleaver, while the third was wearing all dark clothing, a balaclava and carrying a large knife.
The woman is described as Caucasian, aged in her early 20s with wavy brown hair.
Starting on Monday, June 18, bandits have hit supermarkets in Vermont South, Mt Waverley and Blackburn North.
Police today released an image of a woman they want to speak to in relation to the incidents, which they say started about 11.15pm at a Burwood Highway supermarket in Vermont South.
They believe two men, one brandishing a meat cleaver and the other a large kitchen knife, demanded money from store attendants before fleeing with cash in the vehicle driven by a third offender.
The first man was described as Caucasian-looking, 182cm and wearing a light-coloured hoodie, grey pants, black sports shoes, black facial covering mask.
The second man is described as Caucasian, 187cm and wearing a dark hoodie, dark pants, black sports shoes, white facial covering mask.
A second armed robbery took place at 9.25pm on Thursday, July 5, at a Mt Waverley supermarket, when two men entered the store with meat cleavers and fleeing with cash to a waiting vehicle.
The first man is described to be tall and thin with light blue eyes and blonde hair. He was wearing a mask over his face, a black hoodie, dark pants and carrying a meat cleaver.
The second man is described as being tall, thin and wearing black clothing with a mask over his face and carrying a meat cleaver.
The third robbery occurred on Sunday, July 29, about 6.40pm at a Blackburn North supermarket.
Police allege a woman driving three men parked a stolen Subaru sedan in the loading bay on the eastern side of the carpark, near Springfield Rd.
The three men entered the store carrying a knife and meat cleavers, approached staff at tills and demanded cash.
The men fled the store with cash in the vehicle, which had allegedly been stolen from Burwood on July 26. The car was later recovered by police at 4.50am on July 30 in Box Hill.
The first man is described as 190cm and wearing a green hoodie, navy blue trade men work pants and carrying a large kitchen knife.
The second man was wearing a dark hoodie, balaclava and carrying a meat cleaver, while the third was wearing all dark clothing, a balaclava and carrying a large knife.
The woman is described as Caucasian, aged in her early 20s with wavy brown hair.
2012年9月2日星期日
Lindon man sets world triathlon record for charity
Like many Americans, James Lawrence's life was turned upside down in late 2008 when the housing market crashed.
The ensuing financial crisis and anemic economy crippled the mortgage business he and his wife had built since he moved to Utah 12 years ago.
"We ended up losing our mortgage business, and I thought, 'This is the best time to take a risk like this,'" the Lindon father of five said of starting another business — one that focuses on personal health and wellness. Three years before he lost his business, his wife gave him a gift that would eventually change his life — and the lives of thousands of others. It would also lead to him breaking two world records — one for the number of half Ironman distance triathlons (2010) and the other he achieved this past weekend for the number of full Ironman distance triathlons completed in a year.
But, he isn't just accumulating finishes so he can adorn his house with finisher's medals or see his name in record books. Lawrence, who is known as the Iron Cowboy because he runs in a cowboy hat so his family will always be able to pick him out of the crowd, is swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles to raise money for In Our Own Quiet Way (quietway.org) a non-profit that helps develop clean water for Kenyans.
His effort to shatter the world record for the most Ironman Triathlons in a year, which was 20, really began when his wife convinced him to jog with her.
"I started out just doing fun runs with my wife," he said. "And I guess I was just pathetic enough that she signed me up for a marathon without telling me. I started with the Salt Lake Marathon. That's where my endurance career started."
It was not an auspicious beginning.
The couple knew nothing about distance running, so they did a little Internet research and showed up at the start line in cheap running shoes and basketball shorts.
"We were thinking we were all that and a bag of chips," he laughed. "It was a real humbling experience…I actually hated it."
In fact, the couple went to an mixed martial arts event at the EnergySolutions Arena that night and his knees swelled so severely that he had to be carried out.
It wasn't until the physical pain subsided that he began to wonder what he did wrong and what might happen if he learned to train correctly. "After the initial pain was gone, that's when I started having the ego battle," he said. "The emotional wounds were still there. I thought, 'I can do better.' And that's when I really started to learn more."
The ensuing financial crisis and anemic economy crippled the mortgage business he and his wife had built since he moved to Utah 12 years ago.
"We ended up losing our mortgage business, and I thought, 'This is the best time to take a risk like this,'" the Lindon father of five said of starting another business — one that focuses on personal health and wellness. Three years before he lost his business, his wife gave him a gift that would eventually change his life — and the lives of thousands of others. It would also lead to him breaking two world records — one for the number of half Ironman distance triathlons (2010) and the other he achieved this past weekend for the number of full Ironman distance triathlons completed in a year.
But, he isn't just accumulating finishes so he can adorn his house with finisher's medals or see his name in record books. Lawrence, who is known as the Iron Cowboy because he runs in a cowboy hat so his family will always be able to pick him out of the crowd, is swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles to raise money for In Our Own Quiet Way (quietway.org) a non-profit that helps develop clean water for Kenyans.
His effort to shatter the world record for the most Ironman Triathlons in a year, which was 20, really began when his wife convinced him to jog with her.
"I started out just doing fun runs with my wife," he said. "And I guess I was just pathetic enough that she signed me up for a marathon without telling me. I started with the Salt Lake Marathon. That's where my endurance career started."
It was not an auspicious beginning.
The couple knew nothing about distance running, so they did a little Internet research and showed up at the start line in cheap running shoes and basketball shorts.
"We were thinking we were all that and a bag of chips," he laughed. "It was a real humbling experience…I actually hated it."
In fact, the couple went to an mixed martial arts event at the EnergySolutions Arena that night and his knees swelled so severely that he had to be carried out.
It wasn't until the physical pain subsided that he began to wonder what he did wrong and what might happen if he learned to train correctly. "After the initial pain was gone, that's when I started having the ego battle," he said. "The emotional wounds were still there. I thought, 'I can do better.' And that's when I really started to learn more."
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