NBey6's Blog

Thor's Day 7-22-10 Thor's Day

115, 689, 801, 170, 403, 702, 522, 587, 939, 276, 263

660, 166, 106, 530, 209, 581, 583, 100, 333, 444, 999

5016, 2102, 1930, 5037, 1257, 1457, 6157, 1957, 7051

1009, 6611, 1010, 1100, 5015, 8769, 2219, 7430, 6551

"The virtue of all achievement is victory over oneself. Those who know this victory can never know defeat."

- A.J. Cronin -

At least 25 hurt in turbulence aboard United flight

19 mins ago

DENVER (Reuters) – A wide-body United Airlines jet shaken by severe turbulence was diverted on Tuesday to Denver International Airport with at least 25 people injured on board, officials said.

United Flight 967 hit the turbulence over Kansas after taking off from Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., en route to Los Angeles, Federal Aviation Administration and airline officials said.

"There were storms in the area," United spokeswoman Jean Medina told Reuters.

The flight crew "immediately diverted the aircraft to Denver to get medical attention as quickly as possible for those who are injured," she said.

Medina said 255 passengers and 10 crew members were on board the plane, a twin-engine Boeing 777.

Eric Tade, a spokesman for the Denver Fire Department, said the plane landed safety shortly after 7 p.m. local time and that about 30 people were injured, one of them seriously.

Medina said she knew of 25 people taken to hospital but did not know the nature and extent of their injuries.

The plane was not damaged by the turbulence, officials said.

 "Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest."

- Mark Twain -

Updated: July 20, 2010, 10:08 PM ET

Haden to become new USC AD

ESPN.com news services

LOS ANGELES -- Southern California is cleaning house in its tarnished athletic department, throwing out much of what got the school in severe NCAA trouble.

 Athletic director Mike Garrett and Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy are the first two items to go.

[+] Enlarge

Stephen Chernin/Getty ImagesReggie Bush has not been asked to give back his copy of the Heisman Trophy. But USC's copy will be returned next month.

In a letter to school supporters Tuesday, incoming USC president Max Nikias said Garrett will be replaced Aug. 3 by Pat Haden, the former Trojans quarterback who became a successful businessman and a member of USC's board of trustees. The school also will return its copy of Bush's trophy to the Heisman Trust, among several measures to disassociate itself from the tainted tailback.

The NCAA cited Garrett's administration for a lack of institutional control while slapping the school with heavy sanctions last month, but Haden believes he can change the culture of a program that has been wildly successful and heavily scrutinized over the past decade.

"We're going to do better," said Haden, also the color analyst on NBC's Notre Dame broadcasts for the past decade. "We have to do better. We don't have any choices here. We stub our toe, there's going to be some problems."

USC was hit with four years of probation, a two-year bowl ban and severe football scholarship restrictions after the NCAA found serious rules violations in the athletic department, primarily around the football and men's basketball teams. Most involved illegal benefits for Bush and O.J. Mayo, the talented basketball player who spent just one season at USC.

Haden said the school's plan to get rid of nearly all references to Bush and Mayo -- right down to scrubbing their images from school murals and removing Bush's No. 5 jersey in its place of honor in the lobby of Heritage Hall -- are all part of the NCAA's directive to disassociate the school from the athletes.

ESPN.com's Bruce Feldman says this is a symbolic move by USC to give back Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy. Feldman says the NCAA needs to better teach players about how to deal with agents.

Bush's Heisman has been on display alongside the trophies won by Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer, Charles White and Marcus Allen. It was still in place Tuesday, but will be gone by the time students show up on campus next month.

Bush still has his own Heisman Trophy. The Heisman Trophy Trust has not taken any action against Bush or made any request to have him return his copy of the trophy.

Though he doesn't start his new job until Aug. 3, Nikias is already at work reforming the Trojans' image.

"The Trojan Family honors and respects the USC sporting careers of those persons whose actions did not compromise their athletic program or the opportunities of future USC student-athletes," Nikias said.

After pledging support for new football coach Lane Kiffin, Haden said he realizes the enormity of his task in restoring credibility to USC, where the NCAA found numerous violations during the tenures of football coach Pete Carroll and men's hoops coach Tim Floyd. After twice telling Nikias he didn't want to be considered for the job, Haden agreed to take it last week.

"We want to compete ferociously and win in every sport, but we want to do it ethically and within the rules," said Haden, a former Rhodes Scholar who became a venture capitalist after an NFL career with the Los Angeles Rams. "We're going to have a culture of compliance around here. Every meeting is going to start with the No. 1 item as compliance. ... We're going to try to be perfect. When we make mistakes, we're going to fess up, and we're going to try to do better next time."

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Reed SaxonUSC's new president has ordered displays honoring Reggie Bush, such as this one, and O.J. Mayo to be taken down.

The 66-year-old Garrett has been the Trojans' athletic director for 17 years, but he received caustic criticism for his handling of USC's scandals. The school didn't say whether Garrett retired or had been fired.

"He will always be held in the highest esteem by all Trojans, not only for his exploits on the playing field but as a leader, mentor, teacher and a driving force behind USC's student-athletics," Nikias said.

Both Garrett and Haden are former USC football players. Garrett won the Heisman Trophy in 1965, while Haden was the Trojans' starting quarterback for three years in the 1970s under coach John McKay.

Haden also said he'll hire McKay's son, J.K., as an associate athletic director to serve as his liaison to the football program. McKay and Haden played together at USC and have been best friends for over 40 years.

"It's a tough job, because you can only do so much, and there are people out there who are trying to get to your guys every day," said McKay, an attorney who served as general manager with the XFL's Los Angeles franchise. "We're going to do our best to make sure nobody can question our effort on compliance."

A few months after abruptly leaving Tennessee to return to USC, Kiffin's self-described dream job has changed drastically. He must rebuild the Trojans under probation and scholarship limitations -- and now Kiffin is working for a boss who didn't hire him. Yet Kiffin, whose staff was cited for several minor NCAA violations during his 14 months at Tennessee, looked tanned and relaxed when he walked through Heritage Hall on Tuesday afternoon.

"He is my coach, and I love my coach," Haden said. "I think he's going to be successful here. J.K. McKay is committed to doing it right, and I think Lane is, too. I don't want to say we're not going to have any issues. We will. We're going to have guys whispering in our guys' ears, but we're going to do our best. I don't think we're going to have a problem with compliance with Lane. I think he knows where we're coming from."

Garrett has been mostly unapologetic in the face of the Trojans' NCAA problems, even saying last month that the NCAA's ruling revealed "a lot of envy" of the Trojans. Two weeks ago, Garrett was forced to send a letter of apology to five schools after falsely accusing them of breaking NCAA rules by contacting star tailback recruit Dillon Baxter about transferring.

While praising Garrett's work in rebuilding the USC football program and shepherding construction of the Galen Center basketball arena on campus, Nikias said the USC athletic department under his presidency "will seek to excel in the coming years in a manner that is consistent with the highest values" of the school.

Garrett initially received praise for unexpectedly hiring Carroll, who led a dominant decade for the Trojans' football team, including seven Pac-10 titles and two national championships. Carroll left USC earlier this year to take over the Seattle Seahawks.

"Wish pat haden the very best in taking over as USC AD!" Carroll wrote on his Twitter account. "I'll support in any way. Congrats!"

Updated: July 20, 2010, 6:53 PM ET

Magic: 'That's not what we were about'

ESPN.com news services

Add Magic Johnson's voice to fellow Hall of Famer Michael Jordan's: Neither ever thought of combining forces the way LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh did earlier this month with the Miami Heat.

“ We didn't think about it 'cause that's not what we were about. From college, I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird. ” -- Magic Johnson --

"We didn't think about it 'cause that's not what we were about," Johnson said at Baruch College in New York, according to Bloomberg News. "From college, I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird."

This past weekend, Jordan said at a celebrity golf event that he never would have played with Johnson or Bird, his two main rivals during his playing days.

"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team,'" Jordan said after playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada. The interview aired on the NBC telecast of the event. "But that's ... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."

Johnson added on Tuesday: "It was never a question in our mind because nobody has ever done that."

Wade re-signed with Miami, while James and Bosh joined the Heat via free agency earlier this month.

Last Edited: July 20, 2010, 2:21 pm

Ares' Day 7-20-10 Ares' Day

526, 261, 087, 789, 108, 479, 849, 896, 709

370, 301, 389, 713, 702, 530, 183, 331, 440

542, 369, 916, 476, 809, 435, 657, 168, 587

583, 598, 308, 813, 052, 333, 444, 555, 777

3009, 1556, 3408, 3708, 4701, 2769, 1885

3322, 3186, 6186, 7755, 3303, 7707, 5555

"To be upset over what you don't have is to waste what you do have."

- G.W. Lyon -

Updated: July 19, 2010, 11:28 PM ET

Fish rolls, Becker ousted in Atlanta

Associated Press

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. -- Mardy Fish has spent countless practice hours trying to improve his serve. Seems his hard work is starting to pay off. 

"It's important to get free points on hardcourts," Fish said. "I feel like I'm an aggressive style player and for me to play my best tennis, I need free points on my serve."

Fish, the No. 6 seed, beat James Ward of Great Britain 6-1, 6-2 Monday night in the first round of the Atlanta Tennis Championships.

He won 21 of his 25 potential points on first serve and broke even on 28 second-serve points.

After beating Ward, Fish now has won 80 percent of his first serves this year, second-best on the ATP tour, over 35 matches.

"I've tended over my career not to serve at a very high percentage," he said. "It's one of the things we've tried to work on this year. I seem to be pretty successful that I can get the first serve in."

Fish took off last week after earning his fourth career title -- and his first on grass -- July 10 at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I. Winning the tournament moved Fish's world ranking up 30 spots to 49th.

"I want to keep the momentum going for sure," he said. "It's a new surface, and that's important even though I did have a successful grasscourt season for the most part. It's all hardcourts from here on. Confidence is a huge part of tennis. I feel extremely confident right now."

No. 8 seed Benjamin Becker of Germany was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by Michael Russell, who at 32 is the oldest American ranked in the ATP top 100 world rankings.

Atlanta is hosting its first ATP event since 2001 and the tour's first North American summer event on hardcourts as players prepare for the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 30.

Top seed Andy Roddick, No. 2 seed John Isner, No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt and fourth seed Horacio Zeballos of Argentina will play their first singles matches later in the week.

Fish has won six straight matches and 12 of his last 14. Those performances came on grass, however, so he practiced late last week on hardcourts.

The last U.S. event on hardcourts was March 23-April 4 in Miami, where Fish beat No. 3 seed Andy Murray in the second round before falling in the fourth. The victory over Murray was Fish's first over a world top 100 opponent since February 2009.

"It's nice to be on sure-footing surface," he said. "It's going to be a long summer. I'm slated to play almost every week. I'm looking forward to it."

In other singles matches, Rainer Schuettler of Germany beat Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-1, 6-4. Illya Marchenko of Ukraine defeated Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-4, 7-6 (4), and Rajeev Ram held off Karol Beck of Slovaki 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Last Edited: July 20, 2010, 1:37 am

Updated: July 20, 2010, 1:06 AM ET

Financial issues may slow Barnes deal

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Archive

Veteran swingman Matt Barnes, one of the most coveted free agents left on the open market, announced Monday night that he is headed to the Toronto Raptors.

But the limited sign-and-trade options available to Orlando -- Barnes' last team -- could scuttle the deal, according to sources close to the situation.

Barnes

Under the impression that he would be receiving a two-year contract in the $10 million range, Barnes thanked Magic fans via his Twitter feed and said that he'll be "playing for the Toronto Raptors" next season.

Sources told ESPN.com that the teams will resume discussions Tuesday, as planned all along, with the intent of landing Barnes with the Raptors via sign-and-trade.

Yet no such deal could be assured as of midnight, raising the possibility that Barnes would have to accept new terms to sign with the Raptors or that other teams that have been chasing Barnes will get another shot at him if the deal collapses.

Since Toronto recently spent the bulk of its $5.8 million mid-level exception to sign Linas Kleiza, it doesn't have the available funds to sign Barnes outright to a deal that starts in the neighborhood of $4 million.

The Magic, though, are prevented by salary-cap rules from starting a sign-and-trade deal for Barnes at higher than $2 million, because Orlando doesn't have Barnes' full Bird rights after employing him for only one season. A sign-and-trade deal would also have to span at least three years, although only the first year is required to be guaranteed.

Barnes was initially believed to be on the verge of signing with a title contender late last week -- such as Miami, Boston or the Los Angeles Lakers -- when the Raptors made an aggressive late rush to join the bidding.

Barnes also gave serious consideration in recent days to the Cleveland Cavaliers before talks with Toronto got serious.

Barnes started 58 games last year for Orlando in his only season with the Magic after a hard recruiting push from center Dwight Howard.

The 30-year-old averaged 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in Orlando and had originally signed a two-year deal with the team. But Barnes exercised his option to become a free agent after playing for $1.6 million in 2009-10.

With salary-cap rules limiting the raise the Magic could offer unless it cut into its own mid-level exception, Magic general manager Otis Smith said last week that matching Chicago's offer sheet to sharpshooter J.J. Redick and signing Quentin Richardson were budget priorities.

If Toronto does not become Barnes' eighth stop in a career that began with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2003, it will be the second high-profile deal to unravel unexpectedly at the Raptors' expense this offseason.

Earlier this month, Charlotte agreed to participate in a trade originally hatched by Toronto and the Phoenix Suns, which would have brought Tyson Chandler and Boris Diaw to the Raptors. But the Bobcats pulled out and traded Chandler to Dallas one day later.

Updated: July 19, 2010, 11:49 PM ET

WTA Tour: Serena's status questionable

Associated Press

Serena Williams is questionable for the U.S. Open because of her recent foot injury, according to the WTA Tour.

Williams cut her right foot on broken glass at a restaurant shortly after winning Wimbledon. The tour said last week she needed surgery and would miss three tournaments leading up to the Open.

Williams

On Monday, tour spokesman Andrew Walker said Williams is questionable for the final Grand Slam of the year. Williams' return to the Open has been widely anticipated because of her tumultuous semifinal loss there last year, when she threw a tirade at a line judge at the end of a match against Kim Clijsters and was fined a record $82,500.

Because of the injury, Williams is missing the entire World Team Tennis season with the Washington Kastles. Her team said she cut the bottom of her foot and needed stitches.

"Hey guys I'm doing better," Williams tweeted Monday. "Thanks for all the love."

On Sunday night she tweeted: "can't wait to get out of bed & back on the courts & do what i do best!"

Ranked No. 1, Williams won her fourth Wimbledon crown and 13th major title July 3. The injury occurred shortly thereafter in Europe and at first was not believed to be serious.

After hurting her foot, Williams played in an exhibition in Brussels on July 8 against Clijsters before a world-record tennis crowd of 35,681.

Williams attended a WTT match the next night in Glen Falls, N.Y., and did not play but briefly discussed her injury with reporters. When asked how she was able to play against Clijsters, Williams said, "Those Belgian doctors and waffles."

Clijsters said she knew before the exhibition that Williams was hurt pretty seriously.

"I saw her before we started but she didn't go into how it happened," Clijsters said. "I told her how much I admired her for coming out there. A lot of players in her situation wouldn't have done it."

Williams subsequently withdrew from upcoming tournaments in Istanbul, Cincinnati and Montreal. The last of those, at Montreal, begins Aug. 16, and the U.S. Open starts Aug. 30.

"You want the best players to be out there, especially at the U.S. Open," Clijsters said. "It would be sad not to have Serena there."

After winning the Australian Open at the end of January, Williams was sidelined through April because of an injured left knee.

Midday 7-20-10 Evening

** until 7-23-10 **

0126 0135 0139 0148 0157 0189 0234 0238 0247 0256 0279 0346 0369 0378 0459 0468 0567 0589 0679 1237 1246 1269 1278 1345 1359 1368 1458 1467 1489 1579 1678 2349 2358 2367 2389 2457 2479 2569 2578 3456 3469 3478 3568 3789 4567 4689 5679 0013 0018 0027 0036 0045 0049 0058 0067 1102 1107 1125 1129 1134 1138 1147 1156 1179 2205 2209 2214 2218 2236 2245 2259 2268 3307 3312 3316 3325 3348 3357 3379 4401 4405 4419 4423 4428 4437 4459 4468 5503 5508 5512 5517 5526 5539 5548 5589 6601 6615 6619 6624 6628 6637 6678 7704 7708 7713 7726 7735 7749 7758 7789 8802 8806 8815 8824 8829 8847 8856 8869 9904 9913 9918 9927 9936 9945 9958 9967 0004 0009 1116 2223 2227 3330 3334 3339 4441 4446 5553 5557 6660 6664 6669 7771 7776 8883 8887 9990 9994 0022 0099 1188 2277 2299 3366 3388 4455 4477 5566 1111 9999

Midday 7-20-10 Evening

** until 7-23-10 **

0124 0128 0137 0146 0169 0178 0236 0245 0259 0268 0349 0358 0367 0389 0457 0479 0569 0578 1235 1249 1258 1267 1289 1348 1357 1379 1456 1469 1478 1568 1789 2347 2356 2369 2378 2459 2468 2567 2689 3458 3467 3589 3679 4579 4678 5789 0016 0025 0029 0034 0038 0047 0056 0079 1105 1109 1123 1127 1136 1145 1159 1168 2203 2207 2216 2234 2239 2248 2257 2279 3301 3305 3314 3319 3328 3346 3359 3368 4403 4408 4412 4417 4426 4435 4439 4457 4489 5501 5506 5519 5524 5528 5537 5546 5569 5578 6604 6608 6613 6617 6635 6649 6658 6689 7702 7706 7715 7724 7729 7738 7756 7769 8804 8809 8813 8827 8836 8845 8849 8867 9902 9907 9916 9925 9934 9938 9947 9956 0002 0007 1114 1118 2221 2225 3332 3337 4448 5551 6662 6667 7774 7778 8881 8885 9992 9997 0011 0088 1177 1199 2266 2288 3355 3377 4466 8899 4444 5555

TIW 7-19-10 DE Evening

Winning Numbers: 487 & 0805

184, 078, 301, 382, 347, 420, 569, 712
3946, 2395, 4182, 5619, 5702, 6230, 6540
7134, 7835, 7826, 7249, 1380, 9840, 0197

078, 189, 290, 301, 412, 523, 634, 745, 856, 967

7830, 7831, 7832, 7833, 7834, 7835, 7836, 7837, 7838, 7839

0835, 1835, 2835, 3835, 4835, 5835, 6835, 7835, 8835, 9835

23 and/or 78 pairs