DBD 9.15.11 Why is everyone getting married?!

Rogue trader costs firm $2 Billion in losses

Swiss bank UBS said a trader had lost it around $2 billion in unauthorized deals, and police in London arrested 31-year-old Kweku Adoboli in connection with the case.

Adoboli — a director of exchange traded funds and “Delta 1” working in the bank’s London office, according to his profile on networking site LinkedIn — was arrested on suspicion of fraud, sources told Reuters.

“I can confirm that an employee of the bank was arrested in London in connection with the statement,” a UBS spokesman said.

UBS said it might post a third-quarter loss after the rogue trades, a huge blow as it struggles to rebuild its credibility after years of crises.

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BERKELEY – On the heels of the 3-1 win over No. 2 Stanford in one of the most highly touted Big Spikes in program history, the first week of the Pac-12 continues for the No. 1 California volleyball team with a two-match series this weekend. On Friday, Sept. 16, the Golden Bears (11-0 overall, 1-1 in the Pac-12) host Colorado (5-4, 0-1 in the Pac-12) at 7 p.m. Cal’s epic nine-day, seven-match homestand comes to a close Saturday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. against Utah (6-4, 1-0 in the Pac-12).


The Golden Bears will sign autographs following both matches. During Friday’s match, the Pac-10 Championship banner will be featured. Head coach Rich Feller will give a pre-match chalk talk beginning at 6:40 p.m. on Saturday. Fans who attend Saturday afternoon’s football game between Cal and Presbyterian and show their ticket stub at the door will receive free admission to the Utah-Cal match.

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Cal will play its first of five home games in 2011 when the Bears welcome FCS opponent Presbyterian from the Big South Conference to AT&T Park on Saturday. The teams from the Pac-12 and Big South, respectively, will meet for the first time ever in the final non-conference game of the season for the Bears.
The contest be streamed live on CalBears.com. The online feed will include the Cal/IMG College radio broadcast of the contest, with the usual team of Joe Starkey, Troy Taylor and Todd McKim calling the action.
Fans who are current subscribers to All Access through CalBears.com will receive the game as part of their service. Others can watch for $7.95, which includes a one-month subscription to All Access, Cal’s multimedia site that includes a variety of both free and paid content.
Cal received a special exemption to be able to stream Saturday’s game because the contest will be played within exclusive broadcast windows for Pac-12 partners ESPN and FSN.

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Three Cal players posted top five finishes to lead the Golden Bears to a team victory Tuesday at the season-opening Wolverine Intercollegiate hosted by Michigan. Cal (281-275-283 – 839, -13) tied a six-year-old course record at 13-under par and coasted to a 12-stroke victory, with second-place Baylor (284-278-289 – 851, -1) the only other team to put up a 54-hole total under par.

“We had three solid rounds, and it was a good test of golf,” head coach Steve Desimone said.

Joël Stalter (72-63-72 – 207, -6) started Tuesday’s third and final round at the par-71, 6,687-yard U-M Golf Course on top of the leader board. Stalter stayed on top most of the day before two bogeys late in his round on the par-four 15th and 18th holes left him in second place one shot behind individual medalist Jace Long (67-73-66 – 206, -7) of Missouri. Long had five birdies, including on each of the last two holes, and 13 pars without a bogey on Tuesday.

49ers vs. Cowboys: Are Alex Smith And The O-Line Prepared To Adjust On The Fly?

Alex Smith spoke to the media today and addressed some of the problems the 49ers had last week and what he expects to see from the Dallas Cowboys this week. You can view the transcript of his media session after the jump.

There are plenty of things to look out for from the offense this Sunday but defending against a tough pass rush is one such issue. We’ll have more on the Cowboys pass rush tomorrow, but given some of Alex’s comments today there are some aspects from the offensive side of the ball to consider.

Two things we saw last Sunday from Smith were his willingness to scramble and his use of audibles. He equaled his second highest number of rushing attempts with seven on Sunday. While he did not have any particularly long runs, he had several runs of five or more yards and also his one yard touchdown run. He was a very solid running QB at Utah, but since the shoulder injury in 2007 we haven’t seen a ton of scrambling from Smith. Harbaugh mixed in some designed runs and second or third run options at Stanford so we might see a bit more scrambling for Smith, particularly with the impressive Cowboys pass rush.

The other area that will be interesting to watch on Sunday is in terms of audibles. The Cowboys like to mix things up with their front seven and with a beast of a pass rusher like DeMarcus Ware it can create all sorts of matchup problems. The use of audibles by Smith and adjustments by the offensive line could be as key to establishing an efficient offensive attack as anything else.

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No full recap yet, but some minor lines

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When the defensive line dominates, the Raiders win. They are going to win this game, they will need to win it up front. Otherwise, the Bills spread out passing attack will kill the Raiders.

 

The Raiders need to stuff the Bills runs at the point of attack and force the Bills into passing situations where they need to run pass plays that take long enough for Fitzpatrick to be heavily assaulted.

The good news is that the Bills offensive line does not matchup well with the Raiders defensive line.

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Well, so much for the spoiler role. The A’s managed to score one run total (on a solo homerun, no less) after putting runners all over the bases early against Jered Weaver. Just a hunch, but the lack of follow-though (and the possible lack of any good hitters—with the exception of Josh Willingham) might be a reason that the A’s are 67-82 as we wrap up a disappointing 2011 season. With their 82nd loss, the A’s have ended any hope of a .500 season, and are likely just going through the motions for the next two weeks.

Contrast this with the Angels’ play. Trailing Texas by 2.5 games (pending tonight’s outcome), the Angels are in a very real pennant race, and they furthered their cause with the game and series win this afternoon. It’s always amazing to me when I watch baseball outside the A’s, to discover how good baseball teams really can be. The Phillies are in a world of their own right now; they have clinched a playoff berth today with their 95th win. Yes, that’s nearly thirty more wins than the A’s have, and when you watch their games, it’s almost like watching an entirely different sport.

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In a program that is the first of its kind in India – all children at government schools and colleges in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu will be given a free laptop.

An estimated 6.8 million free laptops will be distributed to schoolchildren, as part of an election promise from the region’s ministers.

The cost is several hundred millions of dollars a year, which critics claim is too high and could bankrupt the government.

They argue that the money could be better spent in areas such as social services and infrastructure, says a report in the BBC. Frequent power outages in the region may also disrupt the full use of the laptops.

But supporters say the advantages override the costs, with many of the region’s disadvantaged children being given access to previously unaffordable technology. They say the initiative will also make Tamil Nadu more competitive with other, more tech-savvy Indian states, according to the BBC.

Thanks, RIshi, for doing the DBD and bringing the stories over! You=rock!

Field hockey heads east:

The No. 11 California Golden Bear field hockey team will play a pair of games in Chicago, taking on Northwestern on Friday, Sept.16 and No. 18 Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 17. Both of those games will begin at 11 a.m. Pacific Time. The Bears will then travel to Ohio to take on Kent State on Monday, Sept. 19 at 9 a.m. Pacific Time.

Top-20 The California Golden Bear field hockey team made their debut on the Kookaburra/NFHCA Coaches Poll, going from unranked to No. 11 in the Week 2 poll, going from unranked to No. 11 in the Week 2 poll. This is the Bears first time being ranked in the polls since the end of the 2008 season and Cal’s highest poll ranking since the NFHCA poll began in 1998. The Bears highest previous ranking was a No. 12 ranking during the 2006 season, a ranking they held from Oct. 17 of that year through the end of the season in mid-November.

Men’s tennis dude named to Danish Team:


BERKELEY – No. 80-ranked California men’s tennis junior Christoffer Konigsfeldtwas selected to Denmark’s Davis Cup Team, last week. The third-year Golden Bear will be on the squad when the Danes take on Bosnia/Herzegovina in a Group II promotion match on Fri., Sept. 16, in which the winner will move up to Europe/Africa Group I. Denmark took home the victory in the only previous meeting between the two nations in 2005.

Denmark defeated Monaco, 3-2, in the first round of action, and claimed another 3-2 win over Latvia in the quarterfinal to set up its semifinal match against Bosnia/Herzegovina. Denmark’s first Davis Cup appearance came in 1921. It was a quarterfinalist in 1988 and also reached the Europe Zone Final in 1927, 1950, and 1953. For more information on the 2011 Davis Cup, please visit www.itftennis.com.

Konigsfeldt ranked as high as No. 50 during his sophomore season and finished his second year on campus with 19 singles wins (second on the team). As a pair, Konigsfeldt and senior Nick Andrewsare the No. 5-ranked doubles team in the nation and were ranked No. 21 in last year’s final poll with an 18-10 mark. The duo won the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional Championship.

Coach McKeever and NatCough to appear on Chronicle Live last night:

SAN FRANCISCO – California head coach Teri McKeever and Natalie Coughlin, her decorated protégé, will appear on “Chronicle Live” Wednesday from 5-6 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. McKeever, who is also the head coach of the 2012 U.S. women’s Olympic swimmers, and Coughlin, the 11-time U.S. Olympic medalist, will discuss the London Summer Games with host Dave Benz.

A veteran of international coaching, McKeever served as a U.S. assistant coach on the 2004 and 2008 U.S. Olympic teams. She was the first woman coach on the U.S. Olympic swimming team and the first woman to be named head coach of the national team at a major international event – the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships in British Columbia.

Seems like everyone and their mother are either getting married or birthing little creatures, or both. As men, how do we reconcile the desire to stay committed to a good woman we love with our incessant need to chase new tail? Will choosing one over the other ever satisfy us?