DBD 1.17.12: Learn Fight 'Em!

Just when it started to feel like we might be turning a corner. It looks like Armstead and McCarthy are gone and most likely Shaq is gone too. Wow, just wow.

HRNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Can we turn the youtube video from an embed into a link to the video? For those of us who have youtube blocked at work, we can’t see new posts.

Many thanks.

[1]

U.S. stocks rose, following a two- week rally in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as China’s economic slowdown fueled speculation monetary policy will ease.

The S&P 500 added 0.5 percent to 1,295.74 at 9:30 a.m. New York time. The market was closed yesterday for a holiday.

"Our overall view remains unchanged: China is gradually moving towards more stimulative policy stances," Marc Chandler, chief currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York, wrote in a note to clients. "The only big change to our view is that authorities will no longer single out the real- estate sector as still requiring tightening. Housing prices are starting to ease quickly."

U.S. stock futures joined a global rally as China’s economy expanded at the slowest pace in 10 quarters as Europe’s debt crisis curbed export demand and the property market weakened, sustaining pressure on Premier Wen Jiabao to ease monetary policy. Spanish borrowing costs plunged at an auction as investors ignored S&P downgrades last week. Manufacturing in the New York region expanded in January at the fastest pace in nine months.

Mick LaSalle lists the 100 best comedies since 1960

I think my quibbles here are with Chicago (yes, the Richard Gere/Zellweger/Zeta Jones one) and with the two Adam Sandler movies he chose (Funny People and Just Go With It). I don’t remember laughing once at Chicago; it was a good film for the genre and I enjoyed it, but it was no “Big Daddy”, that’s for sure. Kudos for picking Starsky and Hutch, one of the best of those Stiller/Owen Wilson/Vince Vaughn things.

He also singles out Naked Gun 33 1/3 as the best of that series, but clearly mistakes it for the first one, which of course immortalized Enrico Palazzo in baseball history.

[1]

John may sound paranoid, but he’s got company. During interviews with dozens of business owners over a span of several months, six people told this newspaper that Yelp sales representatives promised to move or remove negative reviews if their business would advertise. In another six instances, positive reviews disappeared — or negative ones appeared — after owners declined to advertise.

Because they were often asked to advertise soon after receiving negative reviews, many of these business owners believe Yelp employees use such reviews as sales leads. Several, including John, even suspect Yelp employees of writing them. Indeed, Yelp does pay some employees to write reviews of businesses that are solicited for advertising. And in at least one documented instance, a business owner who refused to advertise subsequently received a negative review from a Yelp employee.

Many business owners, like John, feel so threatened by Yelp’s power to harm their business that they declined to be interviewed unless their identities were concealed. (John is not the restaurant owner’s real name.) Several business owners likened Yelp to the Mafia, and one said she feared its retaliation. “Every time I had a sales person call me and I said, ‘Sorry, it doesn’t make sense for me to do this,’ … then all of a sudden reviews start disappearing.” To these mom-and-pop business owners, Yelp’s sales tactics are coercive, unethical, and, possibly, illegal.

“That’s the biggest scam in the Bay Area,” John said. “It totally felt like a blackmail deal. I think they’re doing anything to make a sale.”

Womens tennis doing greatL



BERKELEY – Fifth-ranked California women’s tennis senior Jana Juricova took home the singles crown while junior Annie Goransson and sophomore Anett Schutting claimed the doubles title at the 2012 Cal Winter Invitational when play concluded on Sunday, Jan. 15, at the Hellman Tennis Complex.

Juricova went undefeated in three matches at the top singles court and rounded out her weekend in a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 82-ranked Catherine Isip of Saint Mary’s College. Down one court, No. 21-ranked freshman Zsofi Susanyi upended No. 68-ranked Jenny Jullien, 6-4, 6-4, for her ninth straight victory including six against ranked opponents.

No. 32-ranked junior Tayler Davis recorded a 6-1, 6-2 result over No. 116 Jade Frampton on court three and No. 64 Schutting got a 6-4, 6-2 win against Catherine Leduc at No. 4 singles. No. 81 Goransson defeated Anna Chikhikvishvili, 6-4, 6-3, at court five, and No. 74 freshman Cecilia Estlander got a 6-4, 6-0 win against Carla Lindlar on court six. Seniors Stephany Chang and Catalina Visico also got a pair of wins. Chang took out Elizabeth Searl on court seven, 6-3, 6-0, and Visico defeated Cal Poly’s Kristine Kouyoumjian, 6-2, 6-2.

WBB beats Utes:

SALT LAKE CITY – The California Golden Bears had to grind out a win in a low-scoring game in Salt Lake City, coming away with a 63-56 victory over the Utah Utes. Redshirt sophomore forward Gennifer Brandon had her sixth double double with a 15 and 15 performance.

The Utes, who lead the Pac-12 in scoring defense, commanded the tempo of the game from the onset, with the two teams combining to scoring just 20 points in the first ten minutes of the contest.

Freshman point guard Brittany Boyd forced two turnovers in the Utes first three possessions, converting those opportunities into an early 4-0 lead. The Utes came back to take a 7-6 lead, the first of six first-half lead changes. A pull-up jumper by freshman forward Justine Hartman followed by a block and defensive rebound by Hartman gave Cal a temporary 8-7 lead.

Softball spends time with child with cancer:

BERKELEY – Before departing Berkeley to spend the winter break with their families, the California softball team spent time with an important members of its Golden Bear family – Bebe Wiggs and her family.

In 2010, the Golden Bears adopted Bebe, a local child with pediatric cancer, through the Friends of Jacyln Foundation. The Friends of Jaclyn Foundation (FOJ) is a non-profit, charitable organization that improves the quality of life for children with pediatric brain tumors and their families.

This past December, the Cal softball team joined the Wiggs family for a holiday celebration. Everyone enjoyed a delicious dinner at the newly opened Simpson Center for Student-Athlete High Performance. Following the meal, the group headed to the softball squad’s brand-new locker room for presents and a big surprise for Bebe.

Shane Vereen final Bear in NFL playoffs:

BERKELEY – Shane Vereen of the New England Patriots is the final former Cal football player remaining on the active roster of an NFL Playoff team heading into next Sunday’s AFC and NFC Championship Games. Vereen and his teammates will host the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, January 22 (3:00 p.m. ET, CBS).

The winner of the Patriots-Ravens contest will advance to Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Sunday, February 5. The AFC champion will play in the Super Bowl against the winner of the NFC Championship Game to be played between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers also on Sunday in San Francisco.

Cal has had at least one player on an active Super Bowl roster for each of the last 10 seasons.

Rugby wins UCLA TourneyZ:

LOS ANGELES – California defeated UCLA, 58-0, in Sunday’s final of the UCLA Tournament. Danny Barrett and Seamus Kelly scored two tries, Alex Aronson went 6-for-8 on conversions and added two penalty kicks, and six other Golden Bears found the try zone as Cal improved to 4-0.

It was the seventh straight UCLA Tournament win for Cal, with the last six finals against the Bruins. All 50 Bears who made the trip saw action on the pitch during the weekend.

“There’s nothing not to like about this tournament,” said head coach Jack Clark. “The timing is perfect from a preseason standpoint and the tournament format provides a lot of minutes to be spread around the team.”

Former Womens Tennis player doing great:


BERKELEY – Former California women’s tennis star Bojana Bobusic will make her first Grand Slam appearance when she takes the court for the 2012 Australian Open. Ranked No. 242 in the world, Bobusic earned a wildcard selection to the field of 128 and will face 30th-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany in her first-round match in Melbourne, Australia. Bobusic and Kerber are the fourth scheduled match on court six and will play in the late evening Pacific Time on Monday, Jan. 16 (Jan. 17, in Australia).

Bobusic also holds a world ranking in doubles at No. 386 and has entered the field to represent Australia with partner Sacha Jones, a former singles adversary. The duo will take on Anna Chakvetadze of Russia and Romina Oprandi of Italy in their first-round match.

MBB Press Conference

Dubs beat Pistons:

Finding Energy on the Road

Let’s face it, the Warriors are spoiled. They play in front of the best fans in the NBA every night at home, and you almost can’t blame them for coming to depend on the energy of that crowd to get them rolling and playing at their best. When you take them out of that environment and stick them in front of 10,000 empty seats, you just don’t see the same passion and intensity on the court. It was painfully clear last night, and after jumping out to a quick lead it started to look like this was going to be another night where the Warriors were always a step slow, and a bit out of sync.

50/50 Plays

Bob mentioned on the broadcast sometime in the second quarter that it seemed like the Warriors were coming up short on all the 50/50 plays. They were slow to loose balls, and let some “up for grabs” plays slip through there hands. Usually when a team finds themselves consistently on the short end of these kinds of plays it’s due to either a general lack of speed on the floor, or in this case more so fatigue and a lack of energy and focus.

A Tale of Two Halves

Fortunately for the Warriors, when they came out for the second half they seemed to bring a little more fire with them. Their was a focus and intensity that just wasn’t there earlier in the game. Wright started playing aggressively and Monta came to life with a 17 point second half after closing the first half with only five. Suddenly all those loose balls started finding their way into the Warriors hands, and those coin flip plays started going their way. Once Lee and Monta were both clicking offensively, and the team started playing good sharp defense it was lights out for the Pistons.

Kings lose to TWolves:


This game was competitive until the latter stages of the 4th quarter, as Sacramento could get nothing going from its star players offensively, and Minnesota began hitting a barrage of three pointers. Kevin Love dominated inside and out, with 33 points and 11 rebounds, and Luke Ridnour looked like an All-Star, scoring 25 (including 4-4 from 3PT) and dishing 9 assists. Ricky Rubio also added a near triple double with 9 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

The Kings had a season high 20 assists, but nobody on the team scored more than 12 points. Tyreke Evans dished 10 assists and had 8 rebounds, but he only scored 9 points on 3-11 shooting. Marcus Thornton again struggled since his return from injury, scoring 12 on 4-12 shooting. DeMarcus Cousins was 5-8 but left the game late in the 4th after getting hit in the face by Nikola Pekovic.

The Kings received good contributions from their bench, particularly Francisco Garcia and Jason Thompson (both with 12 points on good shooting), but with their starters struggling offensively, the Kings again had trouble getting anything going on offense. They also continuously let Minnesota get open looks from three on defense, and once again struggled to hit their own threes. Jimmer Fredette continues to be in a long range shooting funk, going 0-3 from long range, with two of those attempts being wide open.

Lake Crew beat Mavs:



Do you believe in miracles??? Never mind… that would be overstating things wildly. Tonight’s Lakers win, 73 to 70 over the Dallas Mavericks, was sludgy and gross for all but about 12 seconds. Four of those seconds came at the very end, when Derek Fisher took a pass from Kobe Bryant and dropped in a clutchy intangible three to put the Lake Show ahead (video after the jump) and Vince Carter missed the shot that would’ve subjected us to overtime. The other eight enjoyable seconds were scattered over the course of the evening and mostly involved Josh McRoberts throwing down a reverse alley-oop or giving hard fouls under the hoop.

For most of the night this game was a prolonged insult to you, me, the sport of basketball and the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Lakers and Mavs are two old, weary teams, and it reflected in every fumbled pass, blown layup and missed three-pointer. Yeah, I know: it’s a win, and the Lakers will take every kind they can get. But it’s hard to believe anyone came away from this display with faith in the championship hopes of either team.

Still… great shot, Fish. And pretty great D from pretty much everyone in purple and gold. More to come later tonight….

Clippers beat Nets:



The Positives:

*Great 1st Quarter- The Clips came out and stuck it to the Nets right away. Griffin was all over the court and half way into the stands. Randy Foye dished out 5 assists and only took 2 shots. DeAndre Jordan had 3 blocks, and Caron Butler kept hitting the middle of the net. With a few minutes left, the score was 27-10, and I thought that they might invoke the mercy rule.

*Excellent defense (for 3 quarters)- For most of the game, the Clips held the Nets to under 40% field goal shooting. In particular, they held DWill in check (5-14 overall), with Foye doing most of the work on him. For a while, it seemed like only Mehmet Okur and Johan Petro could make a shot. How strange would THAT have been, had the Nets won behind those two chucking bigs?

*Decent play from a few role players- Had Foye refrained from a couple of those outside shots, and had he made one or two fewer turnovers, and had the game ended about 10 minutes earlier, then I would have nominated him for the game ball. After all, he did have 10 assists, several assertive drives to the basket, and played some solid D on DWill. (Frankly, DWill looked lackadaisical out there, but come on now, let’s give Randy some of the credit). Reggie Evans had four outstanding first half offensive rebounds. He looked pretty gassed later in the 4th, but he never stopped working hard. Trey Thompkins should not fall in love with the 3-ball, but his 5 rebounds in 8 minutes were a very welcome contribution. Finally, Courtney Fortson played 9 mistake-free minutes, with 2 assists and no turnovers. Ryan Gomes looked like a space filler out there, but he did hit a big shot down the stretch.

FearTheFin previews Flames:



I remember the days when Jarome Iginla would have a scrap, two assists, and a game winning goal in the third period to spark the Flames to a 3-2 road victory. The man was like clockwork, a legend that seemed destined for greatness the moment he slipped into that blood red Flames jersey in 1997.

Iginla is one of those rare guys who was as universally adored by opposing teams as he is by his own, a player who broke racial boundaries by becoming the first black player to become Captain of an NHL team. He is an athlete that looks just as good in person as he does on paper, a man that will go down as one of the greatest players I have had the pleasure to see play during my hockey watching career.

A class act through and through.

That smile, which lit up hundreds of bitter cold Calgary nights, was a beacon of hope for both the fanbase as well as the city that feels privileged to be called Jarome Iginla’s home. His charity and philanthropic work is well-chronicled and utterly stunning, his work in the community unparalleled. In a sport where the athletes are some of the most humble, caring, and family-oriented people you can meet in professional sports, Iginla has inconceivably managed to stand out above the rest.

I’ve never had the pleasure to meet him nor have I ever watched him from the Red Sea where he is most beloved. One can only imagine how the stories of his triumphs are told in the bars around Calgary, where tales of his 50 goal seasons, Olympic Golds, and playoff wins come to life with deliberate hand gestures accompanied by a “yup” from around the table as everyone softly nods in agreement. Those quaint bars, with their signed jerseys and pictures on the wall, tell the story of his career that no highlight package or stat sheet will ever be able do justice.

SilverAndBlackPride talks Raider head coach:



This is an interesting move, but both Adam Schefter and Bill Williamson are reporting that we’re interviewing Denver OC Mike McCoy and DC Dennis Allen for our head coaching job.

Were Al still running the show I’d be saying this is a typical Al Davis move – picking the brains of a couple of well regarded assistants from the division winners under the pretext of an interview – and it’s possible that Reggie may have learnt this trick from Ron Wolf. However, let’s assume that it’s a legit deal here.

Allen’s served as defensive coordinator in Donkeytown for one year, having previously been the Saints’ secondary coach. He’s also previously been an assistant D-line coach in NOLA, a quality control coach/defensive assistant in Atlanta and the secondary coach of Tulsa University. He likes to attack on defense – a nice change from Panda’s pillow D – and will concede yards and the odd big play to force turnovers and sacks and prevent touchdowns. I have to assume part of the reason Denver’s D went from historically terrible to good in one shortened offseason is down to him (with Von Miller and a healthy Dumervil playing their part).

McCoy has been OC and QB coach in Denver for three years – he was originally hired by Josh McDaniels but this was his first year calling plays. Before that, he’d been with the Carolina Panthers for eight years and worked his way up – this was probably why Fox kept him around when he came to Denver from Carolina. With Kyle Orton the Broncos were running mostly a spread passing attack, but because Tebow is a muppet McCoy brought in that stupid option offense. I actually like this – it shows he can adapt his schemes to the personnel around him, which of course was a strength of Hue’s. We’re also not the only team to show interest in him – the Dolphins have set up an interview for their HC slot.

Only of note because it’s 48 degrees in Columbus, while I hear it’s 23 degrees in Davis. Bummer.

#restackingdominoes

I’m on my way to the open plan office of doom so can’t keep up today. Could you guys please not misplace Kiesau today? Thanks.

Captain Fail

Both Italian newspapers also posted audio excerpts from the conversations online.

"Everything OK?" the port official asked in one early radio exchange.

"Affirmative," Mr. Schettino said, adding that the ship had only a "small technical failure."

Reached later by radio, he repeated that "We’ve only got a technical problem" and assured the port official that "as soon as it’s resolved, we’ll communicate to you." But according to the report the captain did not call back. After initially reaching the captain on the ship by radio late Friday night, subsequent calls were unanswered and the coast guard then reached Mr. Schettino by telephone, apparently aboard a lifeboat alongside the stricken liner. He told them he had abandoned the ship, then immediately denied it.

"I’m not on board because the bows of the ship are coming up. We’ve abandoned her."

"What do you mean? You’ve abandoned ship?"

"No. No way have I abandoned ship. I’m here," Mr. Schettino replied.

In the final call, at 1:46 a.m., Mr. Schettino spoke to a coast guard captain, Gregorio Maria De Falco, who ordered him to return to the ship, according to Corriere della Sera, in an increasingly desperate and heated conversation.

"Schettino? Listen Schettino. There are people trapped on board," the coast guard captain said.

"Commander, please… "

"No, please," the coast guard captain said. "You go on board, this is an order" he said, later adding: "There are already dead bodies."

"How many?" Mr. Schettino asked.

"I do not know. One I know. One I heard. You are the one who has to tell me how many there are, Christ!"

Kiesau to UW?

dooooooooooooooom

I get being pissed, but we don’t know the whole story yet.
Here are some nuggets:

DC @IdiotBlaster 11h
@gobearsAD good job you fat cow. really are we that broke?

CRECKLESS @cmreck 12h
@gobearsAD anyone from the department going to address how you ruined this?

marshall piquet ward @bigmarsh777 16h
@gobearsAD wow. you are in deep shit!!! Letting TOSH leave for division rival UW. Fans are PISSED!!! You are an inept AD. GET OUT!!

J S @NewEraCal510 21h
@gobearsAD HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU ALLOW CAL TO LOSE LUPOI? GO FCK YOURSELF

just got back to cgb after a few days… i miss anything?

Uncle Ted with some reassuring words while analyzing the Tosh thing

After the “boom!” there’s this for Tosh Lupoi and Washington: Now what?

Well, of course, Lupoi, who bolted his alma mater California for the Huskies on Monday, will start reeling in four- and five-star recruits, correct? That’s the thinking. There will be significant pressure for him to do just that — and immediately. If he doesn’t swing a Shaq Thompson (Cal commit) or an A-list D-lineman or help coach Steve Sarkisian close the deal with offensive lineman Zach Banner, the state’s No. 2 prospect, and Washington’s class sags to the middle of the Pac-12, then some will wonder what all the hubbub was about.

Washington fans, however, probably shouldn’t get their hopes up too high. For one, signing day is Feb. 1. The window here is small, particularly when Lupoi now must completely change directions with his sales pitch. Young men and their parents who have for months heard, “Here’s why you should come to Cal” — a pitch, by the way, that previously implied why they shouldn’t go to Washington — will now hear something else.

It figures that Lupoi might need some time to create some new recruiting traction for himself. He has been a part of the Cal program for nearly half his life — 12 of 30 years. He played for Jeff Tedford and hasn’t coached anywhere else. As ESPN Recruiting’s Greg Biggins told Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times that Lupoi “had a passion for Cal.” Consider his Twitter page, where his “#Calgang” hashtag figures to be retired.

If Lupoi aggressively tries to flip a handful of players committed to Cal — something we honestly doubt he will do — then, well, we’d hope that would cause him to lose some sleep. While all is fair in love, war and recruiting, that would be a bit sleazy. Of course, effective sleazy that is within NCAA rules often falls under this category: good recruiting.

Dodgers, Ethier agree to a 1y deal

Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier avoided arbitration on Tuesday by agreeing to a one-year, $10.95 million contract.

Ethier would receive an additional $25,000 for each of 600 and 625 plate appearances.

More From ESPNLosAngeles.com

For more news, notes and analysis of the Dodgers, check out Dodger Thoughts from Jon Weisman. Blog

Ethier, who will turn 30 on April 10, is a five-plus player (at least five years of major league service time) and is in his final winter of arbitration-eligibility and will be eligible for free agency after the 2012 season unless the Dodgers sign him to an extension before then. He received $9.25 million in 2011, the final year of a two-year, $15.25 million contract he signed before the 2010 season.

I didn’t freeze in Michigan (we actually did some outdoor photos)! wedding was fun (ceremonies x2)!

oh, and a team called the “San Francisco 49ers” won a “playoff game”? and we lost a certain “Tosh Lupoi”? :(

not really :(

http://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/QB-Nick-Montana-granted-release-from-Washington-2574125.php