PFT: Fears of LA move could scuttle Fisher-to-Rams

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The story of the early phase of the 2012 offseason will come from Indianapolis, and it will focus on the payment of $28 million due and owing to Colts quarterback Peyton Manning on or about March 8.

Peter King reported during the NBC wild-card pregame on Saturday that the Colts and Manning may be amenable to pushing the deadline back.? On Sunday, Chris Mortensen of ESPN said that Colts owner Jim Irsay and Manning each were ?emphatic? that there have been no discussions about moving the date.

In this regard, Manning holds the cards.? The March 8 trigger, which comes before the new league year begins, wasn?t selected accidentally.? Agent Tom Condon wanted Peyton to have the upper hand, forcing the Colts to fork over $28 million or cut Peyton loose.

If Peyton truly wants to stay with the Colts and if both sides agree come early March that he?s not yet healthy, it should be a no-brainer to bump the deadline deeper into the year.? But if Irsay intends, as Tony Dungy believes, to keep Manning ?if healthy? and also draft Andrew Luck, Peyton may want a new place to play.

I?ve said for months that Peyton won?t want the Colts to take Luck, not when they could trade the selection and get Peyton multiple players and/or draft picks aimed at helping Peyton win another Super Bowl or two.? Ordinarily, a player like Peyton would have no choice but to go along with whatever the team tries to do.? In Peyton?s case, if there?s any question about his health and if Irsay is skittish about the possibility of sending Manning?s total haul for two seasons north of $50 million with no guarantee he?ll ever take another snap, a decision to dig in could get Peyton his freedom.

And so Peyton may indeed be willing to delay the due date on the bonus ? if he gets an assurance that the first overall pick in the 2012 draft won?t be looming over the shoulder of the first overall pick in the 1998 draft.

It?s doubtful such an assurance could come.? As Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star explained this week on PFT Live, Irsay needs to think about the future, not the past.? Without Luck, the Colts could return to their hard-luck ways of the past.? Which could eventually cause empty seats to infiltrate Lucas Oil Stadium.

And which, as Kravitz fears, could put the Colts in line for a move to the place where the team Robert Irsay originally owed once played its home games.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/08/report-concerns-over-move-to-l-a-could-be-hangup-in-fisher-to-rams-deal/related/

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OAPlanet: First Tornado of 2012 Confirmed in Texas http://t.co/zK3fxKdW

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Barry Larkin Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Barry Larkin?s oldest brother, Mike, was a linebacker at Notre Dame. When Mike chose the Irish over the University of Michigan, the Wolverines? coach, Bo Schembechler, told Larkin?s mother that he would someday persuade another of her sons to play for him.

Schembechler was only partly successful. He recruited Barry Larkin to play for Michigan, but he made him redshirt his first season. That decision cost Schembechler a defensive back, but set in motion an exceptional baseball career.

?That was influential, because I just worked on my baseball talent, just that alone,? Larkin said on a conference call. ?That was an eye-opener, because I got so much better.?

Larkin got so good that he achieved baseball?s highest honor Monday, collecting 495 of a possible 573 votes to be chosen as the newest member of the Hall of Fame. With 86.4 percent of the vote conducted by veteran members of the Baseball Writers? Association of America, Larkin easily eclipsed the 75 percent needed for induction.

He was the only player elected by the writers and will join Ron Santo, whom the veterans committee elected posthumously last month, with new plaques in July. Three others received at least 50 percent of the votes: Jack Morris (66.7 percent), Jeff Bagwell (56 percent) and Lee Smith (50.6 percent).

?I?m incredibly, incredibly honored by the whole experience, and so excited about being the newest member of the Hall of Fame,? Larkin said.

Larkin excelled at Michigan, where he was twice an all-American and was drafted fourth over all by his hometown Reds in 1985. Larkin attended Moeller High School in Cincinnati ? predating Ken Griffey Jr. by a few years ? and idolized the championship teams of the Big Red Machine in the 1970s.

The Reds? shortstop then, Davey Concepcion, was still playing when Larkin reached the majors in August 1986. Larkin said Concepcion drilled him on the finer points of fielding, practicing bad hops on grass fields, even though he knew he was being replaced.

Concepcion had played shortstop for the Reds since 1970, and Larkin indeed succeeded him, making the first of 12 All-Star teams in 1988. Two years later, Larkin hit .301 with 30 steals to help the Reds win their last World Series title.

Larkin was the National League?s most valuable player in 1995, the last year the Reds won a playoff series, and few players have equaled his combination of a high batting average, speed, respectable power and fielding excellence.

Only three others have reached Larkin?s career batting average (.295) while also reaching his totals for stolen bases (379) and home runs (198): Barry Bonds and the Hall of Famers Roberto Alomar and Paul Molitor. Bonds, Alomar and Larkin are the only players to do that while also winning Gold Gloves. Larkin won three, from 1994 through 1996.

Larkin, who is now an analyst for ESPN, was never connected to performance-enhancing drugs, an issue that is increasingly complicating Hall of Fame elections. Support for the sluggers Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro has virtually flat-lined; McGwire received 19.5 percent of the vote this year, down from 19.8 last year, while Palmeiro improved to 12.6 percent, from 11.

The ballot sent to writers next December will be loaded with first-time candidates connected to the steroids scandal, including Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa. No tangible evidence has ever linked Mike Piazza to steroids, but writers have long been suspicious.

Some voters said last year that they did not vote for Bagwell because they believed he probably used steroids. Yet besides Larkin, who increased his share of the ballot by more than 24 percentage points this year, Bagwell made the biggest jump. His support increased by 14.3 percentage points, from 41.7, suggesting that many voters may have initially rejected him simply to keep him from being a first-ballot Hall of Famer ? even though, officially, there is no distinction.

The leading vote-getter among new candidates was the former Yankee Bernie Williams, who received only 9.6 percent, barely clearing the 5 percent threshold to remain on the ballot. Craig Biggio, who had more than 3,000 hits, and Curt Schilling, who had more than 3,000 strikeouts, will make their first appearance on the next ballot.

The absence of compelling first-time candidates in this election probably helped Larkin; only 9 of the 573 ballots were blank. It may have also helped Morris, one of the more polarizing candidates in recent years, who now stands on the doorstep of Cooperstown.

Morris?s detractors point to his statistics; his 3.90 earned run average would be the highest in the Hall of Fame. But Morris was the No. 1 starter for three World Series winners ? the 1984 Detroit Tigers, the 1991 Minnesota Twins and the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays ? and has two years remaining to gain just 8.3 percentage points and reach 75 percent. Candidates have up to 15 years of eligibility on the writers? ballot.

Larkin made it on his third try. He never learned what kind of football player he would have been, but even Schembechler knew Larkin was smart to stick with baseball.

?Bo always told me he would strike me out anyway,? Larkin said. ?That was his way of saying, ?Congratulations, kid, you did it.???

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=72c76392120898aaa8ff30b3eae2e092

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Android website gets another playful easter egg added

Android Site

When Google went ahead and updated the Android website not all that long ago, they had some easter eggs built into the site at the bottom. Previously, you could go ahead and make Bugdroid do the moonwalk, wave hello and juggle among other things. If you head on over there now though -- there is a fun little snow ball tossing game in place of the previous easter eggs. No telling how long its been that way but, it's the little, clever things that make us happy.

Source: Android; Thanks, David!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/S2WWzwkzSds/story01.htm

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Single blue fin tuna fetches record price of $700,00 at Japan's Tsukiji fish market http://t.co/xqvZhITX #ocean #bluefin

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Source: http://www.healthebay.org/connect/twitter/single-blue-fin-tuna-fetches-record-price-70000-japans-tsukiji-fish-market-httptcoxq

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NASA questions Apollo 13 cmdr's right to sell list (AP)

MIAMI ? NASA is questioning whether Apollo 13 commander James Lovell has the right to sell a 70-page checklist from the flight that includes his handwritten calculations crucial in guiding the damaged spacecraft back to Earth.

The document was sold by Heritage Auctions in November for more than $388,000, some 15 times its initial list price. The checklist gained great fame as part of a key dramatic scene in the 1995 film "Apollo 13" in which actor Tom Hanks plays Lovell making the calculations.

After the sale, NASA contacted Lovell and Heritage to ask whether Lovell had title to the checklist. Greg Rohan, president of Dallas-based Heritage, said Thursday the sale has been suspended pending the outcome of the inquiry. The checklist, he said, is being stored for now in the company's vault.

Rohan said Lovell provided a signed affidavit that he had clear title to the ring-bound checklist, which is standard procedure. Heritage does robust business in space memorabilia and has worked with many former astronauts, he added.

"It's one that is near and dear to our hearts," Rohan said of the space collectibles business. "We, like a lot of people, consider these astronauts to be national heroes."

The Apollo 13 moon mission was aborted about 200,000 miles from Earth when an oxygen tank exploded on April 13, 1970, causing another tank to fail and seriously jeopardizing the three-man crew's ability to return home. Astronaut Jack Swigert famously said "Houston, we've had a problem here" after the explosion, according to a NASA history of the flight.

The crew was forced to move into the lunar landing module for the return flight. Lovell's calculations on the checklist were key in transferring navigation data from the command craft to the lunar module.

In an email to Heritage, NASA Deputy Chief Counsel Donna M. Shafer said there appeared to be "nothing to indicate" that the agency had ever transferred ownership of the checklist to Lovell.

"Only NASA has the authority to clear NASA property for sale," Shafer said in the email, which was provided by NASA to The Associated Press.

She said the matter has been turned over to NASA's Office of Inspector General, adding that "there is potential risk of the items being seized by the government until title issues have been resolved."

Lovell, 83, who lives near Chicago and owns a restaurant bearing his name in Lake Forest, Ill., did not immediately respond to a telephone message left Thursday with his assistant.

NASA has also raised questions about title rights for two items Heritage had sold from Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweikart: a lunar module identification plate that brought more than $13,000 and a hand controller bid at $22,705. The space agency also targeted a fourth item, a hand glove worn by Alan Shepard during training for Apollo 14 that brought more than $19,000.

The letters follow a federal lawsuit NASA filed last year in Miami against Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell seeking return of a camera he brought back from his 1971 moon mission. That lawsuit was settled in October when Mitchell agreed to give the camera to NASA, which in turn is donating it to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

Mitchell's attorney had argued prior to the settlement that NASA officials told astronauts long ago they could keep certain equipment from the missions, and many such items wind up on auction house lists. A 1972 NASA memo seems to back up that claim, requiring only that the astronauts provide the agency with lists of items in their possession.

Apollo 15 astronauts were reprimanded after they took unauthorized, special envelopes to the moon with stamps that were cancelled shortly after their return in 1971. They had a deal with a German stamp dealer who later sold them for $1,500 each.

___

Follow Curt Anderson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Miamicurt.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120106/ap_on_sc/us_nasa_lovell_checklist

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Lone Star Park's simulcast building goes toe-to-toe with sports bars

by JIM DOUGLAS

Bio | Email

WFAA

Posted on January 5, 2012 at 3:49 AM

GRAND PRAIRIE - Lone Star Park wants to move to the front of the sports-bar pack.

"In the past people would come out here and it was only horse racing," said spokesman Brian Pochman. "Now you can come out here and you don't have to worry about missing the Cowboys or the Rangers."

The massive simulcast building next to the grandstands has been completely renovated, with new terminals, walls of high-definition TV's, a VIP lounge and upscale bar.

Since Global Gaming Solutions bought the track last year, it's pumped well over a million dollars into upgrades.

"This is awesome," said customer Don Brogdon. "I mean awesome."

Brogdon has been coming to Lone Star for about eight years.

"I've been to a number of [gambling facilities,]" Brogdon said. "This is the nicest I've been to."

Unlike tracks in neighboring states, Lone Star Park does not also have the lure of casino gambling. It has struggled for years.

So track owners hope to reach out to all sports fans who want a high-tech sports bar, with a little added kick.

"It's the only bar in the metroplex where you can come in and actually sit at the bar, and drink a beer and bet a horse race, if you want," Pochman said.

And if you're looking for a tip, look up Don Brogdon. We asked him if he was winning or losing Wednesday.

"Right now I'm even," he said. "So that's winning."

E-mail jdouglas@wfaa.com

Source: http://www.wfaa.com/video/featured-videos/Renovations-have-Lone-Star-ParkS--136704998.html

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It's a matter of trust

?

Like a smooth politician, Theo Epstein went on a listening tour after he took this job to find out what went wrong. The overwhelming response from players and staffers: Carlos Zambrano had to go.

The Cubs reached a point of no return on Aug. 12 last season, when Zambrano left Turner Field during the middle of a game and headed to the team?s luxury hotel in downtown Atlanta.

The official end of an era came Thursday, with the Cubs trading Zambrano and roughly $15.5 million to the Miami Marlins for Chris Volstad, a 25-year-old right-hander for the back end of their rotation.

Zambrano waived his no-trade clause to play for old friend Ozzie Guillen, who might be the only manager in baseball not afraid of this experiment blowing up in his face.

?I'm not big on labels (or) reputations dictating how I treat people or how I think about people,? Epstein said. ?This was one where it was really consistent. Every player that I talked to articulated to me that Carlos had really violated their trust.

?When you're talking about physical altercations with teammates repeatedly ? (and) physically walking out on the team ? it?s very hard to then have that player come back in the clubhouse and be trusted.

?Do I believe in second chances? Yes. Do I believe in third chances? Yes, in some cases even fourth chances. But I think you have to be realistic about it (when) you?re trying to establish a certain sense of unity (and purpose) in the clubhouse. (You) have to have accountability.?

Zambrano voided a potential vesting option for 2013, which would have been triggered with an unlikely top-four finish this season in the Cy Young vote.

For the final bill, the Marlins will subtract whatever Volstad earns through arbitration ? a projected $2.5 million ? from the $18 million owed to Zambrano in 2012. The Cubs will pay the difference.

Zambrano and the players union also settled their grievance over the approximately $3 million he didn?t get in the final weeks of last season. That temper tantrum will essentially cost Zambrano six days? pay ($600,000), though he recoups $2.4 million.

The night Zambrano told people he felt like he was stealing money and ready for retirement, Epstein was still running the Red Sox, a team that would wake up the next morning in first place, two games up on the hated Yankees and 29 games over .500.

An epic collapse ? the Boston media produced sensational stories about players drinking beer and eating fried chicken in the clubhouse during games ? helped push Epstein to the North Side.

The president of baseball operations publicly allowed for the possibility of Zambrano earning his way back onto the team. Back in November, Epstein and Zambrano were part of a group that had lunch at the Goose Island brewpub in Wrigleyville, where the pitcher made it known that his first choice was to stay in Chicago.

Epstein said the Cubs would explore trade possibilities. Zambrano and Guillen stayed in touch throughout the offseason. It was no secret that South Beach would be a very soft landing spot.

?The people who?ve been around the situation over the years have heard before that there?s going to be change,? Epstein said. ?They?ve heard before that there?s going to be a new attitude and they've been burned ? physical altercations, deserting the team. (There) was a breakdown of trust.

?It made it clear in my mind this wasn?t just a sort of mob mentality. There wasn?t unfair momentum to run this guy out of town. This was a very legitimate situation. It would have been difficult for him to re-establish himself (and) earn the trust of his teammates back ? (and) for us to establish the kind of culture that we want in the clubhouse.?

The notebooks are going to fill up fast in Little Havana, where the Marlins need to sell tickets to the state-of-the-art ballpark they?ll unveil.

Zambrano can show the beat writers the correct way to break a bat over your knee, where you should hold your hands. The key, he said one morning last year inside the Wrigley Field dugout, is where you hold your hands and making sure to focus on one spot in the middle.

If you go too far one way or another, Zambrano explained, you?ll wind up on the disabled list. That was Big Z, swinging from one extreme to another, laugh-out-loud funny to vein-popping angry.

Will Zambrano snap? Even Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest didn?t seem to be completely sold.

?We went with Ozzie on this one,? Beinfest told Miami reporters. ?We think the change of scenery will be beneficial to (Zambrano). Is everything going to be perfect and is it going to be incident-free? I think it would be hard to say that given the guy?s history, but Ozzie is very confident he can help him.?

Stay tuned. But Epstein made sure he wasn?t going to be the one getting calls from reporters late at night, asking for comment on what Zambrano did this time.?

Source: http://www.csnchicago.com/baseball-chicago-cubs/news/Listening-to-Cubs-Epstein-saw-no-reason-?blockID=625788&feedID=661

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fcn: @EverydayFinance and for the record, Huntsman looks the best based on the google search box metric.

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