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May 16th
Source: USA TODAY
Larry Bird is quitting, taking his ball and going home.
OK, maybe he’s not. He’s said no decision has been made yet about whether he’ll remain as president of the Indiana Pacers, contrary to some reports. but how else to get anyone to pay attention to this team?
The Pacers are the unidentified object just beginning to show up on the radar screen of the NBA playoffs.
They’re the team most likely to need name tags. They owned the fifth best record in the league during the season — better than the Boston Celtics or the Los Angeles Lakers— but who knew? That apparently included the local customers, as the Pacers finished 29th in the NBA in attendance, behind even the Charlotte Bobcats, who went 7-59.
And they might be the team to give the Miami Heat the most anxious moments in the Eastern Conference. probably find that out the next round.
“I think we’re a little lost under the radar,” Danny Granger was saying Tuesday after the Pacers finished off the Orlando Magic in five games, Indiana’s first playoff advancement in seven years. “That’s fine with us. If you’re lost under the radar, you can sneak up on people a little easier.”
The Bankers Life Fieldhouse crowd was chanting “Beat the Heat.” lately, anyone around here saying that in may was trying to market air conditioners for the summer.
Trouble selling basketball in Indiana? Isn’t that a little like trouble selling zebras to lions?
But the big problems are fading for this franchise. Lousy records. Off-court transgressions by former players. Peyton Manning and the Colts owning the city.
The new wave behaves itself, and Manning is now a Denver Bronco. might be some cap space in the Indianapolis attention span for its basketball team. “I think with Peyton leaving, it’s definitely helped us a little bit,” swingman Paul George said.
The Pacers seem to take lack of national recognition with grace, figuring the future can fix anything. “I guess we have to prove ourselves,” George said.
“I don’t know if that means a whole lot to us,” said forward David West, an important addition. “other than we’re trying to go about it the best possible way. this group is young, but we’re hungry. We’ve got good character guys.”
“You’ll get credit when you have success,” guard George Hill added.
Pushing Miami, for instance.
“We feel like this is just the beginning of a big run,” coach Frank Vogel said. “We know a team can beat any crew of superstars. We preach team play. We watched what the Dallas Mavericks did in the playoffs last year.”
You’ve been warned, Heat. Once you shake off the New York Knicks, you’re about to be Mavericked. If only the Pacers had Dirk Nowitzki.
The playoffs here have played to full houses, and while that shouldn’t be noteworthy in Indiana, it is. the natives had grown a little restless — or even worse, disinterested — with the pace of Bird’s promised revival four years ago. and had he not been a cherished state treasure, he would have been more of a target.
There is some thought he’s ready to step down, now that the turnaround is clear. Or might he want to stay a tad longer to see where it all goes? Bird isn’t saying yet.
What he did say, standing in the fieldhouse hallway the other day, is how much he wanted to see the end of sections of empty seats at Pacers games.
“our players knew they weren’t showing up,” Bird said. “To bring high quality players here — they ask a lot of questions. They see it on TV. it helps when you have big crowds for a lot of reasons. First thing most of these guys do is look up there and see how many people are here tonight.
“I understand we’re coming out of a recession and it is not cheap to come to one of our games. I grew up poor. my goal four years ago was to change the culture, and bring in guys I like to watch play. I know if I like to watch them, our fans will like to watch them. It’s been a slow process.”
It seems to be working. Don’t worry if you have noticed yet. Lots of people haven’t.
Copyright © 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. inc.
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Ali Fedotowsky: Why Bachelorette’s Jef Is a Perfect Match for Emily Maynard
May 15th
Emily Maynard seemed especially smitten by single dads Doug and Tony on Monday’s Bachelorette premiere, but former ABC leading lady Ali Fedotowsky says it’s Jef who’s a better match.
“I am loving Jef with one F!” Fedotowsky, ABC’s 2010 Bachelorette, told Us Weekly at a Los Angeles viewing party Monday. “I just think he is spunky and I want to be friends with him!”
RECAP: What you missed on Monday’s episode of The Bachelorette
Having given Brad Womack‘s ex Maynard, 26, advice before she began her search for love in Charlotte, N.C., Fedotowsky tells Us that Jef fits Maynard’s profile of her ideal guy. “She says she likes guys who are tattooed and a little more on the rougher side,” explains the newly-single Fedotwsky. “Jef could possibly be [a frontrunner] because he seems like he’s a little funky, a little different and I think she’d like that.”
VIDEO: Emily warms up to race car driver Arie on the premiere
Fedotowsky — who split from her Bachelorette love match Roberto Martinez in November 2011 — also raved about race car driver Arie and single father Doug, who had his 11-year-old son write Maynard a note introducing his dad.
“Whoever ends up with Emily is going to end up with a kid. they need to know that and the great thing about Doug is that he has a child. he knows what it’s about and he obviously has a good relationship with his son based on the letter that he wrote Emily, so I think that’s going to be huge for her!”
VIDEO: Emily’s incredible bond with her daughter Ricki
Eliminating six guys at the end of Monday’s premiere, Maynard seemed optimistic with her remaining suitors. “You all have exceeded my expectations a million times over and I’m really confident that it can work out this time,” she told the men after Monday’s rose ceremony.
Tell Us: who do you think is the best Bachelorette match for Emily?
Ali Fedotowsky: Why Bachelorette’s Jef Is a Perfect Match for Emily Maynard
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May 20, 2012: Annular Eclipse For Western US Will Be Spectacular
May 15th
Lawrence LeBlond for RedOrbit.com
Something is happening in the western US that hasn’t happened in nearly two decades, and national parks from California to new Mexico are preparing for the show of a lifetime, inviting people to watch either the partial or annular solar eclipse that will occur on may 20, 2012.
It will be the first annular eclipse of the sun visible from the west coast in 18 years, and Bluewater Lake State Park will hold a special viewing program at 6:30 p.m. on the day of the event, according to a new Mexico State Parks Division news release about the event.
While the event won’t be quite as spectacular as a total solar eclipse, anyone within a 200-mile-wide strip of territory between the Oregon-California coast and northwestern Texas, should have the chance to see a rare occurrence, weather permitting of course.
The annular — “Ring of Fire” — eclipse will occur near sunset, and will be visible in some of the most picturesque areas of the country, including the Grand Canyon and 32 other national parks.
“This will be spectacular,” National Park Service (NPS) Director Jonathan B. Jarvis told EarthSky.org. “Redwoods National Park and Lassen Volcanic National Park, both in California; Zion National Park in Utah, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona and Canyon De Chelly National Monument and Petroglyph National Monument, both in new Mexico;” these are all parks located near the central path of the eclipse.
The annular eclipse on may 20 will provide an excellent show for those standing on the central line of the eclipse. it will resemble a bulls-eye, with a ring of the Sun visible around the Moon. The Moon would need to be closer to Earth for it to produce a total eclipse, which would block out the Sun completely and cast a large shadow on the Earth.
Jarvis compared an annular event to that of Pac-Man taking a bite out of the Sun. “That ‘bite’ will take out 55 to 80 percent of the disk of the sun, depending on where you are, and that’s still a very special experience,” Jarvis told MSNBC’s Cosmic Log writer Alan Boyle.
For those who cannot get to the central line to view the annular eclipse, there is still a spectacular partial eclipse to see. of course this event will be mainly a western event and those east of the Mississippi will not get much of a show.
Even though this is not a total eclipse, it is important for viewers to wear special solar glasses or other protection to view the event. Proper safety eyewear is available for less than a dollar from Telescopes.net. Eclipse shades are available as well from Rainbow Symphony and other online vendors.
For those who wish not to get spendy, you can also put a solar filter on your telescope or binoculars. The filters should be specially designed for solar viewing, and regular sunglasses will not do the trick. and as for your camera, taking a picture of the Sun directly is a good way to damage your point-and-shoot.
NASA’s top eclipse expert, Fred Espenak, offers a guide to photographing any kind of solar eclipse easily and safely at http://mreclipse.com/MrEclipse.html .
Another way to view the eclipse is to fashion a “pinhole camera” from a box, aluminum foil and a sheet of white paper. Go to http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/how.html to see how to make this easy and affordable viewing device.
Perhaps the simplest way to get a sense of the eclipse is to just find a semi-shady spot under a tree and watch the circles of sunlight falling through the leaves. During a partial eclipse, the circles will turn into half-moons or crescents. If the sun goes annular, you’ll see bright rings on the ground.
In addition to viewing the eclipse, national park rangers and astronomers from the NPS, local astronomy clubs and NASA will converge on several national parks with programs and activities for park visitors. NASA has put up a clickable map online that shows you when different stages of the eclipse occur for the locality you click. The times on the site, however, are in Universal Time, so you will have to subtract seven hours for Pacific Daylight Time, six hours for Mountain Time, and five hours for Central Time.
The event will be a spectacle not to be missed, as long as you have the proper gear and are in a place suitable for optimum viewing conditions. The eclipse will take place over the course of three-and-a-half hours, during which time the Moon will blot out at least part of the Sun. At least some of the eclipse may be visible from Southeast Asia to Greenland, but for the best show, you have to be in the Western US.
Perhaps the best place to see the eclipse is at Bluewater Lake State Park in the Zuni Mountains of new Mexico. The state park’s location sits just south of the eclipse centerline and the clear view across the lake to the western horizon makes it an ideal spot to witness the rare event.
While the eclipse will last for more than three hours, the “Ring of Fire” effect will only last a few minutes, 4.5 minutes to be exact. it will take place at about 7:30 p.m. as the Sun hangs low on the western horizon, according to new Mexico State Parks Division’s news release.
May 20, 2012: Annular Eclipse For Western US Will Be Spectacular
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