A police officer says a bomb near a crowded market in northwest Pakistan has killed 15 people.
The bombing is the third attack in as many days in or close to Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.
Police officer Riaz Khan says Tuesday's bombing …
HONG KONG (AP) — A visit by a senior Chinese leader meant to spread goodwill has instead left Hong Kong fuming over the smothering security that locals fear was aimed at muffling the media and protesters.
In the two weeks since the visit, journalists have taken to the street in protest. Professors have taken out newspaper ads and students demanded the police chief resign. Police and local leaders have been raked over in the legislature.
The uproar is the latest clash of cultures between the controlling, authoritarian government in Beijing and Hong Kong, the financial center and former British colony returned to China's control but allowed to keep its capitalism, civil …
Katie Smith hit a 3-pointer and six free throws in the final seconds and finished with 25 points to help the Washington Mystics hand the Phoenix Mercury their sixth straight loss, 107-104 in the WNBA on Thursday.
Crystal Langhorne added 21 points and nine rebounds for Washington (11-5), which has won seven of eight to move within 1 1/2 games of Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta.
Penny Taylor and Candice Dupree each had 23 points for the defending WNBA champion Mercury (5-11), while league scoring leader Diana Taurasi, playing with a bruised back, had 11 points in 27 minutes.
Sparks 73, Silver Stars 63
At Los Angeles, Tina Thompson …
DAILY MAIL SPORTSWRITER
ONA - When the opponent brings two seniors to your gym scoring 20points per game, Cabell Midland's Jim Stewart doesn't even need the"Coach" in front of his name to figure out a defensive strategy. "You have to make Patrick (O'Malley) and Phillip (Crum) earntheirs," he said. "And we thought we could do that."
Second-ranked George Washington's all-state duo combined for 46points on Friday night at The Castle, including all 37 of the team'ssecond half output.
Eight other Patriots played, but among them fired only three post-halftime shots.
Meanwhile, sixth-ranked Cabell Midland dispersed the ball amongits seven Knights in the 57-56 …
Machuca. Dir. Andr�s Wood. Chile/Spain/United Kingdom/France, 2004. 121 min.
What was particularly terrible about Gen. Augusto Pinochet's takeover of the democratic government of Chile on September 11, 1973 was not just the destruction of a constitutional democracy (albeit one that, with the connivance of the United States the right wing had already effectively destroyed). Rather, it was the revelation of the stunningly self-serving myth of several political sectors that Chile was, in fact, a democracy of long standing. Despite enormous class divisions, despite enormous economic disparities, despite a feudal oligarchy coupled with a cynical know-nothing bourgeoisie, Chile was …
The fallout from Plaxico Burress' self-inflicted gunshot wound may still cause problems for New York Giants middle linebacker Antonio Pierce and affect the team's bid for a second straight Super Bowl title.
Just days after Burress accidentally shot himself in the right thigh at a Manhattan nightclub, the Giants fined and suspended the star receiver on Tuesday for four games _ the rest of the regular season. The team also placed him on the reserve non-football injury list, which means he won't be back for the playoffs, either.
"When you lose a player of Plaxico's ability, it is incumbent that everybody step up and fill the void," coach Tom Coughlin …
Robert Prechter, the market guru who advised his clients to sellimmediately after the Dow hit its all-time high of 1,909.03 on July2, has now turned bullish again, following the Dow's roughly140-point decline. "This is a super time to buy," he tells me.
Prechter thinks the Dow will drop to 1,720 at most, and hepredicts the market will resume its upward trend within two weeks.He sees a potential rebound to 2,000 before a stiff selloff in thefourth quarter knocks the Dow back to the 1,700s. Prechter thenlooks for …
BERLIN - Three suspected Islamic militants were arrested on allegations of plotting attacks on the U.S. military base in Ramstein and Frankfurt's international airport, German authorities said Wednesday.
"There was an imminent threat," German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung told Germany's ARD broadcaster.
Jung told ARD broadcaster the three men were suspected of targeting the airport and base, while prosecutors said only that they had arrested three suspected members of "an Islamic-motivated terrorist organization."
The Sudwestrundfunk public broadcaster reported that two suspects had German citizenship while the third was Pakistani. It also said the men were …
Lock Isaac Ross will make his debut and fullback Mils Muliaina will become the All Blacks' 64th test captain when New Zealand opens its international season against France at Dunedin on Saturday.
Ross, 24, is the son of former All Blacks lock Jock Ross and former New Zealand women's rugby representative Christine Ross. He was named Tuesday to partner his Canterbury Crusaders teammate Brad Thorn in a lineup which is severely weakened by injuries.
"He's a genuine middle of the lineout player and he's a genuine athlete," coach Graham Henry said of Ross. "So he's got all the bits and pieces to develop into a top international lock. I think he'll …
When the Indy cars line up today at Road America in Elkhart Lake,Wis., it will be only the latest battle in a 10-year war.
In 1983, Mario Andretti was driving for the Paul Newman-CarlHaas team - now one of the most potent in racing - when he won RoadAmerica. Roger Penske, whose team had previously dominated thesport, was not pleased, and war was declared. Since then,Newman-Haas has claimed 42 victories, Penske 38. And while NigelMansell is Newman-Haas' best driver and Emerson Fittipaldi hasreplaced Penske's Rick Mears, things are basically still the same.
Besides the conflict between the teams, the drivers also areengaged in fierce competition for the PPG Cup. …
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A Venezuelan diplomat said Thursday that President Hugo Chavez played a behind-the-scenes role in efforts to secure the freedom of two Americans who were released from prison by Iran this week.
Deputy Foreign Minister Temir Porras said Venezuela's government was approached for help last year by friends and supporters of the two men, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer.
Porras said Chavez, who is a strong critic of Washington yet expresses friendship for the U.S. people, believed the Americans' account that they were simply hiking when they were detained in 2009 along the Iran-Iraq border and accused of spying.
He said Chavez made his plea on the …
George Galloway, recently elected MP in the British Parliament, was accused by some U.S. politicians, including Senator Norm Coleman, of profiting from Iraq's oil-for-food program. Galloway asked for an opportunity to clear his name, and was allowed to testify before Senator Coleman's Senate sub-committee on May 17. His explosive speech clearing his name and blasting the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq received scant coverage in the U.S. and Canadian media. We provide the highlights below.- ED.
Senator, I am not now, nor have I ever been, an oil trader. And neither has anyone on my behalf. I have never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one, sold one-and neither has anyone on my behalf.
Now, I know that standards have slipped in the last few years in Washington, but for a lawyer you are remarkably cavalier with any idea of justice. I am here today, but last week you already found me guilty. You traduced my name around the world without ever having asked me a single question, without ever having contacted me, without ever having written to me or telephoned me, without any attempt to contact me whatsoever. And you call that justice.
I told the world that Iraq, contrary to your claims, did not have weapons of mass destruction.
I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to al-Qaeda.
I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to the atrocity on 9/11, 2001.
I told the world, contrary to your claims, that the Iraqi people would resist an American and British invasion of their country and that the fall of Baghdad would not be the beginning of the end, but merely the end of the beginning.
Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong, and 100,000 people paid with their lives-1,600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies; 15,000 of them wounded, many of them disabled forever, and all on a pack of lies.
Now, I want to deal with the pages that relate to me in this dossier and I want to point out areas where there are-let's be charitable and say errors. Then I want to put this in the context where I believe it ought to be. On the very first page of your document about me, you assert that I have had "many meetings" with Saddam Hussein. This is false.
I have had two meetings with Saddam Hussein, once in 1994 and once in August of 2002. By no stretch of the English language can that be described as "many meetings."
As a matter of fact, I met Saddam Hussein exactly the same number of times as Donald Rumsfeld met him. The difference is that Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns and to give him maps the better to target those guns. I met him to try and bring about an end to sanctions, suffering and war, and on the second of the two occasions, I met him to try and persuade him to let Dr Hans Blix and the United Nations weapons inspectors back into the country-a rather better use of two meetings with Saddam Hussein than your own secretary of State for Defense made of his.
I was an opponent of Saddam Hussein when British and Americans governments and businessmen were selling him guns and gas. You will see from the official parliamentary record, Hansard, from March 15, 1990 onwards, voluminous evidence that I have a rather better record of opposition to Saddam Hussein than you do and than any other member of the British or American governments do.
You say in this document-you have the gall to quote a source, without ever having asked me whether the allegation from the source was true-that I am "the owner of a company which has made substantial profits from trading in Iraqi oil."
Senator, I do not own any companies, beyond a small company whose entire purpose, whose sole purpose, is to receive the income from my journalistic earnings from my employer, Associated Newspapers, in London. I do not own a company that's been trading in Iraqi oil. And you have no business to carry a quotation, utterly unsubstantiated and false, implying otherwise.
You have nothing on me, Senator, except my name on lists of names from Iraq, many of which have been drawn up after the installation of your puppet government in Baghdad. You have my name on lists provided to you by the Duelfer inquiry, provided by the convicted bank robber, fraudster and conman Ahmed Chalabi who many people to their credit in your country now realize played a decisive role in leading your country into the disaster in Iraq.
There were 270 names on that list originally. That's somehow been filleted down to the names you chose to deal with in this committee. Some of the names included the former secretary to his Holiness Pope John Paul II, the former head of the African National Congress Presidential office, and many others who had one defining characteristic in common: they all stood against the policy of sanctions and war which you vociferously prosecuted and which has led us to this disaster.
You quote Dahar Yassein Ramadan. Well, you have something on me, I've never met Mr Dahar Yassein Ramadan. Your sub-committee apparently has. But I do know that he's your prisoner, I believe he's in Abu Ghraib prison. I believe he is facing war crimes charges, punishable by death. In these circumstances, knowing what the world knows about how you treat prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison, in Bagram Airbase, in Guantanamo Bay, I'm not sure how much credibility anyone would put on anything you manage to get from a prisoner in those circumstances. But you quote 13 words from Dahar Yassein Ramadan whom I have never met. If he said what he said, then he is wrong. And if you had any evidence that I had ever engaged in any actual oil transaction, if you had any evidence that anybody ever gave me any money, it would be before the public and before this committee today. What counts is not the names on the paper, what counts is where's the money? Who paid me hundreds of thousands of dollars? The answer to that is nobody. And if you had anybody who ever paid me a penny, you would have produced them today.
Now, you refer at length to a company named in these documents as Aredio Petroleum. I say to you under oath here today: I have never heard of this company, I have never met anyone from this company. I don't know who Aredio Petroleum are, but I daresay if you were to ask them they would confirm that they have never met me or ever paid me a penny.
One of the most serious mistakes you have made in this set of documents is, to be frank, a schoolboy howler. You assert on page 19, not once but twice, that the documents that you are referring to cover a different period in time from the documents covered by The Daily Telegraph which were a subject of a libel action won by me in the High Court in England late last year. You state that The Daily Telegraph article cited documents from 1992 and 1993 while you are dealing with documents dating from 2001. Senator, The Daily Telegraph's documents date identically to the documents that you were dealing with in your report here. None of The Daily Telegraph's documents dealt with the period of 1992-1993. I never set foot in Iraq until late in 1993. There could not possibly be any documents relating to Oil-for-Food matters in 1992 or 1993, because the Oil-for-Food scheme did not exist at that time.
But perhaps you were confusing The Daily Telegraph with The Christian Science Monitor, which did indeed publish on its front page a set of allegations against me very similar to the ones that your committee has made. They did indeed rely on documents which started in 1992 and 1993. But these documents were later conceded by The Christian Science Monitor itself to be forgeries. The neocon websites and newspapers in which you're such a hero, Senator, were all absolutely cock-a-hoop at the publication of The Christian Science Monitor documents. They were all absolutely convinced of their authenticity. They were all absolutely convinced that these documents showed me receiving $10 million from the Saddam regime. And they were all lies-forgeries concocted and circulated among right-wing newspapers around the world in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Iraqi regime.
I gave my heart and soul, Senator, to oppose the policy that you promoted. I gave my political life's blood to try to stop the mass killing of Iraqis by the sanctions on Iraq which killed one million Iraqis, most of them children, most of whom died before they even knew that they were Iraqis, but they died for no other reason than that they were Iraqis with the misfortune to be born at that time. I gave my heart and soul to stop you committing the disaster that you did commit in invading Iraq. And I told the world that your case for the war was built on a pack of lies.
If the world had listened to Kofi Annan, whose dismissal you demanded; if the world had listened to President Chirac of France, who you paint as some kind of corrupt traitor; if the world had listened to the anti-war movement, we would not be in the mess that we are in today. Senator, this is the mother of all smokescreens. You are trying to divert attention from the crimes that you supported, from the theft of billions of dollars of Iraq's wealth.
Have a good look at the real Oil-for-Food scandal. Have a look at the 14 months you were in charge of Baghdad, the first 14 months when $8.8 billion of Iraq's wealth went missing on your watch. Have a look at Halliburton and other American corporations that stole not only Iraq's money, but the money of the American taxpayer.
Have a look at the oil that you didn't even meter, that you were shipping out of the country and selling, the proceeds of which went who knows where? Have a look at the $800 million you gave to American military commanders to hand out around the country without even counting it or weighing it.
Have a look at the real scandal breaking in the newspapers today, revealed in the earlier testimony in this committee-that the biggest sanctions busters were not me or French politicians. The real sanctions busters were your own companies, with the connivance of your own government.
[Sidebar]
"Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong, and 100,000 people paid with their lives, 1,600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies."
[Sidebar]
"If the world had listened to Kofi Annan, whose dismissal you demanded; if the world had listened to French President Chirac, whom you try to paint as a traitor; if the world had listened to the anti-war movement, we would not be in the mess we are in today."
A suicide car bomber killed a policeman in an attack Tuesday on a government building in eastern Afghanistan, a day after a similar blast left four people including two NATO soldiers dead, officials said.
The car bomber tried to ram into the building in the Tani district of Khost province, but Afghan guards opened fire _ causing the vehicle to explode before it entered the compound, said Khost Gov. Arsallah Jamal.
A policeman was killed and five other people, including an Afghan soldier, were wounded, said district police chief Guldat Hamim.
The attack came a day after another bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the gates of a government building in the Yaqoubi district of Khost, causing part of the building to collapse and trapping some soldiers inside, NATO said.
Four people, including two NATO soldiers, were killed in that attack and 19 others, including 15 soldiers, were wounded, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. NATO officials previously said only four soldiers were wounded in the explosion.
"Because of the damages, it took the recovery team an extended time to assess the number of people affected by the explosion," the ISAF statement said.
NATO did not disclose the soldiers' nationalities, but the majority of international forces in Khost are American.
Militants regularly use suicide and roadside attacks in their fight against Afghan and foreign troops in the country.
Last year was the deadliest in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. More than 6,500 people _ mostly militants _ were killed in insurgency-related violence, according to an Associated Press count.
___
Associated Press Writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (AP) — MSNBC has suspended a political analyst for an off-color remark about President Barack Obama on the "Morning Joe" show on Thursday.
Mark Halperin, a Time magazine editor at large, quickly apologized on the air and in a statement.
Still, MSNBC suspended him indefinitely and Halperin said he believed the action was appropriate.
Halperin made the comment while discussing Obama's performance at a news conference a day earlier. "I thought he was a dick yesterday," Halperin said.
MSNBC said Halperin's comment was "completely inappropriate and unacceptable" and apologized to the president.
Maria Kirilenko rallied to beat 18th-seeded Nadia Petrova 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 Wednesday in the first round of the Italian Open
The match began on Tuesday but was stopped due to rain with Kirilenko ahead 2-1 in the third set.
The 26th-ranked Kirilenko won the first clay-court title of her career at the Estoril Open last month. This event is another clay-court warmup for the French Open, which begins May 25.
In another match that began Tuesday, Ekaterina Makarova upset 13th-seeded Nicole Vaidisova 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Also, Alize Cornet routed Vera Dushevina 6-1, 6-3.
Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic and No. 2 Maria Sharapova were in action later.
Ivanovic faced Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova and Sharapova was up against Dominika Cibulkova in the night match at the Foro Italico.
THE Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is all fired upabout Marshall University's policy on free speech, going so far asto name it as the "Speech Code of the Month," a way of blastingcolleges for prohibiting a "staggering amount of constitutionallyprotected speech."
This was based on Marshall's written policies.
Yet when interviewed by Davin White of the Charleston Gazette,Robert Shibley, the foundation's senior vice president, apparentlycould not cite an example of suppression at Marshall.
In fact, Shibley had to concede that Marshall did the right thingin at least one instance.
Marshall officials cited a student last spring for defacing asidewalk chalk message that announced an upcoming meeting of theLambda organization, a group friendly to gay, lesbian, bisexual andtransgender students.
The student was offended by the group's message. Punishing himactually protected free speech.
Shibley of FIRE said his group would not have defended the manwho defaced the message.
Another case involved a student who wore a hockey mask like aserial killer does in horror films and frightened several students.Shibley said schools don't need speech codes to deal with suchactivity. University officials could simply approach the student andask him not to wear the mask.
But Marshall officials handled the situation carefully. Theycited an old state law that bars the wearing of masks except onHalloween or in bad weather.
The law stems from the days when the Ku Klux Klan had influencein West Virginia.
Marshall officials got a bad rap here, but to their credit, theyare taking a look at what their critic had to say.
"If we are restricting free speech, we're going to take a hardlook at it and not take it lightly," said Steve Hensley, dean ofstudent affairs.
That's the mature reaction.
Officials at Marshall have a duty to provide a safe and orderlyatmosphere in which students can learn. In punishing someone fordefacing a message he did not like, and in telling someone to takeoff a hockey mask, Marshall officials did the right thing.
FIRE might want to review its policies. In citing Marshal withoutany real examples, the foundation looks more like a publicity-seeking group than it does a serious advocate of free speech.
SASABE, Mexico - Mexican druglords are taking over the business of smuggling migrants into the United States, using them as human decoys to divert authorities from billions of dollars in cocaine shipments across the same border.
U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that drug traffickers, in response to a U.S. border crackdown, have seized control of the routes they once shared with human smugglers and in the process are transforming themselves into more diversified crime syndicates.
The drug gangs get protection money from the migrants and then effectively use them to clear the trail for the flow of drugs.
Undocumented aliens are used "to maneuver where they want us or don't want us to be," said Alonzo Pena, chief of investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Arizona.
Gustavo Soto, a spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol in Tucson, Ariz., said smugglers are carrying drugs along paths once used primarily by migrants. New fences and National Guard troops have helped seal the usual drug routes, and vehicle barriers are forcing traffickers to send more drugs north on the backs of cartel foot soldiers, he said.
"We have been able to seal many of the drug routes by adding technology and more agents," Soto said. "We're seeing a tremendous amount of drugs being seized."
The advent of drug-trafficking extortionists along the border may also be responsible for much of the drop in illegal immigration that U.S. officials have attributed more directly to better enforcement, Mexican officials and analysts say.
The new order became clear in December when heavily armed men stopped 12 vans packed with 200 migrants on a desolate desert road just south of the border. Local officials say they ordered everyone out, doused the vehicles with gasoline and set them ablaze.
Nobody was hurt, but the charred carcasses of the vehicles remain an unmistakable message to the thousands of migrants traveling north on the border's top people-smuggling route.
Since then, members of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel have consolidated control of most of the main routes into Arizona, using teams of gunmen to set up the haggard border-crossers as decoys for U.S. security, U.S. and Mexican officials said.
Just south of the Arizona border, near the key people-smuggling waystation of Sasabe, armed men at a gas station stop vans full of migrants heading north, charging them $90 each and dictating when and where they can cross, migrants and local officials told the AP.
At times, the migrants are pooled and sent across in large numbers at one time of the day, clearing the route for a drug shipment a short time later. Smugglers also direct migrants away from successful drug routes in hopes of minimizing the manpower U.S. authorities assign to the area.
"The drug traffickers won't allow migrants to enter because the area will 'heat up' and the U.S. Border Patrol will be on alert," one local Mexican official said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. "They want control so they can 'cool off' the area and go in with their cargo."
While the Sinaloa cartel controls the Arizona border, its main rival, the Gulf cartel, has become involved in the people-smuggling business along the Texas border, according to Noe Ramirez, a Mexican deputy attorney general. Ramirez described the development recently as he announced the detention of five people who allegedly moved drugs and migrants into the U.S. for the Gulf cartel.
Federal police have seen the same trend.
"Drug smugglers are shifting toward people- and arms-smuggling," said Patricio Patino, a top Mexican security official.
People-smuggling is only part of the cartels' new efforts to diversify.
The Mexican border is providing a less reliable profit stream for drug smugglers, analysts and law enforcement officials say. The U.S. seized 20 percent more cocaine and 28 percent more marijuana along the border in the past six months, compared with the same period a year earlier. And last month, Mexican police made the world's largest seizure of drug cash - $207 million neatly stacked inside a Mexico City mansion - allegedly for a methamphetamine factory that would have produced 3 million pills a day for the U.S. market.
The cartels now collect protection money from all manner of businesses, much like traditional U.S. mafia organizations. In many parts of Mexico, the cartels now dictate everything from who shines shoes on street corners to who is chosen as police chief.
President Felipe Calderon vowed two weeks ago to intensify his crackdown on the cartels in response to violence. Headless or tortured bodies turn up in public places nearly every day, many with notes threatening local authorities. On April 16 alone, some 20 bodies were discovered across Mexico, all believed to be victims of drug violence.
The border has become especially bloody, and some of the violence appears to be connected to people-smuggling. On Monday, police found the gagged and bullet-riddled bodies of two men near Sasabe. The wife of one of the victims, Enrique Sotelo Gonzalez, said he had complained of having to pay "fees" to armed men for the right to drive migrants to the border, according to state police.
Mexican officials say the violence is scaring would-be migrants.
In the 10 months since the arrival of National Guard troops, 271,195 people have been detained along the Arizona border, an 18 percent drop over the period a year ago, according to the Border Patrol.
"Now migrants are facing two sets of controls: the U.S. Border Patrol and criminals," a Mexican immigration official said on condition of anonymity. "But the criminals are scaring them away because they return to their towns and tell people how bad things were for them."
At the gas station in the town of Altar, drug traffickers collect their fees along the sandy, 60-mile road that migrants in vans and buses take to Sasabe before continuing north on foot, officials and migrants say.
Andrea Aguilar, a 41-year-old from southern Mexico, said she was stopped with 26 other migrants at the gas station, where the men demanded $45 from each migrant and another $45 each from their smuggler.
Her group was allowed to cross hours later, walking in the dark along sandy paths where the Border Patrol chased them down. She tried twice more by crawling under a metal fence and was sent back each time.
"After everything I lived through," she said at a migrant shelter on the Mexican side, "I won't risk my life again."
---
Associated Press writer E. Eduardo Castillo contributed to this report from Mexico City.
----
On the Net:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Web site: http://www.cbp.gov/
After the heartbreak of a devastating loss, many dejected sportsfans often ask themselves, "Why do I put myself through this?"
As it turns out, it's a question psychologists have pondered anddebated at length over the years.
To put so much time, energy, sweat and sometimes tears intowatching the rise and fall of a team's season can be baffling forthose who don't share a sports fan's passion.
"It's only a game," those people say.
Except, as the true fan knows, it's much more than that.
But what drives a person to devote so much of himself or herselfto a particular team or player? What does the sports fan really getfor his or her avid spectatorship?
A lot, actually, psychologists say.
One widespread theory suggests it fulfills a primal or tribalurge inherent in the human species.
"Some people say it's the moral equivalent of going to warwithout having to kill anyone," said Sky Kershner, with the KanawhaPastoral Counseling Center.
Meanwhile, Edward Hirt, an Indiana psychologist who has studiedthe motives behind sports fandom extensively, said fans are able toderive a sense of emotional awareness, community involvement andpersonal belonging they don't find elsewhere.
"It's like a religious experience when the team is playing," saidHirt, who works as an associate professor at the University ofIndiana.
"Feeling a part of that and not feeling isolated in the world isan important thing."
Perhaps the most essential point for Mountaineer fans to rememberthis week, as they are recovering from the devastating 57-78 FinalFour loss to Duke University Saturday night, is that the bondbetween people rooting for the same team remains strong, win orlose.
Kershner recalled the stunned silence inside Milan Puskar Stadiumtwo years ago after West Virginia University's football team lost torival University of Pittsburgh with a trip to the nationalchampionship on the line.
Kershner said he pulled out his video camera to try to capturethe eerie moment.
"There's something very community building about that, even in aterrible loss," he said.
Both Kershner and Hirt agreed being a fervent fan is a fairlyhealthy habit.
"There are a lot worse things you can be addicted to," Kershnersaid.
There is little doubt the enthusiasm fans feel for their teamscarries over into other aspects of life.
In the late '80s and early '90s, Hirt conducted a study of fansat the University of Indiana, during a time when the school'sbasketball team was nationally competitive under the tutelage ofCoach Bobby Knight.
Hirt and his colleagues put Hoosier fans through a series oftests following big wins and losses by the university.
Fans were asked to do things like demonstrate problem-solvingskills, compete in small challenges like shooting mini basketballsor darts, and try their hand at gambling.
Before performing those tasks, participants were asked to predicthow well they thought they would do.
Hirt and his co-workers found when the fan's team was doing well,he or she not only performed better at the tasks assigned but alsohad higher self-esteem beforehand.
On the flip side, after a bad loss, fans were much morepessimistic and tended to perform poorly.
Hirt said there can be a danger in letting fandom interfere toomuch in one's life, and there's a point at which it can jeopardize aperson's health, family and overall stability.
"Anytime a single part of our identity overwhelms everythingelse, you're not really enriching your life," he said.
However, Kershner maintains most people are equipped with aninternal barometer that keeps them from going overboard, althoughmany fans are prone to pushing their own limits.
Consider the case of Agnes Channel, a Buckhannon native and loyalMountaineer fan, who delayed getting treatment for heart attacksymptoms until West Virginia was able to pull out a win againstVillanova in overtime.
One social theory actually assigns terminology to the behaviorexhibited by many sports fans immediately after their teams win orlose a big game.
The phenomenon is called Basking in Reflected Glory, or BIRGing,when fans are celebrating a major victory or successful season.
The logic behind BIRGing suggests fans see the team's success astheir own personal success and derive a sense of self-worth andheightened self-esteem from it.
When BIRGing, fans are more apt to don paraphernalia with theschool or franchise's logo and colors and use the pronoun "we" whendiscussing the team's accomplishments: "We did it." "We're going allthe way."
The opposite of BIRGing is known as CORFing, which stands forCutting Off Reflected Failure. This part of the theory says fans tryto distance themselves from their teams following particularlypainful losses or when the team is playing poorly.
Fans can resort back to the "they" pronoun, sometimessubconsciously, when recapping a disappointing game or bad play."They couldn't get the shots to fall." "It wasn't their night."
The CORFing fan also refrains from talking about the team for acertain time period and puts the T-shirts and other memorabilia awaytemporarily.
Severely loyal fans don't often fall victim to CORFing, however.
Instead, Hirt suggests it's those pits of despair that make manyfans feel as if they've earned the euphoria that comes with bigvictories.
"There's something we believe as fans that you have to suffer totruly be labeled a fan and by doing so, it gives you the right toreally relish in success," Hirt said.
"There's a perverse pride in that feeling of loyalty andsuffering through the losses."
It's not likely many WVU fans are CORFing after Saturday night'sgame against the Blue Devils, as one loss does not erase a stellarseason.
BOB WOJCIESZAK/DAILY MAIL Mountaineer fans Samantha Wilcox, left,Kimberly Burdette, Samantha Webb and Jason Webb cheer on the WestVirginia University mens basketball team at Buffalo Wing Wings inSouth Charleston Saturday night.
Seth Greg and his girlfriend, Tiffany Hart, lament theMountaineers loss to the Blue Devils Saturday night.
Diana Hughes and Cary Cowgill look prayerful as they watch thegame on TV.
Officials say they will impose a 30-day citywide curfew on everyone under 18 years old in this northeastern city in response to recent violence, including the shootings of seven people after a parade over the weekend.
The 9 p.m. curfew will begin Thursday and last 30 days.
Mayor Eddie Perez and Police Chief Daryl Roberts announced new public safety measures Monday.
A 16-year-old boy was fatally shot and six other people were wounded during after the city's West Indian Day parade on Saturday.
Officials will also be increasing supervision of people on probation and creating a "Most Watched List" of suspects wanted for crimes or known to be associated with illegal activities.
York is not as vibrant a city as George Waldner would like it to be. Ultimately, the state should address that problem, he said, by creating incentive programs that would reward people for buying houses or starting businesses in the city.
In the meantime, Waldner and his employer, York College, have introduced such a program. Full-time employees of the college who buy a house just north of the campus are eligible to receive $2,000 from the college, said Waldner, the college's president. The buyers can use that money for their acquisition or closing costs, he said.
Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster runs a similar program.
Up to 10 employees can participate in the York College program each year, Waldner said. The money would come from the college's operating budget. The program began in March when literature about it was included in workers' paychecks, he said.
So far, two of the college's 317 full-time employees have inquired about the program, Waldner said. None have bought a house yet, he said.
A top priority for York Mayor John Brenner's administration is to increase home ownership, said Abe Amoros, director of community development for the city of York.
The goal is to raise the percentage of homeowners in the city from 41 percent to 50 percent within five years, Amoros said.
Pennsylvania has a 72 percent rate of homeownership, which compares with a nationwide rate of 64 percent, Amoros said.
"I understand the concerns about public safety, taxes and the schools, but by buying a house in the city you get more bang for your buck," Amoros said. "We're working very hard to re-institute community policing in our neighborhoods. We're also looking to build a restaurant district downtown, like in Harrisburg."
In January, York increased its property taxes by 17 percent. Some people worry that tax hike might cause people to leave. The city's population has dropped during each of the past five decades. In 2000 the population was 40,862, a decline of 3.2 percent from 1990, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Susquehanna Real Estate Co. is another York company that is weighing what it can do.
The company might offer discounts to its workers who buy housing on city properties that it is redeveloping, said Tim Fulton, vice president of Susquehanna Real Estate.
The company also is considering an incentive for employees who buy other city residences, he said. No decisions have been made yet, he said.
Susquehanna Real Estate is working on two residential redevelopment projects in the city. One will break an old warehouse into 16 residential lofts and two commercial spaces.
The other is the development of a long-vacant lot into 12 condominium-style townhouses. The company is a division of Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff Co., a Yorkbased media and manufacturing company.
Stocks fell Friday in the busiest session ever on the New YorkStock Exchange amid a year-end selloff led by technology stocks.
The unprecedented volume also was fueled by the so-called"triple witching" expiration of stock options and futures.
The Dow Jones industrial average traded in a narrow range allday, losing a maximum of 16 points before closing the day down 5.42points at 5,176.73. Despite the minor retreat Friday, the blue-chipaverage still gained 19.87 points for the week.
Volume on the NYSE was the heaviest in history at 653.16 millionshares, topping the 608.15 million that changed hands on Oct. 20,1987, the day after the 1987 Black Monday crash. The exchange saidits trading systems had capacity to spare even in the peak periods ofthe day.
Traders wasted no time in getting down to business. More shareschanged hands in the first 16 minutes on the New York Stock Exchangethan had ever changed hands in a full first hour of trading.
Broad-market indexes were dragged down by another poorperformance of technology shares. The NYSE's composite index fell0.44 to 328.66. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index eased 0.58 to616.34. The Nasdaq composite index slipped 8.09 to 1,030.10.
"I'm bloodied," admitted Thom Brown, market strategist atRutherford, Brown & Catherwood in Philadelphia. But he added that,away from the technology sector, "the market's holding up very well.There are a lot of buyers out there for good, basic stocks."
Computer shares fell after disappointing earnings news fromApple Computer and Micron Technology.
Micron dropped 4 7/8 to 45 1/8 on the Big Board after thechipmaker posted weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings and saidchip prices will be lower in the upcoming quarter.
Cutting the state's insurance tax by one point could mean attracting more insurance companies to the state, adding 2,700 to 3,400 jobs to the state's economy and generating $100 million to $125 million in economic activity. All that, and the state would still increase revenues from the previous year.
Those are the conclusions reached by a recent report compiled by Charles Arlinghaus, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy in Concord. "This is exactly the right time [for such a tax cut]" Arlinghaus says. "While New Hampshire has been attracting some financial services jobs, we're losing insurance jobs."
Arlinghaus states that a report on the 21st Century Economy conducted a few years ago for Network NH identified the financial services industry as one of the key components of NH's new economy. "The financial services sector, which promises to be one of the faster growing sectors of the economy, offers both high wage jobs and entrylevel training jobs, takes advantage of New Hampshire's natural advantages, and is quite friendly to our environment and infrastructure," Arlinghaus states in the report.
Arlinghaus points out that in the past few years, four NH companies moved their headquarters and jobs to other states, three of which went to lower-tax states Nebraska and South Carolina, which have insurance tax rates of 1 percent and 1.25 percent versus the 2 percent rate in NH.
Ohio is also attracting insurance companies with a 1.4 percent rate.
"Without a rate reduction, New Hampshire will continue to see companies and jobs leaving the state for lowertax destinations," Arlinghaus explains. "If we cut the tax now, we'll lead the pack and won't be playing catchup. We will be dramatically lower than anyone east of Ohio and north of Carolina."
Although they are downplaying it, the Phoenix Suns have beentalking to the Sacramento Kings about trading power forwards, reserveArmon Gilliam for the Kings' veteran starter Rodney McCray.
Kings coach Jerry Reynolds has turned down the offer.
"Rodney is the last guy we can afford to trade," Reynolds said."We'd better get Michael Jordan if we are going to trade him."
The talks were sparked by bad blood between Gilliam and SunsAll-Star forward Tom Chambers, who got into a fight during practiceTuesday. Gilliam, playing on the second team, apparently wasguarding Chambers too closely. Chambers shoved Gilliam back andscratched Gilliam's left eye in the process. Gilliam shoved back andthey exchanged blows until coach Cotton Fitzsimmons stepped inbetween them.
Fitzsimmons talked to both men and got Chambers to apologize butGilliam refused to accept the apology until the three met with CEOJerry Colangelo later Tuesday.
"We met to make sure things were patched up and they are,"Gilliam said. "We both are mature enough to handle it."
"It's nobody's business anyway, but it was a pretty heavy dutypractice" Chambers said. "Things like that will happen. As far asI'm concerned, it's over."
"A year ago, this team had a free ride," said Fitzsimmons."There was no adversity, there were no major injuries or long losing streaks. Now, we have tolearn how to face all of these things and be a tougher team."
OVERPOWERING: The play of New York Knick center Patrick Ewing isopening eyes around the league.
In his first 18 games, Ewing has scored 32 points seven times ormore and has outscored his opposing starting centers 531 points (29.5average) to 216 points (12.0). Against all opposing centers startersand reserves, he has a 531-339 edge.
"Ewing might be the best player in the game right now," saidLaker center Mychal Thompson. "He and Magic Johnson are shoulder toshoulder."
"The key to Patrick is his passing," said coach Stu Jackson. "Ifhe is a threat at passing, he can not be guarded."
"Passing is the area I've had yhe most improvement since joiningthe league," Ewing said. "I've been passing well all year. It's justmore wide open now."
PERVIS OUT AGAIN: No. 1 draft pick Pervis Ellison remains a bigheartache for the Sacramento Kings.
First, he held out for his five-year, $12 million contract.Then he sat out recovering from surgery on his right heel and ankle.Now, after having played only 64 minutes four games, he is sidelinedwith tendinitis in his big right toe.
"Now it looks like he will be out until mid-March," said aninside source. "He's going to have to learn how to walk and run allover again."
PAXSON BACK: Celtics guard Jim Paxson has rallied from abenching Nov. 21 and has started the last four games, during which hehas averaged 26.6 minutes, 9.8 points and two assists a game.
Kevin Gamble, who opened the season starting, has played lessthan five minutes a game in the last four Paxson has started.
"Paxson is the one working hard in practice and that's why he'sgetting nod," said Celtic coach Jimmy Rodgers.
HURRAH FOR HERB: Herb Rudoy continues to deliver for his NBAclients.
Last week, the Chicago attorney negotiated a seven-year,$17.5-million contract for Denver Nugget center Blair Rasmussen.
It was a quick turn of fortune for Rasmussen since the Nuggetswere trying to get rid of the 7-foot, five-year veteran reserve lastsummer.
But Rasmussen's improved play gained him a starting position and Rudoy's vigorous representationhelped Rasmussen multiply his annual salary from $400,000 to $2.5million.
In the last 16 months, Rudoy has negotiated $70 million worth ofcontracts for such NBA players as Portland's Kevin Duckworth ($2million a year), Indiana's Chuck Person ($2.5 million a year), WayneCooper ($1.2 million a year), Rasmussen and others.
Rudoy says he got a kick out of new owners Peter Bynoe andBertram Lee when they had second thoughts about the deal. Theyclaimed the deal was negotiated by former owner Sidney Schlenkerwithout their knowledge and afterward asked that the contract bere-negotiated down to a five-year, $10 million deal.
"I supposed they just wanted to see if I was born yesterday,"Rudoy said.
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's president has thrown a new wrinkle into thenuclear debate by claiming his country is testing a centrifuge thatcould be used to more speedily create fuel for power plants or atomicweapons.
But some analysts familiar with the country's technology saidMonday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could be exaggeratingIran's capabilities, either to boost his own political support or topersuade the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency to back off.
The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Iran stop uraniumenrichment work, which the United States and some of its alliessuspect is meant to produce weapons.
Ahmadinejad, in a speech to students last week, claimed for thefirst time that Iran is testing a P-2 centrifuge for enrichinguranium. Such a device would be a vast improvement over the P-1centrifuges that Iran says it has used to do small-scale enrichment.
Iran previously told the International Atomic Energy Agency itgave up all work on P-2 centrifuges three years ago. It was not clearif Iran has been doing work all along on the updated model, orrecently restarted efforts, or even if Ahmadinejad's comment wasaccurate.
SECRET NUKE PROGRAM?
But his assertion is sure to raise fears that Iran might have amore sophisticated atomic program than had been believed. The IAEAand some independent groups have long questioned whether Iran mighthave a parallel, secret nuclear program that is further along.
"Our centrifuges are P-1 type. P-2, which has quadruple thecapacity, now is under the process of research and test in thecountry," Ahmadinejad told students in remarks that weren't reportedby the official Iranian news agency but were later found on thepresidential Web site.
Iran insists it is building up a nuclear program only for peacefulpurposes -- to generate electricity. But the United States and manyof its allies think the Iranians want nuclear weapons.
Iran has come under pressure in recent months to halt all uraniumenrichment, but Ahmadinejad is adamant it will press forward.
Research shows that black men can be powerful classroom role models for black boys, but principals come up short when looking for candidates
One in four CPS students is an African-American boy, but just one in 16 teachers is an African-American man. And the percentage of black male teachers is on a downward spiral, creating a teaching gap despite evidence that African-American boys benefit from the presence of male role models with similar backgrounds.
"We know that to really teach black kids, we need some black teachers," says Marvin Lynn, an expert on minority teachers and an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Some research, he adds, has established a clear link between higher test scores and students and teachers sharing gender and race.
"Teaching really is about relationships, caring," Lynn adds. "It's about communicating in healthy ways with students. And it's also about content knowledge. But knowledge in the absence of all the other things is not going to be effective."
In communities of color, such relationships may have special significance. An often- cited 1997 survey by researcher Clifton Casteel found that white students typically name their parents as the adults they try to please most with school work, but African-American students are more likely to name their teachers.
Nationally, and in CPS, the lack of black male teachers is particularly acute in elementary schools. Theorists have identified a host of reasons, from stereotypes that peg teaching as a woman's profession to fears among men that parents and administrators who hire black male teachers will see them as potential threats to children.
Yet black men may be needed most in elementary schools. Lynn says new research suggests that boys are falling behind early in their schooling, since elementary schools tend to reward conformity and quieter personalities, qualities that girls are more likely to exhibit.
"Men are more likely to understand the need boys have to be outspoken or their need to move around," Lynn explains.
Black boys may also need to see more examples of successful professionals who look like them. As Eric Carlton, president of Banner Schools, an alternative schools group in Chicago, puts it: "With African-American males, there are not enough positive role models that say school is the place to be. There are not enough opportunities for black boys to look in the mirror and say ? like who I see, and I like who I am.'"
Lynn believes this larger issue may play a central role in the shortage of black male teachers: Black boys end up bypassing an education career because they do not see enough black men in the classroom. He and others - including Nancy Slavin, the CPS officer for recruitment and workforce planning - say colleges of education need to step up their recruiting. Slavin says Chicago has had some success on this front through alternative certification programs, although she concedes that the district still needs more candidates.
In New York, the Schott Foundation is trying to build up the candidate pool through its Teachers As Leaders initiative, part of the foundation's overall effort to address the achievement gap for black b oys. New York lags behind Chicago, but not by much: Black men comprise just 4.4 percent of the city's teaching force, compared to 5.7 percent in Chicago. The Schott program, run through the city's community colleges, has already provided scholarships to 35 aspiring teachers and will add another 80 this year.
CATALYST CHICAGO'S ANALYSIS shows that African-American males are more likely to be teaching in lowerperforming and predominantly black Chicago schools.
However, Lynn cautions against misinterpreting the data to conclude that black male teachers are lagging when it comes to teaching black boys. Rather, black males may be landing jobs at lower- performing schools because principals at highperforming schools stereotype their abilities, or because principals at struggling black schools are looking to hire black male teachers.
Several principals tell Catalyst that they do actively seek out black men - and come up against the shortage first-hand.
Cheryl Armstrong-Belt at Miles Davis Academy, a recently launched magnet school in Englewood, says black men accounted for just five of the 125 teacher applicants she received last year. She hired two, including Curtis Bynum, the school's new social science teacher.
Bynum says he left Murray Language Academy in Hyde Park for the challenge of teaching in a poorer, higher-needs community. Many of his coworkers turn to him for help when disciplining boys, he says. Several of the boys in Bynum's class describe him as "friendly," "fun" and "supportive" - qualities revered by researchers like Lynn.
In March, Bynum's 7th- grade classroom happened to include two 8th- graders, who were - ac cording to their own assessment - "avoiding suspension" by skipping their math class on the day a substitute was in charge. Bynum says a substitute would have struggled with the boys, who had already been suspended multiple times, and he volunteered to take them into his class to keep them out of trouble.
While Bynum focuses on his lesson on Mesopotamian culture, the boys avoid schoolwork but play quietly on the computer. Little learning took place, but Bynum says the boys at least avoided being suspended. According to some research, more suspensions increase the odds that boys will eventually drop out of school entirely.
Two years ago, Catalyst reported on Principal Terrene e Carter's stepped- up efforts to hire black men at Barton Elementary. (See February 2007 issue.) At the time, Carter had at least one male teacher at each grade; at 7th and 8 th grade, he had five.
Now Carter is down to one black male, and reports that one left to become a principal, others left for the suburbs and some quit teaching altogether to take jobs with more lucrative pay.
Similarly, Shayne Evans, an African American who has earned a reputation for effective teaching at the University of Chicago's Woodson South Charter School, is being promoted to director of the charter network's high school campus in Woodlawn.
Woodson's teaching staff is nearly o ne -third black men, and Evans believes other schools could do the same, even given the shortage of candidates, if motivated.
In Evans' view, teachers must establish trusting yet demanding relationships with all students. He says research on Chicago schools has shown that where trust and mutual respect is high between administrators, teachers and parents, schools excel. "That must also go down to teachers and students," he adds.
But trust can be difficult to establish, especially with black boys who have been bombarded with stereotypes and negative media portrayals all their lives. Evans says male teachers can offset the problem, but ultimately all teachers need to demand more from black boys and expect excellence.
"Mainstream society, either by neglect or by design, has consistently said that African- American men are not intelligent," he says. "You have to create a counter narrative." To that end, he carefully picks books for his students that challenge the stereotypes, such as the Malcolm X biography.
Says Evans, "Students are extremely smart, and they know when you believe in them and when you do not."
Tell us what you think. Comment on this story at www.cataiyst-chicago.org.
[Sidebar]
KEY RESEARCH
* Thomas Dee's "Teachers, Race and Student Achievement in a Randomized Experiment" finds academic gains where students and teachers share the same race and gender.
* Marvin Lynn's "African-America ? Male Teachers and The Education of Children Whose Nightmares Occur both Day and Night'" reviews the small but g rowing literature on black male teachers.
* Chance Lewis' "African-American MaleTeachers in Public Schools: An Examination of Three Urban School Districts" suggests recruitment tips based on a survey of 1 47 black male teachers in Louisiana.
DENVER - The Arizona Diamondbacks lined up for their usual postgame handshakes. No wild celebration here. They had clinched a playoff berth with a 4-2 victory over Colorado and didn't even know it.
The manual scoreboard at Coors Field hadn't shown that the Mets' loss to Florida was final.
"We went out there and were like, 'We're not going to storm the field, they're still in the ninth,'" ace Brandon Webb said. "It went final and someone yelled from the dugout, 'We did it!'"
Then, the celebration of Arizona's first postseason party since 2002 really started with a scrum behind second base as the relievers rushed in from the bullpen in center field. It continued with 10 cases of champagne used to shower the clubhouse.
Left fielder Eric Byrnes didn't know until teammates told him at second that Arizona was assured of postseason play.
"These guys were yelling and screaming and all excited, they said we were going to the playoffs," he said. "Here we are, having a champagne shower and enjoying the night."
Arizona, which stopped Colorado's team-record winning streak at 11, won't find out until this weekend whether its going in as a wild card or the NL West champion, a small matter that didn't dampen exultation, even if it was delayed a bit.
"This is the best feeling I've had in baseball so far," a drenched Webb said. "This is tops on my list."
Colorado dropped two games behind San Diego, the wild-card leader, and three back of Arizona. Just two games remain.
"It's been a crazy year so far," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Maybe the craziness isn't over."
All the timely hits, defensive gems and solid pitching performances that had defined the Rockies' unlikely playoff push dissipated on a warm night in the Rockies - and Webb did his part.
Webb (18-10) solved Colorado's lineup for the first time this season. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner had been 0-3 with a 6.47 ERA in five previous starts against the Rockies this year. Still, manager Bob Melvin juggled his rotation to have Webb start the series opener at Coors Field.
"This was the guy we wanted on the mound today," Melvin said. "There was a lot of talk about him not being able to beat the Rockies. He beat the Rockies when we needed it the most."
Colorado lost for the first time since Sept. 15. The Rockies had moved back into the playoff picture with the longest winning streak in the majors this year and the longest in franchise history.
"They've been hot all year," Webb said. "They have great bats. I think they have one of the best lineups in the National League, if not the best. The roll they've been on, 10-12 straight, I knew it was going to be tough."
Webb allowed two earned runs and eight hits in seven innings. He escaped a jam in the seventh when the Rockies brought the go-ahead runner to the plate in Kaz Matsui, who grounded out to short to end the inning.
In the eighth, Matt Holliday hit a one-out double off Brandon Lyon, who came back to retire Todd Helton on a weak dribbler to the mound and got Garrett Atkins to chase a high strike three.
Jose Valverde pitched the ninth for his 47th save in 54 chances. Colorado put two on with one out in the ninth, bringing the sellout crowd of 48,190 to its feet before Valverde struck out pinch-hitter Joe Koshansky and Matsui.
"We didn't get that big barrel on the bat like we had been," lamented Colorado manager Clint Hurdle, who expected some more magic right until the final strike: "I thought we'd still get something done."
Rockies ace Jeff Francis (17-9) failed in his bid to set a franchise record for wins by a starter and lost for just the second time in 14 starts against the Diamondbacks. He was hurt by his own base-running blunder in the third inning.
Colorado had swept three straight series and a sweep of this one against Arizona would have ensured them of at least a tiebreaker game on Monday.
Francis, who lost at home for just the second time in his last 14 starts at Coors Field, gave up four earned runs and seven hits in six innings. The big blow came in the third, when Conor Jackson sent a hanging curve into the left-field seats for a two-run homer and a 3-0 lead.
After allowing Jackson's 15th homer, Francis singled in the bottom of the third and lugged to third base on Matsui's double into the left-field corner. But the lanky left-hander hurt his own cause when he was caught off third base on Troy Tulowitzki's ground ball to shortstop.
His base-running blunder haunted the Rockies immediately because Holliday followed with a sharp single up the middle to score Matsui and make it 3-1 before Helton grounded out to end the inning.
"We had a chance to do something special here," Francis said. "We still do. We just have to catch a couple breaks."
Notes:@ Francis was trying to top Kevin Ritz (1996) and Pedro Astacio (1999) for most wins in franchise history. ... Holliday became just the eighth player in the last half century to record 200 hits and at least 90 extra base hits.
Injured halfback Amos Zereoue will not play Saturday in theSteelers' first exhibition game according to published reports. Zereoue will be held out of that game to make sure his sprained leftankle is fully healed. It turned stiff and swelled, and Cowher saidZereoue will wait until Monday to practice. Cowher also said he wasleaning toward not playing center Jeff Hartings, who has notpracticed this week because of a sore knee.
Dolphins - Quarterback Jay Fiedler was held out of the MiamiDolphins' practice Wednesday with what the team described as backspasms.
Dolphin Coach Dave Wannstedt said he thinks the injury occurredwhile Fiedler was stretching before practice.
"I think he probably stretched too much and it just tightened upon him a little," Wannstedt said. "It didn't get hit. It didn't doanything drastic. It tightened up on him a little bit and he was outof synch, so we decided to give him a little rest."
Fiedler missed six starts last season with a broken right thumb.
"If I can go, I can go," Fiedler said. "And if not, we'll play itone day at a time."
Former Denver QB Brian Griese, signed in the offseason to beFiedler's backup, worked out with the offensive starters Wednesday.
49ers - Quarterback Jeff Garcia will skip the San Francisco 49ers'exhibition opener against Kansas City on Saturday to rest his soreback.
The three-time Pro Bowler hurt his back in a workout a few daysbefore training camp. He had been participating in nearly everypractice at camp until Tuesday, when his back got stiff again.
Garcia missed the 49ers' workouts Wednesday.
"We've been out here a lot of days and a lot of practices, and itstiffened up on him a little bit," Coach Dennis Erickson said. "We'vejust got to be careful with it. He never had a problem with it, andall of a sudden yesterday it bothered him."
Garcia passed for 3,344 yards and 21 touchdowns last season whileleading San Francisco to the NFC West title and the second round ofthe playoffs.
His absence in the preseason could be a good thing for the 49ers,who must evaluate their backups.
Tim Rattay, Garcia's seldom-used understudy for the past twoseasons, will start against the Chiefs. Rattay was 26-of-43 for 232yards and two TDs last season in mostly mop-up duty.
Rattay will give way to Brandon Doman during the second quarter,and rookie Ken Dorsey probably will get his first NFL snaps in thefourth quarter. Unless Rattay falters, Doman and Dorsey are fightingfor one roster spot. The 49ers, though, have said they might keep allfour quarterbacks.
Jaguars - The Jacksonville Jaguars had their third heat-relatedinjury of the preseason when wide receiver Donald Hayes dropped to aknee at the end of practice.
The Jaguars had just completed a 90-minute practice session andwere divided into position groups when Hayes dropped and beganstruggling with the 82-degree heat. Hayes, 28, never lostconsciousness, but started to spasm from cramps.
Paramedics assisted the Jaguars' medical staff and began givingfluids intravenously to Hayes, who weighs 220 pounds. He later wasrushed into an ambulance before being transferred to BaptistHospital.
Hayes was released from the hospital late Wednesday afterreceiving treatment. A Jaguars spokesman said Hayes would return topractice and his availability for Saturday's exhibition game atMinnesota would be determined Thursday or Friday.
Giants - Michael Strahan, who broke the little toe on his rightfoot in practice earlier this week, may still play in the New YorkGiants' exhibition opener today against the New England Patriots.
"I don't know if I'll play him," Giants Coach Jim Fassel saidWednesday. "I'm sure that he wants to play. We'll see. I'll thinkabout it driving over there and tomorrow."
Bucs - Derrick Brooks returned to the Bucs after spending eightdays with his ailing mother and got a standing ovation from fans thatlined up to watch practice.
Led by Warren Sapp, his teammates bowed to salute the NFLDefensive Player of the Year.
Coach Jon Gruden had more praise for Brooks after the two-hourpractice.
"Any time the most valuable player in the NFL walks on yourpractice field, it's great," Gruden said. "Derrick inspires not onlyhis teammates and his fans, but he inspires me, so yeah, it was greatto have him back."
Brooks, who missed the team's exhibition game against the New YorkJets in Japan, said his mother's condition has improved, though hewould not be more specific about her illness. He appeared almostembarrassed by the reaction.
Lions - Cory Redding is learning to play tackle with the DetroitLions after spending four years as a defensive end at Texas.
Redding, last year's Lombardi Award winner as college football'stop lineman, will help replace Luther Elliss, out for the preseasonwith a torn chest muscle. Redding joins former college teammate ShaunRogers on the inside.
Panthers - John Kasay is the last original Panther. That won'thelp him reclaim his job as Carolina's kicker.
Shayne Graham, who took over last season when Kasay was hurt, iscurrently first on Carolina's depth chart. Their battle to make theopening-day roster is perhaps the most intriguing contest of trainingcamp.
Kasay isn't giving up.
"Training camp is a long process, it's kind of like the Tour deFrance in that you want to have great days, but there are alsoopportunities you have within it," Kasay said. "I'm not climbing thePyrenees mountains, but you have different opportunities and you wantto take advantage of them."
Kasay, entering his 13th NFL season, finally seems healthy after astring of injury-prone seasons. The fans love him, often looking backto the record 37 field goals he kicked in 1996.
The hernia that sidelined him last year is healed and the left-footed Kasay is booming the ball again.
Age would seem to tip the scales in the 25-year-old Graham'sfavor. At almost 34, Kasay doesn't know how much longer he can hangon.
"Until I can't do it any more," Kasay said. "I'm perpetually 29years old. I've been that for about four years."
Titans - Tom Ackerman, the only experienced center on theTennessee Titans, had arthroscopic surgery on his right kneeWednesday.
Ackerman will miss two weeks.
Justin Hartwig, moved to center from guard Monday, will startSaturday night in the Titans' exhibition opener against the ClevelandBrowns. Hartwig was the Titans' sixth-round draft pick last year.
Cowboys - Offensive lineman Gennaro DiNapoli signed with theDallas Cowboys, who were looking for help because rookie Al Johnsonhas a knee injury.
The Cowboys also traded long snapper Jeff Grau to Tampa Bay for aconditional draft pick to make room on their roster, which is now at82 players.
DiNapoli played the past three seasons with Tennessee.
The Cowboys also released offensive tackle Joe Johnson.
Zereoue will miss Steelers' preseason openerInjured halfback Amos Zereoue will not play Saturday in theSteelers' first exhibition game according to published reports. Zereoue will be held out of that game to make sure his sprained leftankle is fully healed. It turned stiff and swelled, and Cowher saidZereoue will wait until Monday to practice. Cowher also said he wasleaning toward not playing center Jeff Hartings, who has notpracticed this week because of a sore knee.
Dolphins - Quarterback Jay Fiedler was held out of the MiamiDolphins' practice Wednesday with what the team described as backspasms.
Dolphin Coach Dave Wannstedt said he thinks the injury occurredwhile Fiedler was stretching before practice.
"I think he probably stretched too much and it just tightened upon him a little," Wannstedt said. "It didn't get hit. It didn't doanything drastic. It tightened up on him a little bit and he was outof synch, so we decided to give him a little rest."
Fiedler missed six starts last season with a broken right thumb.
"If I can go, I can go," Fiedler said. "And if not, we'll play itone day at a time."
Former Denver QB Brian Griese, signed in the offseason to beFiedler's backup, worked out with the offensive starters Wednesday.
49ers - Quarterback Jeff Garcia will skip the San Francisco 49ers'exhibition opener against Kansas City on Saturday to rest his soreback.
The three-time Pro Bowler hurt his back in a workout a few daysbefore training camp. He had been participating in nearly everypractice at camp until Tuesday, when his back got stiff again.
Garcia missed the 49ers' workouts Wednesday.
"We've been out here a lot of days and a lot of practices, and itstiffened up on him a little bit," Coach Dennis Erickson said. "We'vejust got to be careful with it. He never had a problem with it, andall of a sudden yesterday it bothered him."
Garcia passed for 3,344 yards and 21 touchdowns last season whileleading San Francisco to the NFC West title and the second round ofthe playoffs.
His absence in the preseason could be a good thing for the 49ers,who must evaluate their backups.
Tim Rattay, Garcia's seldom-used understudy for the past twoseasons, will start against the Chiefs. Rattay was 26-of-43 for 232yards and two TDs last season in mostly mop-up duty.
Rattay will give way to Brandon Doman during the second quarter,and rookie Ken Dorsey probably will get his first NFL snaps in thefourth quarter. Unless Rattay falters, Doman and Dorsey are fightingfor one roster spot. The 49ers, though, have said they might keep allfour quarterbacks.
Jaguars - The Jacksonville Jaguars had their third heat-relatedinjury of the preseason when wide receiver Donald Hayes dropped to aknee at the end of practice.
The Jaguars had just completed a 90-minute practice session andwere divided into position groups when Hayes dropped and beganstruggling with the 82-degree heat. Hayes, 28, never lostconsciousness, but started to spasm from cramps.
Paramedics assisted the Jaguars' medical staff and began givingfluids intravenously to Hayes, who weighs 220 pounds. He later wasrushed into an ambulance before being transferred to BaptistHospital.
Hayes was released from the hospital late Wednesday afterreceiving treatment. A Jaguars spokesman said Hayes would return topractice and his availability for Saturday's exhibition game atMinnesota would be determined Thursday or Friday.
Giants - Michael Strahan, who broke the little toe on his rightfoot in practice earlier this week, may still play in the New YorkGiants' exhibition opener today against the New England Patriots.
"I don't know if I'll play him," Giants Coach Jim Fassel saidWednesday. "I'm sure that he wants to play. We'll see. I'll thinkabout it driving over there and tomorrow."
Bucs - Derrick Brooks returned to the Bucs after spending eightdays with his ailing mother and got a standing ovation from fans thatlined up to watch practice.
Led by Warren Sapp, his teammates bowed to salute the NFLDefensive Player of the Year.
Coach Jon Gruden had more praise for Brooks after the two-hourpractice.
"Any time the most valuable player in the NFL walks on yourpractice field, it's great," Gruden said. "Derrick inspires not onlyhis teammates and his fans, but he inspires me, so yeah, it was greatto have him back."
Brooks, who missed the team's exhibition game against the New YorkJets in Japan, said his mother's condition has improved, though hewould not be more specific about her illness. He appeared almostembarrassed by the reaction.
Lions - Cory Redding is learning to play tackle with the DetroitLions after spending four years as a defensive end at Texas.
Redding, last year's Lombardi Award winner as college football'stop lineman, will help replace Luther Elliss, out for the preseasonwith a torn chest muscle. Redding joins former college teammate ShaunRogers on the inside.
Panthers - John Kasay is the last original Panther. That won'thelp him reclaim his job as Carolina's kicker.
Shayne Graham, who took over last season when Kasay was hurt, iscurrently first on Carolina's depth chart. Their battle to make theopening-day roster is perhaps the most intriguing contest of trainingcamp.
Kasay isn't giving up.
"Training camp is a long process, it's kind of like the Tour deFrance in that you want to have great days, but there are alsoopportunities you have within it," Kasay said. "I'm not climbing thePyrenees mountains, but you have different opportunities and you wantto take advantage of them."
Kasay, entering his 13th NFL season, finally seems healthy after astring of injury-prone seasons. The fans love him, often looking backto the record 37 field goals he kicked in 1996.
The hernia that sidelined him last year is healed and the left-footed Kasay is booming the ball again.
Age would seem to tip the scales in the 25-year-old Graham'sfavor. At almost 34, Kasay doesn't know how much longer he can hangon.
"Until I can't do it any more," Kasay said. "I'm perpetually 29years old. I've been that for about four years."
Titans - Tom Ackerman, the only experienced center on theTennessee Titans, had arthroscopic surgery on his right kneeWednesday.
Ackerman will miss two weeks.
Justin Hartwig, moved to center from guard Monday, will startSaturday night in the Titans' exhibition opener against the ClevelandBrowns. Hartwig was the Titans' sixth-round draft pick last year.
Cowboys - Offensive lineman Gennaro DiNapoli signed with theDallas Cowboys, who were looking for help because rookie Al Johnsonhas a knee injury.
The Cowboys also traded long snapper Jeff Grau to Tampa Bay for aconditional draft pick to make room on their roster, which is now at82 players.
DiNapoli played the past three seasons with Tennessee.
The Cowboys also released offensive tackle Joe Johnson.
Lawrence Wilson returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown with 2:45 remaining to give Connecticut a 26-21 victory over Louisville on Friday night.
Donald Brown ran for 190 yards and a touchdown for the Huskies (5-0, 1-0 Big East), who rode the legs of the nation's leading rusher to stay in it after starting quarterback Tyler Lorenzen was sidelined by a foot injury.
Sophomore Zach Frazer threw for 90 yards and a touchdown in place of Lorenzen and wisely let Brown do most of the work.
Louisville (2-2, 0-1) moved the ball effortlessly at times and piled up 508 yards of total offense but squandered several opportunities to put the game away.
…
Byline: Rochelle Olson; Staff Writer
A gang member accused in the mistaken-identity killing of a Minneapolis South High student last October will face trial a second time because a Hennepin County District Court jury was unable to reach a verdict Tuesday.
The jury began deliberating the fate of Jeremy Jackson shortly after noon last Wednesday. By late that afternoon, jurors told the court they were unable to reach a verdict and were evenly split on Jackson's fate. But District Court Judge Denise Reilly sent them back for further deliberations.
Jurors deliberated all day Thursday and part of the day Friday before the judge sent them home for the …
Prosecutor vows to retry mistaken-identity case.(NEWS)Byline: Rochelle Olson; Staff Writer
A gang member accused in the mistaken-identity killing of a Minneapolis South High student last October will face trial a second time because a Hennepin County District Court jury was unable to reach a verdict Tuesday.
The jury began deliberating the fate of Jeremy Jackson shortly after noon last Wednesday. By late that afternoon, jurors told the court they were unable to reach a verdict and were evenly split on Jackson's fate. But District Court Judge Denise Reilly sent them back for further deliberations.
Jurors deliberated all day Thursday and part of the day Friday before the judge sent them home for the …
