'Bama bashes Notre Dame 42-14 in BCS title game

e against Notre Dame Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, in …more
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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Barely taking time to celebrate their latest national championship, Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide are ready to get back to work.
That's how they make it look so easy.
In what must be an increasingly frustrating scene for the rest of college football, another season ended with Saban and his players frolicking in the middle of a confetti-strewn field. Eddie Lacy ran all over Notre Dame, AJ McCarron turned in another dazzling performance through the air, and the Tide defense shut down the Fighting Irish until it was no longer in doubt.
The result was a 42-14 blowout in the BCS title game Monday night, not only making Alabama a back-to-back champion, but a full-fledged dynasty with three crowns in four years.
This one was especially satisfying to Saban.
"People talk about how the most difficult thing is to win your first championship," he said. "Really, the most difficult one to win is the next one, because there's always a feeling of entitlement."
Rest assured, that feeling won't last long in Tuscaloosa.
While Saban insisted he was "happy as hell" and "has never been prouder of a group of young men," it was hard to tell. He was already talking about reporting to the office Wednesday morning and getting started on next season.
"One of these days, when I'm sitting on the side of the hill watching the stream go by, I'll probably figure it out even more," Saban said. "But what about next year's team? You've got to think about that, too."
So, in short order, he'll be talking with underclassmen about entering the NFL draft, making sure everyone goes back to class on schedule, and getting started on that next depth chart.
"The Process," as he calls it, never stops.
"We're going to enjoy it for 24 hours or so," Saban said.
No. 2 Alabama quieted the top-ranked Irish on the very first drive — so much for waking up the echoes — and could've started the celebration at halftime, heading to the locker room with a commanding 28-0 lead.
The Tide (13-1) pushed it out to 35-0 midway through the third quarter on the third of McCarron's four touchdown passes, a 34-yarder to Amari Cooper with a defender nowhere in sight.
At that point, Alabama was on a 69-0 blitz in national title games, having scored the last 13 points in its 2010 triumph over Texas and blanked LSU 21-0 for last year's BCS crown.
When Everett Golson finally scored for Notre Dame (12-1) with about 4 minutes remaining in the third, it snapped a scoreless stretch of nearly two full games — 108 minutes and 7 seconds — by the Tide.
"It was just a complete game by the offense, defense and special teams," said Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley, the defensive MVP with eight tackles, one of them behind the line.
Despite the dazzling numbers by McCarron — 20 of 28 for 264 yards — he was denied a second straight offensive MVP award in the title game. That went to Lacy, who finished with 140 yards rushing on 20 carries and scored two TDs. Not a bad finish for the junior, who surely helped his status in the NFL draft should he decide to turn pro.
Lacy also was MVP of the Southeastern Conference championship game, rushing for a career-best 181 yards in the thrilling victory over Georgia that gave Alabama a chance to repeat as champion.
The Tide will have some big holes to fill, no matter who decides to leave school early, with offensive tackle D.J. Fluker and cornerback Dee Milliner also pondering their draft prospects. There's not a lot of seniors on the roster, but All-America linemen Barrett Jones and Chance Warmack and safety Robert Lester are among those who definitely won't be back.
But Alabama had some huge holes to fill a year ago, too, with five players drafted in the first 35 picks.
That worked out just fine.
The Crimson Tide wrapped up its ninth Associated Press national title, breaking a tie with Notre Dame for the most by any school and gaining a measure of redemption for a bitter loss to the Irish almost four decades ago: the epic 1973 Sugar Bowl in which Ara Parseghian's team edged Bear Bryant's powerhouse 24-23.
"The process is ongoing," said Saban, tightlipped as ever and showing little emotion after the fourth BCS national title of his coaching career. "We have a 24-hour rule around here. We enjoy everything for 24 hours."
Notre Dame went from unranked in the preseason to the top spot in the rankings by the end of the regular season, winning two games in overtime and three other times by seven points or less.
But the long wait for a championship — the Irish haven't finished No. 1 since 1988 — will have to wait at least one more year.
"They just did what Alabama does," moaned Manti Te'o, Notre Dame's star linebacker and Heisman Trophy finalist, trying to digest an embarrassing loss in his final college game.
Golson will be back.
He completed his first season as the starter by going 21 of 36 for 270 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. But the young quarterback got no help from the running game, which was held to 32 yards — 170 below its season average.
"We've got to get physically stronger, continue close the gap there," said Brian Kelly, the Irish's third-year coach. "Just overall, we need to see what it looks like. Our guys clearly know what it looks like now — a championship football team. That's back-to-back national champions. That's what it looks like. That's what you measure yourself against there. It's pretty clear across the board what we have to do."
Kelly vowed this was only beginning, insisting the bar has been raised in South Bend no matter what the outcome.
"We made incredible strides to get to this point," he said. "Now it's pretty clear what we've got to do to get over the top."
Alabama is already there but still longing for more, not content even after the second-biggest rout of the BCS era that began in 1999. The only title game that was more of a blowout was USC's 55-19 victory over Oklahoma in the 2005 Orange Bowl, a title that was later vacated because of NCAA violations.
You could almost hear television sets around the country flipping to other channels as Alabama poured it on, a hugely anticipated matchup between two of the nation's most storied programs reduced to a laugher when the Tide scored on its first three possessions.
"We're going for it next year again," said offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandijo, only a sophomore and already the owner of two rings. "And again. And again. And again. I love to win. That's why I came here.

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Te'o sees career end with BCS title-game loss

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — One of the last things Manti Te'o remembers Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly telling his team before the BCS title game was about the importance of four particular segments of play.
—The first two minutes of the game.
—The last two minutes of the first half.
—The first two minutes of the second half.
—The last two minutes of the game.
Of those, only one was not wrought with disaster for the Fighting Irish — and by then Te'o had left the field for the last time as a Notre Dame player.
Overmatched from the very start, Notre Dame's hopes of going from unranked to undisputed this season ended in a crimson-and-white display of precise football. The Irish were beaten by Alabama 42-14 in the title matchup on Monday night, the only loss in 13 games for a Notre Dame team that few thought would be a championship hopeful when the season began.
"I'm obviously disappointed, not necessarily all that we lost, but just we didn't represent our school, our team, our families the way that we could have," Te'o said. "So in that aspect it's just disappointing. But at the same time I'm proud to be a part of this team. What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger."
Cliche, sure.
But if anyone can live by those words, it's Te'o, particularly after what he endured over the course of his final college season.
Alabama set the tone in the first two minutes, starting the game with an 82-yard march in only five plays to take a 7-0 lead on Eddie Lacy's touchdown run, the first of his many highlights on this night. With 31 seconds left in the half, Lacy caught a touchdown pass for his second score — one that made it 28-0 and had Kelly cracking a joke at his own expense in a televised halftime interview.
"All Alabama," Kelly said at the time. "I mean, we can't tackle them right now. And who knows why? They're big and physical — I guess I do know why."
Anyone who was watching knew why.
So the first two minutes were all 'Bama, the last two minutes of the half went the Tide's way as well, and the first two minutes of the third quarter ended with Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson throwing an interception near the goal line, a sensational play made by Alabama's HaHa Clinton-Dix to come up with that turnover.
Alabama scored on the ensuing drive, and Te'o stood perfectly still as he took a long look at one of the giant video screens in Sun Life Stadium, studying the replay of that touchdown.
It was a pose that Notre Dame repeated way, way too often.
"We just needed to execute better," safety Zeke Motta said. "It was just a matter of execution and playing the right way."
Missed chances on offense, missed tackles on defense. Kelly didn't pinpoint reasons why for either — months of agonizing over film will tell that story — but some in the Notre Dame locker room insisted that the final score didn't accurately show how far the Irish have come this season.
"They didn't dominate us," Notre Dame nose guard Louis Nix said. "We missed tackles."
The numbers sure suggested domination.
By halftime, the Irish had already given up more points than they had in any game this season, the previous high being 26 in a triple-overtime win over Pittsburgh.
The most yards Notre Dame gave up this season was 379; Alabama cracked the 500 mark early in the fourth quarter. The Crimson Tide finished with 529 yards, converted 8 of 13 third downs, got five touchdowns in five trips to the red zone and became the first team since Stanford in 2009 to score at least 42 points against the Irish.
"Pretty darn good football team, but not good enough," Kelly said, assessing his team as Alabama's victory celebration was wrapping up on the field. "So it's clear what we need to do in the offseason."
What they do next will come without Te'o, the senior linebacker who was widely considered the nation's top defensive player this season.
He was a nonfactor early with a couple of missed tackles — rare for him — and that foreshadowed how the rest of the night would go for the Fighting Irish.
"The best thing about this experience is it creates fire, it creates fuel, for both the guys staying here and the guys leaving," Te'o said. "Everybody here tonight will be better because of it."
Te'o leaves as an absolute surefire Notre Dame fan favorite, for both what he did on the field and how he handled things away from the game.
He's a Mormon from Hawaii who spurned USC to sign with Notre Dame. He was one of the biggest sparkplugs for this current revitalization of Irish football, and saw his personal story become one of the more compelling parts of this Notre Dame season — when he mourned the deaths of both his girlfriend and his grandmother by playing perhaps his best game, a 12-tackle show against Michigan State.
He wound up finishing second in the Heisman Trophy race.
The Irish wound up finishing second in the national title chase.
And when it was all over, Te'o showed absolutely no regrets. He was subbed out of the game with about 2:15 remaining, shook some hands and started saying his farewell to the college game.
"Obviously we wish the night could have ended in a different way," Te'o said, "but the season, the year, my career here, I've been truly blessed to be at Notre Dame.
"And I'll forever be proud to say that I'm a Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

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BCS title game's TV rating hurt by rout

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The BCS title game's television rating was up from last season, but the lopsided score kept viewership down.
Alabama's 42-14 rout over Notre Dame drew a 15.1 fast national rating Monday on ESPN, the network said Tuesday. The 26.4 million viewers were up 9 percent from last year's game, another blowout Crimson Tide victory, 21-0 over LSU.
But that's down from the 27.3 million for ESPN's first BCS championship two years ago, Auburn's win over Oregon that was decided in the final seconds. This year's game posted the second-largest audience in cable history behind the 2011 championship.
The matchup between traditional powerhouses in Alabama and Notre Dame created the potential for a record-setting audience. But once the Crimson Tide went up 28-0 by halftime, viewers had reason to skip the second half. Ten previous BCS title games drew a higher rating.
Ratings represent the percentage of U.S. homes with televisions tuned into a program. The game was on in 17.5 percent of homes that get ESPN.
The first half was watched by 20.4 percent, significantly higher than 17.9 for Auburn-Oregon. Typically viewership increases throughout a game if it is competitive. But on Monday, the rating peaked between 9 and 9:30 p.m. EST — midway through the first half — and decreased from there as Alabama pulled away.
ESPN executives were hopeful of a massive audience but warned that it probably wouldn't happen without a close game. CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves acknowledged that reality at a media day Tuesday about the network's upcoming Super Bowl coverage.
"Hopefully we don't have a game like they had last night," he said.

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Can the Government Really Ban Twitter Parody Accounts?

Arizona is entertaining a law that will make it a felony to use another person's real name to make an  Internet profile intended to "harm, defraud, intimidate or threaten," which to some sounds like a law against parody Twitter accounts. The legislation, if passed, would make Arizona one of a few states, including New York, California, Washington and Texas, to enact anti-online-impersonation laws. If these regulations seek to put a stop to fake representations online, that does sound like the end of fake celebrity baby accounts and Twitter death hoaxes. Then again, these laws have existed in these other places for years, and that hasn't stopped the faux accounts from coming in. So what then does this mean?
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What kind of stuff is the law intended to prosecute?
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The law does not say that all uses of another person's real name can be charged as a felony, but only profiles made for the more nefarious purposes fall into that territory. The legislation is  targeted at more serious forms of impersonation, like cyber bullying. Two Texas teens were arrested and charged under this law for creating a fake Facebook page to ruin a peer's reputation, for example. Or, the case of Robert Dale Esparza Jr. who created a fake profile of his son's vice principal on a porn site might fall under this law, suggests The Arizona Republic's Alia Beard Rau. Or, in one of the cases brought to court under the Texas version of this law, an Adam Limle created websites that portrayed a woman he used to date as a prostitute. (The case was eventually dropped because of a geographical loophole. Limle lived in Ohio, not Texas.)
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Okay, the harm and threat in those situation is pretty clear. How can it at all apply to something relatively harmless, like a Twitter parody account?
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The term "harm" is pretty vague, as this Texas Law blog explains, referring to that state's version of this legislation, on which Arizona based its own law. "'Harm' can be very broadly construed–one person's joke is another person's harm," writes Houston lawyer Stephanie Stradley.
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So, that could extend to parody accounts then?
Well, possibly. Stradley suggests that politicians who had parody accounts created to mock them might have a case. Some of the impersonation of Texas lawmakers has gone beyond just the jokey fake Twitter handle. Jeffwentworth.com is not the official site for Texas state senator, but rather redirects to the web site of the anti-tax advocate group Empower Texans which considers the San Antonio politician the “the most liberal Republican senator in Austin.” Wentworth told The New York Times this domain squatting amounted to "identity theft," and could be the basis for the law's usage.
The law could also possibly effect sillier parody accounts, suggest privacy advocates. "The problem with this, and other online impersonation bills, is the potential that they could be used to go after parody or social commentary activities," senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation Kurt Opsahl told The Arizona Republic's Alia Beard Rau. "While this bill is written to limit 'intent to harm,' if that is construed broadly, there could be First Amendment problems."
Ok, but what about precedent? Has the law ever applied to a faux Twitter handle?
Twitter has its own parody policy that mitigates a lot of the possible damage that could ever lead to a court case. Saint Louis Cardinals manager Anthony La Russa sued Twitter in 2009 because of a made-up account, but the account was removed before the case went anywhere (And that was before these laws went into effect.)
But it's not clear that parody would ever be considered harmful enough for the law. When California's version went into effect, a first amendment lawyer suggested to SF Weekly's Joe Eskenazi that jokes could go pretty far without prosecution. "You're going to have to have room for satire," he said. The account would have to look fool people, he argued. "A key question is, 'is it credibile?'" asks Simitian. "Do people who read it think it's him?" Because of our increasing skepticism of things on Twitter, unless the site has verified checkmark, it's unlikely that most people believe in a fake account for long. So, unless the imitation tweeter does something extremely harmful to someone's character, it doesn't sound like anyone would have a strong case. Alas, parody Twitter accounts, for better or worse (worse, right?) are here to stay.

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Meet the Adorable Bulldogs That Rule College Sports Social Media

Here's Blue III, successor to Blue II, skating across campus.
Image courtesy Butler University
Click here to view this gallery.
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These are heady times for the basketball Bulldogs of Butler University. The team has reached college basketball's storied Final Four in two of the past three years, recently scored a monumental upset win over in-state powerhouse Indiana University and this season joined a new, more high-profile sports conference in the Atlantic 10.
But all that is just barely enough to overshadow the burgeoning reputation of Blue II, the school's adorable English Bulldog mascot who just launched a national tour and is steadily building a social media empire along the way.
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Along with their human assistants, Blue II and his eventual successor Blue III have been barnstorming the country in a van bearing their wrinkly likenesses, hitting major markets to further boost Butler's basketball profile through slobbery cuteness and social media savvy.
On Twitter, Blue II shares photos, updates and interacts with his 11,000 followers. He's also got his own blog and posts filtered photos to Instagram and video updates to YouTube. Oh, and he's on Pinterest, Foursquare and Facebook, too, and shares live video via Ustream.
"He was already so popular on campus, but thanks to social media and traveling around, that's automatically raised his status and put him on another scale," says Butler's director of web marketing Michael Kaltenmark, who doubles as Blue II's owner, chauffeur and ghost-tweeter.
So far, Blues II and III have hit Louisville and Nashville in conjunction with basketball team road trips. Next up are swings through Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Columbus, Pittsburgh, D.C. and New York City. Along the way they meet and greet fans and dog lovers, while making sure to hit the major tourist attractions.
But how do Blue II and Blue III feel about the grind of a traveling celebrity?
"The dogs love it," Kaltenmark says. "I think they just enjoy getting out of the office."
For more of Blues II and III, check out the photo gallery embedded above.

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Nielsen and Twitter Team to Track TV

Your favorite TV shows may soon need a strong social-media presence if they’re going to stick around for a while. Networks and advertisers are hip to social media’s power to publicize a show, as well as TV’s influence over the social media conversation. They’ve even found ways to quantify this relationship.
Twitter and Nielsen, the company that tracks TV viewership, are creating a Nielsen Twitter TV Rating for each U.S. program starting with the fall 2013 season. This rating will track the total number of couch potatoes watching TV and tweeting about it, as well as anyone who happens to see those tweets.
Madison Avenue will learn who’s watching and the extent of their influence online.
Twitter says its more than 140 million active users send one billion tweets every two-and-a-half days. The portion that is about TV viewing habits should yield unprecedented demographic data about both viewers and Twitter users.
One anticipated result: shows about hipsters that get high Nielsen Twitter TV ratings will feature even more ads for skinny jeans and coffee.

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Walter Alan Ray Announces the Release of ‘Is God Unnecessary?’

Why Stephen Hawking Is Wrong according to the Laws of Physics

Glendora, CA (PRWEB) January 10, 2013
When Stephen Hawking, the most famous scientist living in the twenty-first century, published “The Grand Design,” he provoked a lively response in the media. Hawking wrote that the laws of physics made God unnecessary when explaining the origin of the universe. In “Is God Unnecessary?,” (published by iUniverse) author Walter Alan Ray presents several lucid reasons why Hawking’s thesis is mistaken. Ray does not use philosophical or theological arguments, but presents the same laws of physics that Hawking says demonstrate his position.
Ray presents several reasons why Hawking’s thesis is mistaken.. In Is God Unnecessary? Ray examines:

    Hawking’s “Apparent Miracle”
    Hawking’s assumption that Charles Darwin explained the origin of life
    The question, “Can something come out of nothing?”
    The cosmological constant in Einstein’s equations – the factor that Hawking considers the most impressive coincidence
    Hawking’s solution to the “completely incomprehensible” value of the cosmological constant
    How physics and mathematics join to show that in the current state of our knowledge, physics and mathematics have something important to say about the origin of the universe.
Ray determined that the laws of physics and mathematics show there are two possible answers to the question ‘How did we come to live in a universe that is as astoundingly fine-tuned as ours?’ The arguments presented in Is God Unnecessary? show neither of these two answers is the solution proposed by Hawking.
“Is God Unnecessary?”

By Walter Alan Ray

Softcover | 5.5 x 8.5in | 76 pages | ISBN 9781475954630

E-Book | 76 pages | ISBN 9781475954647

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author

Walter Alan Ray earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT. He also earned a Master of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in biblical studies from Princeton Theological Seminary. Ray has worked as an engineer and served as senior pastor of Glenkirk Presbyterian Church in Glendora, Calif. where he resides.
iUniverse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is the leading book marketing, editorial services, and supported self-publishing provider. iUniverse has a strategic alliance with Indigo Books & Music, Inc. in Canada, and titles accepted into the iUniverse Rising Star program are featured in a special collection on BarnesandNoble.com. iUniverse recognizes excellence in book publishing through the Star, Reader’s Choice, Rising Star and Editor’s Choice designations – self-publishing’s only such awards program. Headquartered in Bloomington, Ind., iUniverse also operates offices in Indianapolis. For more information or to publish a book, please visit iuniverse.com or call 1-800-AUTHORS. For the latest, follow @iuniversebooks on Twitter.

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Jean Newland Offers New Collected WWII POW Stories

‘Guests of the Emperor’ presents carefully-researched historical and poignant stories of Allied captivity

MIAMI LAKES, Fla. (PRWEB) January 10, 2013
When author Jean Newland’s Uncle Richard died, he left her a trunk of personal papers and clippings. As she went through the papers, she discovered an incredible and horrifying true story of wartime sacrifice and death from World War II, which she turned into her new book “Guests of the Emperor: Allied POWs in Rangoon Burma” (published by AuthorHouse).
NEWLAND’S book is a tribute to the heroism of the soldiers who survived life in a brutal Imperial Japanese prison in Burma during the early 1940s. In addition to the narratives of her Uncle Richard, she includes stories of British, Australian, Chinese, Scots and New Zealanders, all men captured in battle.
An excerpt from “Guests of the Emperor”:
“On December 14, 1944, you had started your bomb run, and I had started mine (for the trenches) when a sudden tremendous explosion from above caused me to dive headlong into the nearest hole. ‘Oh, my God, look!’ One of our invincible B-29 Superforts was in a flat spin; two others were smoking and peeling off in opposite directions; opening parachutes were beginning to appear. What an unexplainable tragedy.

Forty years have passed since that day, and as I recall the many experiences of my 560 days of captivity, none in more vivid or painful than the memory of that day when some of you, our heroes, fell from the sky to join us in our misery.”
“I wanted (the soldiers’) story to be told,” she says. “To just close that trunk and put it away would have diminished what they had endured.”
“Guests of the Emperor”

By Jean Newland

Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 316 pages | ISBN 9781477281130

Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 316 pages | ISBN 9781477281147

E-Book | 316 pages | ISBN 9781477283127

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author

Jean Newland was employed for 34 years by the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami as director of patient financial services. In this capacity, she heard many sad and moving stories, but nothing prepared her for what she was about to read. When her Uncle Richard died, he left her all his personal papers in an old army trunk. When she began to read the trunk's contents she became so intrigued with the stories she found that it became clear that they should be told and these men honored.

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For Scared Children, Author Leeanne Brearley Creates New Picture Book Teaching Wisdom, Strength of Mind

Leeanne Brearley uses canny, practical wisdom and “Harlow the Helpful Ghost”, who represents the angelic side of the unknown, to guide children in understanding the world.

Pukekohe, New Zealand (PRWEB) January 10, 2013
Children who are scared of the unknown will have Harlow the Helpful Ghost as guide. He is what author Leeanne Brearley has created as the unknown from the angelic side, the side children often fail to call upon, wrapped as they are in their fear of the great big world. In this book, Brearley guides them through the many domestic instances which terrify children, when the instinctive urge to explore the dark and dank still cannot overcome the terror conjured by innocent imagination.
There are three instances when Harlow comes out from the ether and gives Johnny three ways to combat his fears. They are what an imaginative child might come up with to adjust to the unknown, a more practical, less effortful way than building a world of his or her own to which he or she retreats in moments of stress. First, Harlow gives Johnny a cloak of invisibility to help out in his fear of the dark just before sleeping. The cloak would make him invisible so nothing or no one can see him while he sleeps. He dozes of soundly, cloak wrapped around him. Next, Harlow appears to him just after Mum had ordered him to shower. Afraid of the shower’s heat, and cold, its dreary wetness and the possibility of drowning, Johnny is immobilized by his fears until Harlow suggests that he bring in his Buzz Lightyear action figure. That a little toy action hero can endure a shower to get clean inspires Johnny to appreciate the need for a shower every day.
A boy only has courage insofar as he can control a situation, like playing with toy armies as Johnny does one afternoon. Hiding behind a tree with some of his toys, a spider suddenly drops on his arm. The hairy, creepy thing, to Johnny, is a cause for crying out in fear. But Harlow comes out again to explain the creatures of nature and a natural law in terms Johnny understands. The little, little spider is deathly afraid of Johnny who is a giant compared to him! Johnny is convinced, even to the point of having the beginning of conscience for nature’s lesser creatures. Harlow the Helpful Ghost is one of the canny children’s books, a way for children to learn the basics of domesticity, of nature, and of the world with easily understood, practical wisdom.   
For more information on this book, log on to http://www.Xlibris.co.nz.
About the Author

Leeanne Brearley was born in New Zealand and has several years’ worth of experience working with children. With passion and interest in helping children’s needs and developments, she has dedicated her time to bring alive this book to help those with fears. The author lives in Auckland with Stewart and her son Cody.
Harlow the Helpful Ghost * by Leeanne Brearley

Afraid of the Dark

Publication Date: October 25, 2012

Picture Book; NZ$44.99; 60 pages; 978-1-4797-3178-7

eBook; NZ$3.99; 978-1-4797-3179-4
Members of the media who wish to review this book may request a complimentary paperback copy by contacting the publisher at 0800-891-366. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (09) 353-1455 or call 0800-891-366.

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Seven Big East basketball teams leaving conference

(The Sports Xchange) The seven Catholic schools in the Big East that do not have Football Bowl Subdivision teams unanimously voted Saturday to take their men's basketball teams out of the conference, ESPN reported.
St. John's president Rev. Donald J. Harrington scheduled a news conference for 4:30 p.m. ET.
DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova will leave the Big East on June 30, 2015. They will pursue another framework for their basketball teams.
The conference future of remaining Big East members Connecticut, Cincinnati and South Florida -- which have FBS programs -- is uncertain.
"Earlier today we voted unanimously to pursue an orderly evolution to a foundation of basketball schools that honors the history and tradition on which the Big East was established," the seven presidents said in a joint statement. "Under the current context of conference realignment, we believe pursuing a new basketball framework that builds on this tradition of excellence and competition is the best way forward."
The Big East will have 12 teams in its conference for football starting next season. Boise State and San Diego State join the Big East in football only next season. Rutgers and Louisville are leaving the conference after next season.

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Pennsylvania suit against NCAA a long shot: experts

(Reuters) - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett faces serious obstacles to winning his antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA over the harsh sanctions it imposed on Penn State in the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal, legal experts said on Wednesday.
While targeting the National Collegiate Athletic Association may be popular politically in a state where Penn State football is widely loved, the federal court handling the case might rule that the state lacks standing to bring the lawsuit in the first place, experts said.
Moreover, the state of Pennsylvania must demonstrate the NCAA penalties harmed consumers and constituted a breakdown in the competitive marketplace.
"It's not a frivolous lawsuit - there are real arguments to make - but, boy, is it weak," said Max Kennerly, a lawyer with the Beasley Firm in Philadelphia who has been following the case closely.
The sanctions the NCAA imposed on Penn State in July included an unprecedented $60 million fine and the voiding of all of the football team's victories over the past 14 seasons.
Corbett's lawsuit was distinct in that, unlike the university, the state of Pennsylvania was not a party directly affected by the sanctions. Instead, Corbett brought the suit on behalf of third parties such as stadium workers, shopkeepers, hoteliers and others whose businesses were disturbed because of the NCAA's penalties.
The obstacle Corbett faced was "converting what may be real and perhaps significant harm" to Penn State students and athletes and local businesses into an antitrust violation, said Gabriel Feldman, a professor at Tulane University Law School.
"This is an extremely uphill battle for Pennsylvania," Feldman said.
The NCAA has been sued on antitrust grounds fewer than 10 times over the past five years, estimated Matt Millen, a professor at Marquette University Law School and director of the National Sports Law Institute. Most of those cases were settled or dismissed because courts often defer to the NCAA when it comes to matters of rules and enforcement actions, Millen said.
Past antitrust suits against the NCAA that have been successful tend to involve operations such as marketing and licensing because the body has "a stranglehold" over those spheres, Kennerly said.
The Supreme Court ruled in the 1984 case of NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma that the NCAA's policies on television broadcast rights to college football games violated federal antitrust laws. Former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon led a class-action suit against the NCAA in 2009 that is still pending over the use of student-athletes' images and likenesses without compensation.
In contrast, antitrust lawsuits over NCAA sanctions have been less successful in court. In the 1988 case of NCAA v. Tarkanian, the Supreme Court ruled the NCAA was a private entity not obligated to abide by due process considerations when it hands down sanctions, Kennerly said.

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Pennsylvania suit against NCAA a long shot, experts say

(Reuters) - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett faces serious obstacles to winning his antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA over the harsh sanctions it imposed on Penn State in the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal, legal experts said on Wednesday.
While targeting the National Collegiate Athletic Association may be popular politically in a state where Penn State football is widely loved, the federal court handling the case might rule that the state lacks standing to bring the lawsuit in the first place, experts said.
Moreover, the state of Pennsylvania must demonstrate the NCAA penalties harmed consumers and constituted a breakdown in the competitive marketplace.
"It's not a frivolous lawsuit - there are real arguments to make - but, boy, is it weak," said Max Kennerly, a lawyer with the Beasley Firm in Philadelphia who has been following the case closely.
The sanctions the NCAA imposed on Penn State in July included an unprecedented $60 million fine and the voiding of all of the football team's victories over the past 14 seasons.
Corbett's lawsuit was distinct in that, unlike the university, the state of Pennsylvania was not a party directly affected by the sanctions. Instead, Corbett brought the suit on behalf of third parties such as stadium workers, shopkeepers, hoteliers and others whose businesses were disturbed because of the NCAA's penalties.
The obstacle Corbett faced was "converting what may be real and perhaps significant harm" to Penn State students and athletes and local businesses into an antitrust violation, said Gabriel Feldman, a professor at Tulane University Law School.
"This is an extremely uphill battle for Pennsylvania," Feldman said.
The NCAA has been sued on antitrust grounds fewer than 10 times over the past five years, estimated Matt Mitten, a professor at Marquette University Law School and director of the National Sports Law Institute. Most of those cases were settled or dismissed because courts often defer to the NCAA when it comes to matters of rules and enforcement actions, Mitten said.
Past antitrust suits against the NCAA that have been successful tend to involve operations such as marketing and licensing because the body has "a stranglehold" over those spheres, Kennerly said.
The Supreme Court ruled in the 1984 case of NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma that the NCAA's policies on television broadcast rights to college football games violated federal antitrust laws. Former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon led a class-action suit against the NCAA in 2009 that is still pending over the use of student-athletes' images and likenesses without compensation.
In contrast, antitrust lawsuits over NCAA sanctions have been less successful in court. In the 1988 case of NCAA v. Tarkanian, the Supreme Court ruled the NCAA was a private entity not obligated to abide by due process considerations when it hands down sanctions, Kennerly said.

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New Hope for Eastern and Carolina Hemlocks; Tree Savers (TM) Announces First-Ever High Volume Commercial Lab for the St Beetle

Tree Savers™ new state-of-the-art biological control laboratory is now producing hundreds of thousands of St Beetles for commercial release. There’s new hope in the fight to eradicate HWA in Eastern and Carolina Hemlock forests.

Greentown, PA (PRWEB) January 08, 2013
Tree Savers™ announces the most advanced private biological control laboratory for the mass production and distribution of what leading scientists and the USDA believes are the eastern and Carolina hemlocks only hope – the St Beetle. This voracious little ladybug is the natural born predator of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) – the invasive transplanted pest destroying entire hemlock forests from Maine to Georgia.
In 1995 the USDA approved the release of the St Beetle in public forests to biologically control HWA. The problem is that cultivation of the beetle has been limited to research laboratories. There’s simply not enough beetles being raised to combat the 50 year establishment and rapid advancement of HWA infestation.
That is, until now. According to Environmental Scientist Jayme Longo of Tree-Savers™ “we’ve created a state-of-the-art commercial laboratory that dramatically increases the availability of St Beetles. We raise them, we sell them directly to both the public and private sector, and we guide people through the process of releasing them. Our first harvest this year will guarantee that hundreds of thousands of beetles will be available for massive deployment. It’s going to be a game-changing year in the fight against HWA.”
In fact, Tree-Savers™ is the only American company currently supplying the beetle to anyone determined to save hemlocks. “HWA doesn’t stop at forest boundary lines” says Longo. “Neither do our beetles. Wherever there’s HWA, St Beetles attack.” St Beetles have been shown to reduce HWA densities by as much as 87% in just 5 months. That’s a startling statistic.
Until now, efforts to eradicate HWA have largely been limited to the use of chemical pesticides. But pesticides, while effective in the short term, have proven to be an unsustainable solution. Once the pesticide wears off, HWA returns. Repeated applications are expensive and quite simply – have not stopped the rapid infestation.
Why save the hemlock?
The destructive impact of HWA goes far beyond the death of a single tree by setting in motion a downward spiral of ecosystem decline. The hemlock provides critical habitat for over 96 bird and 47 mammal species. Streams with hemlock forests contain a higher richness and diversity of aquatic invertebrates and significantly greater trout populations. As hemlocks die, stream-side shading disappears, water temperatures rise, and trout die.
It gets worse. The natural ability of the soil to retain moisture diminishes (hydrological failure). Erosion happens and streams and waterways become clogged with sediment. Dead trees and underbrush become fuel for forest fires. Local economies that depend on a lush hemlock forest decline. Hemlock forests provide aesthetic beauty, tourism, increased property values and wood products.
About Tree Savers™

Tree Savers™ is part of a family of companies devoted to developing and implementing all-natural restorative technologies that are scientifically proven to reverse environmental destruction. According to John Tucci, President of both Tree Savers™ and Lake-Savers LLC, “We believe nature always has the answer if we’re willing to look deep enough. Don’t just treat the symptoms, restore the natural system. Whether it’s restoring a lake’s inherent capacity to process excess nutrients from the watershed or restoring hemlocks using biological control, we’ve found that nature has a better way. Not only are these all-natural technologies effective, they’re intrinsically sustainable.

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Senior Edison Expert, Intellectual Property Specialist, and Utility Engineer Chooses Optisense Networks™ to Drive Intelligence Beyond the Substation

Optisense Networks™, developer of medium voltage optical voltage and current sensors for electric distribution systems worldwide announced today that Jon Bickel, P.E. has joined Optisense Networks as Vice President of Product Management.

Plano, TX (PRWEB) January 08, 2013
Optisense Networks™, developer of medium voltage optical voltage and current sensors for electric distribution systems worldwide announced today that Jon Bickel, P.E. has joined Optisense Networks as Vice President of Product Management.
With more than 25 years experience in engineering, product management and technical consulting in the utility and manufacturing industries, Jon joins Optisense Networks at a critical time for the Smart Grid industry.
“I am excited to be joining the Optisense team,” says Jon. “Utilities today are focused on safety, reliability, efficiency and asset management. New technologies are the backbone of achieving these goals, especially in light of new efficiency and reliability initiatives being introduced by regulatory agencies across the industry.”
“Optisense’s innovative voltage and current sensors provide distribution engineers with the ability to identify and quickly resolve system issues. They also improve the system efficiency by optimizing voltage and current levels between substations and energy consumers. Optisense sensors provide knowledge, control and analytics, which are critical needs in today’s Smart Grid solutions,” Bickel notes.
Jon Bickel brings diverse industry experience to Optisense Networks including power generation, distribution engineering, power quality, and metering development. Jon has filed 30 patent applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office, is an IEEE Senior Member, and has published many articles on energy and metering-related topics both globally and domestically.
Formerly, Jon was responsible for developing energy and reliability metering instruments for Schneider Electric / Square D Company. As a Senior Edison Expert and Intellectual Property specialist for Schneider, Jon led product development of new monitoring systems, invented new metering technologies, authored multiple thought leadership artifacts, and was an international speaker and trainer within the electric distribution industry.
During his fourteen years with TXU Corporation, Jon contributed to distribution and power quality engineering through a dynamic time for TXU – as the company transitioned from a vertically-integrated generation and distribution company to become a retail energy provider. During this time, Jon designed and directed large electrical distribution projects, conducted technical investigations of power quality/reliability issues, and managed many large commercial and industrial energy consumer accounts in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
“Optisense is excited to have Jon and his utility system engineering expertise join our optical sensor team,” notes Stephen Prince, CEO Optisense Networks. “This century will see global communities collaborating in all aspects of their lives via smartphones. Utilities must meet these global collaboration demands through cost-effective power usage, new analytic technologies, and reliable systems. I’m confident that Jon’s expertise in engineering and intellectual property will allow our clients to gain this critical system intelligence beyond the substation.”
About OptiSense

Founded in 2001, OptiSense (http://www.optisense.net) provides utilities patented, state-of-the-art compact optical voltage and current sensors that increase electric distribution system reliability and efficiency through intelligence beyond the substation. Working closely with electric utilities, these next-generation sensors enable electric power companies to effectively monitor and manage distribution voltage, current and power factor in real-time.

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New Inspirational Book Gives Insight Into Living God’s Word

Patricia Coleman announces the release of ‘Jesus Death Was Not in Vain’

Cleveland (PRWEB) January 08, 2013
Patricia Coleman says that she was inspired to write “Jesus Death Was Not in Vain: Know Who You Are in Christ” (published by Trafford Publishing) by God to “let individuals know that His son did not die for the human race for nothing.”
Coleman pens her novel in a way to help readers grasp a new insight into their faith and the true meaning of Christ’s death. Throughout 12 chapters, she explores new ways to bring success into anyone’s life if they allow the Lord to work through them. Each chapter also has multiple Scriptures to help motivate and explain God’s purpose.
An excerpt from “Jesus Death Was Not in Vain”:
Whatever you are facing today, your angels are there to protect you, so speak words of faith and put your angels to work for you. The angels assigned to you are bound by your words. They have been charged to listen to God’s word—that is, to words of faith. So open your mouth and put your angels to work for you. Hebrews 1:14: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” According to this scripture, the angels are there to help us to inherit (or receive) salvation. So put your angels to work for you, but remember to speak only words of faith, words that you want to come to pass in your life. If you speak words of faith, they will bring them to pass, but if you speak negative words, they cannot help you.
“Jesus Death Was Not in Vain: Know Who You Are in Christ”

Patricia Coleman

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 88 pages | ISBN 9781466939936 |

E-Book | 88 pages | ISBN 9781466939943 |

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author

Patricia Coleman lives in Cleveland. She is divorced and very active in her church, New Spirit Revival. She enjoys exercising and helping people live more productive lives.
Trafford Publishing, an Author Solutions, Inc. author services imprint, was the first publisher in the world to offer an “on-demand publishing service,” and has led the independent publishing revolution since its establishment in 1995. Trafford was also one of the earliest publishers to utilize the Internet for selling books. More than 10,000 authors from over 120 countries have utilized Trafford’s experience for self publishing their books. For more information about Trafford Publishing, or to publish your book today, call 1-888-232-4444 or visit trafford.com.

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Angola: Stampede kills 10 at religious gathering

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Angolan media say 10 people, including four children, have died in a stampede during a religious gathering at a sports stadium in Luanda, the Angolan capital.
Angop, the Angolan news agency, cited officials as saying Tuesday that 120 people were also injured. The incident happened on New Year's Eve when tens of thousands of people gathered at the stadium and panic ensued. Faustino Sebastiao, spokesman for the national firefighters department, says those who died were crushed and asphyxiated.
The event in the southern African nation was organized by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, an evangelical group founded in Brazil.
In western Africa, a crowd in Ivory Coast stampeded after leaving a New Year's fireworks show early Tuesday, killing 61 people and injuring more than 200.

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South Africa: Mandela rests at home

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's presidency says former leader Nelson Mandela is progressing with his recuperation from illness and doctors are closely monitoring his condition.
Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said Wednesday that "everything is moving OK" as 94-year-old Mandela rests at his home in Johannesburg after a hospital stay last month.
The former president received treatment for a lung infection and also had gallstones removed.
Maharaj says Mandela is "taking it easy" and is under "close medical attention."
Mandela spent 27 years in prison under apartheid and became South Africa's first black president in democratic elections in 1994.

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Victims: I. Coast stampede caused by barricades

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Two survivors of the New Year's stampede in Ivory Coast that killed 61 people say barricades that were set up unofficially created the crush of thousands of people who were leaving a fireworks display.
The two survivors, who are hospitalized at Cocody Hospital, said Wednesday that after the fireworks they were prevented from moving along the Boulevard de la Republic by wooden barricades. Newspapers in Ivory Coast have speculated that the roadblocks were set up so pickpockets could steal money and mobile phones.
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, who declared three days of national mourning starting Wednesday, has ordered an immediate investigation into the causes of the stampede. He said the government would open a crisis center to help families find missing people and to take testimony from witnesses.

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Serena wins Brisbane title, Murray into final

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Serena Williams proved the break between seasons hasn't hurt her momentum, capturing her 47th career title with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Saturday in the Brisbane International final.
Williams has won 35 of her past 36 matches, including titles at Wimbledon, the Olympics, the U.S. Open, the season-ending WTA championships and now the first event of 2013.
She already has won the Australian Open five times, and with the season's first major a little more than a week away, she's in good shape to add another title in Melbourne.
The Brisbane final was all over in 50 minutes with Williams dictating terms from the first break of serve in the sixth game.
"I always feel like I don't know how to play tennis when I play against you," Pavlyuchenkova told Williams at the trophy presentation.
The pair had traveled together on a training trip to Mauritius in the offseason but didn't really hit against each other at the time.
"But this was true what I said," the No. 36-ranked Pavlyuchenkova, who has won three WTA titles and more than $2.8 million in prize money, later said of her post-match assessment. "When she's on fire, well, I feel like there is not much I can do. I mean, she's a great player and she deserves to win."
Williams said she's been concentrating on being calm and composed, and has started to feel "serene" when she's in her zone on court. She's been feeling that way a lot in her comeback since a first-round loss at the French Open, her earliest exit from a Grand Slam.
"I was looking at a lot of old matches on YouTube, and I feel like right now I'm playing some of my best tennis," the 15-time major winner said. "I feel like I want to do better and play better still."
Pavlyuchenkova's post-match comment, she said, was "a great compliment and a great honor for someone of her caliber to feel that way."
In a tournament featuring eight of the world's top 10 female players, not one match in Brisbane featured two seeded players due to a series of injuries and upsets. Second-ranked Maria Sharapova withdrew due to an injured collarbone, and Pavlyuchenkova ousted a pair of top-10 players: 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the second round and fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals.
Williams missed a chance to extend her 11-1 record against top-ranked Victoria Azarenka when the 23-year-old Belarusian withdrew a half hour before their scheduled semifinal Friday night due to an infected toe on her right foot. Azarenka was more concerned about being ready for the Australian Open.
The night off obviously didn't bother Williams, who went on a roll during a seven-game run from the middle of the first set until Pavlyuchenkova finally held serve in the fourth game of the second.
The 31-year-old Williams can regain the No. 1 ranking if she wins the Australian Open. If she does, she'll be the oldest woman to hold the top spot on the WTA tour. Chris Evert set the mark in November 1985, aged 30 years, 11 months and three days.
Williams' surge up the rankings started after the French Open, and also coincided with her starting to work with Patrick Mauratoglou's academy in Paris.
She attributes her comeback to "spending a lot more time on the tennis court, I think, and doing a lot of things I love."
"Everything just came together with the right timing with me wanting to do better, with me wanting to work hard, (Mauratoglou) being there and having everything to work hard, and having the same mind frame of playing matches for the way I like to play," Williams said. "So I think life is about timing, and it was just good timing."
In the men's draw, defending champion Andy Murray advanced to the final when fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori retired with an injured left knee while trailing 6-4, 2-0 in their semifinal earlier Saturday.
The Olympic and U.S. Open champion will next meet 21-year-old Grigor Dimitrov, who is starting to live up to his billing as a star-in-the-making by reaching his first ATP Tour final with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5) victory over Marcos Baghdatis.

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Tennis-Kvitova thrashed in final Australian Open warmup

Jan 6 (Reuters) - World number eight Petra Kvitova's preparations for the Australian Open suffered another setback when she was thrashed by Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the Sydney International on Sunday.
The fifth-seeded Czech, who had lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round of the Brisbane International last week, was thumped 6-1 6-1 by her Slovak opponent at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre.
"I played really badly and I wish I knew what I could say but I don't know," Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion and a semi-finalist at last year's Australian Open, told reporters.
"I'm not feeling very well right now in my confidence but I'm always looking forward to playing grand slams and I hope everything will be better there than here."
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki got her preparations for the first grand slam of the season, which starts Jan. 14 in Melbourne, back on track with a confident 6-1 6-2 win over Poland's Urszula Radwanska.
After suffering a shock first-round loss to qualifier Ksenia Pervak in Brisbane, the Dane rediscovered her touch to record a first victory of 2013.
Wozniacki has spent 67 weeks at the top of the rankings in her career but the 22-year-old slipped to number 10 after a poor season in which she suffered first-round exits at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
With boyfriend and world number one golfer Rory McIlroy cheering her on from the stands, the Dane said she believed she could climb her way back to the top.
"Within myself, I believe I can get back there," Wozniacki said. "But it's a lot of hard work and there are a lot of great players so you never know what's going to happen.
"The most important thing is that you're healthy and I'm going to play as best I can and win as many tournaments as I can and the ranking will come if you play well."
Australian Olivia Rogowska was overwhelmed in a 7-5 6-2 loss to Russian Maria Kirilenko in another first round match while home favourite Samantha Stosur will begin her campaign on Monday against China's world number 26 Zheng Jie.

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Kvitova thrashed in final Australian Open warmup

 World number eight Petra Kvitova's preparations for the Australian Open suffered another setback when she was thrashed by Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the Sydney International on Sunday.
The fifth-seeded Czech, who had lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round of the Brisbane International last week, was thumped 6-1 6-1 by her Slovak opponent at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre.
"I played really badly and I wish I knew what I could say but I don't know," Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion and a semi-finalist at last year's Australian Open, told reporters.
"I'm not feeling very well right now in my confidence but I'm always looking forward to playing grand slams and I hope everything will be better there than here."
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki got her preparations for the first grand slam of the season, which starts January 14 in Melbourne, back on track with a confident 6-1 6-2 win over Poland's Urszula Radwanska.
After suffering a shock first-round loss to qualifier Ksenia Pervak in Brisbane, the Dane rediscovered her touch to record a first victory of 2013.
Wozniacki has spent 67 weeks at the top of the rankings in her career but the 22-year-old slipped to number 10 after a poor season in which she suffered first-round exits at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
With boyfriend and world number one golfer Rory McIlroy cheering her on from the stands, the Dane said she believed she could climb her way back to the top.
"Within myself, I believe I can get back there," Wozniacki said. "But it's a lot of hard work and there are a lot of great players so you never know what's going to happen.
"The most important thing is that you're healthy and I'm going to play as best I can and win as many tournaments as I can and the ranking will come if you play well."
Australian Olivia Rogowska was overwhelmed in a 7-5 6-2 loss to Russian Maria Kirilenko in another first round match while home favorite Samantha Stosur will begin her campaign on Monday against China's world number 26 Zheng Jie.

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