pimblr.com

By LOU KESTEN – Jun 3, 2008
I don’t envy video game designers who have to work on movie tie-ins. Artists have to duplicate the look of a film with a much smaller budget. Writers have to stick pretty closely to someone else’s script, even as they stretch a two-hour story into an eight-hour game. There’s not much room for creativity.
While the typical schedule for a top-shelf video game is at least two years, movie game developers usually have far less time. Still, movie tie-ins have gotten a lot better since the Atari version of “E.T.” nearly destroyed the video game industry in 1982, and there have even been a few games (”GoldenEye,” “The Chronicles of Riddick”) that outshined their parents.
The licensed games we’ve seen so far this year (”Iron Man,” “Speed Racer”) have been solid if not distinguished. Diehard fans won’t regret buying any of the games reviewed here, and the first of them will appeal to just about anyone.
_”Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures” (LucasArts, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, $49.99; for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, $39.99; for the Nintendo DS, $29.99): Some of the most enjoyable “Star Wars” games have been the kid-oriented adventures in which Luke, Han Solo and the rest of the gang appear as Lego characters. Now developer Traveller’s Tales has turned its attention to LucasArts’ other big franchise, and the results are just as delightful.
“The Original Adventures” draws from the first three Indiana Jones films, skipping this year’s “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” Of course, you can always play as Indy, but dozens of other characters, from Marion Ravenwood to Short Round to Henry Jones Sr., help out. The game is especially entertaining in co-op mode, where two players can work together to fight bad guys and explore ancient temples.

ap.google.com

A lot of people thought the Lakers missed their shot in Game 1, that the game was there for the taking.
Not true. Game 2 traditionally is the time when the team with the home-court advantage is most vulnerable. The Celtics had nearly a week to rest after three tough series to get out of the Eastern Conference. The Lakers, quite frankly, did not get pushed that hard by San Antonio in the West finals.
Bottom line: the Lakers have their best chance to take control of the Finals tonight. Paul Pierce’s injury will make him something less than 100 percent. And don’t underestimate the impact of Kendrick Perkins’ sprained ankle. His absence wasn’t felt in Game 1. But it will make life tougher on them the longer that Perkins is limited.
Another factor is Ray Allen. He was a force in the opener, but he has not had a great playoff run overall. Will he come back with a dull effort?
Still another issue is the rebounding that has nagged at the Lakers periodically throughout the playoffs. They were hammered on the boards in Game 1 and that is one statistic that almost always carries a lot of weight, particularly in the playoffs. That’s where Lamar Odom must assert himself. He had six rebounds in 39 minutes on Thursday. that won’t cut it.
Lastly, the Lakers have to do two more things better than they did in the opener. They must shoot the ball better from the perimeter. They were 3-of-14 from 3-point land. And the must defend the Celtics better, starting by not allowing 10 offensive rebounds.
If you’re looking for a prediction, take the Lakers. This is the game they have to get. Going home for three games in a 2-0 hole is asking for trouble because it’s asking a lot to sweep the middle three games.

mavsblog.dallasnews.com

Both of these franchises are responsible for the league’s renaisance in the 80’s. Both of the teams are star-studded. Both of these teams are the benefactors of some questionable trades. Both of teams are making Commissioner David Stern very, very happy. Both of the teams are 100x better than the 2007-2008 Golden State Warriors. Both of the teams are about to put on one hell of a show.
We’re going NES on it!
Jump like you’re trying to do the impossible- block a Kareem sky hook!
When in doubt go with the home squad. I’m going with the Boston Collusion tonight. Look for big games from KG and Jesus Shuttleworth in particular. Garnett is just too fly for the Spanish Fly and Ray-Ray is a Laker-killer (always wanted to say someone was a Laker-killer instead of a Warrior-killer). Look for the overhyped Derek Fisher to make some huge mental mistake in the 4th quarter as always.

goldenstateofmind.com

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Kobe Bryant did not speak after the Los Angeles Lakers’ shootaround this morning, but he did shoot prior to it.
And that’s all that seemed to matter to the Lakers, who play host to the Jazz tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in Game 5 of the 2-2 best-of-seven NBA Western Conference semifinal playoff series.
Bryant, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said today, is “OK.”
The NBA’s reigning MVP hurt his back early in the Jazz’s game 4 overtime win on Sunday, did not practice Monday or Tuesday.
Instead, he rested and received treatment.
Yet he remains on track to play tonight.
That fact was a hot topic, yet again, for the Jazz this morning as well.
“Mine may not be as severe as his,” Jazz All-Star Carlos Boozer said of the back spasms he has endured throughout the season, “but I have a high tolerance for pain.”
Boozer again vowed the Jazz will not overlook Bryant, no matter what his health status.
“If he’s wearing his jersey,” Boozer said, “we expect him to be Kobe Bryant. We’re not gonna take him lightly. We’re not gonna think of him as having an ailment or a back injury. We’re gonna think of him as No. 24.”
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, though, suggested the game plan does not call for testing Bryant early in an effort to determine just what his limitations are.
“Test the Lakers,” he said. “That’s what we’ve got to test. He’s a big part of it, but we don’t have anybody that’s gonna go out there and play him 1-on-1. We’re not qualified for that.”
Besides, Sloan added, “We have to save some of our fouls for later on. … Whoever’s guarding him is going to get in foul trouble.”
Chant over and over: Baby / Kobe / Wimpy / MVP. Oh, and don&#39…

deseretnews.com

By Merijn de Waard
In March 2006 the US owner of Inevitable contacted De Vries Makkum with the request to refit his 1990 Feadship yacht Inevitable. A year before he had purchased the 51 meter yacht with the intention of rebuilding her to his own wishes. It was not his first big yacht, as he previously owned a 40 meter blue hulled Palmer Johnson yacht with the same name.
The refit team in Makkum, headed by Ico Vergouwe, sealed the contract and in the Autumn of 2006 Inevitable arrived in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She crossed the IJsselmeer to Scheepswerf Balk in Urk, who have a special slipway installation and can lift yachts up to 1200 tonnes and 60 meters out of the water. Balk placed the yacht on a pontoon and she was towed to De Vries Makkum, where she entered the “Makkum Cathedral” through the backdoor.
As soon as she was inside the yard, work started with the removal of the complete interior. At the main and bridge decks everything was removed, including all the walls, and at the lower deck only the interior was removed. Whilst the yacht was being stripped, Shipyard Ceelen in Leeuwarden built her new stern and Bloemsma Aluminiumbouw built the extended boat lounge and sundeck construction.
Inevitable was originally launched from the Feadship De Vries shipyard in Aalsmeer in 1990. At that time she did not had a bathing platform, but a few years ago, during one of her previous refits, a platform was added, as well as lengthening the overhang at the upper aft deck. Both extensions were removed in Makkum and replaced.
Feadship’s in-house naval architects, De Voogt, designed the new profile of Inevitable. By making the new buoyant bathing platform and raising it with 20 cm, her initial stability and water line length were increased, to compensate for the extended superstructure.

superyachttimes.com

North Medford sophomore Matt Maurer enjoyed his time on the mound last year, but he entered this season energized by the prospect of being able to step back into the batter’s box after a one-year hiatus.
If South Medford baseball fans had their druthers on Saturday, the left-hander wouldn’t have been in either spot at Harry & David Field.
recap: Matt Maurer strikes out 11 and allows two hits in the opener and belts four doubles in seven at-bats overall to keep North Medford undefeated.
up next: Tuesday, North Medford at Roseburg; Sheldon at South Medford.
Maurer struck out 11 and allowed only two hits in a 6-0 victory to open Saturday’s doubleheader.
He then stepped to the plate in the nightcap and slapped three doubles to help the top-ranked Black Tornado to a season sweep of the Panthers with a 12-4 triumph.
Overall, Maurer went 4-for-7 — all doubles — with one RBI and five runs scored (combined between him and courtesy runner Sharif Young).
“Taking the ball opposite field has been my work this year because I’ve always tried to pull it,” said Maurer, who credited work with North assistant coach Paul White and head coach Brett Wolfe for his success at the plate. “Just finding a pitch to hit and going opposite field was the biggest part of everything today.”
In comparison, South Medford managed only two extra-base efforts and eight hits overall.
North Medford improved to 20-0 overall and 9-0 in SWC play, while South Medford dropped to 9-11 and 1-8 with its eighth straight loss.
“We’ve kinda hit a crossroads,” said South Medford coach Tom Britton. “There’s some issues that we need to address, but the thing that’s really hurting us is we’re not producing. A lot of it is because we’re banged up, and a lot of it is we’ve got some kids that just haven’t stepped up and gotten the job done.”

mailtribune.com

MONTREAL - Beverly Best was in a Montreal brasserie with friends after the game Monday night when discussion turned to mobs and their mentality.
An expert on fan behaviour, Best wondered what it is about sports that makes people go crazy or violent, “other than the fact that everyone is drunk.”
As she and her friends spoke, hockey rioters ran amok downtown after the Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins to end their seven-game playoff series.
“I’m from Vancouver, so I remember a time (in 1994) when the Canucks were in the playoffs,” said Best, a communications specialist who teaches at Concordia University in the sociology department.
“The Canucks lost the Stanley Cup (to the New York Rangers) and there were these same kind of events: a lot of vandalism, a lot of breaking things and turning over cars.”
But the riot Monday night followed a win, not a loss. Why would that upset anyone cheering for the Habs?
Even she can’t quite figure it out.
“This can’t just be about hockey. It has to be symbolic of something else. There has to be some other source, some other feeling of dissatisfaction that can’t be expressed in an everyday way. It’s a form of dissent.”
Bob Whitelaw investigated the 1994 hockey riot for the British Columbia police commission. On a much smaller scale, what happened here Monday night resembled what happened in Vancouver, he said.
After the Canucks lost the seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals to the Rangers on June 14, people smashed and looted downtown businesses, causing more than $1.1 million in property damage; more than 150 rioters were charged.
“These types of things are not fan-related, and the perpetrators generally are found not to live anywhere near where the damage is done,” said Whitelaw, now an Ottawa public policy consultant.

canada.com

SAN ANTONIO — As it prepares to bid in the next cycle of men’s NCAA Tournament Final Fours, a St. Louis delegation was among 10 to meet with the NCAA this weekend in San Antonio.
The meetings were to further familiarize contenders with amended bid procedures and to update the NCAA on developments in each city.
The NCAA will pay informal site visits to each city in the next four to five weeks, said Greg Shaheen, vice president of Division I men’s basketball. Formal bids for Final Fours from 2012 to 2016 will be due in early June, with the list of 10 whittled down to the finalists around August.
The competition is expected to be Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Glendale, Ariz., Houston, Indianapolis, Minnesota, New Orleans and San Antonio. One of the bids will go to Indianapolis, home of the NCAA, meaning as many as nine cities could be vying for four bids.
Next year’s Final Four is in Detroit, followed by Indianapolis in 2010 and Houston in 2011.
St. Louis will host the women’s Final Four next year. It last hosted the men’s Final Four in 2005.
St. Louis had hoped to be awarded another Final Four in the current sequence but was left out. That was at least partly because the decision was being made before 2005 and thus before a chance to evaluate the city’s first hosting of the event since 1978.
If the NCAA follows the same form, Detroit and Houston’s chances would seem diminished since neither will have hosted before the decision is made. But in previous interviews with the Post-Dispatch, Shaheen has said that would be only one factor among many considerations.
A SURPRISE GUEST
As Memphis players returned to the locker room just before the national title game Monday at the Alamodome, many shook hands with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who recently had addressed the team.

stltoday.com

maybe people were watching the news?
2) The 67th Academy Awards were held 3.27 that year. Could this have impacted it?
same thing that hurt monday night football: overexposure of the sport.
college basketball peaks during the first weekend and selection sunday. thats when the most schools are still alive, most people are interested, everyone is still in their office pool. by the second and third weekends, its really down to the the hardcore fans and handful of people still alive in pools.
people are all “college basketballed” out and are off to focus on opening day of baseball and the nfl draft.
with so much attention to the sport these days, the national championship isn’t what it used to be. same with monday night football, as its just another game. it used to be more, but with all games on tv and the internet and espn, its not the same.
kayarn, I think you may be onto something. Perhaps when every game began to be televised on CBS [instead of just primetime games] it dulled the interest in the final game.
I’ll see if I can find out when that happened.
By Ann Marie on Mar 16, 2008 | Reply
Could it have something to do with low seeded teams winning? If you’re out of the office pool early, why watch? And as a Clemson alumni, I have to say I hate those blue bastards from UNC.
Anne Marie, I think the significant advancement of low seeded teams is hyped by the media a lot more than it actually happens. Being a numbers guy, if I can get some good data on that I will post it.
My hatred of the Tar Hells has cooled significantly since Dean Smith left. He truly was evil. I cannot get myself to hate a Roy Williams coached team to nearly the same extent.

tvbythenumbers.com

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Brett Myers would rather throw the last pitch than first one. He has to go the distance to do both in the season opener.
The starter-turned-closer-turned-starter will make his second consecutive opening-day start when the Philadelphia Phillies host the Washington Nationals on Monday at Citizens Bank Park.
Myers was picked over All-Star Cole Hamels by manager Charlie Manuel last month for the assignment. In a way, it was a reward for his willingness to move to the bullpen for the first time in his career last year.
“I came in thinking I was the No. 2 guy,” Myers said. “The way Hamels pitched last year, I figured he was the No. 1 guy.”
Myers paused a bit, then offered his scenario in a perfect world.
“Hamels is going to do it for a long time, especially when I go back to the bullpen,” he said.
Maybe next year. For now, Myers and Hamels are the 1-2 punch the Phillies hope can match up to the New York Mets’ duo of Johan Santana and Pedro Martinez.
The Phillies overcame a poor start and a slew of injuries to surpass the Mets in the final weekend last season. They clinched their first division title in 14 years with a victory over the Nationals on the final day of the regular season.
It was Myers striking out Wily Mo Pena to end the game and set off a wild celebration. Then the Fightin’ Phils promptly got swept by Colorado in a first-round series.
Myers thrived in the bullpen, finishing with 21 saves in 24 chances. He made no secret that he loved the closer’s role. But the Phillies put him back in the rotation after acquiring Brad Lidge from Houston. Lidge will start the season on the disabled list, giving Tom Gordon a chance to finish games again.

sportsillustrated.cnn.com