An Orioles Veteran Savors Playoff Runs 17 Years Apart

Abstract: DETROIT — Brady Anderson played 15 seasons in the major leagues, but in his career, the things that stand out the most for him happened in two Octobers. The first was in 1996, the season in which he hit an uncharacteristic 50 home runs but then watched his team lose to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series, thanks in part to a 12-year-old fan named Jeffrey Maier who turned a potential extra-base hit by Derek Jeter into a home run. The other came a year later, when the Orioles made it back to the A.L.C.S., lost again and never returned. Until now. “I had a long career,” Anderson said in a hallway of the visitors’ clubhouse at Comerica Park on Sunday as he wiped Champagne from his face following the Orioles’ division-series sweep of the Detroit Tigers. “But if I’m really forced to close my eyes and look back on my career, the memories that are most vivid are the playoffs. Not even close.” Anderson is now the Orioles’ vice president for baseball operations, with a role in almost every aspect of the current team. He stands as one of the most visible links between then and now, including all the losing years in between. And the long-awaited return to the A.L.C.S. definitely took him back to his own playing days. “I can almost remember it at-bat by at-bat,” he said of the 1997 playoffs, which ended with a stacked Orioles team losing the A.L.C.S in six games to the Cleveland Indians. “I can recall how I felt in different phases of each series. How I felt winning and how I felt losing and coming home. There is really nothing quite like it as a player, to experience baseball when there are only a few teams left.” Those memories include a three-games-to-one series victory over the Seattle Mariners in the 1997 divisional playoffs, with the Orioles overwhelming a high-powered Mariners team that had Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Alex Rodriguez and Jay Buhner batting in the middle of the order. But those Orioles had Anderson, Roberto Alomar, Rafael Palmeiro, Cal Ripken Jr., B. J. Surhoff and a pitching staff led by Scott Erickson and Mike Mussina. The Orioles went wire to wire that season, never falling out of first place from opening day on. In all, they won 98 games under their veteran manager, Davey Johnson. The current Orioles team does not really have the same star power. It does have Adam Jones, a four-time All-Star in center field, and Nelson Cruz, the slugger and three-time All-Star at designated hitter. However, third baseman Manny Machado, perhaps the team’s most talented hitter, and starting catcher Matt Wieters have missed much of the season with injuries and remain sidelined. In addition, Chris Davis, the slugging first baseman, was suspended for 25 games on Sept. 12 for testing positive for amphetamines and has not played since. Not that the 2014 Orioles need to feel defensive. Under the guidance of Manager Buck Showalter, they won 96 games and ran away with the American League East by 12 games. It’s just that the 1997 roster stands out. Dan Duquette, the Orioles’ current general manager, said that when he started scrolling back over the Orioles’ lineup from 17 years ago, he shook his head at all the star power it possessed. “We have some stars, too,” he said of the current squad. “It’s just that some of them are just not with us now.” The 1997 Orioles, however, did have a weakness in the bullpen. In Game 2 of the A.L.C.S. against the Indians, Armando Benitez — who later went on to blow postseason games for the Mets — gave up a three-run home run to Marquis Grissom in the eighth inning, and Cleveland won, 5-4. In Game 6, the Indians clinched the series with a 1-0 victory when Tony Fernandez hit a home run off — who else? — Benitez in the 11th inning. Somehow, the Orioles banged out 10 hits in that game to the Indians’ 3, but never scored. With two outs in the bottom of the 11th of Game 6, Anderson singled in his final postseason at-bat — he finished 15 for 42 in the playoffs that year for a .357 average — but Alomar then struck out. That it was it for the Orioles in the postseason until 2012, when they made it under Showalter as a wild-card team and went out in the first round to the Yankees. This year, they’re still going. “When people talk about chemistry on teams, it’s totally overrated,” Anderson said. “But on this team, particularly, I think it’s fitting.” And if the Orioles keep on winning, people will begin talking about the last time the Orioles won the World Series. That, by the way, occurred in 1983.

Orioles
Playoffs
Brady Anderson
Baseball


Facebook Reports Soaring Revenue, Buoyed by Mobile Ads

Abstract: After taking off two months to spend time with his newborn daughter , Mark Zuckerberg is back to business. And business is very, very good. On Wednesday, Mr. Zuckerberg’s social-networking company, Facebook , reported another quarter of soaring revenue . The company said sales in the fourth quarter rose 52 percent from a year ago, to $5.84 billion, while profit increased to $1.56 billion, more than doubling from $701 million a year ago. For the full year, the company reported $3.69 billion in profit on $17.93 billion in revenue, an increase of 44 percent from 2014. The numbers far surpassed Wall Street’s fourth-quarter expectations of $1.2 billion in profit on $5.37 billion in revenue. Investors welcomed the performance by pushing up Facebook’s stock more than 12 percent in after-hours trading. The results were largely a result of Facebook’s enormous success in selling advertising on mobile devices, a business that the company was not even in just a few years ago. Mobile ads made up 80 percent of the company’s total ad business in the fourth quarter, compared with 23 percent in the same quarter of 2012. “We have a Super Bowl on mobile in the U.S. every single day,” Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, said in an interview. The results offer a bright spot in a tumultuous climate for many American technology stocks. Shares of Twitter, Facebook’s most visible social networking competitor in the United States, have tumbled more than 55 percent during the last year. Yelp, the local-review service, is down about 60 percent. LinkedIn, the professional social networking service, is off more than 15 percent. Facebook is a much larger company than many of its peers, yet it is able to keep its growth rate high. The company has notched double-digit jumps in ad revenue and in the expansion of its user base. Facebook now has 1.59 billion monthly visitors, up 14 percent from a year ago. About 1.44 billion of those people visit the site on a mobile device; 1.04 billion visit Facebook every day. That growth engine has given Facebook lots of room to play in different areas — like virtual reality, messaging and even building drones capable of delivering Internet service to far-flung places around the world — that seem to have little to do with Facebook’s core business of advertising. Facebook is spending billions of dollars developing those projects, and Mr. Zuckerberg has repeatedly said the company has no plans to make money on them in the near term. In an earnings call with investors, David Wehner, Facebook’s chief financial officer, said the company projected that expenses would increase roughly 30 to 40 percent over the course of 2016 compared with last year. One example of the spending is on Oculus, Facebook’s $2 billion bet on bringing virtual reality to the mainstream. The unit will begin selling its first headsets to consumers in March . Facebook has said it plans to sell the hardware, called the Rift, at a loss to help the technology catch on with a large audience. “These are long-term bets, but we don’t think they’re particularly large bets relative to the size of Facebook,” said Ben Schachter, an Internet analyst at Macquarie Securities. “They’ve gone out of their way to say they’re not Google and going after health care, for instance.” Other analysts said they also saw potential for profit in the hundreds of millions of people who regularly use Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, a messaging service also owned by Facebook. They are also bullish on the potential for Instagram, the photo-sharing service that has more than 400 million regular monthly users, to become a significant source of revenue in the future. The company does not disclose what portion of revenue Instagram accounts for in Facebook’s overall sales. Ms. Sandberg said 98 of the top 100 advertisers on Facebook also advertised on Instagram in the last quarter. As for Mr. Zuckerberg, he spent a portion of the investor call on Wednesday talking about his new role as a father to his daughter, Max. “With a new addition to my family, I’ve been reflecting a lot on the legacy we want to pass on to the next generation,” he said, adding that he wanted Facebook to “continue to focus on solving the fundamental challenges facing the world, and bringing the world closer together.”

Facebook
Earnings Reports
Social Media
Mark E Zuckerberg
Online advertising


Woods and Mickelson Lurk on Crowded Quail Hollow Leader Board

Abstract: CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Bubba Watson overpowered Quail Hollow and wound up with a perfect day — he tied a course record with a 30 on the front nine, shot a seven-under-par 65 to share the lead, and does not have to play with Tiger Woods on Saturday. Retief Goosen , a two-time United States Open champion who thrives on fast greens, had another 68 on Friday to join Watson atop the leader board at eight-under 136 at the Quail Hollow Championship. Woods seized control with a 55-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole and had a two-shot lead for most of the back nine until a sloppy finish, making bogeys on two of the last three holes for a 72 that left him one shot behind. Still, it was shaping up for an entertaining weekend packed with star power. Ten players were separated by two shots going into the weekend on a course that proved it did not need rough to be frightening, not with firm, slick greens that made it difficult to get close to the hole. The former Masters champion Zach Johnson, one of eight players who had at least a share of the lead at one point, was the only player to reach 10 under par until he bogeyed the last three holes for a 67 and joined the group at seven-under 137 that included Woods, Jim Furyk (66) and George McNeill (68). Another shot back was Phil Mickelson , whose 71 was anything but routine. Mickelson four-putted from 40 feet for double bogey on the 17th hole. He also had a two-putt par that featured two clubs — a 64-degree sand wedge on the fourth green to get over a steep slope and a putter for the remaining 5 feet. “My round was a bit more exciting than I wanted it to be,” Mickelson said. He will play with Camilo Villegas, who had a 67. Watson has never won a tournament and says he does not like a lot of attention. “It’s just because I play golf because I love the golf courses, I love to play, and now I’ve got all these strangers staring at me,” Watson said. “I get nervous around people.” Goosen holed a 20-foot birdie putt on his final hole to join the leaders. A few minutes later, Woods completed his mini-meltdown. From just off the par-5 15th green in two, his eagle chip was too hard and he missed the 5-foot birdie. Then came a tee shot into the trees on the 16th, leading to a bogey. And on the 18th, his approach went to the back of the green — the pin was in the front — and from 90 feet away, he three-putted for bogey to fall out of the lead. “I didn’t drive the ball particularly well today, didn’t hit my irons as well as I’d like,” Woods said. “I was hanging in there.” Irons were particularly key, especially with the green so firm that they rarely held shots in the afternoon as the temperatures became steamy and the wind swirled. Woods was even for his round when he got a big break at the turn, hammering a 55-foot putt that slammed into the back of the cup, went a few inches airborne and dropped into the cup. His normal fist pump was exchanged for an apologetic smile. “It would have been in the grandstands if it didn’t hit the hole,” Woods said. “It was nice to have a train wreck and have it go in.” It was another example of trying to get the ball in the vicinity of the hole. “With the greens being this fast and this hard, you’d better have a short iron in your hand,” he said. That was no problem for Watson. He hit a 9-iron into the green on the 569-yard par 5 fifth hole, a sand wedge on the 489-yard 16th hole, a lob wedge on the 459-yard third, and a sand wedge on the 444-yard fourth hole. His 30 on the front nine matched the course record last set by Woods on Thursday. Furyk was at two over with five holes left in his opening round when he began to turn it around, and he kept right on going while playing with Woods and David Toms, a threesome of past champions at Quail Hollow.

Golf
Woods Tiger
Watson Bubba
Goosen Retief
Johnson Zach
Furyk Jim
Mickelson Phil


GlaxoSmithKline to Buy Raft of H.I.V. Drugs in Development

Abstract: LONDON — GlaxoSmithKline said on Friday that it had agreed to acquire a pipeline of H.I.V. drugs in development from Bristol-Myers Squibb, in two deals that could be worth as much as $1.46 billion. Under the agreement, GlaxoSmithKline, the British drug maker, would pay $317 million for the late-stage H.I.V. drugs that the New York-based Bristol-Myers has been developing, and it would make an additional payment of up to $518 million depending on sales and development milestones. It would also pay $33 million for early-stage H.I.V. treatments being developed by Bristol-Myers, with additional payments of up to $587 million depending on future performance. “These acquisitions strengthen our leadership and innovation in H.I.V., one of our core areas of scientific research,” David Redfern, the GlaxoSmithKline chief strategy officer, said in a news release . The deals with Bristol-Myers are expected to bolster the drug pipeline of ViiV Healthcare, a specialist H.I.V. company owned by GlaxoSmithKline, the American drug maker Pfizer and Shionogi of Japan. ViiV Healthcare has 12 H.I.V. treatments on the market and posted sales of 1.5 billion pounds, or about $2.2 billion, in 2014. The two separate transactions are subject to regulatory approval and are expected to be completed in the first half of next year.

GlaxoSmithKline
London
Pfizer
Japan
AIDS,HIV
Pharmaceuticals
Mergers and Acquisitions
Bristol Myers Squibb


Amy Pressman of Medallia: Bored by ‘Yes,’ Inspired by ‘No’

Abstract: This interview with Amy Pressman , co-founder and president of Medallia , a provider of customer service technology, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant . Q. Tell me about your early years. A. I grew up in Lexington, Mass. It was a totally middle-class upbringing. I wasn’t a Camp Fire Girl, but whenever my friends who were Camp Fire Girls had to sell candy, I would go door-to-door to help sell. There was something about selling that I really liked. I just loved closing the deal. And what about your parents? My father was a theoretical physicist who was very involved in the space program, and then he got into the environment. He was one of the first scientists talking about the ozone layer and fluorocarbons. My mother was a school psychologist and also had a private practice. She was really good at talking to me in layman’s terms about the newest findings in psychology. She got me thinking a lot about motivation, how to assess people and how to get on a journey of your own personal growth. Both my parents were like that. They were on their own journeys, which is different from what I see in a lot of people today who define success in very narrow terms rather than trying to always learn and grow. Did you have clear career goals when you went to college? No. I was a Type A overachiever. My whole purpose in high school had been to get into a good college, and the minute I was admitted, something in me told me to take some time off. I was very undirected, changing my major a lot. It was really a period of exploration and, frankly, being pretty darn lost. I did eventually take time off in my sophomore year. I felt unleashed. Within a week, I had lined up three different opportunities. I ended up working for the public defender service in Washington, D.C., where I had to bang on doors in some of the worst neighborhoods to interview and take signed statements from victims and witnesses of crimes. It was unpaid, so I also worked as a waitress at an Irish bar. Then I went back to school. I was a little more directed but still not totally so. After college, I joined the Peace Corps. I ended up in Honduras, where I saw firsthand how business could do enormous good by creating wealth. So I came away with this desire to go into business. It’s one thing to go into business. It’s quite another to start a business, as you did with Medallia. I’ve always been entrepreneurial. I heard this saying about 10 years ago that really resonated with me: “An entrepreneur is someone who gets motivated by the word ‘no.’” Whenever I hear “no,” I think, there’s a way to solve this. I’m really excited by “no.” “Yes” bores me. Tell me about the culture of your company. We work hard to overcome the “impostor syndrome” that a lot of people feel. People present themselves with résumés of unbroken success. But none of us are perfect. Unfortunately, when we hit roadblocks and need help, many of us don’t feel like we can ask for it. So we’re essentially curtailing the pace at which we can learn, because it’s much harder to learn in the shadows without asking for help than to just come out and say, “I am really struggling with this. Please help me. What do I do?” A lot of people are hiding, and we have created environments where we do not learn quickly. Ultimately, the one sustainable competitive advantage that a company can have is a culture that enables its people and the entire organization to learn faster. Fast learning has to come from a place of people feeling safe to talk about what’s working and not working, of recognizing that their job is not to appear perfect but to get better. We run a weeklong onboarding to expose new hires to all these ideas. Also, one afternoon during the week we tell them, “Go out and do something that is holding you back and scares you.” It sounds kind of faddish, but the exercise is actually really powerful. It makes a point: Don’t let the fear of failure — or even of imperfection — hold you back. You have to be vulnerable; you have to be real; you have to be honest about what’s working and not working. You can’t be defensive. Anytime someone who’s just started at the company approaches me to tell me how everything’s going great, I’ll ask him or her, “O.K., what’s not working? Tell me what you’re struggling with.” People find it disconcerting, but it’s not because I’m negative. It’s because struggles are the moments when you grow. What qualities do you look for in new hires? We want to understand the lens through which people look at the world, and whether it’s one of ownership or victimization. The difference can be very subtle. In any given situation, you have neither zero percent nor 100 percent control. But whatever control you have, even if it’s just 5 percent, you need to make the most of it. The minute you say, “Well, I can’t because so-and-so,” you diminish yourself and you diminish your ability to have impact. So I listen really carefully when I interview people for whether their narrative is: “Life happens to me” or “I make life happen”; “I am owning this situation” or “I am a victim.” Thoughts on career and life advice for new college grads? You have to find what you’re passionate about. That can be very hard to do for a lot of people coming out of college, where there’s a lot of peer pressure to conform. So I really encourage people to explore, take chances and try different things. You just don’t know where it will lead you. For people who want to start a business, I tell them to get some training in sales. Sales was a dirty word for most of the people I went to college and even business school with. But when you’re starting a company, you’re selling to customers, prospective employees and investors. You’re selling all the time.


Confused by Chip Credit Cards? Get in Line

Abstract: You’re at the checkout counter. Your items have been bagged. Your credit card is in your hand. Do you swipe it or insert it? The question has become vexing enough in the United States that a plea from one Twitter user for the country to “get on the same page” has become the unofficial, albeit vulgar, mantra of the nation’s consumers, with tens of thousands of retweets and likes. America has GOT to get on the same page. ARE WE SWIPING OR INSERTING INTO THE CHIP READER CAUSE IM TIRED OF LOOKING DUMB AF @ CHECKOUT — Chase August (@chase_august) August 1, 2016 Ten months into t he transition to chip cards , it’s clear there’s no going back. But as the national frustration grows, here are answers to some burning questions. Is It Going to Get Any Better? There is reason to hope. About 75 percent of credit cards are chip-enabled. If all businesses upgraded their terminals — which they are not required to do by law — at least the confusion over whether to swipe or insert would be settled. So far, about one-quarter of the nation’s merchants have made the transition, said Jason Oxman, chief executive of Electronic Transactions Association, a trade group for companies that deal with payment products and services. But while many of them have the terminals, they are waiting to get them certified for use, said Jared Drieling, the business intelligence manager for the Strawhecker Group, a consulting company for the industry. Why Do Transactions Take So Long? Technological improvements generally make things easier, but that’s not what this change is about. The longer wait times at checkout occur because of all these steps in the process: • The chip creates a one-time code. • The payment terminal sends it to the bank. • The bank matches it to an identical one-time code. • The bank then sends back verification. Voilà! The good news: New software is being developed to allow chip cards to be inserted and quickly removed, speeding up the process, Mr. Drieling said. What Was This Change About, Then? Security. “You can’t counterfeit a chip card,” Mr. Oxman said. “You can very easily counterfeit a strip card.” Financial institutions changed the rules attached to their terminals last year. Now, if a counterfeit card is used because a merchant doesn’t have the technology to process chip-enabled cards, the merchant is responsible for paying the fraudulent charges. Businesses that sell goods, like electronics, that can be easily resold on the black market are often targeted by people with fraudulent cards. Because of that, they have a lot of motivation to upgrade. If they don’t, they must pay the bill for all those purchases. “But the local coffee shop might not be getting a lot of fraud activity,” Mr. Oxman said, so there’s less motivation to get the new terminals. There is a chance, then, that at the onset of a purchase, you’ll never really know whether to swipe or dip. What About the Terrible Noise Some Machines Make? Get used to it. “The loud, annoying beep that you’re referring to is to remind you to take the card out,” Mr. Oxman said. “The goal of the noise is to get your attention, and it sounds like it’s working.” But as Kathleen Dunn, 27, of Nashville pointed out, the sound rings of rejection. “I hate the noise. It makes me feel like my card got declined, and I panic every time,” Ms. Dunn said via a message on Twitter. Why Are So Many of the Machines Not Working? Dieter Bohn, the executive editor of The Verge, a technology site, characterized the situation as a “checkout dance” in an article . That dance is caused in part by the fact that many places that have the new terminals can’t use the chip reader technology yet. They’re not broken — they’re just waiting to be certified , and that process can sometimes take months. Until then, retailers are responsible for any fraudulent charges, and they’re not happy about it. Did Other Countries Have These Problems? It’s likely, but their transition is long in the past now. “We’re really one of the last G20 nations to adopt E.M.V.,” said Mr. Drieling, referring to the chip technology by an acronym for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, the technology’s early advocates. The chips work a little differently in the 150 other countries using them: The cardholder also enters a PIN at the terminal, which lets the verification process happen offline, Mr. Oxman said. Banks and retailers are at odds over why the United States isn’t adopting the PIN system . Why it has taken so long to adopt the chip technology in the United States has a lot to do with its bigger and more complex market. “Changing it is a huge undertaking,” Mr. Oxman said. How Much Longer Will I Even Have to Carry a Credit Card? Probably not much longer. Most of the new terminals that accept the chip-enabled cards are also equipped with the technology to accept contactless payments, like Apple Pay or Android Pay. And while there is disagreement about whether mobile wallets are faster than chip cards, mobile payment makes it feel as if the transaction is moving more quickly. “There is a perfect storm brewing for mobile wallets,” Mr. Drieling said. Until then, perhaps you can use that extra time at the checkout counter to commiserate with the cashier. “I always bring it up during the awkward silence caused by the amount of time the chip takes to read,” Ross Schickler, 19, of Springfield, N.J., said in a Twitter message. “They always laugh and agree.”

Credit card
Computers and the Internet
Tech Industry
Customer service
Mobile Commerce
US


Disney Fans Get a Sneak Peek at Coming Films

Abstract: ANAHEIM, Calif. — For four hours on Friday and two hours on Saturday, Walt Disney Studios gave fans gathered at a convention here an extensive look into its movie pipeline. And while the crowd was a friendly one, Disney left nothing to chance. Fake snow! A marching band! Confetti cannons! The 6,200 assembled Disneyphiles seemed sufficiently dazzled. Clips from “Maleficent” received a sustained roar, helped by the surprise presence onstage of Angelina Jolie, who stars in the live-action movie as the evil sorcerer from “Sleeping Beauty.” A coming Pixar film, “Inside Out,” which is set inside a girl’s brain, also prompted a sizzling reaction, with positive chatter immediately spreading to the trade show floor of the D23 Expo , a biennial fan event that draws roughly 55,000 people. But how did Disney’s movie presentations go over with a more skeptical audience, namely this beat reporter? Here are five takeaways: “Frozen” seems likely to be a formidable contender for the best animated film Oscar — and not just because the competition is relatively light this year. Based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Snow Queen,” “Frozen” tells the story of two princesses, one of whom accidentally plunges her kingdom into eternal winter and sets off an epic journey by her sister. The film has an ethereal, otherworldly artistic style and features at least one showstopping original song: “Let It Go,” a “Defying Gravity"-esque number performed by Idina Menzel . But this isn’t all girlie drama. “Frozen,” set for release on Nov. 27, also features a wisecracking guy sidekick, Olaf, who seems destined to join Robin Williams and his Genie (“Aladdin”) in the cartoon comedy hall of fame. A goofy snowman who dreams of summer, Olaf is voiced by Josh Gad, best known for Broadway’s “Book of Mormon.” ■ Disney’s various movie labels will have a big presence in the blockbuster business in 2015, with Lucasfilm delivering a new “Star Wars,” Marvel supplying “The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” a fifth “Pirates of the Caribbean” coming from the studio’s signature live-action division — and Pixar serving up “Inside Out.” Until now, “Inside Out'’ has been a blip on the radar, in part because it sounds weird on paper: a movie set entirely inside a little girl’s mind ? But the potential of the movie, directed by Pete Docter (“Up,” “Monsters Inc.”) came into sharp focus as fan reaction to early clips was nothing short of euphoric. The film’s primary characters are emotions. Amy Poehler voices Joy, for instance. A chugging Train of Thought moves the characters between mental departments, which include a dream factory, where sleeping adventures are “performed live each night,” with sketches that don’t always make sense. (The fan reaction was only a bit less strong for “The Good Dinosaur,” a Pixar release planned for next spring. The story line: dinosaurs survive extinction to become … farmers. The youngest dinosaur, who jumps around like an excited puppy, discovers a cave boy and they become unlikely pals.) ■ After some duds with “The Lone Ranger” and “Oz the Great and Powerful” — the former got dismal reviews and will lose at least $160 million, the latter got so-so reviews and was only thinly profitable — Disney may have some work to do when it comes to convincing fans that its plan to keep updating classic stories is a good one. It hopes “Maleficent” and other films from its live-action division will win over the skeptics. Ms. Jolie described her take on the classic villain as “a little sexy.” She is just one of a thicket of major stars in the pipeline, an indication of quality scripts: Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson appear in “ Saving Mr. Banks ,” a period drama about the making of “Mary Poppins”; George Clooney in a mystery adventure called “Tomorrowland”; Tina Fey in a “Muppets” sequel; and Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp in an adaptation of the musical “Into the Woods.” But one big project got a cool reception: “Cinderella.” Stars like Helena Bonham Carter (as the fairy godmother) and Cate Blanchett (as the evil stepmother) bode well, as does its director: Kenneth Branagh. But fans seemed to tense up in a “please don’t mess this up” way during the presentation, which did not include clips because the movie — also planned for 2015 — is still in the earliest stages. ■ Marvel’s top movie executive, Kevin Feige , largely gave a repeat performance of his presentation last month at Comic-Con, the sprawling convention in San Diego for fans of science fiction, superheroes, comics and fantasy. His superhero video landed at D23 Expo with the force of Thor’s hammer, which is to say, people loved it. Repetition is not as easy as it looks, however. Marvel is moving deeper into what it calls Phase 2, a line of sequels like “Thor: The Dark World” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” that lead up to the “Avengers” sequel in 2015. And this is tricky territory. Sequels must walk a careful line — too different from the original and fans will revolt, not different enough and fans (and critics) will revolt. Mr. Feige certainly got it right with the “Iron Man” series, but Thor and Captain America were smaller box-office powers in their initial solo outings and now they face signs of superhero fatigue at the box office. “The Wolverine,” based on Marvel’s “X-Men” comics, is a hit for 20th Century Fox but ticket sales in North America have been significantly softer than anticipated. ■ Pixar takes a lot of heat for its lack of female directors (and protagonists.) It’s a fair criticism: all of its films have been directed by men, except for “Brave," and Brenda Chapman was removed from the picture halfway through. But it’s not fair to say that John Lasseter, Disney’s animation czar, is not working to bring more women directors into the field, which has long been dominated by men. Jennifer Lee makes her directing debut with “Frozen.” (She shares that credit with a fellow named Chris Buck.) “Frozen” will arrive in theaters attached to a new short film called “ Get A Horse! ” The film, starring Mickey Mouse — the character is voiced by none other than Walt Disney himself, added by combing through old recordings — gives Lauren MacMullan her first movie directing credit. And Peggy Holmes is directing “Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy,” a new installment in Disney’s successful line of direct-to-DVD movies, one of which, “The Secret of the Wings,” gave Ms. Holmes her first directing assignment.

Walt Disney
Movies
Maleficent
Inside Out
Frozen
Animated Films
Lucasfilm


Ketchup Helps You Hang Out, or Flake, If Necessary

Abstract: New York City can be a difficult place to keep up with your social commitments. Plans are easily made, but just as easily forsaken. Say your boss asks you to stay a little late, the F train is running along the Eighth Avenue line, or a cellphone suddenly dies. These are all tried and true, perfectly reasonable excuses to cancel. An app named Ketchup , which made its debut in New York in April, hopes to help those who feel that they’ve been ditched one too many times. Ketchup is a kind of social to-do list, which offers an easy platform from which to propose and maintain a roster of the activities that you’d like to plan with your friends. Ketchup allows the user to set up specific social engagements, encouraging friends to stay connected in the real world, as long as they’ve kept ties in the virtual one. Upon entering the app, users input their Facebook information to choose which of their Facebook friends they would most like to hang out with. (If you are not on Facebook you are flat out of luck.) After you select a Facebook friend, Ketchup provides a pull-down menu with suggested activities, from the broad “hang out” or “lunch” to the specific — “jiu jitsu” or “science experiments.” A high school buddy who was clearly amused by the list of available activities suggested that we spend some time “sand castle making” together. Once an activity — known within the app as a ketchup — is agreed upon, there’s an option to schedule the activity for a specific date and time on your phone’s calendar. But Ketchup doesn’t share those specifics with the friend who you’re planning to see and for all they know, the agreement to hang out is still vague. “It doesn’t go the whole way but it allows you to broadly interact with a lot of different people and get the first step of every plan in place,” explains Matt Capucilli, the founder of Reddyset, the application development company that produced Ketchup. He says the app helps users “retain all the social agreements you’re already making.” But the app may have trouble catching on if that’s the only service it provides. Ketchup faces a familiar problem for social apps: the lack of a critical mass of users. To my knowledge, none of my Facebook friends had downloaded Ketchup without my asking them to, and if a friend doesn’t have Ketchup, the app just prompts you to text or leave a message on Facebook in the standard fashion. This will lead many users to find Ketchup redundant, given that their smartphones already give them a variety of ways to make plans. And Ketchup will be no help in seeing those people who don’t follow through on plans: it doesn’t incentivize or reward keeping dates in any way. I had about a 50 percent success rate with my scheduled ketchups. Those friends who would have shown up had I just texted them showed the same interest when I used the application. And the elusive remained as elusive as ever. “I don’t think this application, or any other application, will make people do things they don’t want to do,” Mr. Capucilli said. In fact, Ketchup helps people who might want to escape their commitments with a special “flake” button. Once I decided to ditch the sand castle enthusiast, Ketchup made it easy. I picked “it seems we can’t make this happen,” from a roster of diplomatically worded rejections, and my friend’s invitation was removed from my list, faster than you can say “Ehh, it’s a pretty long way to the Rockaways.”


Honor for Knicks’ Chandler

Abstract: Memphis guard Tony Allen was the top vote-getter on the N.B.A. All-Defensive first team, edging Lebron James. The two were joined on the team by Tyson Chandler of the Knicks, Chris Paul, Serge Ibaka, and Joakim Noah. Marc Gasol, the N.B.A.’s defensive player of the year, made the second team.

Tony Allen
LeBron James
Tyson Chandler
Basketball
Awards


Lookin at Lucky Runs Away With Haskell

Abstract: OCEANPORT, N.J. — Mike Pegram, the owner of horse racing’s unluckiest colt, had been waiting for this moment, a race in which everything would break Lookin at Lucky’s way and the black cloud would finally disappear. Headlining what was perhaps the deepest field at a Haskell Invitational, Lookin at Lucky had the opportunity to show how good he was Sunday, and he did not disappoint. Lookin at Lucky, trained by Bob Baffert , thrashed six rivals to win the Haskell at Monmouth Park by four lengths and established himself as the clear leader of the 3-year-old male division. “He finally got his chance to show off,” Pegram said. “Bob always told me what kind of horse we had, and he proved it today.” Lookin at Lucky was a victim of bad racing luck in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, the Santa Anita Derby and the Kentucky Derby , where he finished sixth after breaking from the No. 1 post, often a big disadvantage. He came back to win the Preakness by three-quarters of a length, although he did not do anything extraordinary that day. Baffert said that was because Lookin at Lucky was tired going into the Preakness. Given an 11-week freshening, Lookin at Lucky figured to return to the top of his game, but the challenge in the Haskell was as great as the one he faced in the Triple Crown races. The field included the Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, the Derby runner-up Ice Box and Trappe Shot, a late bloomer who had won four straight. “I’ve come in here and won this race before,” said Baffert, who set a record for trainers with his fourth Haskell victory. “Usually I bring a good horse in, but the competition hasn’t been as fierce as it was this year. We had the Derby winner and all these good horses. This was a stellar group of 3-year-olds.” This time, Lookin at Lucky had the type of perfect trip that had eluded him so often in the past. Under Martin Garcia, who rode the colt for the first time in the Preakness, Lookin at Lucky sat fourth down the backstretch as First Dude, Our Dark Knight and Super Saver vied for the lead. Garcia remained patient. “I went outside to stay out of trouble,” he said. “I knew I had a super horse, and anytime I asked him, he was going to go on and win.” Lookin at Lucky made a bold move on the far turn to catch the leaders. By the time the field hit the head of the stretch, Lookin at Lucky was on his way to running away from his rivals. Trappe Shot finished second, three-quarters of a length in front of First Dude. Also making his first start since the Preakness, Super Saver weakened in the stretch and finished fourth. In five starts this year, the Kentucky Derby is the only race he has won. “I thought he ran very well,” the trainer Todd Pletcher said of Super Saver. “He got a little tired off the layoff. Hopefully, this race will move him forward.” Lookin at Lucky paid $4.40 for a $2 bet to win and covered the mile and an eighth, run over a fast track, in 1:49.83. The attendance was 40,904. The next stop for most of the top 3-year-olds will be the Travers on Aug. 28 at Saratoga. Baffert was noncommittal about the race, saying, “I’ve got 24 hours to think about it.” Baffert knows that with a few breaks, Lookin at Lucky could be undefeated. “It’s just one of those things,” he said. “The Breeders’ Cup was frustrating. The Santa Anita Derby was very frustrating. It’s just all been bad racing luck. The more he wins, the better that name Lookin at Lucky is starting to sound.”

Horse Racing
Haskell Invitational
Pegram Mike
Baffert Bob
Monmouth Park Racetrack


Penn State Seeks Settlements

Abstract: Penn State ’s president, Rodney Erickson, said the university was adequately covered to handle lawsuits stemming from the child sexual abuse scandal but hoped to settle many of them “as quickly as possible.” Erickson told CBS’s “Face the Nation” program that the university, like any institution of its size, had liability coverage.

Pennsylvania State University
Sex Crimes
Child Abuse and Neglect
Colleges and Universities
Football (College)
Erickson Rodney A
Suits and Litigation
Sandusky Jerry


Texas: Drillers Must Disclose ‘Fracking’ Chemicals

Abstract: Gov. Rick Perry has signed a bill requiring drillers to disclose the chemicals they use when extracting oil and gas from rock formations, making Texas the first state to pass such a law. Some state agencies have passed rules forcing some disclosure, but no other states have made it a law. Texas’ law will force drillers to post the chemicals and the amounts used beginning in July 2012. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is being used in more states. In the fracking process, drillers pump chemical-laced water into the ground at high pressure to crack the rock. Environmental groups worry that the chemicals could taint water supplies. The industry says the process is safe.

Texas
Hydraulic Fracturing
Natural Gas
Perry Rick


Edward N. Lorenz, a Meteorologist and a Father of Chaos Theory, Dies at 90

Abstract: Edward N. Lorenz, a meteorologist who tried to predict the weather with computers but instead gave rise to the modern field of chaos theory, died Wednesday at his home in Cambridge, Mass. He was 90. The cause was cancer, said his daughter Cheryl Lorenz. In discovering “deterministic chaos,” Dr. Lorenz established a principle that “profoundly influenced a wide range of basic sciences and brought about one of the most dramatic changes in mankind’s view of nature since Sir Isaac Newton,” said a committee that awarded him the 1991 Kyoto Prize for basic sciences. Dr. Lorenz is best known for the notion of the “butterfly effect,” the idea that a small disturbance like the flapping of a butterfly’s wings can induce enormous consequences. As recounted in the book “Chaos” by James Gleick, Dr. Lorenz’s accidental discovery of chaos came in the winter of 1961. Dr. Lorenz was running simulations of weather using a simple computer model. One day, he wanted to repeat one of the simulations for a longer time, but instead of repeating the whole simulation, he started the second run in the middle, typing in numbers from the first run for the initial conditions. The computer program was the same, so the weather patterns of the second run should have exactly followed those of the first. Instead, the two weather trajectories quickly diverged on completely separate paths. At first, he thought the computer was malfunctioning. Then he realized that he had not entered the initial conditions exactly. The computer stored numbers to an accuracy of six decimal places, like 0.506127, while, to save space, the printout of results shortened the numbers to three decimal places, 0.506. When typing in the new conditions, Dr. Lorenz had entered the rounded-off numbers, and even this small discrepancy, of less than 0.1 percent, completely changed the end result. Even though his model was vastly simplified, Dr. Lorenz realized that this meant perfect weather prediction was a fantasy. A perfect forecast would require not only a perfect model, but also perfect knowledge of wind, temperature, humidity and other conditions everywhere around the world at one moment of time. Even a small discrepancy could lead to completely different weather. Dr. Lorenz published his findings in 1963. “The paper he wrote in 1963 is a masterpiece of clarity of exposition about why weather is unpredictable,” said J. Doyne Farmer, a professor at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. The following year, Dr. Lorenz published another paper that described how a small twiddling of parameters in a model could produce vastly different behavior, transforming regular, periodic events into a seemingly random chaotic pattern. At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1972, he gave a talk with a title that captured the essence of his ideas: “Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?” Dr. Lorenz was not the first to stumble onto chaos. At the end of the 19th century, the mathematician Henri Poincaré showed that the gravitational dance of as few as three heavenly bodies was hopelessly complex to calculate, even though the underlying equations of motion seemed simple. But Poincaré’s findings were forgotten through the first three-quarters of the 20th century. Dr. Lorenz’s papers also attracted little notice until the mid-1970s. “When it finally penetrated the community, that was what started people to really start to pay attention to this and led to tremendous development,” said Edward Ott, a professor of physics and electrical engineering at the University of Maryland. “He demonstrated a chaotic model in a real situation.” Born in 1917 in West Hartford, Conn., Edward Norton Lorenz received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Dartmouth College in 1938 and a master’s degree in math from Harvard in 1940. He worked as a weather forecaster during World War II, leading him to pursue graduate studies in meteorology; he earned master’s and doctoral degrees in meteorology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1943 and 1948. Dr. Lorenz was a staff member of M.I.T.’s meteorology department from 1948 to 1955, when he became an assistant professor. He was promoted to professor in 1962 and served as head of the department from 1977 to 1981. He became an emeritus professor in 1987. In addition to his daughter Cheryl, of Eugene, Ore., Dr. Lorenz is survived by another daughter, Nancy Lorenz of Roslindale, Mass; a son, Edward H. Lorenz of Grasse, France; and four grandchildren. His wife, Jane, died in 2001. Dr. Lorenz remained active almost to the end of his life, in both research and outdoor activities. “He was out hiking two and one-half weeks ago,” Cheryl Lorenz said, “and he finished a paper a week ago with a colleague.”

Chaos Theory
Weather
Mathematics
Deaths (Obituaries)
Lorenz Edward N


India: At Least 30 Die in Bus Crash

Abstract: A bus plunged 400 feet into a gorge on Thursday in western India, killing at least 30 people, the police said. The driver lost control of the bus after it collided with a truck on a road near Malshej Ghat, a hilly tourist spot about 100 miles northeast of Mumbai, said a police officer, Raghunath Yadav. More than 110,000 people are killed annually on India’s roads. Most crashes are attributed to reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.

India
Bus
Car Crash
Fatalities,casualties


In His Quiet Way, Chandler Has Emerged as a Knicks Star

Abstract: MIAMI — The search for silver linings in a dismal Knicks season can lead in many directions, although the trail usually ends with an asterisk. David Lee and Nate Robinson had breakout years. But they could leave as free agents this summer. Chris Duhon emerged as a solid point guard. But he withered in the last two months. Danilo Gallinari showed fabulous potential as a rookie. But he is recovering from back surgery. So when Coach Mike D’Antoni was asked which player made the biggest impression this season, he did not pause. “Wilson Chandler jumps out real quick,” D’Antoni said Sunday before the Knicks played their final road game of the season, losing to the Miami Heat , 122-105. Chandler was a relative mystery to the Knicks’ new coaching staff. He had hardly played as a rookie. But his size (6 feet 8 inches, 220 pounds), athleticism and body type reminded D’Antoni of Shawn Marion, whom he had coached on Phoenix Suns. That alone was cause for excitement. With the season down its final days, D’Antoni is still bubbling with enthusiasm. Through 81 games, including 69 starts, Chandler is averaging 14.4 points and 5.4 rebounds. He has come on strong down the stretch, averaging 18.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in April. Chandler has guarded every position on the court and can play offensively at shooting guard or either forward spot. He is regarded as the Knicks’ best post defender and one of their top perimeter defenders. Perhaps most critically, Chandler is under contract beyond 2010, making him one of the Knicks’ few reliable building blocks. “He’s a great kid that works hard, and I really think he has a chance” to become a star, D’Antoni said. “That will depend on him and his work that he puts in the summertime.” The encouraging news on that front is that Chandler plans to spend the off-season in New York working with the coaching staff. His top priorities are improved ball-handling skills and shooting. Chandler has converted just 43.3 percent of his field-goal attempts and 33 percent of his 3-point attempts this season. Chandler’s energy sometimes wanes, particularly in transition. Although he is a willing passer, he sometimes forgets to look for teammates before making a move with the ball. But he has proved to be coachable, almost to a fault. “You tell him something and you can see he goes right on the floor and tries to incorporate it in his game,” D’Antoni said. “We have to be real careful about telling him something, because he’ll literally do what we tell him.” Off the court, Chandler is easily the most reserved Knick — the yin to Robinson’s yang. He speaks the same way he plays, with a quiet confidence but no detectable swagger. “I still got a long way to go,” Chandler said in a typically soft tone. Chandler seemed deeply appreciative of D’Antoni’s high praise, but he said: “At the same time, I’m kind of nervous because of him looking at me like that. It’s like I got to do a lot this summer to get a whole lot better.” Chandler, Gallinari, Eddy Curry and Jared Jeffries are the only Knicks under contract beyond next season — and Curry and Jeffries are candidates to be traded. The Knicks need Chandler and Gallinari to blossom, and quickly. Marion is a four-time All-Star, so D’Antoni is hesitant to make the Marion-Chandler comparison too strongly. “I had an old coach who once said, ‘Yeah, he’s good today, but he might be a serial killer in about two weeks,’ ” D’Antoni said, chuckling. “We want to be real careful. But I really like the guy.”

Knicks
Nate Robinson
Chris Duhon
Danilo Gallinari
Wilson Chandler
Miami Heat
Basketball
Mike D'Antoni


Patriots’ Response as Teammates Fall: Next!

Abstract: FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots started the season without their five leading receivers from 2012. Two signed with other teams. One left to shoot a movie. One was hurt. One was in jail. They lost three starters in October, a pair of defensive All-Pros and their right tackle. In November, they lost another starting defensive tackle. In December, the All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski went down for good. On Monday, linebacker Brandon Spikes, one of the team’s top tacklers, was placed on injured reserve. The Patriots merely shrugged at the latest spate of bad news. What else is new? They have a saying at Gillette Stadium for these kinds of misfortunes. “Next man up,” safety Devin McCourty said. “There’s nothing else to say about it. It’s next man up and being ready to go.” Safety Steve Gregory added: “No one is throwing a pity party for us. You won’t see anyone crying or pouting because someone isn’t here. You can’t dwell on who’s not here. You have to find a way to win with who is here.” The Patriots have managed to do just that this season in what may be one of Bill Belichick’s finest coaching jobs. They finished 12-4 to win the A.F.C. East for the fifth straight season and the 13th time since Robert K. Kraft bought the team in 1994. They earned a fourth straight first-round bye, their ninth (an N.F.L. high) since the current playoff system was implemented in 1990. They will host the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday night and fully expect the newest Next Man Up — whoever it is — to more than make up for the loss of Spikes. Why should the latest bout of adversity be any different? “Unfortunately, you have guys that go on I.R. — it happens to every single team, and we’ve dealt with it throughout the year,” defensive end Rob Ninkovich said. “This is the playoffs now. We’re going to deal with it now.” Image Tight end Rob Gronkowski was hurt in a game Dec. 8 after missing the start of the season while recovering from surgery. Credit Steven Senne/Associated Press Statistically, this is one of the more underwhelming Patriots teams compared with the juggernauts of the recent past. The offense was still effective (ranked No. 3 in points per game), but the injury-depleted defense finished last in rushing yards allowed per game in the A.F.C. The losses to the defense looked to be potentially devastating. The All-Pro defensive tackle Vince Wilfork tore his right Achilles’ tendon in the fourth game of the season. Another All-Pro and a leading tackler, linebacker Jerod Mayo, lasted two more games before sustaining a season-ending tear to a pectoral muscle. Defensive tackle Tommy Kelly was lost a couple of weeks later with an injury to his right knee. Then came the news that Spikes would not be able to go after playing in all 16 regular-season games. He has a knee injury. As for the offense, Gronkowski started the season as an inactive player while he recovered from back surgery. He returned Oct. 20 against the Jets and played in seven games before tearing ligaments in a game against Cleveland on Dec. 8. Right tackle Sebastian Vollmer was lost for the season Oct. 27 with a broken leg. Tom Brady had his lowest quarterback rating and pass completion percentage since 2003. His 25 touchdown passes were his fewest for a full season since 2006. He needed time to adjust not only to the absence of Gronkowski, a threat in the red zone, but also to the off-season departures of Wes Welker, Danny Woodhead and Brandon Lloyd. Tight end Aaron Hernandez is in jail, facing a murder charge. “You have to learn to deal with it and overcome the adversity of it,” Brady said. Through all the personnel losses, the ever-stoic Belichick has continued to preach his gospel of living in the present with a focus solely on the next game and the next opponent. The next time you hear him lament the loss of all those players will be the first time. “The head coach doesn’t make excuses,” left tackle Nate Solder said. “Nobody makes excuses on this team. Whoever is in there has to play.” Only three players on offense — Brady, center Ryan Wendell and guard Dan Connolly — have started every game at the same position. Chandler Jones, an end, is the only player on defense to have started every game at the same position. The Patriots showed resiliency time and again as the team managed come-from-behind victories, some of them jaw-droppers. They beat the Denver Broncos after trailing by 24-0 at halftime, the largest comeback in team history. They beat Cleveland by scoring two touchdowns in the final 61 seconds, helped by their first successful recovery of an onside kick in nearly two decades. They beat New Orleans on a 17-yard touchdown pass with five seconds left. Those three victories came at Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots went 8-0. They are 10-3 in playoff games at the stadium, although they lost the last one, the A.F.C. championship game last season against Baltimore.

Patriots
Bill Belichick
Football
Sports injury


Penguins Hit Detour on Route to Finals

Abstract: One victory from the Stanley Cup final, the Pittsburgh Penguins had faced little adversity through three rounds of playoffs. The Penguins were cruising through the Eastern Conference with an 11-1 postseason record and a 3-0 series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers . But the Flyers were only too happy to force the Penguins into a little soul searching. On Thursday, they handed Sidney Crosby & Company just their second defeat of the playoffs, sending the best-of-seven series back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Sunday afternoon. The game was eerily similar to Game 4 of the Penguins-Rangers series, when the Rangers came out strong and, with Henrik Lundqvist playing spectacularly in goal, refused to be swept. This time, it was Martin Biron stopping 36 shots and allowing few rebounds to make an early 3-0 lead hold up for a 4-2 victory. Still, the Penguins appear to be on a collision course with the Detroit Red Wings, who were having their own problems closing out the Dallas Stars after taking a 3-0 lead. Both teams have two elite offensive weapons — Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for the Penguins and the Wings’ Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk were dominating games and pacing the league in playoff scoring. “You want to win every game,” Crosby said after the loss. “They had a good first period and we didn’t. And that was really the difference.” A Graybeard Still Waits At 39, forward Dallas Drake of the Red Wings is the oldest player in the playoffs who has not won a Stanley Cup title. A veteran of 15 seasons, Drake was drafted by Detroit in the sixth round in 1989. The Wings traded him to the Winnipeg Jets in 1994. In 12-plus seasons with Winnipeg, Phoenix and St. Louis, Drake made it as far as the third round of the playoffs just once, in 2001, when Drake and the Blues lost in five games to Colorado, which eventually won the Cup. Waived by St. Louis last summer to make way for younger players, Drake considered retiring but signed a one-year contract with the Wings. They liked his gritty, physical game. Drake wanted a shot at getting his name on the Cup. “If it’s not the hardest trophy to win in sports, I don’t know what one beats it,” Drake told The Oakland Press. The Swedes Who Got Away A 3-2 overtime victory over the Czech Republic in Quebec sent Sweden to the world championship semifinals for the eighth straight year Wednesday. The winning goal was scored by Mattias Weinhandl, a leading scorer at this year’s tournament and the No. 2 scorer in the Swedish Elitserien this season. Weinhandl is leaving Sweden next season to play abroad — but not in the N.H.L. He is headed to Russia instead. Weinhandl, who will play for CSKA Moscow, is one of several top European players lured to Russia for the debut of the Continental league, known as the K.H.L., its Russian initials. The K.H.L. is financed by Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, and is the successor to the Superliga. In seeking to become Europe’s top league, the K.H.L. is using its wealth to attract players who in the past would have headed to North America. Also moving to the K.H.L. next fall is the Elitserien’s No. 1 scorer this season, Weinhandl’s linemate Tony Martensson. He will skate for Ak Bars Kazan. Players with the abilities of Weinhandl and Martensson, who had brief stints in North America in previous years, usually draw the interest of N.H.L. clubs looking for second-, third- and fourth-line players. But North American player agents say that there has been almost no movement from Europe to the N.H.L. of late — a reflection of the weak dollar, the collapse of the international transfer agreement between the International Ice Hockey Federation and the N.H.L., and the rise of Russian domestic hockey. Some agents say that the number of European players going to the N.H.L. in coming seasons will dwindle to a handful. The shortage of European prospects was highlighted recently by the frenzy among N.H.L. clubs over Fabian Brunnstrom, a 23-year-old second-liner in Sweden who was not chosen for the national team. He was signed by the Dallas Stars. On Friday, Sweden fell to Canada, 5-4, then lost to Finland on Saturday in the bronze-medal game, 4-0. Canada and Russia will play for the gold Sunday. Russia’s lineup includes Alexei Morozov of Ak Bars Kazan, who some say earned the biggest salary anywhere in hockey last year, after currency and tax adjustments. Maple Leaf Madness In Kitchener, Ontario, four Canadian junior teams have begun the battle for the Memorial Cup, Canada’s spiritual equivalent to the Final Four of college basketball. The Kitchener Rangers are both the host team and the champions of the Ontario Hockey League. The Belleville Bulls qualified as the runner-up for the O.H.L. crown. The other entries are the winners of the championships of the two other major junior leagues — the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League and the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The six-day round-robin phase of the tournament ends Wednesday with the elimination of the fourth-place team. The first-place team earns a bye into the championship game next Sunday against the winner of the semifinal game between the second- and third-place teams.

Stanley Cup
Pittsburgh Penguins
Philadelphia Flyers
Hockey Ice
Playoff Games


On Twitter, Eavesdropper Reveals Former N.S.A. Head’s Train Chat

Abstract: WASHINGTON — It was just a background conversation on the Acela train ride north on Thursday. Or so thought Michael V. Hayden, the former head of the National Security Agency, as he chatted away with three journalists who called him for comment on the recent reports of N.S.A. eavesdropping on the leaders of France and Germany. What Mr. Hayden did not realize was that a passenger a few seats away was doing some eavesdropping of his own. Image Tom Matzzie, left, and Michael V. Hayden, a former head of the National Security Agency, on a train Thursday. Tom Matzzie, a former Washington director of the political group MoveOn.org, was so intrigued by the tidbits he heard from Mr. Hayden, who is also a former C.I.A. director, that he pulled out his cellphone and started posting Twitter messages. “Former NSA spy boss Michael Hayden on Acela behind me blabbing ‘on background as a former senior admin official,’ ” Mr. Matzzie wrote. “Sounds defensive.” For the next several minutes, Mr. Matzzie dashed out occasional — and detailed — updates about Mr. Hayden’s conversations. Image A Twitter post from Mr. Matzzie. “Michael Hayden on Acela giving reporters disparaging quotes about admin,” Mr. Matzzie wrote. “ ‘Remember, just refer as former senior admin.’ ” Within minutes, Mr. Matzzie ignited a small uproar on Twitter. Reached Thursday night on the Acela home to Washington from a speech in Newark, Mr. Hayden said, “I cannot recall a single disparaging comment I made about the administration,” disputing Mr. Matzzie’s post. “I wasn’t saying anything sensitive or classified. These were just routine conversations. I can’t believe you guys are making such a big deal out of this.” Mr. Hayden, who these days works in cybersecurity and teaches at George Mason University, said before he got off the train in Newark, he went over to Mr. Matzzie and they “had a nice conversation” about the Fourth Amendment, the N.S.A.’s surveillance activities, and their mutual hometown: Pittsburgh. While they did not reach agreement on the surveillance issue, Mr. Hayden said he agreed to pose for a photo with his new Twitter correspondent before hopping off the train.

Tom Matzzie
MoveOn.org
NSA
Michael V Hayden
News media,journalism
Government Surveillance
Amtrak


Mystic Seaport Whaling Ship Hauled Ashore for Restoration

Abstract: Mystic THE world’s last wooden whaling ship is about to undergo a $2.5 million restoration that will take three years to complete. Last month, Mystic Seaport hauled the 167-year-old Charles W. Morgan out of the water for an extensive restoration project needed to preserve the ship, a national historic landmark. Working with similar tools and materials as those used by the craftsmen who built the 105-foot vessel, a dozen museum shipwrights will replace many of the frames and planks that stretch from just above the waterline to near the bottom of the black hull. Much of the wood dates back to the ship’s construction in 1841 or was installed during its 80-year career as a whaler. Some of that will be replaced by lumber fashioned from massive live oak trees knocked down by Hurricane Katrina . Some of those working on the restoration say it is both a challenge and a privilege. “In terms of historic vessels, she’s as important as any in the country,” said Quentin Snediker, who heads the museum’s shipyard. “And as a merchant vessel, she’s priceless in her own right.” The Morgan is the most prized item in the Mystic Seaport collection and is depicted in its logo. The 325,000 people who visit the museum each year are able to walk its decks and climb below to learn about life aboard a 19th-century whaler. It serves as the location for an annual 24-hour-long reading of “Moby Dick” and several years ago a paranormal group decided that it is haunted by the spirits of past sailors. The ship was launched in New Bedford, Mass., in 1841 and made 37 voyages during a profitable career that ended in 1921. The museum acquired the Morgan in 1941 and placed it in a sand berth. The ship was put back in the water in 1973 and has undergone several restoration projects over the years, including one that lasted from 1977 to 1984 and replaced a substantial portion of the ship above the waterline. Planning for the current project began almost 10 years ago, the last time the ship was out of the water. The museum had to first raise $10 million to replace the shipyard’s aging lift dock, which is used to haul ships out of water. The dock’s pilings had corroded and it was not up to the task of hoisting the Morgan, which weighs 340 tons. The museum obtained state and federal funding and private donations to replace the lift dock and has raised much of the money for the restoration. Mr. Snediker has also traveled extensively across the southeastern United States in search of the large yellow pine trees needed for the planks and the live oak for the framing. In doing so, Mr. Snediker has assembled a network of people who know exactly what the museum is seeking. The pieces of pine, for example, need to be 32 inches in diameter and 40 feet long. “When they find wood of sufficient size and quality, they call us,” he said. “It really is a few trees here and there.” The piece-by-piece restoration will require the shipwrights to examine each frame and plank, Mr. Snediker said. If a piece of wood needs replacement, a pattern made from the original will be used to cut a new one. While workers in the shipyard will use electric saws to roughly shape the logs, the shipwrights will do the finish work with long chisels and adzes, tools used in the original construction. The new pieces will be joined to the ship with locust wood pegs and bronze and copper fasteners, also used in 1841. “The idea is to restore her to as close to the original as possible,” Mr. Snediker said. Visitors will be able to watch the construction from a platform built in the shipyard. The museum will also open an exhibition about the restoration. Douglas H. Teeson, the museum’s president and director, said the Morgan has great stories to tell about its own career and the history of a thousand ships like it. “As stewards of this ship, it’s our solemn duty to make sure it’s preserved for future generations,” he said.

Museums
Mystic (Conn)
Restoration and Rehabilitation
Whales and Whaling
Ships and Shipping


LeBron James Has Plenty of Virtues, but Humility Isn’t Among Them

Abstract: EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Golden State Warriors are the N.B.A. champions . But in the aftermath of the Warriors’ convincing performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers, much of the focus was heaped on LeBron James, who turned in one of the most heroic performances in finals history yet failed to carry his team to a title. In some ways, James brought the scrutiny upon himself — as he often does — by expressing an unwavering confidence that came across as primping in front of a mirror. After the Cavaliers lost Game 5 on Sunday, James was asked why he was so confident entering Game 6 on Tuesday with his team clearly overmatched yet again. “I’m confident because I’m the best player in the world,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.” That proclamation, heard round the world, followed James into Game 6 (a 105-97 loss) and will most likely accompany him in the off-season and into the new season and years to come until he wins another title. After a recent practice at the Giants’ training complex, there was substantial conversation about the N.B.A. finals. Football is an ultimate team sport. Players play on distinct units — offense, defense, special teams. They must perform their tasks in coordination with one another for the team to be successful. I spoke to a couple of players about James’s “I am the greatest” comments. Running back Rashad Jennings said he thought James was simply trying to inspire his teammates. “It made for great ratings,” linebacker Jon Beason said. “I’m sure everybody tuned in to see what the best player in the world was going to do during an elimination game. It didn’t go so well.” Beason was expecting a singularly mammoth performance from James in Game 6. A jaw-dropping, never-in-history type of performance. “I didn’t have a problem with what he said; I just wish the statement lived up to the hype of Game 6,” Beason said. “It was a little lackluster.” Lackluster? James is the world’s best player in the world’s most competitive league. He pushed a superior Golden State team to six games with a team of role players at best. By virtually any standard, in any sport, James’s effort in Game 6 was phenomenal: 32 points, 18 rebounds, 9 assists. Despite James’s performance for the ages over six games — he averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists — why are there always haters, nit-pickers and naysayers always diminishing his accomplishments? Image LeBron James after Game 6. “I’m confident because I’m the best player in the world,” he said before the game. “It’s as simple as that.” Credit David Maxwell/European Pressphoto Agency After Game 6, many critics pointed out that James had been in the finals six times and had lost four. The remarkable statistic, however, is that he has been to five straight finals, the previous four as a member of the Miami Heat. Why did his proclamation of being the greatest rub so many the wrong way? A lack of humility, perhaps. “There’s a certain level of etiquette that we learn as professional athletes,” Beason said. “They say never talk about money, never talk bad about the opposing team and never talk about yourself. It’s my belief that he is the best player in the world. But I can see how some people might not like it when it comes from the horse’s mouth.” During a Hall of Fame career, Lawrence Taylor was the N.F.L.’s LeBron James. L. T. was the defensive force of his era, a presence that offenses always had to account for — a force who single-handedly took over games. Regarded as one of the greatest defensive players, Taylor was peerless in pressuring quarterbacks. Taylor could have proclaimed his greatness, but he never did. Still, he did not begrudge James. “I have no problem with the statement because he is the greatest basketball player on the planet right now,” Taylor said Wednesday in a telephone interview. Taylor added: “He didn’t say he was the greatest basketball player in history — that would have been a problem. He said he is the greatest basketball player on the planet. I’ve got no problem with that because he’s probably right. He is so above the other players in this league it’d be stupid not to recognize that. It’s like LeBron right now, and everybody else.” Taylor said that he would not have felt comfortable making such a declaration. “I don’t know a lot of people who would say that; I don’t know a lot of people who can say that,” he said. For all of his well-documented off-the-field problems, Taylor knew enough about the interdependence of team play that he never considered making a declaration of singular greatness. “LeBron is the greatest basketball player on the planet, and back in the day I may have been the greatest defensive player on the planet at that time,” he said. “But I needed my teammates in order to win the championship. I don’t care how good a person is; you can’t do it by yourself because it’s a team game. Sometimes the greatest players need the greatest help.” My difficulty with James is the same as my difficulty with individual awards and individual recognition in team sports. The golfer, the tennis player, the boxer are on their own, fending for themselves. But for team players to talk about their greatness ignores the fact that their success is dependent on others. “As great as Michael Jordan was, he couldn’t take on five people by himself,” Taylor said. James is the best player in the world, but what does that mean? “It doesn’t mean nothing now, when you’re sitting at home with no hardware,” Taylor said. In a series against an outstanding Golden State team, King James’s singular greatness was simply not good enough.

LeBron James
Cavaliers
Basketball
NBA Championship
NBA


Chinese Manufacturer Restricts Business With Iran

Abstract: Huawei Technologies, a leading Chinese maker of telecommunications equipment, said it would voluntarily restrict business in Iran because of what it called the “increasingly complex situation” there. In an announcement on its Web site, Huawei said it would not seek new customers in Iran and would limit business activities with existing customers. Huawei, a privately owned company that has been seeking access to the American market, did not elaborate on its reasons for the pullback from Iran, which has become the target of increased sanctions by the United States and the European Union over its disputed nuclear program. Last year, some American lawmakers expressed concern over reports that Huawei had supplied communications technology to Iran and had sold equipment to Iraq during the regime of Saddam Hussein, in violation of United Nations sanctions.

Iran
Huawei Technologies
Iraq
Telephones and Telecommunications
China
International Relations


After a Bold Forecast, West Virginia Is Blown Away by Kentucky

Abstract: CLEVELAND — On Wednesday afternoon, the day before his team was to play West Virginia, John Calipari walked into the Kentucky locker room after practice and delivered an important message with a tone of levity. He had heard about the comments made by West Virginia’s freshman guard Daxter Miles Jr., who predicted that the Mountaineers would end Kentucky’s unbeaten streak. For a team that had lost three of its previous six games heading into an encounter with the best team in college basketball, it came across as an almost preposterous boast. But according to Kentucky forward Willie-Cauley-Stein, Calipari would not let it slide. “He came in here laughing like, ‘Dudes is talking, dudes is talking,’ ” Cauley-Stein said. “ ‘Got to throw the ball up sometime. We’re going to see them tomorrow.’ Everything else was on us.” The ball was thrown up at Quicken Loans Arena shortly after 9:40 p.m., and within minutes, Kentucky made it abundantly clear that Miles and his fellow Mountaineers were in for a 40-minute public reprimand. Kentucky’s seemingly inexorable march to the Final Four continued with a punishing 78-39 victory over fifth-seeded West Virginia in the N.C.A.A. tournament’s round of 16. Clearly the class of the field, the No. 1 Wildcats brushed aside West Virginia’s challenge and improved to 37-0. The next test will come Saturday when they play No. 3-seeded Notre Dame (32-5), which toppled Wichita State . The Irish are not likely to make any predictions about the matchup. Image Kentucky’s Trey Lyles blocking a shot by West Virginia’s Daxter Miles Jr. Credit Andrew Weber/USA Today Sports, via Reuters Five Kentucky players scored in double figures — Trey Lyles had 14 points, and four others had at least 12 each — and the Wildcats held West Virginia to 13-of-54 field-goal shooting (24.1 percent), rendering its press almost useless. Kentucky surged to an 18-2 lead and led by as many as 41. West Virginia (25-10) hit only one of its first 11 shots and did not hit the second until more than nine minutes into the game, when Juwan Staten’s 3-pointer made the score 18-4. Another jumper a few seconds later cut the deficit to 12, but that was as close as West Virginia would get. Miles played 19 minutes and scored no points on 0-for-3 shooting from the field. He spoke to reporters after the game but did not offer much. “Kentucky played great,” he said multiple times, regardless of the questions. Some of the Kentucky players said they had been motivated by the comments, but West Virginia Coach Bob Huggins defended Miles’s freedom of speech and dismissed the notion that his comments had played a part in the outcome. “I’m kind of happy he wasn’t hiding under a chair somewhere,” Huggins said. “There’s nothing wrong with having some confidence and wanting to go out and compete. They just were way better than we were.” Calipari said he was not upset by Miles’s prediction and did not want his team to use revenge as a motive. “I don’t want my team playing angry,” he said. “I don’t want them to be mean, nasty, hateful. I don’t want that. It’s not us against the world. It is play with joy and love of the game and love of each other. That wins every time.” An N.C.A.A. Bracket for Risk-Takers For this bracket, the more unusual that your picks are, the more points you’ll receive — so long as those picks are correct. Looking every bit as dominant as their record indicated, the much larger Wildcats led by as many as 27 points in the first half and held West Virginia to 5-of-26 shooting from the field (19.2 percent). Kentucky shot 61 percent. “We said when we came in here at halftime, ‘Step on their throats,’ ” Cauley-Stein said. “ ‘Don’t let them back up.’ ” It was almost too much for Huggins to watch. He came into the game with an improbable 8-2 record against Calipari, his friend, but most of those games occurred when Huggins was at Cincinnati, from 1989 to 2005. Calipari arrived at Kentucky in 2009. As head-scratching as that statistic might seem, given the powerhouse teams that Calipari has recruited and coached, Huggins was the one literally scratching his head while pacing the bench. When the Wildcats extended their first-half lead to 40-15, Huggins sat on his courtside stool with his arms folded and a blank expression on his face. Although Huggins professed to be uncertain how the Mountaineers would fare against Kentucky’s unforgiving size and depth, this was probably not the way he had envisioned the game playing out. The formula for a potential upset was supposed to have been engineered through the Mountaineers’ furious style of play. With an unrelenting press and dogged attack on the offensive glass, the Mountaineers were said by some to have the right approach, and apparently the confidence, to make history. West Virginia was hoping it could outhustle Kentucky, but that did not happen. Kentucky used its size, speed and skill to dominate even more than it had through much of the season. The Wildcats may not go all the way undefeated, but they will not be 36-1, either. “We’ve got better players,” Cauley-Stein said. “So, if you match their effort, then your talent will take over.”

John Calipari
College basketball
NCAA Men's Basketball,March Madness
University of Kentucky
West Virginia University


Britain Told to Hand Over War Prisoners

Abstract: KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan demanded Saturday that Britain hand over within two weeks up to 90 Afghan detainees being held at a British base in the south, saying the detention violates Afghan law and is a breach of sovereignty. Mr. Karzai’s national security adviser, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, spoke to the British Embassy in Kabul and asked that the detainees, whom Britain suspects are insurgents, to be handed over by June 22, according to a statement by a spokesman for Mr. Karzai, Aimal Faizi. The issue of prisoner transfers is an irritant in the relationship between Mr. Karzai and his Western backers, and has become more pronounced as the NATO-led international force prepares to pull out most of its troops by the end of next year. The British government, in denying any violations, has said the number of detainees at Camp Bastion is higher than normal because of problems in handing them over, and has also cited concerns about Afghanistan’s treatment of its detainees. On Saturday, British officials in London had no immediate comment on Mr. Karzai’s demand.

Hamid Karzai
Detainees
Afghanistan War
Great Britain
NATO
International relations


Airbus Led Rival Boeing in Jets Ordered Last Year

Abstract: TOULOUSE, France — In their rivalry as the world’s leading makers of passenger aircraft, Airbus captured the lead in jets ordered last year, but Boeing delivered more planes to customers. A strong recovery in demand for more fuel-efficient jets — particularly for long-range twin-aisle models from airlines in the Persian Gulf and Asia — helped push Airbus ahead of its American rival. Airbus had net orders of 1,503 planes last year, compared with 1,355 for Boeing, according to figures released by Airbus. The total value of Airbus’s net orders for 2013 stood at $225 billion, compared with $198 billion for Boeing. That gave Airbus a 53 percent share of the market by value. The value of new orders reflected in part Airbus’s dominant position in the market for the most expensive type of jet: large wide-bodies with more than 400 seats, such as the twin-deck A380. Airbus received 54 new orders for the plane, compared with just 12 orders for Boeing’s stretch version of the 747. Both companies are riding a wave of growth in demand for air travel in emerging markets. They are also benefiting from significant pent-up demand from American carriers that held off renewing aging fleets as they struggled to emerge from bankruptcy or restructure their operations after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Now the companies are focusing on ramping up production as their backlog of orders grow. But not all orders are fulfilled, and the companies book revenues closer to the dates they are actually delivered. Airbus said it had delivered 626 planes to 93 customers last year, up from 588 planes in 2012. It was its 12th consecutive year of gains. That figure for deliveries was the largest ever for the company, based in the southwestern French city of Toulouse. But it fell short of the 648 deliveries reported last week by Boeing, which was bolstered by a sharp acceleration in production of its popular 737 single-aisle and 777 wide-body models. Boeing reached that number of deliveries, an industry record, even as an investigation into hazards found with the lithium-ion batteries and electrical systems of the 787 Dreamliner kept airlines waiting several additional months to receive the planes. In tallying its net orders booked last year, Airbus reported that its backlog stood at 5,559 aircraft, equivalent to almost nine years of production. Boeing’s backlog stands at 5,080 aircraft. Airbus executives said Monday that the breakneck pace of ordering in recent years seemed to be reaching its peak. Fabrice Brégier, the Airbus chief executive, said the group booked about 2.5 new orders last year for every plane it delivered, a pace he said was unsustainable. Image Fabrice Brégier, the Airbus chief, speaking on Monday in Toulouse, France, during the company’s annual news conference. Credit Christophe Ena/Associated Press “We don’t expect to reach 1,500 net orders again in 2014,” Mr. Brégier told reporters. “That would probably not be in line with the market trend.” Aviation executives are now clearly shifting their attention to finding ways to increase the pace of production to reduce the waiting time for customers — particularly for 150-seat, single-aisle workhorses like the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320. Boeing, based in Chicago, said last year that it planned to raise production of its 737 to 42 planes a month this year, up from 38 a month last year. Airbus produces 42 of its A320 jets monthly. But Mr. Brégier said on Monday that the company was studying an unspecified increase in output, in particular as it approached the planned opening in 2015 of a new A320 assembly line in Mobile, Ala., its first in the United States. “We believe there is extra potential to increase the production if the market trend remains positive, as it was in 2012 and 2013,” Mr. Brégier said. Reflecting the strong level of demand, Airbus also said it was raising list prices for all of its aircraft by 2.6 percent, effective this month. In addition to increasing production of its single-aisle jets, Airbus faces the challenge of bringing its latest jet to market, the A350-XWB, before the end of this year. The A350, with 300 to 350 seats, is built largely from lightweight, state-of-the-art composite materials, and is the company’s first all-new product since the A380 superjumbo. After being plagued with a series of manufacturing delays, that plane entered service in 2007, three years behind schedule. So far the A350, which was designed to compete directly with Boeing’s 787 and 777 models, has managed to avoid any major development hiccups. Mr. Brégier said on Monday that he was confident Airbus would secure safety certification from European regulators by the end of September, clearing the way for the delivery of at least one aircraft, to Qatar Airways, by the end of December. Barring unforeseen problems, Airbus said it hoped to be producing about three A350 jets a month by early 2015, raising that pace to about 10 a month by 2018. Boeing, whose Dreamliner first entered service more than two years ago, said last week that it delivered 65 of the jets last year, up from 50 in 2012, and secured new orders for 182 more. That was despite the grounding of the aircraft last January by air safety regulators after smoke and fire erupted from the plane’s lightweight, lithium-ion batteries. The aircraft began returning to the skies in April, and deliveries quickly resumed after modifications to the battery were approved. Boeing produces 10 Dreamliners a month but has plans to lift that pace to 12 a month by the end of 2016.


Nets Are Off Target in Loss to Pacers

Abstract: NEWARK — When the two worst-shooting teams in the N.B.A. got together Monday night, the Nets played down to their standing and fell to the Indiana Pacers, 108-94 . The Pacers, who shot 53 percent to the Nets’ 37 percent, also made 13 of 21 3-point attempts. If sinking shots — and the Nets’ hopes — seemed like no contest for the Pacers, it was because most of the 3-point attempts were not contested. “We just didn’t do a good job of running them off the 3-point line, of paying attention to details,” Deron Williams said. With the Knicks telecast blocked out of many homes in the New York metropolitan area because of MSG Network’s dispute with Time Warner Cable , the Nets, for many, were the only game on. In front of 12,519 at Prudential Center, the undermanned Nets never led. Paul George’s open 3-pointer in transition late in the third quarter increased Indiana’s lead to 77-62, effectively sealing the outcome. “I heard Paul George grew a little bit during the summer,” Nets Coach Avery Johnson said before the game. “I don’t know whether that’s good or bad for us.” It was bad. George (21 points) was one of five Pacers to score in double figures. “If the opponent is going to crash the boards the way the Nets crashed the boards, you have to punish them,” George said. But there were positive signs for the Nets. Williams (22 points, 8 assists) played up to expectations, dominating his shorter counterpart, Darren Collison, at times with strong drives to basket. “I got a couple more easy baskets today,” Williams said. “But as long as we’re losing, I’m not doing enough.” The rookie MarShon Brooks, who had 21 points and 7 rebounds, rebounded from a poor outing in Cleveland on Sunday to provide an offensive spark. Rarely bashful with the ball in his hands, Brooks added an immediate scoring punch as a welcome revelation on the depleted, unfamiliar Nets. Kris Humphries (sore shoulder) sat out the game, and the defensive-minded forwards Damion James and Shelden Williams battled inside but could not match Humphries’s ability to occasionally stretch the defense by sinking a midrange jumper. Deron Williams was hit on his side on a foray to the rim midway through the second quarter. He re-entered the game after a break in play and drained both free throws. Williams was favoring the injury on defense, but he wrapped a slick assist to James on the Nets’ next possession before leaving the game. He returned shortly and took the ball right to the rim, but the injury momentarily deflated a team that received second-quarter contributions from several players. For the fourth time in six games, the Nets failed to score in the first two and a half minutes. The Nets have not scored yet in the first minute of any game this season. Ahead by 29-21 after the first quarter, the Pacers showed what a team with options looks like. Collison was resourceful late in the shot clock, scoring the game’s first 5 points. David West, a native of Teaneck, N.J., drained his midrange jumpers. The Pacers buried four of five 3-point attempts. The Nets met the Pacers in the middle of an opening stretch to their season in which they will face 11 opponents, eight of whom made the playoffs last season. Only 4 of the first 11 games are at Prudential Center. The loss capped a stretch of six games in eight days. “It seems like a while ago,” Brooks said of the five-day layoff between home games. “We’ve got to have a better outing in front of our fans this time.” It was better, but not by much. “Things are going to get better,” Johnson said. “We’re going to be a different team once we get ourselves into the latter part of January and early February, because we just need to play together a little bit more and go through some growing pains.” REBOUNDS Kris Humphries is not expected to make the trip to Boston for Wednesday’s game. He is going to have a magnetic resonance imaging test on his left shoulder Tuesday.

Indiana Pacers
New Jersey Nets
George Paul
Johnson Avery
Basketball


For Iran’s Shiites, a Celebration of Faith and Waiting

Abstract: QUM, Iran , Aug. 28 — Qum is not usually thought of as a fun place. It is a gray, sun-baked city that serves as the center of learning for Shiite Islam. Its personality is solemn, its shops tend to be old, low-rise and rundown, and it is full of clergy members and police officers. But on Tuesday, Qum felt festive — for Qum, at least. Bright lights and flags decorated the city. It was the start of celebrations surrounding the birthday of Imam Mahdi, the savior of the Shiite faith. The birthday offers Shiites a chance to welcome a birth, rather than to mourn a death, which tends to be the focus of holy days here. Shiites believe that Imam Mahdi, the 12th imam in a direct bloodline from the Prophet Muhammad, is alive but has remained invisible since the late ninth century, and that he will reappear only when corruption and injustice reach their zenith. This year, in keeping with the government effort to promote and enforce religious values under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the celebration is receiving plenty of attention from the state, even to the point of being extended an extra day. In any society, religion and culture are essential components of national identity, each contributing to the society’s bedrock principles. Throughout Iranian history, Islamic faith and Persian culture have been intimately merged. Yet, successive leaders have tried to promote one or the other in a constant competition for the national soul, usually with the goal of buttressing their own authority. Each effort, however, has ultimately fallen short. Under the Pahlavis, the goal was to elevate Iranian nationalism over Islamic identity. Today, the opposite is true, especially since the election of Mr. Ahmadinejad, who campaigned on a platform of returning Iran to its Shiite revolutionary values. But the chances of success now seem no greater than in the past, clerics and political analysts said. “I think there are some scholars and sectors of the government that have such intentions,” said Fazel Meybodi, a cleric who teaches at Mofid University in Qum, speaking carefully, to avoid offending the authorities. “I think they will not succeed.” Islam split into two major sects, Sunnis and Shiites, after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. The core dispute was over who would serve as Muhammad’s successor. Shiites believed in following the Prophet’s family line, and took as their guide the 12 Imams. Because of this minority belief, the Shiites were historically subjugated and persecuted by the Sunnis, so they looked to their imams as fighters for justice and against oppression. These are crucial ideas that inform Iran’s political class to this day. Following the Shiite emphasis on oppression and justice, people here say, Mr. Ahmadinejad has labeled the United States “the great oppressor,” as opposed to the previously popular “great Satan.” But his fervor has also made him a mark for those who are not quite so religious, and even those who are. “Mr. Ahmadinejad, his knowledge of Islam is little,” said Ali Akhbar Dashdy, a spokesman for Mofid University. “He is not a clergyman. He only knows what he hears people say.” Some of the president’s critics abroad have said he is so devoted to the idea of the return that he is inclined to spark Armageddon to precipitate it. No one here seems to buy that view, at least publicly. And some have mocked the president saying, for example, that he has spent money to pave a special highway to expedite the return — another rumor that seems to have no basis in reality. So how are people celebrating this birthday? In many different ways, despite Mr. Ahmadinejad’s efforts to promote Islamic identity. It is a mélange — like Iran itself — of culture and religion. People hand out food, often tossing juice containers and candy into passing cars. They picnic and enjoy fireworks displays. There are even outdoor concerts. And in Qum, the government organized an exhibition beneath the Masumeh Shrine, a popular site of pilgrimage. Booths were set up, like at a convention. There was a spot for people blogging about Imam Mahdi. The Bright Future News Agency occupied a booth. Another had clerics offering personal advice. And there was the booth set up to warn people about “Satan worshipers.” There was a Jewish star at the entrance, posted atop a replica of what was supposed to be the Washington Monument (which also was described as a satanic symbol because it is shaped as an obelisk). There was also a movie concerning “perverted cults,” which focused on the Bahai faith. Outside, there were lines of men and women heading to Jamkaran Mosque, on the outskirts of the city. And here was another example of what divides and drives Iranians. Many see the mosque as a site where they can leave messages for Imam Mahdi and have their wishes answered. Others see it as nonsense. The mosque was built after a villager dreamed in the year 974 that Imam Mahdi told him where he would return and showed him the site, which is where the mosque now stands. There is a well there for visitors to leave their letters of request, and the crowds were thick on Tuesday as people packed so tightly into buses they could not shut the doors. And that, perhaps, illustrates another Iranian trait — a pre-Islamic affinity for waiting. When Iranians practiced Zoroastrianism, they were also awaiting a savior, called Saoshyant. They say that helped cope with the stress of one heavyhanded government after another. That fit well with Shiite Islam, academics said. “Iranians are comfortable as Shias,” said Dr. Muhammad Sanati, a social psychologist in Tehran. “They feel at home with a prophet coming. They are comfortable waiting, waiting for salvation, waiting to be saved, waiting for good days.”

Iran
Islam
Shiite Muslims
Religion and Churches


Panthers Win in Shootout Against Red Wings

Abstract: Nick Bjugstad scored in a shootout and Tim Thomas denied Detroit three times, lifting the Florida Panthers to a 5-4 win Sunday over the host Red Wings after they trailed by two goals twice during regulation. ■ Ryan Smyth had a goal and an assist, and the Edmonton Oilers ended a season-high six-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory at home over the Nashville Predators. ■ Kevin Bieksa scored his second goal of the game at 2 minutes 15 seconds of overtime, lifting the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-4 victory at home over the Phoenix Coyotes. (AP) ■ Al Montoya made 34 saves, Andrew Ladd scored his 150th goal, and the visiting Winnipeg Jets rallied to beat the slumping Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1.


Emmys Draw 17 Million Viewers, Up From Recent Shows

Abstract: LOS ANGELES — Bucking downward network-television ratings trends, the Emmy Awards on Sunday evening earned the biggest audience for an Emmys show in almost a decade. More than 17 million people were tuned in at any average minute during the three-hour-plus telecast, according to Nielsen data supplied by CBS, the network whose turn it was to televise the awards ceremony . That average compared favorably to last year, when about 13 million viewers watched on ABC. Image Jeff Daniels won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role in “The Newsroom.” Credit Kevin Winter/Getty Images CBS estimated that about 40 million people caught some portion of Sunday’s telecast. The Emmys audience was inflated by the highly rated Jets-Bills football game that immediately preceded the awards on CBS (and delayed the start time by a couple of minutes). Cable award winners like HBO’s “Veep” and Showtime’s “Homeland,” which have much smaller audiences than CBS, welcomed the exposure to millions of potential new viewers. The biggest winner of the night, AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” was competing with the Emmys somewhat — its second-to-last episode was shown at 9 p.m. Eastern, during the second hour of the ceremony. “Breaking Bad” has been scoring new personal bests in the ratings as it barrels toward a Sept. 29 finale, and Sunday was no exception: 6.6 million viewers tuned in, beating last week’s record of 6.4 million. The audience for the show continues to skew young, with 4.3 million viewers between the ages of 18 and 49. At times on Sunday the Emmys show seemed as dark as the drug-fueled story lines of “Breaking Bad”; some viewers took to calling them the “death Emmys” on Twitter because of the inordinate number of in-memoriam segments about deceased stars. But the producers will be able to point to the ratings in rationalizing their programming choices. CBS said the total of 17.6 million viewers was the best for the Emmys since 2005.