Microsoft Looks to Windows 10 for a Jolt in the Mobile Realm

Abstract: SEATTLE — Optimism is a renewable resource at Microsoft. In 2011, the company, in a belated attempt to catch up with Apple and Google in the smartphone world, announced a partnership with Nokia, the Finnish device maker. “There are other mobile ecosystems,” Nokia and Microsoft executives said in a joint letter at the time. “We will disrupt them.” Last year, with sales flagging, Microsoft bought Nokia’s handset business for more than $7 billion, aiming to spur better results by more tightly coupling hardware and software. Still, sales have not materialized. The global market share of the company’s phones was just under 3 percent in the third quarter, lower than the year before. Analysts, long skeptical about Microsoft’s mobile strategy, have largely thrown up their hands. And in perhaps the biggest slight of all, many mobile-app developers, who can make or break mobile technologies by supporting or ignoring them, are paying little or no attention to Windows Phone. Cue that optimism. On Wednesday, Microsoft plans to unveil details about Windows 10, a new operating system for PCs, at an event at its headquarters outside Seattle. The operating system, the company says, will help win back developers by allowing them to more easily adapt PC applications to mobile devices. The company hopes it will also increase the availability of applications for — and lift sales of — the company’s smartphones. The move is the biggest effort yet by Satya Nadella, who took over as chief executive nearly a year ago, to save the company’s moribund smartphone business. So far, Mr. Nadella has put Microsoft’s overall mobile offerings on a more practical path. Last year, he released the company’s Office suite of applications for Apple iOS and Google Android devices, and he improved tools for developers of nearly all device brands. The tactics have helped propel the company’s stock to a nearly 15-year high. Ben Thompson , an independent technology analyst who once helped manage Microsoft’s relationship with Windows developers, said he was “pleased with Microsoft’s strategy for the first time in a long time.” But the company’s attempt to make Microsoft’s mobile platform relevant, he said, remains a challenge. “Microsoft can’t make that happen,” Mr. Thompson said. “It’s up to developers. I think the situation is pretty hopeless from that perspective.” Microsoft declined to provide an interview with an executive before its event this week. But it is clearly not giving up. “We’re making steady progress toward our vision of giving people a single Windows experience across a full range of devices,” Frank X. Shaw, a company spokesman, said in a statement. “With Windows 10, we’re moving to a more unified Windows platform for phones, tablets and PC, helping developers do more with their code.” Microsoft hastens to say that its app store has over 560,000 apps, most of them for smartphones, up 60 percent from a year ago. (Apple and Google have said that each of their app stores has more than a million apps.) And Microsoft says it offers from 85 to 95 percent of the apps that people tell the company they want on a smartphone. Netflix, Facebook, Spotify and other A-list apps are all available for Windows Phone. Yet Microsoft’s numbers do not capture the slim pickings of other popular apps. People searching for Lyft, HBO Go or Snapchat will find no Windows Phone option. Nor will one find RunKeeper, a popular mobile app for joggers. “The challenge is Android and iOS are innovating so quickly,” said Glenn Kelman , the chief executive of Redfin , an online real estate firm that does not make a Windows Phone app but makes one for iOS and Android. “I think we could consider other platforms if it wasn’t so much work to keep up with the two major mobile platforms.” Image Satya Nadella last month at his first shareholders meeting as Microsoft’s chief executive. Credit Jason Redmond/Reuters Apps are not the only reason people buy smartphones, but they are a big part of it. And tepid support for the software by device makers and wireless carriers is a reason they avoid certain models. Executives at Huawei , a Chinese company with a fast-growing mobile business, have said they are discontinuing future Windows Phone devices because of slow sales. Microsoft’s relationship with Samsung, which makes some devices that run Windows Phone, is also in trouble, but because of the Nokia acquisition. In a filing late last year in a lawsuit between the two companies over a patent-licensing deal, Samsung said the Nokia deal created a conflict of interest for Microsoft, which no longer had an incentive to promote Samsung’s Windows Phone models. “Until Microsoft stops competing with its ecosystem, Windows Phone as a platform won’t go anywhere,” said Chetan Sharma , an independent mobile analyst. There are pockets of strength for Microsoft in certain countries. In Italy, for instance, Windows Phone accounted for 12.7 percent of smartphone sales in November, compared with 17 percent for the iPhone, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech , a research firm. In the United States, though, Windows Phone accounts for just 3 percent of sales, compared with 47 percent for the iPhone, according to Kantar. The low sales figures mean Windows Phone is rarely included in the plans at start-ups, where resources are particularly tight. “That sort of view must be infuriating to Microsoft, and rightfully so,” Adam Grossman, co-founder of Dark Sky , which makes a popular new weather app for iPhones and iPads, said by email. Microsoft has long acknowledged the need to expand its app selection. The company has offered to finance the development of Windows Phone apps for prominent developers, in some cases paying for outside contractors to do the programming work, according to a former Microsoft executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions were confidential. But even that was not enough for the executive at one top mobile-game developer, who said Microsoft gave up asking his company to support Windows Phone about a year ago. “We need an actual market and large, global installed base to justify it,” said this executive, who did not want to be named in order to preserve his relationship with Microsoft. Minecraft, one of the most popular mobile games, came out in December for Windows Phone, years after it was available on other platforms. And that happened after Microsoft paid $2.5 billion to buy the developer of the game. In addition, some of the major apps on Windows Phone are either not as polished or are not updated as frequently as on other platforms. Instagram, the photo-sharing service owned by Facebook, came out on Windows Phone over a year ago, after a long delay, but it still does not include the ability to record video, a function that Instagram introduced nearly two years ago. “I think the door for a new operating system is closed for the time being,” said Benedict Evans , a partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz . That has not stopped Anatoly Ropotov , chief executive of Game Insight , a developer based in Lithuania, from creating games for both Windows Phone and Windows on PCs. In an email, Mr. Ropotov said Windows Phone would help his company reach consumers in emerging markets in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. “Lots of publishers are waking up to the fact that there’s money to be made on the platform,” he said. Persuading other developers to change their attitude appears to be an uphill battle. But one area that could aid a Windows Phone turnaround is in applications for businesses, Microsoft’s traditional area of strength, since Windows remains dominant in the workplace. Chris Yeh , senior vice president for product and platform at Box, a cloud storage company, said his company would create Windows 10 apps for both PCs and phones, regardless of whether Microsoft is out of fashion in Silicon Valley. “They’ve taken a pretty deep beating in public perception, especially in mobile,” he said. “But as soon as you leave this area and go to any company in the Midwest or overseas, you’re looking at companies with hundreds of thousands of employees with Windows on their desktops. That’s just the reality.”

Microsoft
Smartphone
Satya Nadella
Mobile Apps
Microsoft Windows


At the Grilling Hot Line Center, Remaining Calm Under Fire

Abstract: SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Man. Meat. Fire. It is supposed to be a foolproof formula. But the guy at the grill is frantic. He has a yard full of hungry guests, and he is fumbling to get the gas flaming properly. It is a Memorial Day weekend nightmare that calls into question the very essence of his suburban manhood. Furtively, he dials the Weber Grill hot line for help, and Janet Olsen is on the line. “Quick, I need to talk to a man,” he says curtly. For Ms. Olsen, 67, it was yet another caller insisting that no woman could possibly grasp a grilling issue. With 14 years on the job, she calmly but firmly explains that she will be able to handle the problem. If the man is especially upset, she suggests, “You might want to grab a beer — and just listen for a while.” At the Weber hot line center here, this is the busiest week of the year, as thousands of befuddled grillers (overwhelmingly male) are being rescued by a team of about 40 grilling experts (almost all of them women). Some questions are more tricky than others. “So I’ve got this squirrel,” one caller informed Ms. Olsen. “So how do I cook it?” Since squirrel-cooking is not in the Weber catalog, Ms. Olsen told the man he could probably find some answers online . Ms. Olsen, who was widowed at 51 and has pictures of her grandchildren on her cubicle walls, does not rattle easily. “I’m good at what I do,” she said. “I don’t cry” — unlike some of her male callers — “though I have thrown a headset.” In much of America, grilling is both an art and a science, a pursuit worthy of such rigor that Weber recently opened a Grill Academy here that offers lectures, tests and cooking lessons. Students are people who sell Weber products, like the extravagant new Summit Grill Center with Social Area, which runs about $5,000, and the Sear Station, which reaches temperatures of 700 to 800 degrees. It has been a long haul since George Stephen, Weber’s founder, invented the covered kettle grill in 1954 and drove his contraption from hardware store to hardware store, selling his product as a revolutionary way to dine and socialize in the backyard. William Brohaugh, the author of “The Grill of Victory” (2006 Emmis Books), says grilling strikes an emotional chord because it evokes such fond memories of family life. At 57, he can close his eyes and smell the steak sizzling in the backyard of his Wisconsin house, as his father, Earl, an auto mechanic, tended the fire. To this day, he said, he doesn’t order steak in restaurants “because they’re never as good as my dad could make them on the grill.” The male dominance of the grilling world has traditionally been regarded as a legacy of the caveman ethos, the notion that controlling fire is a way to master the universe. But Elizabeth Karmel, a barbecue chef who operates a Web site, GirlsattheGrill.com , sees another explanation. Until the 1980s, when gas-powered grills emerged, cooking out meant working with charcoal. “Building a charcoal fire was dirty work, a man’s work,” she said. “But that’s changing.” Barbecue — it is a noun in the South, something a person eats — is known as “low and slow,” cooking at lower temperatures for longer periods. Grilling is conducted at high levels of heat for short periods of time. Grilling soared with postwar suburbanization. Weber today has retailers in more than 30 countries. (South Africans favor wart hog on the grill.) “You can make a great barbecue on a little backyard grill,” said Ms. Karmel, who is the executive chef at the Hill Country restaurants in New York and Washington . “It’s the knowledge, not the size, that really counts.” The Weber Grill Academy, which opened in January, includes a large lecture hall that could fit at a Big Ten college campus. At the door, a bronze George Stephen is grilling steaks (they look a tad overdone). The school is headed by Kevin Kolman, 33, who has a master’s degree in education. He is an affable but no-nonsense instructor who expects his students to study the material and do their best on quizzes. “They should be able to answer, ‘What is the definition of a flavorizer bar?’ ” he said, “or ‘What is the importance of a damper system in a charcoal grill?’ ” Danny Rine, a 23-year-old salesman from Ace Hardware in suburban Glenview, Ill., was impressed by the fancy Weber Summit Grill Center with Social Area: an L-shaped appliance more than nine feet wide. “Our customers,” he said, with eyes growing wide, “are really talking about this thing.” He said the possibilities were endless. That is what keeps life interesting for people in the hot line center, which fields about 500,000 calls a year and 75,000 e-mails. One worker monitors Facebook and Twitter for posts about cooking troubles, and connects a Weber expert with grillers in distress. Most of the time, Ms. Olsen said, the answer is an easy one. People sometimes simply forget to turn up heat. “You’ll tell the man the answer, and in the background you can hear his wife say, ‘See, I told you so.’ ” In some cases, there is no quick remedy. Some people call to tell Ms. Olsen they have a houseful of guests, and they have just taken a turkey out of the freezer. “I’m afraid,” she tells them, “you’re not going to be eating that turkey today.” If things go wrong, she encourages people to have some perspective. “It’s not life-saving medicine,” Ms. Olsen tells them, “it’s just grilling.” She does not claim to be much of a cook. She came to Weber after her husband died of leukemia. She was working at a drugstore and needed a better job. She sold a lottery ticket to a Weber employee, who dropped off a job application. Now she is revered for her expertise. Charmed by Ms. Olsen’s patience and good humor, more than one gentleman caller has made overtures that go beyond grilling advice or warranty information. One such call turned into a courtship. “One thing led to another, and I ended up flying out to Connecticut to visit him,” she said. He grilled pita bread and stuffed them with vegetables. “Now that man could cook,” she said, blushing .


4-Run Fourth Helps Mariners Beat Kuroda and Yankees

Abstract: SEATTLE — With a mere 26 runs batted in entering Friday, Jason Bay and Brendan Ryan of the Seattle Mariners had fewer R.B.I. combined than three Yankees — Robinson Cano, Travis Hafner and Lyle Overbay — had individually. They were tied with Brett Gardner. Their feeble batting averages also suggested they would be of little threat to Hiroki Kuroda, who has been arguably the Yankees’ best pitcher this season. But Kuroda has not been as sharp over the last three weeks as he was early on, and behind Bay and Ryan of all people, the Mariners battered Kuroda in the fourth on the way to a 4-1 victory. Ryan, the No. 9 hitter, who was batting .217 entering the game, hit a two-out, two-run single in that long inning. Two batters later, Bay did the same. Bay finished 2 for 3 with a walk, raising his batting average 10 points, all the way to .224. The Yankees, meanwhile, managed only four hits. The loss ended the Yankees’ four-game winning streak and extended Kuroda’s skid. He is 0-3 with a 5.23 earned run average in his last four starts, dating to May 22. Of all the games in this series at Safeco Field, this one seemed the most likely to end in a Yankees victory. The Mariners’ starting pitcher, Jeremy Bonderman, was making only his second start of the year. In his first, on Sunday against the Minnesota Twins, he had given up seven runs in four and two-thirds innings. Bonderman, coming off two years of injuries, had not won a game since Sept. 8, 2010, when he was with the Detroit Tigers. “It’s been a long time,” he said. “Almost three years of trying to get back and feeling like I could get back on the field and compete again.” The surging Yankees, on the other hand, were looking to Kuroda to help them match their longest winning streak of the season, and most of the time — this season and last — his presence on the mound has led to a Yankees win. “Every time he goes out there, we have a chance to win, and that’s a good feeling for a club,” Manager Joe Girardi said before the game. But coming off a 3-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox in a rain-shortened game at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, Kuroda allowed four runs in six and one-third innings. All four runs came in the fateful fourth. “I was not able to locate my slider,” said Kuroda, who also lamented that he was not aggressive enough with some hitters. Kuroda gave up a two-out double in the second and third innings but was able to get the third out without any trouble. Such good fortune ran out in the fourth. The Yankees were ahead, 1-0, when, with two outs, Mariners designated hitter Michael Morse lashed a double over Brett Gardner’s head in center field. Nick Franklin drew a walk on a full-count pitch, and Kuroda then walked Kelly Shoppach to load the bases. With his pitch count already up, Kuroda let a pitch sail over the middle of the plate to Ryan, who rapped it into right field. Morse and Franklin scored to give Seattle the lead. But Kuroda, who has had success stifling rallies this year, could still not put the Mariners away. Endy Chavez hit a bouncer up the middle. As Yankees shortstop Reid Brignac went to scoop it up — a step on second base would have ended the inning — the ball hit the bag and bounced away from Brignac. All the runners were safe, and the bases were loaded once again, this time for Bay. With a double already to his credit, Bay made good contact again, ripping a single into left field that scored Shoppach and Ryan and put the Mariners ahead by 4-1. After three awful years with the Mets in which he hit .234 with only 26 home runs — he had 36 home runs in his last year in Boston, 2009 — Bay signed with the Mariners in the off-season and was given a chance to make the team in spring training. Despite his poor batting average, Bay entered Friday’s game with 8 home runs and 18 walks, giving him an on-base percentage (.311) nearly 100 points higher than his average and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .725. During the Mariners’ recent homestand, in which he had 19 at-bats, Bay had two hits. He matched that total in his first two at-bats Friday, and he also drew a walk in his first plate appearance, in the first inning. INSIDE PITCH The Yankees drafted Michael O’Neill, the nephew of Paul O’Neill and a junior outfielder from the University of Michigan, 103rd over all. ... Michael Pineda is scheduled to make his first minor league rehabilitation start on Saturday, and Joe Girardi said he would like to see Pineda throw 90 to 100 pitches at least twice, if not three times, before he was activated. Girardi said the Yankees still saw Pineda, who is recovering from shoulder surgery last year, as a starting pitcher. ... The Yankees announced that Chien-Ming Wang exercised the out clause in his minor league contract. The Yankees did not have room for Wang in their five-man rotation and were concerned about his arm strength.

Mariners
Yankees
Jason Bay
Brendan Ryan
Baseball


Liberty Fall as Streak Ends

Abstract: Shenise Johnson scored 19 points to lead a balanced offense and the host Indiana Fever ended the Liberty’s five-game winning streak with an 84-72 victory. Briann January had all 12 of her points in the second half to go with a season-high eight assists for the Fever (10-8). Epiphanny Prince had 17 points for the Liberty (12-6). ■ The W.N.B.A. suspended Danielle Adams of the San Antonio Stars for three games without pay for an unspecified violation of the league’s antidrug program. She had started only two of the team’s 17 games this season and was averaging 8.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 16.6 minutes a game.

Indiana Fever
Danielle Adams
Basketball
WNBA
New York Liberty


Alex Rodriguez Is an October Surprise

Abstract: Alex Rodriguez, the Fox pregame-show version of himself, was sitting on a black couch in a trailer outside Citi Field on Friday night talking about the World Series. This is a new role for Rodriguez, an unexpected diversion in a journey of athletic greatness tainted by performance-enhancing drugs, and one he is excelling at. So he looked happy to be talking about baseball as he peered into his interviewer’s eyes, answered some questions, avoided some others and posed a few of his own. He discussed his love of preparation, his note-taking, his working with Pete Rose (“When it comes to baseball, he has an Ivy League mind”) and his admiration of Keith Hernandez. Rodriguez previewed what he would later say on the air about the physical strength of Mets starter Noah Syndergaard and the possibility that the Mets could beat the Kansas City Royals, who were up by 2-0. If the Yankees could sweep the Royals in the Bronx earlier this season after dropping two of three, he said, the Mets could win. This has been a rather remarkable evolution: Rodriguez, a noted baseball transgressor, working for one of baseball’s network partners, talking to a national audience in the lingua franca of baseball before and after each postseason game. He’s probably been more observational than analytic — describing, with bat in hand, how the Mets’ hitting coach, Kevin Long, has rebuilt Daniel Murphy’s power stroke (before his home run skein ended); how making contact with Matt Harvey’s fastball “feels like a bowling ball”; and how Syndergaard’s bench-pressing power has helped him add torque to his slider. Mike Weisman, a former top baseball producer at NBC and Fox, said that Rodriguez had been very effective in the “protected” studio setting, where comments can be rehearsed and there are “all sorts of expertise around him.” Rodriguez was, after all, suspended for the 2014 season after an investigation by Major League Baseball of the Biogenesis scandal concluded that he had used performance-enhancing drugs. He denied those accusations. He fulminated. He sued. Then he backed down, ended the spectacle and returned to the Yankees. He made a sort-of admission of his sins and played at an unexpectedly high level (33 home runs, 86 runs batted in), given his time off and his age. And over the last two weeks, he has performed so well for Fox that it is reasonable to assume that his TV work is an exercise in image rehabilitation. Here, then, was someone who instinctively understood how to act in a studio; how to easily engage the people he worked with; and how to analyze baseball succinctly. “At heart,” he said, “I’m a teacher.” But this is, after all, A-Rod, who has a way of evoking suspicion about his actions. You want him to spill the strategy behind gauging Fox’s interest in him and his assessment that if he excelled at talking knowingly about pitching and hitting, he would be able to extend the era of good feelings he generated by having a surprisingly strong season, performing unusually well and saying nothing that could provoke or upset anyone. That won back some fans and a bit of the heart of Yankee management and, perhaps, offered hope that he might be a productive hitter in the final two years of his contract. If that was the plan — if there was any television plan at all — he was not saying. “I’m the wrong guy to talk about image,” he said. He willingly brought up the terrible image choice he made in 2009, when he was asked the other day by Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show” what the 40-year-old A-Rod would say to his younger self. “If you ever do a photo shoot, don’t kiss any mirrors,” he said, referring to the one he did for Details magazine that portrayed him as a narcissist. Working for Fox was not Rodriguez’s idea. Fox approached him. It was willing to accept his past and move on — a decision like the one the network made when it hired the (still) permanently exiled, bow-tied, white-booted Pete Rose to the show. Rose arrived during the season and has played the cranky coot to A-Rod’s smooth straight man. Fox clearly saw the benefits in hiring stars who were making news this season: Rose’s reinstatement is being considered by Commissioner Rob Manfred, and Rodriguez had a very good season. “We certainly considered the pros and cons of what Alex has gone through, but at the end of the day it really wasn’t going to be a part of the decision to make him part of the broadcast,” said John Entz, president for production for Fox Sports. “Whatever he did and went through is in the past. We feel we’re trying to make a show that’s informational and entertaining, and we feel that we’ve done that and Alex is a huge part of it.” Rodriguez’s conversation is filled with expressions of humility — about being hired by Fox; about his time with Rose; about the generally positive reception to his television work; about the difficulty of doing television work. Asked about his biggest challenge in working in the Los Angeles studio or on outside sets at Kauffman Stadium and Citi Field, he said, “I’m a novice, so everything is hard.” Asked if viewers should be surprised that he is showing off the sophistication of his baseball side to an audience that might be more accustomed to bland sound bites, he said, “Yes, because I’m surprised.” After a pause, he added: “All kidding aside, I love baseball. I’ve been watching multiple games on television since I’m 7, 8 or 9. Thousands of games.” Asked about the best advice he had received before he started his Fox work, he ticked off general praise for the Fox game announcers Joe Buck and Harold Reynolds; lauded Michael Kay of the YES Network, which televises Yankees games; and circled back to Buck, who, he said, told him to be himself, to speak to the audience as he had done to Buck over the years during private conversations over dinner. He recalled that he was as nervous in his first day in the Fox studio as he was when, as an 18-year-old Seattle Mariner, he faced Roger Clemens. Now, he is less anxious, but he defaulted to self-deprecation when he assessed his performance. “The luckiest thing,” he said, “is the bar is set extremely low.” You wonder, though, if he can ever fully atone for the actions that have tainted his on-field accomplishments. Is seeing him before American League Championship Series and World Series games a constant reminder of what he has lost — or an affirmation of the baseball savvy that he is known for but that has often been obscured by the nonsense that has surrounded him? Is working with Rose as part of an exiled dynamic duo yet another symbol of his sins — or a sharp career move with an eye toward his future? Why did he accept Fox’s offer and not slip quietly into off-season workouts? “I don’t know,” he said. “Look, five years ago, I never would have thought of doing this. I would have been too shy and uncomfortable in front of a camera. You know I’m not the best speaker in front of the camera. It’s been a magical season for me. I’m incredibly humbled by the way I was welcomed back by the franchise and the fans, so when I was told Fox wanted to talk to me, I said, ‘Why not?’ ” Rodriguez did not address whether the studio version of A-Rod would change perceptions about him. He is resistant to such proclamations, so he sidestepped the question, offering this: “One of the things I took real seriously in 2015 was to keep it simple, don’t overthink. See ball, hit ball. So when Fox called, I was incredibly humbled.”

Alex Rodriguez
World Series
Baseball
Mets
Kansas City Royals
Yankees
TV
Fox Sports


Merck Wins U.S. Approval for a New Diabetes Drug

Abstract: Federal drug regulators yesterday approved a new diabetes medicine from Merck that is expected to become a blockbuster treatment used by millions of people worldwide. Januvia, the new medicine, is a once-daily pill that has fewer severe side effects than existing diabetes medications and does not cause weight gain, according to clinical trials. The Food and Drug Administration said Januvia could be prescribed either on its own or in addition to other medicines. It is aimed at Type 2 diabetes, the most common form, which affects nearly 21 million Americans — 7 percent of the population — and more than 200 million people globally. Merck said Januvia would cost just under $5 a day, or about $145 a month, comparable to existing treatments. Merck shares rose slightly after the approval was announced yesterday morning, which had been expected. Many doctors say they believe Januvia — and Galvus, a similar drug from Novartis that is expected to be approved later this year — will be valuable for many patients with diabetes, most of whom have dangerously high levels of blood sugar despite existing treatments. “I can’t wait to put people on the drug,” Dr. James Underberg, a clinical assistant professor at New York University medical school who participated in a clinical trial of Januvia. Januvia is the third major new diabetes drug approved since the summer of 2005, and potentially the most important, analysts and doctors say. The drug works in a different way than existing treatments, and its pill form makes it more convenient than Byetta, a treatment approved last year that has some of the same benefits as Januvia but must be taken by injection. Analysts predict that Januvia, either as a stand-alone treatment or in combination with an existing diabetes drug called metformin, will have worldwide sales of nearly $2 billion by 2010. Merck hopes to win approval for that combined drug early next year. Optimism about Januvia has helped push Merck shares up 38 percent this year, compared with an 11 percent gain for the average large drug stock. Merck shares closed yesterday at $43.96, up 20 cents — at their highest level since the company withdrew its arthritis drug Vioxx in September 2004 after a study linked Vioxx to heart attacks and strokes. Executives at Merck declined to comment on their plans for advertising Januvia to consumers. Unlike several other major drug makers, Merck has not committed to waiting at least six months before advertising new drugs so that doctors have a chance to learn about new therapies before patients begin asking for them. But physicians like Dr. Underberg are already enthusiastic. “It doesn’t cause weight gain, it doesn’t cause episodes of hypoglycemia, and the side effects otherwise are pretty moderate,” he said. Hypoglycemia is a potentially dangerous condition in which blood sugar levels drop too fast. In severe instances, it can cause fainting or even coma. Several older diabetes drugs can cause hypoglycemia by pushing the pancreas to produce large amounts insulin quickly. In contrast, Januvia and Galvus are the first in a newer class of drugs called DPP-IV inhibitors, which work by enhancing levels of a natural protein called GLP-1. The protein stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin and discourages the liver from making glucose. But the DPP-IV inhibitors work only when blood sugar levels are already elevated, such as after a meal, sharply lowering the risk for hypoglycemia. “The approval of Januvia marks an important advance in the fight against diabetes,” Dr. Steven Galson, director of the F.D.A.’s center for drug evaluation and research, said in a statement. “We now have another new option that treats the disease in an entirely new way.” Diabetes is a disease in which blood sugar rises uncontrollably from a lack of, or resistance to, insulin, a hormone normally produced in the pancreas. In Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas is unable to produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes is linked to obesity and inactivity. Typically, the disease progresses over several years as the pancreas gradually loses the ability to produce insulin, and drug treatments lose their effectiveness. Eventually, many patients wind up injecting themselves with insulin to control their blood sugar. Severe, late-stage diabetes sharply raises the risks of many medical problems, including heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and blindness. Jay Galeota, general manager of Merck’s global diabetes division, said Merck planned to ship Januvia to pharmacies and offer samples to doctors’ offices quickly. The company expects to market Januvia to both doctors and patients almost immediately, he said. “We’re confident that we’re going to communicate the science of Januvia in a very wide way,” he said. “We’re expecting very rapid uptake right away.” While there are several major classes of diabetes medicines already on the market, many have side effects that discourage patients from taking them, including weight gain and nausea. As a result, the market is ripe for new treatments, doctors and analysts say. In clinical trials that examined Januvia in 2,719 patients, the most common side effects were sore throat, diarrhea and colds , the F.D.A. said. Richard Evans, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, said he expected Januvia and Galvus to rapidly replace an older class of drugs called sulfonylureas. The newer drugs are similarly effective but much less likely to cause weight gain and hypoglycemia, he said. “Everybody knows that sulfonylureas are kind of a losing game,” he said. While Galvus and Januvia are very similar, Januvia may have an edge because it clearly works as a once-a-day pill, while Galvus was initially formulated to be taken twice daily, Mr. Evans said. Novartis, the manufacturer of Galvus, now claims that its drug is effective when taken once daily, but doctors may be skeptical of that claim, he said. Tony Butler, an industry analyst at Lehman Brothers, said he expected that Januvia would have sales of $271 million next year, rising to $1.1 billion by 2010. Mr. Butler said sales of the Januvia-metformin combination pill would be $500 million more in 2010.

Diabetes
Food and Drug Administration
Merck & Company Inc
Drugs (Pharmaceuticals)
Medicine and Health


The Hague: First Witness Speaks in Karadzic’s War Crimes Trial

Abstract: The first witness, a man disabled from the nightly beatings by his Serbian captors, appeared at the war crimes trial of the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on Tuesday, but he never looked at him in the dock. The witness, Ahmet Zulic, wearing gloves to hide his damaged hands, testified about the killings he saw after Serbs attacked non-Serbs in his ethnically mixed village in 1992. Mr. Karadzic, who acts as his own lawyer, conducted a long-winded cross-examination that was several times cut off by the bench.

War Crimes Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia


For Facebook and Conservatives, a Collegial Meeting in Silicon Valley

Abstract: MENLO PARK, Calif. — Cordiality reigned and pleasantries were exchanged. There was talk of virtual reality, a tour of Frank Gehry-designed buildings — and only a hint of disagreement. After more than a week of controversy over allegations that Facebook displays a liberal media bias , a group of 16 Republican pundits and politicians met with the social network’s chief, Mark Zuckerberg, its chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, and other top executives on Wednesday. The tête-à-tête at Facebook’s headquarters was an attempt by the company to mend fences with conservatives — and, by most accounts, it was a step in the right direction. The 90-minute meeting was described as mostly collegial, sympathetic and inquisitive by those in attendance. Some of the time was spent airing concerns and grievances — quite politely — with the group saying they felt conservatives did not have a true voice in the generally liberal area of Silicon Valley. To reassure attendees that Facebook is open to all perspectives, the company walked them through a technical presentation on how it surfaces the most popular news stories on the site. When the group raised the issue of ideological diversity — or a lack thereof — among employees at Facebook, who mostly lean left, there was a pause. Attendees struggled to come to an agreement over how to solve the issue. Some suggested adding more training and in-depth job interviews, but were rebuffed by those who saw that as not being in line with conservative principles. That was all left behind later, when the Republican group — including Dana Perino of Fox News and Barry Bennett, a campaign coordinator for Donald J. Trump — were taken on a tour of Facebook’s campus, with its Frank Gehry-designed structures. The attendees were also given a demonstration of Facebook’s Oculus virtual reality technology. “I would actually commend Facebook for being the only one of the major tech groups in Silicon Valley that’s willing to have conversations like this,” Zac Moffatt, a co-founder of the political consultancy group Targeted Victory and a Republican digital strategist, said in an interview after the meeting. “It came about in a challenging way, but I actually think that Silicon Valley over all, it behooves them to all prepare for this and get ahead and have this type of engagement.” Mr. Zuckerberg was similarly effusive when the meeting concluded. “We’ve built Facebook to be a platform for all ideas,” he said in a post to his personal Facebook page. “Our community’s success depends on everyone feeling comfortable sharing anything they want.” For Facebook, the meeting was a crucial attempt to repair its relationship with the right after a story published last week by the news site Gizmodo, which claimed that some Facebook staff members regularly suppressed conservative news stories on a section of the social networking site known as Trending. Facebook disputed the allegations and later published its internal editorial guidelines to show how it surfaces popular stories, but that did little to quell a backlash from conservatives against the company. Mr. Zuckerberg himself has fostered the perception that Facebook leans liberal with his public comments about supporting citizenship for children of illegal immigrants and marriage equality rights. The social network can ill afford to look like it only supports one side, however. In the last year it has stepped up its efforts to be a major force for Democrats and Republicans in this year’s presidential election. The company has long planned to sponsor both this summer’s Republican and Democratic National Conventions, and has worked with outlets like Fox News on the Republican debates. Alienating a particular political party — or its constituents — could potentially hurt Facebook’s popularity over time with users and, perhaps more important, with advertisers and potential partners. “It doesn’t make sense for our mission or our business to suppress political content or prevent anyone from seeing what matters most to them,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in his Facebook post on Wednesday. At the meeting, which was organized by Joel Kaplan , Facebook’s vice president for global public policy and the company’s highest-ranking Republican, most of the conversation focused on opening and continuing a dialogue between Facebook and conservatives. Fruit, cheese, water and coffee were served. Peter Thiel, a Facebook board member who is also a delegate for Mr. Trump, was also in attendance. During the discussion, the group agreed that there should be no government regulation in the process. Facebook executives used the point to bring up an inquiry sent to them last week by Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota. Mr. Thune has asked the company to explain its filtering practices and whether its news curators manipulated the content. Facebook officials said they were looking forward to answering his questions in writing and would be responding. Many conservatives left the meeting encouraged, but also with a wait-and-see approach. “We’ll see if the dialogue continues and if they work to really make improvements and to see how they can prevent these things from happening in the future,” said Jenny Beth Martin, the co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots. “They sincerely seem to acknowledge that they have areas that they have to improve and they want to learn from those mistakes and be better in the future.” Arthur C. Brooks of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said he told Facebook “they need to think about more diversity of ideas, of religious groups and not be a monoculture and they understood this and were very sympathetic to this.” At least one Republican who attended will not be leaving Facebook: Rob Bluey, editor in chief of The Daily Signal, said in an interview with Fox News that he would not be changing how his website, which is part of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative organization, uses Facebook as a platform. “As it stands, Facebook reaches over a billion people,” Mr. Bluey said. “There’s a lot of conservatives who use it.”

Facebook
Republicans
Mark E Zuckerberg
News media,journalism
Conservatism in the United States
Social Media


Iraq: Ex-Hussein Aide Convicted Of Terrorizing Shiite Kurds

Abstract: Saddam Hussein ’s longtime foreign minister, Tariq Aziz , was convicted on Monday by an Iraqi court of terrorizing Shiite Kurds during the Iran- Iraq war, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Mr. Aziz, 74, the only Christian in Mr. Hussein’s inner circle, already faces an execution sentence from another case. He has asked Jalal Talabani , the Iraqi president, for a pardon to spare him from execution. Mr. Aziz’s lawyer said Monday’s ruling was his client’s last legal hurdle before Mr. Talabani could consider the pardon request.

Iraq
Kurds
Decisions and Verdicts
Sentences (Criminal)
Aziz Tariq
Talabani Jalal
Hussein Saddam


KiwiSweat Offers Pop-Up Workouts in Unusual Spaces

Abstract: TWO out-of-the-ordinary events happened on Saturday, Oct. 29, at Chelsea Market. One was the snowstorm outside. The other: a raucous cycling party inside. All shoppers had to do was follow the thumping girl-power music of Pink’s “Raise Your Glass” or the gleeful “Whew!” yelled out every minute or so, and they would have arrived at the hot spot, in an empty store across from Posman Books and L’Arte del Gelato. Indeed, as the class climbed its aerobic crescendo, dozens of passers-by dropped their shopping bags outside the windows of the store to gawk at this makeshift spin studio. Inside, sparkling chains of aluminum curtains surrounded 40 stationary bikes, all occupied by sweating, whooping, weekend warriors. A D.J. was grooving behind a turntable, while Lacey Stone, a charismatic blond instructor, intermittently barked out instructions and belted lyrics. Meet the pop-up workout, a sort of fitness flash mob. This one was organized by KiwiSweat , a new company that conducts its business online and its workouts in brick-and-mortar spaces that have a modern, decidedly ungymlike feel. “I’ve always been attracted to the pop-ups,” said Pam Graf, co-founder of KiwiSweat, who said she had eaten in pop-up restaurants and browsed at pop-up sales. “They’re a moment in time, and they’re gone.” Ms. Graf and her business partner, Alicia Thomas, had wanted to open a spin studio in Upper Manhattan. When issues with their landlord developed, they started to look at alternative spaces, and the pop-up concept dawned on them. “We thought, what if we used available retail spaces temporarily for a while?” Ms. Thomas said. “But then we thought, wait a minute, what about using really crazy spaces instead?” And so this year they began researching locations. Ms. Graf said they wanted the spaces to serve as “characters in the story” of the workout. The women booked two weeks in October at Chelsea Market, then transported their studio to a raw space in Dumbo, Brooklyn, for four days. For several days in mid-November, they booked the Invisible Dog Art Center in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Other sites they’re considering include Grand Central Terminal , the Lightship Frying Pan (a boat on the Hudson) and Dekalb Market in downtown Brooklyn. Although spinning is currently the focus, Ms. Graf and Ms. Thomas are interested in organizing other motivational workouts, like urban rebounding and yoga . A case in point: starting on Jan. 21, kickboxing classes will be held onstage on the set of “The History of the World,” a play at the Living Theater on the Lower East Side. “We’re trying to transform the mundane piece of exercising out of the normal gym workout,” Ms. Thomas said. Inga Burekhovich, a Manhattan lawyer, seemed hooked. “This is my third class this week,” she said at the Chelsea Market event. “I like a good mix; I get bored easily.” She added that she appreciated the personal touch of the KiwiSweat experience, including mini-chalkboards on bikes with the names of the riders, so the instructor could single out participants, and individualized cubbies with locks. Amy Harloff, a financial services consultant also from Manhattan, mentioned another perk to the roving workout: seeing new parts of the city. “I’ve lived here for 17 years, and I’ve never visited Chelsea Market before,” she said. Consider it visited.

KiwiSweat
Chelsea Market
Exercise
Pop-Up Stores and Restaurants
Bicycles and Bicycling
New York City
Health Clubs


Giants Placate Cruz but Could Lose Pierre-Paul to Injury

Abstract: EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Giants were a squabbling, hobbling team when they left Pittsburgh in defeat Sunday night. During their first day back at work in New Jersey on Tuesday, a tiff involving Victor Cruz was resolved, but defensive players spoke as if the injured defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul was already ruled out of the team’s next game, against the Dallas Cowboys. “His presence is going to be missed,” linebacker Jonathan Casillas said of Pierre-Paul, who missed most of the Pittsburgh game after injuring his groin in the second quarter. Using Pierre-Paul’s nickname, Casillas added, “We have guys who are going to step up, but no one is J.P.P.” The Giants issued no medical update on Pierre-Paul, who walked through the locker room Tuesday without a limp but declined to talk to reporters. Losing their best defender against the Cowboys, who have the N.F.L.’s best record, would be a serious setback, especially since Pierre-Paul has had some of his most dominating games against the Cowboys. “Interceptions, sacks — he’s done it all against Dallas,” Casillas said. “Tony Romo probably had nightmares about him for years.” In Pierre-Paul’s absence, defensive ends Kerry Wynn and Romeo Okwara would most likely see more playing time. There is a possibility that Pierre-Paul will miss multiple weeks. He crumpled to the turf while rushing Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Sunday. In 12 games this season, Pierre-Paul has seven sacks and 53 tackles and has forced three fumbles. He took one of those fumbles into the end zone for a touchdown. Cruz, who was upset that he did not have a pass thrown his way in Pittsburgh, seemed placated by a meeting Tuesday with Coach Ben McAdoo. “It was a conversation that needed to be had, and we turned the page and moved on,” Cruz said. “It was not contentious — just two guys trying to problem-solve. I saw opportunities last week when I could have gotten the football, but sometimes the defense dictates where the ball is going.” Cruz has only 27 receptions this season, but his average gain per catch (17.1 yards) leads the team. He had the game-winning touchdown catch in the Giants’ season-opening victory over Dallas on Sept. 11. “My only quarrel,” Cruz said, “was that I’m trying to compete at the highest level and be a catalyst for helping my team win. I think there will be a concerted effort to get everyone the ball, myself included. I feel like I’ll be getting at least one target this week.”

Giants
Victor Cruz
Jason Pierre-Paul
Football
Sports injury


As Antics Subside, Both Cuomo and the Left Claim the Last Hurrah

Abstract: COLONIE, N.Y. — Weeks of intense negotiations between Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and an impatient, insurgent left resolved themselves shortly before midnight on Saturday in a stormy night of brinkmanship and shuttle diplomacy. In the end, liberals were exulting in what they believed would be the start of a tectonic shift in New York politics, as the governor agreed to abandon his Republican allies in the State Senate and throw his weight behind electing fellow Democrats. In turn, the Working Families Party agreed to support Mr. Cuomo. “I believe the world starts to turn now,” Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City told a rollicking crowd at the convention of the Working Families Party, a group of liberal activists and labor unions that had been divided over whether to support the governor’s re-election. But if Saturday’s madcap machinations in this Albany suburb are the shape of things to come, the liberal-Democratic rapprochement could make politics as usual in Albany look serene and orderly by comparison. A week after a highly choreographed convention held by Democrats, where Mr. Cuomo was the lustrous star, the governor was mocked, booed and ridiculed. Some attendees at the convention taped orange sheets of paper to their shirts that stated their view of Mr. Cuomo’s promises in bold capital letters: “I am a non believer.” In smaller type, the signs asked: “Do you believe?” Mr. Cuomo, who is careful to appear in front of only enthusiastic crowds, steered clear of the hostile reception at the convention, held at the Desmond Hotel near Albany. He kept his distance by relaying his promises in a recorded video — which itself became the subject of intense negotiations — and then even addressing the convention in a decidedly low-tech method: by calling the iPhone of a Working Families staff member, which was hooked up to the sound system in the ballroom where the convention was being held. Image Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York spoke in person. Credit Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times The boisterous scene, abetted by a cash bar outside the convention hall that did a brisk business, was the culmination of weeks of tense discussions between Mr. Cuomo and the leadership of Working Families. Mr. de Blasio served as a key mediator, even squeezing in a pair of conference calls on Friday before he was due in Times Square to see the Broadway revival of “A Raisin in the Sun.” (After the curtain call, the mayor texted aides to check in on any developments.) The vote by Working Families to support Mr. Cuomo, which spared him from an embarrassing rebuke, ended what amounted to a high-stakes political standoff among New York’s most impassioned liberals and a governor many of them do not trust. The party reached new heights with Mr. de Blasio’s election, but faced the prospect of a civil war over its handling of Mr. Cuomo’s re-election bid, with union leaders pushing for the party to stick with Mr. Cuomo and rank-and-file activists resisting the idea. George Gresham, the president of the 1199 S.E.I.U United Healthcare Workers East, made his case by quoting a Kenny Rogers song. “You need to know when to hold ’em,” Mr. Gresham said. “With this victory, you know when to fold ’em.” Until moments before Mr. Cuomo addressed the convention via video, however, it seemed possible that the peace agreement would unravel. In the hours leading up to the vote, liberal activists fed up with Mr. Cuomo buttonholed party members and urged them to support a challenger, Zephyr Teachout, a Fordham law professor. They commandeered the hotel’s billiards room, covering the two pool tables with poster board and Sharpie markers to be used for making anti-Cuomo signs. Susan Weber, a state committee member from the Albany suburbs, made a poster labeling the governor “Cuomoccio,” complete with an outline of his head showing a Pinocchio-like nose. “If we endorse him, we run the risk of losing our base,” she said. “If we don’t support him, he will do his best to kill us.” Next to the billiards room, the leaders of the Working Families Party set up a war room in the hotel’s “International Business Center,” where a flat screen monitor listed flight arrivals at the Albany airport. Image A poster opposed endorsing the governor. Credit Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times Emma Wolfe, one of Mr. de Blasio’s most trusted aides, popped in and out of the room throughout the afternoon, bouncing around the hotel’s inner courtyards. At one point, she intercepted Dorothy Siegel, an activist from Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, and the treasurer of Working Families, as she headed into the billiards room to huddle with the budding insurgency. “Look me in the eye,” Ms. Wolfe pleaded, invoking the mayor. Ms. Siegel, who had planned to vote for Ms. Teachout, ultimately decided to abstain. “I’m a very pragmatic person,” she said. “It’s not about Andrew Cuomo. I’m glad he saw the progressive light, and now we’ll get a progressive Senate.” By late afternoon, as it became clear that the terms of a rapprochement had been nailed down, Working Families staff members began emailing members of Mr. Cuomo’s staff to hammer out exactly how the governor would address the party faithful, according to emails reviewed by The New York Times. There was talk of creating a live feed, so the governor could speak to delegates in real time. It was decided instead Mr. Cuomo would appear in a recorded video, one that needed to be vetted by top Working Families leaders. Mr. de Blasio arrived at the hotel on Saturday evening and hunkered down in “the Lodge,” a meeting room next to the hotel’s indoor swimming pool with stuffed animal heads on the wall. Clutching his cellphone, he paced back and forth below a moose head, and conferred with Ms. Wolfe. Both were fielding calls from the governor and his advisers. The scene at the convention was chaotic. Leaders of the party were still figuring out the order of speakers less than an hour before the program was to start. And the confusion threatened to trickle into the sensitive political pageantry of the night. Mr. Cuomo’s campaign staff sent a script to Working Families. It fell short of what he had previously promised, but just how short was a matter of interpretation. People within the party said that Mr. Cuomo had failed to address a handful of key issues important to them. An emissary for Mr. Cuomo said it was just a matter of fine tuning the language. Soon after, Working Families announced that the convention would take a 10-minute intermission, citing “technical difficulties.” When the video was played, the governor looked like he was being held for ransom. Leaders of Working Families insisted he speak to the convention live, to elaborate on certain of his promises. Even that was not enough; following his live call to address the convention, Mr. Cuomo spoke with a smaller group of party members to expand yet again on his commitments. On Sunday, in Manhattan, Mr. Cuomo had a much tidier account of the drama. “Look, it’s very simple at these political conventions,” he said. “You either win or you lose, and I won.”

New York
Politics
Working Families Party
Bill de Blasio
Zephyr Teachout
Andrew Cuomo
Political endorsement
State Legislature elections
Gubernatorial races


China Names 14 Generals Suspected of Corruption

Abstract: BEIJING — China ’s military authority on Monday released a list of 14 generals who are under investigation or have been convicted of graft, among them the son of one of China’s once highest-ranking generals. The generals were the latest prominent officers to fall under President Xi Jinping ’s sweeping anticorruption campaign. Published on the official website of the People’s Liberation Army three days before China’s rubber-stamp legislature convenes for its annual meeting in Beijing, the list identifies a host of leading officers, the majority of whom are in the political and logistics departments of the military, navy, missile corps and other branches. The investigators’ focus on the military bureaucracy highlights two distinct types of corruption that the Communist Party believes undermine military readiness, experts say: bribery in political departments relating to the sale of positions; and embezzlement within logistics departments, which handle large amounts of money as well as contracts. Among those being investigated is Maj. Gen. Guo Zhenggang, the son of Guo Boxiong, the retired vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, which oversees the 2.3 million members of China’s armed forces, the world’s largest. General Guo, 45, the deputy political commissar of military command in the coastal province of Zhejiang, was put under investigation last month, suspected of “serious legal violations and criminal offenses,” a common official euphemism for corruption. In what appeared to be a well-timed media campaign coordinated to discredit the general, the investigative magazine Caijing published a long exposé of his family’s corrupt land dealings online, 10 minutes after the list of generals was released. According to the article, General Guo’s wife and mother-in-law were sued by investors after their real estate company took in over 500 million renminbi, more than $80 million, to build a five-story hardware market that was never completed. Speculation that members of the Guo family were being investigated on corruption charges has swirled for months, despite the government’s attempts to keep their names off social media. Last year, the elder Mr. Guo, once the military’s top uniformed officer, was rumored to have tried to flee the country dressed in women’s clothing. Although there was no proof verifying the rumor, censors quickly blocked search terms like “Guo + dress in drag” on the popular microblog platform Sina Weibo, according to China Digital Times, a website based in Berkeley, Calif., that covers China news and digital media. Mr. Guo has not officially been accused of corruption. The military notice also announced that Lan Weijie, a former deputy commander in the central province of Hubei, was sentenced to life in prison in January for accepting bribes, owning property purchased with “unidentified sources” and the illegal possession of firearms. Last year, China’s widening military corruption scandal ensnared the military’s former No. 2 official, Xu Caihou, who was indicted in October on bribery charges. Mr. Xu is one of the highest-ranking targets of the anticorruption campaign begun by President Xi, who is also head of the Central Military Commission. Mr. Xi has vowed to clean up the military as part of his campaign to strengthen party rule by reining in corruption. The campaign comes as China is upgrading its military capabilities to bolster claims over disputed maritime territories in the South and East China Seas, with an eye on countering the influence of the United States in Asia and the Pacific. On Monday, the People’s Liberation Army published a separate commentary on its website lauding the investigations as proof that the military was serious about fighting corruption. “They show the military’s courage to cut the poison off the bones with a knife and make steel out of raging fire,” it said, adding, “Let us praise the People’s Army that is truly worthy of the people’s trust.” But the military’s anticorruption drive also appears intended to fortify Mr. Xi’s hold on power by targeting rival factions and alerting members of his own about the limits of corruption he will tolerate, according to Phillip C. Saunders, director of the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs at the National Defense University in Washington. So far, investigators have only investigated former senior members of the Central Military Commission, rather than those appointed by Mr. Xi. “It seems to be strategic in who they’re going after and not going after,” Mr. Saunders said. “There are people being made an example of within the P.L.A., but it’s not the people at the very top. This achieves the purpose of warning them to tone down corruption without the political cost.”

China
Corruption
Xi Jinping
People's Liberation Army
Central Military Commission China
Communist Party of China


R. Donahue Peebles on Letting Employees Change Lanes

Abstract: This interview with R. Donahue Peebles of the Peebles Corporation was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant. Q. What were some early influences for you? A. My parents divorced when I was 5, and I lived with my mother. She was a working single parent, and I learned to be a bit more independent. By the time I was 8, I would often cook for myself and take care of myself. My mother worked really hard, so I didn’t want to burden her with me. As a teenager, I played a lot of sports and tended to lead the teams. But my mother felt I needed a little more discipline, so she thought I should be a page on Capitol Hill. She had worked at the Urban League years earlier, and one of the congressmen she knew was John Conyers. He helped me get me a position as a page on the Hill. I was 16. Instead of attending high school near my home, I went to the U.S. Capitol Page School from 6 to 10:30 in the morning on the top floor of the Library of Congress. From 10:30 on, I worked in the House of Representatives. After working all day, I would go home and then have basketball practice until about 9 p.m. Then I would do my homework, go to bed around midnight, and then get up at 4 the next morning to do it all over again. I learned to budget my time very efficiently, and I would catch up on sleep on the weekends. Then my mother had a prolonged illness and could not really work for about a year and a half. But with my job as a page, and work I did in Representative Conyers’s office, I was able to help support our household. I made some tremendous relationships over the years. My graduation ceremony was in the Cannon Caucus Room on Capitol Hill; President Carter gave me a certificate of achievement earlier in the day. I spent a lot of my childhood watching others lead and learning how to lead. Did you have specific career plans when you went to college? I was going to study medicine at Rutgers. One of the frustrating or difficult things for me as a child was the instability. I planned on having a family at some point, and I wanted to be able to take care of them and give them opportunity and stability. So I figured I would be a doctor because I had a good aptitude for sciences. But after the first year, I decided I wasn’t going to go into medicine, and I went back to D.C. My mother had a real estate appraisal business, and so I worked for her. By the time I was 23, I was the youngest person appointed to the Property Tax Appeal Board in the district. The next year, I was named chair of the board, one of the most powerful positions in Washington’s real estate industry. What leadership lessons had prepared you for that? I learned from watching my mother, and I learned from watching politics. It’s about getting people vested in the outcome of success. I also knew I didn’t need to take credit for everything. I was the chairman, so if the board did well, I was going to get credit for it. But I felt it was important to let other people get credit and recognition, and it gave them more of a sense of ownership in the goal. Now you’re in real estate development. How big is your company? We have about $3.5 billion of projects in development. Our executive staff is about two dozen people, and we have fewer than 100 over all. What other insights about leadership have you learned? One is that our company should be a vehicle for our employees to accomplish some of their personal goals. It is a two-way street, but we should give people the opportunity to evolve and learn and grow and not put them in slots or force people to stay in their own lanes. People need to focus on their primary responsibilities, but I want to foster an approach where they can broaden their skill set. I also, for many years, thought the best reward I could give to anyone working in our company was money, whether it was a bonus or a promotion. But I’ve learned that encouragement and acknowledgment are sometimes more important than dollars. Another thing is that I give a lot of autonomy. I’ve always considered that a good thing — being a hands-off person, and giving people a lot of responsibility and leeway. But one of the things I’ve learned is that people also want more direction because they want to learn. So I’ve become more engaged in specific areas to be more of a teacher. How do you hire? I want to know the candidates’ personal goals and how they think our company can help them achieve those goals. And then to see if there’s a good fit, I’ll tell them a bit about our company’s goals and then ask them how they can help our company achieve those goals while accomplishing their own goals. And then I’ll ask them what are the three things they do best and why, and what are the three things they feel they need to improve on and why. But I’ll also talk to them for the first 20 minutes about their life — where they grew up, what their parents do, and what their goals were when they were growing up. And I’ll ask them if they are happy with their choices. Do people ever say no? Most people will say that they are happy with their choices, but some will say they’re looking for more opportunity. What I’ve generally found is that people do not feel they have the opportunity to grow — they’re stuck in their lane and they have a greater interest in doing other things.


When Yogi Berra Speaks, Yankees’ Cervelli Listens

Abstract: The Yankees ’ final batting practice session of the morning Friday had just ended, sending pitchers and catchers, coaches and club officials into the dugout to get ready for the day’s light workout in Tampa, Fla. Two people lingered on the grass, about halfway up the first-base line: catcher Francisco Cervelli and Yogi Berra . Berra talked. Cervelli listened, nodding. Their chat lasted only a few minutes, and toward the end, Berra settled into a crouch, or as much of a crouch as his 85-year-old legs allow. Asked about their conversation, Cervelli beamed. “He said, ‘You look much better, more quiet behind the plate, less movement,’ ” Cervelli said. “I like when those kind of guys talk to you. They know what they’re doing.” Berra is a fixture at Yankees spring training. In the mornings, he usually focuses on one field, and there he watches whatever drills are going on: batting practice, infield pop-up work, cut-off plays. On Thursday, he pulled Nick Swisher aside for a brief chat in a dugout on a back field. On Friday, he stopped Cervelli to offer some advice: to set up his target, his glove, a little earlier. “That’s going to cut my movement,” Cervelli said. “I’ve got a lot of energy. So I have to save that energy and get a little quieter behind the plate. If I can get better, I want to make those adjustments. “He knows what he’s talking about. He said, ‘Every time I watch you, I like what I see.’ He’s the man, bro.” BELTRE OUT The Texas Rangers’ new regular third baseman, Adrian Beltre, will miss at least a week of spring games because of a right calf strain. The Rangers want to be cautious with Beltre, their key off-season acquisition, after a magnetic resonance imaging exam showed an overstretching muscle but no tear. Beltre had not had previous problems with his calf. “I think we’re handling this in a very responsible and conservative matter considering where we are in the spring and the nature of who the player is,” said Thad Levine, the Rangers’ assistant general manager. Levine said Beltre would not play in a game for at least 10 to 14 days, although he is expected to be ready for the regular-season opener April 1 against Boston. The Rangers’ spring training opener is Sunday. “It’s better to happen now than the season,” Beltre said. “Now is enough time to get healthy 100 percent.” Beltre agreed to a five-year, $80 million contract last month that includes a vesting option for a sixth year and another $16 million. That free-agent signing prompted the Rangers to make the six-time All-Star Michael Young, who played third base the last two seasons, their primary designated hitter and utility infielder. Young was away from camp for the second day on Friday tending to a personal family matter, but he is expected back Saturday. (AP) ANGELS COACH TREATED The Angels’ pitching coach, Mike Butcher, said that he was cancer free. Butcher had his cancerous thyroid gland and 14 lymph nodes removed on Feb. 10. He said that a decision on his treatment would be made next month and that he was told he would not need chemotherapy. (AP)

Baseball
New York Yankees
Cervelli Francisco
Berra Yogi


Myanmar Fighting Edges Toward China

Abstract: BANGKOK — Fighting in Myanmar between an armed ethnic rebel group and the country’s military threatened to spill into Chinese territory on Monday, the insurgents said, with reports that shelling had killed three people in the border town of Laiza . Myanmar’s military in recent weeks has been pushing toward Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army, a rebel group seeking a degree of autonomy from the central government. Awng Jet, an officer with the Kachin Independence Army, said by telephone the shelling happened early Monday and killed three civilians, including a Christian missionary and a student. Other rebel sources circulated pictures of three bloodied bodies. Ye Htut, a deputy information minister for the government, expressed skepticism about the attack on his Facebook page and said it needed to be “confirmed independently.” Fighting between the Kachin rebels and government troops has sharply escalated since Myanmar recently admitted using aircraft to fight the rebels. Government troops have appeared to take at least one hilltop position previously held by the rebels, putting them one step closer to Laiza, which appeared to be the goal of their intensified campaign. The breakdown of a longstanding cease-fire between the rebels and the military has been a major setback for the government of President Thein Sein, who is trying to guide Myanmar toward democracy after decades of military rule. The cease-fire, which had lasted 17 years, collapsed in June 2011, three months after Mr. Thein Sein came to power. The army’s decision to pursue the Kachin rebels is risky in part because of the fighting’s proximity to China, which is acutely sensitive to any border problems. The decision also contradicts repeated statements by Mr. Thein Sein that the government is seeking peace with the rebels, as it has with other ethnic groups. China sent an unspecified number of troops to the border last week to survey what the Chinese state news media called an “unstable area.” A photographer in the area on Monday said that about 200 members of the Chinese security forces had arrived at the border. The fighting is taking place in the low-lying, jungle-clad mountains, the ancestral homeland of the Kachin and a terrain that they navigate comfortably. Myanmar’s army, although it fought battles in that part of the country in the decades after independence, does not know the area as well. Some analysts believe this is why the military has resorted to using aircraft. A helicopter used in the campaign crashed on Friday, killing the two pilots and an officer onboard. Kachin rebels said they had shot down the helicopter , but the government blamed engine failure. The Chinese military and officials in Yunnan, the southern Chinese province that borders Myanmar, have been closely observing the deteriorating situation along the border, according to the Chinese state news media. Global Times, a state-run newspaper, reported on Friday that Shang Haifeng, the deputy Communist Party chief of Nabang, a township by the border, said the Yunnan military command had established an office in Nabang. Changjiang Daily, a newspaper in the Chinese city of Wuhan, reported on Friday that the conflict was intensifying and that projectiles had exploded on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons in Nabang, which sits across from Laiza. The report said that Chinese civilians had been evacuated to a nearby location. China’s handling of the situation is made more complex because ethnic Kachin live on both sides of the border. In recent days, thousands of Kachin (who are called Jingpo in Mandarin) living in Nabang gathered at a border checkpoint to protest the attacks by Myanmar’s army, said Ryan Roco, a photographer who was working in the Laiza area. About 2,000 Kachin also gathered on the Myanmar side of the border to show solidarity with the Chinese protesters, he said. Mr. Roco said Monday in an e-mail that about 200 Chinese security personnel had arrived at the border between Laiza and Nabang. Reports from Kachin areas suggest that the fighting is hardening the attitudes of Kachin civilians against the central government, which is overwhelmingly made up of the majority ethnic Burmese. The anger and hatred expressed by many Kachin is deflating hopes for a reconciliation. Moon Nay Li, a coordinator of the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand, an advocacy group, said she sensed “much less trust toward the government” since the army began pursuing the Kachin rebels. “How can we believe in the peace process and democracy in Burma?” she said. The Kachin are also directing their anger toward Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the former dissident who is now the opposition leader in Parliament. Ms. Moon Nay Li was among the signers of an open letter sent last year by 23 Kachin expatriate organizations to Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, who is ethnically Burmese and who has said little about the conflict. In a follow-up to the letter sent last week, the Kachin groups lamented the “confusion and distrust that is being created by your failure to comment in depth on these matters.”

China
Military
Kachin Independence Army
Thein Sein
Kachin State Myanmar
Myanmar,Burma
Race and Ethnicity
Communist Party of China


Mark Sanchez and Jets Top Rams, Ending a Three-Game Skid

Abstract: ST. LOUIS — Every defeat for the Jets has accelerated a potential overhaul, increased the discomfort, intensified the scrutiny. Their owner, Woody Johnson, called this season a “miserable experience,” adding that he did not “sign up” for such gloom. He put on notice the coach, Rex Ryan , who vowed to reverse the team’s fortunes or “die trying,” and the general manager, Mike Tannenbaum, who in a radio interview insisted that the Jets had been making “meaningful progress.” Six weeks from now, their 27-13 victory Sunday against the St. Louis Rams may be viewed as an aberration, a brief hiatus from the malaise. But for the moment — and only a moment, with a date against the A.F.C. East-leading New England Patriots looming Thursday night at MetLife Stadium — it serves as a welcome break from the anguish, from the controversy, from the uncertainty. The Jets’ season will continue, with a purpose, because they pummeled a team that resembled their own during their three-game losing streak: disjointed, overwhelmed, uninspired. The Jets (4-6) forced three turnovers while committing none. They ran 41 times, alleviating the pressure on Mark Sanchez . They scored 27 consecutive points, avoiding the indignity of losing to their former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, whose unit scored on its opening drive but not again until the game’s waning moments. “It seems that in some of our toughest times, we end up playing some of our best football,” Sanchez said. “It’s a fast way to lose your hair and turn your hair gray, but whatever it takes to win. We have to get wins.” Sanchez still had a full head of dark hair when he stepped behind the lectern late Sunday afternoon, about 30 minutes after he darted through a corridor of the Edward Jones Dome and into the Jets’ locker room, still in full uniform, still carrying a football, still savoring the team’s first victory since Oct. 14 against Indianapolis. After two weeks of wretched play, of red-zone turnovers and faulty decisions and ugly throws, Sanchez deserved a game ball Sunday. After a week of bedlam and commotion — of unattributed criticism of Tim Tebow in The Daily News that ostensibly was intended to silence the clamor for a quarterback switch — Sanchez validated Ryan’s faith in him. An offense that produced 9 points in its previous two games tripled that total Sunday, with Sanchez completing 15 of 20 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown. A few plays away: this has been the Jets’ motto, it seems, as if a completion here, a missed tackle there could explain a margin of defeat that averaged 17 points. But on Sunday, the Jets made many of those key plays. “I think we finally see a bit of light,” receiver Chaz Schilens said. In that sense, facing St. Louis at this juncture of the schedule was a break for the Jets. The Rams have not forced a turnover since Week 5, but in the first half, they sacked Sanchez three times, blocked a field goal, snuffed a fake punt and stampeded 86 yards for a touchdown — on fourth-and-goal — on their opening drive. And still the Jets played far better. Sam Bradford, the Rams’ quarterback, lost a fumble, threw an interception deep in St. Louis territory and watched as a holding penalty negated what would have been a go-ahead 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Chris Givens just before halftime. Call it a revival by the Jets’ defense, which minimized another round of special-teams failures. After Janoris Jenkins zipped around the left edge to deflect Nick Folk’s 26-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter, the Jets forced a punt. After James Laurinaitis stuffed a shovel pass to Lex Hilliard on a fake punt, the Jets forced a turnover. Muhammad Wilkerson stripped the ball from Bradford, and Bart Scott scooped it up, rumbling 38 yards to the Rams’ 28. Two plays later, Sanchez froze the Rams’ secondary by feinting with his right shoulder — one of his best moves — and connected with Schilens by the front pylon of the end zone, the Jets’ first offensive touchdown in 17 possessions. “We need to get more,” Schilens said. So they did. They led by 13-7 at halftime, and after three quarters. But two plays into the fourth, Bilal Powell slithered in from 5 yards out, and then he later ran in from the 11 — both on gutsy calls by the offensive coordinator Tony Sparano on third down, in typical passing situations. It was 27-7, and the Jets’ sideline, weary for so long, rejoiced. “We weren’t going to back down,” defensive end Mike DeVito said. “We weren’t going to fold. We weren’t throwing the white flag.” All week, the Jets professed that they were not distracted by the latest installment of that mini-series Chaos in Florham Park. It produced the opposite effect, they said: it galvanized them against outside forces. Scott’s interpretation of the situation created some uncomfortable moments in the locker room, as he kept telling reporters: “Both teams played hard. That’s all you’re getting.” As teammates granted interviews, Scott said that players were “compromised” for not joining in his media boycott. The tension dissolved, but the mood did not lighten. “It’s only one game,” cornerback Antonio Cromartie said. But instead of spiraling deeper into this vortex of despair, a predicament so alarming to Johnson that he summoned Tannenbaum, Ryan and the coordinators for a meeting on Tuesday, the Jets have meaning again. What they do not have is a winning record. Then again, aside from New England, neither does any of their remaining opponents: Arizona, Jacksonville, Tennessee, San Diego and Buffalo. The Jets cling to the notion that they have a chance, much as they did three years ago, when they were 4-6 but sneaked into the playoffs. The challenge now, as it was then, is dispelling the notion that in the end, Sunday’s victory merely extended the illusion that their season can be saved. Said guard Brandon Moore, “We move on.”

Football
New York Jets
St Louis Rams
Sanchez Mark
Ryan Rex
Sparano Tony
Bradford Sam


Red Sox Foil Scherzer’s Bid For 20-1 Start

Abstract: The Detroit Tigers have the best pitcher in the American League and the best hitter in baseball. Jon Lester was better than both. Lester, Boston’s ace, outdueled Max Scherzer and retired Miguel Cabrera with the bases loaded as the Red Sox beat Detroit, 2-1, on Tuesday night in a well-played game between two division leaders. It ended Scherzer’s chance to become the second pitcher to open a season with a 20-1 record. “We all know who we’re facing tonight and what he’s done this season,” Lester said, “but I can’t worry about Max Scherzer. I have to worry about the other nine guys in the lineup.” The Tigers lead the A.L. in hitting and Cabrera leads all batters with a .355 average. So the Red Sox were in big trouble when he came up with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning with Detroit leading, 1-0. Lester’s first two pitches were balls, but he recovered to get Cabrera to ground to shortstop Stephen Drew for a forceout at second base. Boston scored on Will Middlebrooks’s two-run single in the fifth after Detroit’s Jose Iglesias doubled in a run in the second. Koji Uehara pitched the ninth for his 17th save in 20 opportunities and extended his scoreless streak to 25 innings as Boston won for the eighth time in 10 games. Lester (13-8) lowered his earned run average to 1.71 in his past six starts. He allowedeight hits with a season-high nine strikeouts and no walks. INDIANS 4, ORIOLES 3 Ubaldo Jimenez pitched six shutout innings and Yan Gomes and Asdrubal Cabrera drove in two runs apiece, and Cleveland survived a shaky ninth inning at home. Nate McLouth’s three-run homer followed singles by Nick Markakis and J. J. Hardy to start the ninth against Indians closer Chris Perez. ROYALS 4, MARINERS 3 Salvador Perez drove in Mike Moustakas with two outs in the eighth, and Kansas City survived at home after blowing a three-run lead. PIRATES 4, BREWERS 3 The pinch-hitter Travis Snider homered in the ninth inning to lift Pittsburgh to a win in Milwaukee that clinched the Pirates’ first nonlosing record in 21 seasons and boosted their lead in the National League Central to two games over St. Louis. REDS 1, CARDINALS 0 Billy Hamilton, a record-setting base stealer in the minors, got his first major league steal and came around on Todd Frazier’s double in the seventh inning, sending Cincinnati to its second straight victory at home over St. Louis.


N.C.A.A. Tournament — Marquette Edges Butler

Abstract: LEXINGTON, Ky. — Back and forth they went, Butler and Marquette, their game — less a basketball matchup, more a war of attrition — coming down to the final possession, the final moment, because it had to. Every made shot, every rebound, every defensive stop was met in kind. That is how the second half unspooled Saturday night, and for Marquette, which ultimately escaped with a 74-72 victory, that is how its season, its month, its stay at Rupp Arena have unfolded as well. The Golden Eagles won their two games here by a total of 3 points, because of two last-second shots — one made, by Vander Blue on Thursday, another missed, by Butler center Andrew Smith, who stumbled before unleashing an off-balance 3-point attempt that smacked off the backboard. “That’s just another Marquette game,” Coach Buzz Williams said. “We’re not good enough to blow anybody out; we’re just good enough to get blown out, and if we can turn it into a fight and make it ugly, then it probably trends toward helping us the most.” As recruiting pitches go, that assessment by Williams is not a particularly persuasive one. But the team’s résumé is. For the third consecutive season, Marquette (25-8) moves on to the Round of 16, where the Golden Eagles, seeded No. 3 in the East Region, will play the winner of Sunday’s game between Miami and Illinois on Thursday in Washington. “Every game that we play in, it’s going to be a grind-out, hard boxing match,” guard Junior Cadougan said. Marquette’s fortitude trickles down from its high-energy coach, Williams — or perhaps, rather, his wife, Corey, who has spent a few days in a local hospital. “She’s tougher than all of us,” Williams said. Bullied in their meeting with Butler in November, Marquette pushed around the Bulldogs, and the Golden Eagles’ big man, Davante Gardner, grabbed four offensive rebounds. Men’s N.C.A.A. Tournament: March 23 13 Photos View Slide Show › Image Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images Even as the Golden Eagles played with energy and momentum, they knew that Butler (27-9) can be lethal late in games, especially in the national spotlight. Butler’s marvelous March stampedes are so entrenched in N.C.A.A. tournament lore that its teams can seem indistinguishable from one another, as if the same group of Bulldogs emerges from hibernation every March to lay waste to the brackets. Of course, that is not true. For one thing, Butler did not even receive a bid last year. For another, five of its top seven players — including three starters — made their tournament debuts the other day. This team edged two No. 1 seeds, Indiana and Gonzaga, in close games, and Coach Brad Stevens said it inherited the intestinal fortitude of its predecessors. “We’re going to go back and wish we could have controlled a few things a little bit better, but you do that with any loss,” Stevens said. “And you know, we talk about all the close wins over those runs and certainly the close wins this year, and ironically the only commercial I ever see is a close loss, Butler versus Duke.” Blue paced Marquette with 29 points. Clarke, who had 18 points in the first half, led Butler with 24. What propelled the Golden Eagles’ second-half surge was intense defensive pressure — “playing man to man as hard as you can play for 94 feet,” Cadougan said — that forced 10 turnovers, disrupted the Butler offense and, from Blue’s perspective, left Rotnei Clarke, the Butler sharpshooter, “a little winded.” It was Blue who put Marquette ahead for the first time in the second half, on a dunk with about seven minutes left, and his 3-pointer from the corner evened the score, 69-69, with 1 minute 29 seconds remaining. The Golden Eagles took the lead for good on two free throws by Jamil Wilson with 47.7 seconds left, and they led, 74-70, before Butler nearly upstaged them. After a goaltending call awarded Butler a basket with 3.2 seconds left, Blue threw away the inbounds pass, giving the Bulldogs the ball back with 2.4 seconds left, needing 2 to tie and a 3-pointer to win. At the top of the key, Smith dribbled once and flung a one-hander that was off-line from the start. He wobbled to the other side of the court and crouched over as Marquette celebrated. That Marquette would be advancing was in doubt at halftime, when they trailed by 35-27, unable to contain Clarke, who scored 18 of his team-high 24 points. Clarke assumes an important role in Marquette’s season, his 3-pointer as time expired sending Butler to victory back in the Maui Invitational in November. Players divined motivation from that moment, bristling every time it was shown on ESPN commercials. But what stuck with Williams for the reprise were two things: how Butler’s frontcourt “abused us,” and how much better they would need to defend Clarke. Marquette adjusted, and it will live another week. Next season, these two teams will be in the reconstituted Big East. If this game was a preview of what could be a fierce rivalry, the programs will be better for it. But for now, Marquette owns the bragging rights, and in March that is all that matters.

College basketball
NCAA Men's Basketball,March Madness
Butler University
Marquette University


N.B.A. Career Full of Moves for Ollie: 11 Teams in 13 Years

Abstract: PORTLAND, Ore. — Kevin Ollie was in one of the N.B.A. cities that he has not called home. When on the road, it is nearly a 50-50 proposition whether he once dressed in the home locker room rather than the visiting one. Ollie, a 37-year-old guard and a backup to the backup on the playoff-bound Oklahoma City Thunder, sat in front of his stall explaining how someone who has averaged 3.8 points a game has managed to cobble together an 11-team, 12-city, 13-year career. One of three stints in Philadelphia lasted an eternity in Ollie-time: four seasons. One stop in Orlando lasted, according to the official statistics, four minutes. “Dallas, Orlando, then Sacramento, back to Orlando,” Ollie said, pausing here and there as he recalled each stop. “New Jersey — no, no, no, no. Think it may have been New Jersey. No, it was Philly. Philly, then New Jersey. Got let go, back to Philly. After Philly was, um, Chicago. Chicago, got traded to Indiana. Milwaukee, got traded to Seattle. Signed a five-year deal in Cleveland. Umm. Traded to Philly. Played the four years there, went to Minnesota, then came here.” By “here” he meant Oklahoma City, not Portland. Maybe next season. Then he would tie a league record for waywardness. “There might have been a couple of wrong steps there, but it was pretty close,” Ollie said. Three N.B.A. players in history — Tony Massenburg, Chucky Brown and Jim Jackson — have played for more franchises (12 each). The math is complicated, however; Ollie officially has played for 11 franchises, but Oklahoma City and Seattle (where Ollie played in 2003) count as one because the Sonics moved and became the Thunder in 2008. There is no extra credit for playing for two franchises more than once, either. Given that N.B.A. players are signed, dropped and traded more than ever, it is quite possible that Ollie has had more teammates than any other player in history. “One door closes and another opens,” Ollie said. “And if it’s not a door, it’s a window that’s going to be open. I’m going to find my way back into the house again. You better believe that.” But Ollie is not sure whose house he will live in next season. Maybe his own, with his family in Connecticut. He was signed last year to become the Thunder’s backup point guard, mentoring the second-year starter Russell Westbrook. The Thunder saw Ollie as a steady ball handler, a strong defender and a do-as-he-does example of effort and professionalism for one of the league’s young, rising teams. Ollie averaged nearly 15 minutes a game through the season’s first month. But a knee injury required surgery, and by the time Ollie returned two months later, his role had largely been filled by the rookie Eric Maynor, obtained in a December trade with Utah. His mentoring came from the bench, the practice court, the locker room. Through Monday night’s game against the Blazers, Ollie had played one minute in the previous six games, and he was uncertain whether he would be part of the Thunder’s playoff roster. But Ollie — and this helps explain his longevity — shrugged such worry away. “It’s been fantastic being around the kids and understanding who they are as people and who we are as a whole,” Ollie said. “It’s been a great, great year for me, on and off the basketball court.” He learned early that the ups and downs can come unexpectedly. Ollie was a steady college point guard for Connecticut. He was not drafted in 1995, and spent a couple of seasons in the minor leagues. He made the Mavericks in 1997 and was able to live with his father in Dallas. “A dream come true,” Ollie said. He was cut a week before Christmas. “It was a devastating time,” Ollie said. He has lived such swings nearly a dozen times since — a career of catch and release, divided by summers of wonder. He has been paid millions of dollars along the way, including about $1.3 million this season, and he has created plenty of personal highlights, including a spin move and a floater over Michael Jordan (“I can always pull that tape out if my kids don’t believe I played in the league,” Ollie said). He also got to play for Philadelphia in the 2001 finals, in front of family and friends in Los Angeles, his hometown. His most productive season was in 2002-3, when he averaged 6.5 points with Milwaukee and Seattle. He was the lesser-known part of the trade that also brought the Sonics Ray Allen, a UConn teammate and one of Ollie’s best friends. The hardest part of any season, Ollie said, is being away from his family. Ollie and his wife, Stephanie, have two children — a 13-year-old son named Jalen (for a childhood friend, not for Jalen Rose, part of a 2002 trade between Chicago and Indiana that sent Ollie, Brad Miller, Ron Mercer and Ron Artest to the Pacers) and a 9-year-old daughter named Cheyenne (a city that Ollie has not called home, if only because it does not have an N.B.A. franchise). Ollie thought he found stability when he signed a five-year contract with Cleveland in 2003. He bought a house and moved the family. He was traded to Philadelphia a year later. The family has stayed in Connecticut since, a Skype call or an East Coast trip away. Missed occasions nag. “Jalen was in the championship game for football and I missed that game,” Ollie said. “Those memories I’ll never get back again. That was one of the toughest days this year.” Ollie will re-evaluate whether he wants to extend his career this summer. “I’ll get back home, spend some time with my family, see the issues going on there with my son and my daughter, get a collective group feeling on whether I should play or not, and see if there are any feelers out there with me and my agent,” he said. “But nothing has been decided.” He has no interest in setting any nomadic N.B.A. records. He would love to coach, and the relationships he has built quietly will have more worth than any of his on-court highlights. “I’m not about making history,” Ollie said. “I’m about creating a future.”

Oklahoma City Thunder
Basketball
Ollie Kevin
National Basketball Assn


Pat Quinn, Coach Who Led Canada to Olympic Gold, Is Dead at 71

Abstract: Pat Quinn, a popular hockey coach who followed up a bruising playing career by steering Canada to its first Olympic gold medal in 50 years and twice winning coach-of-the-year honors in the National Hockey League, died on Sunday at a hospital in Vancouver. He was 71. The death was announced by the Hockey Hall of Fame, of which Quinn was the chairman. He had had heart problems for many years. Quinn filled almost every role in hockey, including coach, general manager and owner. But his most memorable moment may have come as a 215-pound, 6-foot-3 defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a playoff game in 1969 when he flattened the Boston Bruins superstar Bobby Orr. Quinn got a major penalty for elbowing, although many observers thought it was a clean hit. “It remains to this day one of the most celebrated body checks in N.H.L. history,” The Hockey News said in its obituary . Quinn’s greatest achievement, however, was steering Team Canada to victory, and its first gold medal since 1952, in the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002. Wayne Gretzky, who was the executive director of the 2002 team, attributed the victory to Quinn. “When the top guy doesn’t have an ego and he’s very protective of the group, I think that spreads like wildfire,” Gretzky told ESPN . Quinn repeated his international success in 2004 by leading Team Canada to victory in hockey’s World Cup. Quinn coached five N.H.L. teams — the Philadelphia Flyers, the Los Angeles Kings, the Vancouver Canucks, the Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers — over 21 seasons. He ranks fifth in games coached with 1,400, as well as fifth in regular-season wins with 684. In 1979-80, when he coached the Flyers, the team went 35 straight games without a loss, setting a North American professional sports record. The streak included 25 wins and 10 ties. Today’s N.H.L. rules call for sudden-death overtimes and shootouts to settle ties, so a team would have to win outright in 35 straight games to tie the record. Quinn won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in 1980 and 1992, but he never won the Stanley Cup. The closest he came was the Cup finals, which he reached in 1980 with Philadelphia and in 1994 with Vancouver. John Brian Patrick Quinn was born on Jan. 29, 1943, in Hamilton, Ontario. Growing up there, he excelled at football as well as hockey. After five years in the hockey minor leagues, he joined the Maple Leafs in 1968. He played 99 games for Toronto before he was sent to Vancouver in the 1970 draft to fill the rosters of expansion teams in that city and in Buffalo. He was sent to the Atlanta Flames in 1972. That summer, Quinn broke a leg while showing his daughters how to use their new skateboard. He returned to play for the Flames but soon realized his playing days were over. He began his coaching career as an assistant with the Flyers and, after coaching their farm team, the Maine Mariners, became head coach in 1978. He pushed the hard-hitting Philadelphia team — whose nickname was the Broad Street Bullies — to rely less on physical intimidation and more on skills. One result was its undefeated streak. In 1984, after being fired by the Flyers, Quinn moved on to the Kings. After three years there, he agreed to join the Canucks as coach, president and general manager. John Ziegler, the president of the N.H.L., found that Quinn had secretly negotiated with Vancouver while still employed by Los Angeles, a violation of league rules. Quinn, the Canucks and the Kings were fined, and Quinn was barred from coaching the Canucks until the 1990-91 season. The Canucks appealed, and the British Columbia Supreme Court reduced their fine to $10,000, from $310,000, but sustained the coaching ban on Quinn. The Kings tried unsuccessfully to sue the Canucks for tampering. Quinn worked in the front office for Vancouver and then took on coaching duties in 1990 when the ban expired. In 1998 he was appointed coach of the Maple Leafs, and the team went to the Eastern Conference finals in 1999 and 2002. During the 2002 playoffs, he collapsed on a trip to North Carolina and was hospitalized with heart arrhythmia. He had been smoking five or six cigars a day and eating unhealthily. “I had become something I’d always dreaded — a fat ex-athlete,” he told the website 50plus . He changed his eating and other habits and contributed to a book of heart-healthy recipes. After the Leafs missed the playoffs in 2006, he was fired. He coached the Edmonton Oilers for the 2009-10 season and led Canada’s junior team to a gold medal in 2009. At his death he was a co-owner of the Vancouver Giants in the Western Hockey League. While he was playing and coaching, Quinn earned an undergraduate degree in economics from York University and a law degree from Widener University. He is survived by his wife, Sandra; his daughters, Valerie and Kalli; and three grandchildren. It took years for Quinn and Orr, the victim of his famous body check, to become friends, but they did. “In my mind,” Quinn said, “the best I ever saw was Bobby Orr.”

Pat Quinn
Coaches
Canada
Obituary
Ice hockey