Saturday, July 28, 2012

Hamilton gets McLaren's 150th pole position


Formula 1 2008 Champion Lewis Hamilton eased to McLaren's 150th pole position on Saturday for the Hungarian Grand Prix with a time four tenths faster than second placed Lotus's Romain Grosjean. The pole marks McLaren's return to the front of the grid after a difficult last few races which have seen them off the lead pace set by rivals Ferrari and Red Bull.
Grosjean will start ahead of current Champion Sebastian Vettel in third, with Hamilton's team-mate Jenson Button in fourth, seven tenths slower than the pole lap. 'Iceman' Kimi Raikkonen completes the top five with Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado, Bruno Senna(his first time in Q3), and Nico Hulkenberg complete the top ten cars. Mark Webber was the surprise of Q2 as he failed to get into in the top 10 and starts 11th ahead of Force India's Paul di Resta.

The following seven drivers have been eliminated in Q2:
1) Webber
2) di Resta
3) Rosberg
4) Perez
5) Kobayashi
6) Vergne
7) Schumacher.

The following seven drivers have been eliminated in Q1:
1) Ricciardo
2) Kovalainen
3) Petrov
4) Pic
5) Glock
6) de la Rosa
7) Karthikeyan.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

'The Jeffersons' star Sherman Hemsley dies at 74

Actor Sherman Hemsley, famous for playing Archie Bunker's former neighbor George Jefferson in the "All in the Family" spin-off "The Jeffersons," has died. He was 74. Hemsley appears to have died from natural causes, TMZ, who first reported the news of his death, said. Sources say he was discovered by his nurse who initially thought that the actor was sleeping. On "The Jeffersons," Hemsley played a dry-cleaning tycoon who'd worked his way up from a small store to a chain. Isabel Sanford played his wife Louise, whom George often called Weezie, and Marla Gibbs played the couple's maid, Florence.

The iconic star, who rose to fame after his appearances on “All in the Family” and ultimately the spinoff, “The Jeffersons” was also a professional singer. Hemsley was born in Philadelphia and ultimately dropped out of high school to join the Air Force, People magazine reports. He later worked for the U.S. Postal Service before turning to show business. “The Jeffersons,” which ran earned Hemsley both Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.

As with producer Norman Lear's "All in the Family," the show didn't shy away from racial humor and jokes. Hemsley's George was in his own way as stubborn and prejudiced as Archie Bunker, regularly trying to exploit his own maid, and often delivering jokes at the expense of Helen and Tom Willis, a married couple of different races. "The Jeffersons" ran from 1975 to 1985. After that show ended, Hemsley moved on to star as Deacon Earnest Frye on the sitcom "Amen."

Hemsley also performed on Broadway and appeared on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," "The Hughleys" and "Clunkers." He also voiced Triceratops B.P. Richfield on Jim Henson's "Dinosaurs."

In 1989, he released a single, "Ain't That A Kick in the Head." Hemsley never married and has no children. He was living in El Paso, Texas at the time of his death.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Think eggs, think nightmares

Think eggs, think nightmares.

Dwight Howard deal still up in air


As of now, center Dwight Howard remains with the Orlando Magic, but the team is still searching for the best deal to make in trading him and remains active in doing that.

Whether it was former general manager Otis Smith or new GM Rob Hennigan, just two weeks on the job, the Magic have been patient while knowing Howard wants out and the Brooklyn Nets are his preferred team.

Throughout, the Magic have focused on getting first-round picks, younger, talented players and salary cap relief.

Tuesday afternoon, the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers re-emerged as potential trade partners, a person familiar with negotiations told USA TODAY Sports.

The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about ongoing negotiations.

The person cautioned that nothing is imminent, just as Monday's trade talks among the Magic, Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers were exploratory.

The Magic continue to preach patience, looking for the best deal they can get for the All-Star center.

The Cavaliers seemed to be involved as a conduit team for the Magic and Nets to make a deal happen, but any involvement on their part had not advanced beyond exploratory in nature, a person familiar with negotiations told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday.

The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about ongoing negotiations.

Another person familiar with trade discussions for Howard told USA TODAY Sports that Orlando was never exclusively talking to the Nets. The Magic are and have been listening to other teams and trying to maximize the assets they get in exchange for Howard, this person said, also under condition of anonymity while negotiations are ongoing.

When Cleveland's interest in being part of a complicated multi-team deal seemed to wane, the Charlotte Bobcats were approached about the possibility of stepping into the deal and taking free-agent forward Kris Humphries, who played for the Nets last season, this person told USA TODAY Sports.

Humphries is not the only roadblock to a deal, but he is one of them. He signed a one-year contract for 2011-12 and is looking for something in the three-year, $24 million-$27 million range. He averaged 13.8 points and 11 rebounds for Brooklyn last season.

His agent, Dan Fegan, is also Howard's agent, and Fegan is trying to work deals that appease both clients.

Cleveland and Charlotte weren't interested in a guaranteed three-year deal for Humphries, and Humphries isn't thrilled with another one-year deal.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Rafael Nadal pulls out of London Olympics


The London Olympics was shorn of one of its biggest attractions on Thursday when reigning championRafa Nadal said he would not be able to defend his tennis singles gold because of injury.


Spain's Nadal, who won gold in Beijingfour years ago and was to carry his nation's flag at next Friday's opening ceremony, said he had failed to recover from a knee problem.


"I am not in a condition to be able to compete," the 26-year-old said in a statement.


"It is one of the saddest moments of my career." Nadal won a record seventh French Open title in June but crashed out in the second round at Wimbledon in a massive upset against lowly-ranked Czech Lukas Rosol.


Earlier this month he pulled out of a charity match against Novak Djokovic at Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium saying he was suffering from tendonitis and needed to rest.


He had hoped to return to Wimbledon this month to defend his Olympic title and his withdrawal echoes his plight of 2009 when a similar knee problem meant he had to withdraw from the grasscourt grand slam, a year after winning it for the first time in an epic defeat of Roger Federer.


"I have to think of my colleagues, I cannot be selfish and I have to think of the well-being of Spanish sport, especially Spanish tennis, and let a colleague play who has had a better preparation and is in a state to compete," the world number three added.


"Today is one of the saddest days of my career as it was one of my biggest dreams, and perhaps the most anticipated moment to be the flag bearer at the opening ceremony for the Games in London.


"You can imagine how difficult it has been to take this decision."


The tennis competition at the All England Club begins on July. 28 with Serbia's Djokovic seeded one.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails