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Manchester United vs West Ham live streaming online 28 August, 2010

2010-08-28T21:25:00.003+06:00

Man Utd vs West Ham Live Premier League match will kick off at 17:30 BST on Saturday 28th August. Catch live all the main football games of the season for free.Manchester United vs West Ham Live streams will be updated before the kick-off. Manchester United vs West Ham live Video highlights will be posted.Manchester United will still be miffed at throwing away two points against Fulham on Sunday when they take on West Ham this weekend. You can watch all the live premier league and la liga here.

Manchester United vs West Ham Live

Premier League – Manchester United vs West Ham
Manchester United vs West Ham live online
Match date: 28 August, 2010 – Kick Off : 18:30 CET
Venue: Old Trafford, England

Manchester United vs West Ham live Match Preview:

Man Utd vs West Ham Premier League match will start at 17:30 hour Paris Saturday, August 28 If you are looking for a live stream of games today, we recommend you first call your £ 30 sign-up bonus by clicking on the bwin Advertise on this site. Bwin bonus, this figure is exclusive to our readers, the game will be streamed live and offer exceptional paris. Here we will give an overview and correspond to the forecast today. Manchester United have won their opening match against Newcastle, but he dropped a few points against Fulham. In the second game, they can always come from a prime objective, but somehow always seemed to return to the Fulham game. Wayne Rooney, who missed the game against Fulham should be back. They will continue for a period of three points in reading all of West Ham at home, knowing that nothing less will start in order to lead to more Chelsea seem to be on fire. West Ham are still looking for their first points of the season, we expect to encounter no less difficult.

Manchester United vs West Ham Live

Manchester United have made a good start to the season, swatting aside Newcastle 3-0 at Old Trafford in their opening match before a disappointing 2-2 draw at Fulham, where the Red Devils twice Scholes and Hangeland own goal, but were re-right related to death. West Ham at the head of the match after a 3-0 win against the strong Hull City on Saturday. Has sought to gain ground on leaders Chelsea, where they now trail by four points after the weekend loss at Goodison Park The Red Devils play their third game in seven days, and fatigue may well be a factor. You need someone to lead the way up in support of Wayne Rooney, who gave the most goals for the team. In addition to the offense, defense United repeatedly exposed to the game with West Ham striker Carlton Cole and must, who scored nine goals in the EPL (and treated on equal points in its two last). West Ham is in or near the relegation zone for most of the season just two wins in a row he was in the middle of the table. Your file was so bad (1-5-7), and they all have their hands full at Old Trafford. While Rooney is the center of the defense, Manchester United have several objectives of quality players on their list to win this game. Manchester United is still bothered to throw two points against Fulham on Sunday when they take on West Ham this weekend. The Red Devils have been assigned only to itself, because it requires a 2-1 lead and a chance to just 3-1 against Fulham were consumed. Paul Scholes had offset the U.S. lead, but Simon Davies in a lively first half. A goal against his camp Brede Hangeland was adopted in order to have the three points especially when United won a penalty. However, missed a penalty and Hangeland headed Nani 2:02 to go. Sir Alex Ferguson was with his players and hopes that such errors do not repeat livid. Meanwhile, the season is now urgent for West Ham as they suffered a second defeat. This time, they lost 1-3 at home to Bolton. A goal against his camp Matthew Upson has given Bolton the lead, Johan Elmander, but has three with a clip on the end in the second half. The Hammers' only goal came from a Mark Noble penalty. Manager Avram Grant is already under pressure and he would prefer United to avoid so early in the season.
Manchester United have only lost one home game, has allowed eight goals and is certainly the favorite to get the three points on Tuesday. After a loss, Sir Alex Ferguson, the Reds are focused and ready to play. West Ham lost 0-4 and the meeting earlier Tuesday, a similar result.

Manchester United vs West Ham Live

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Tottenham vs Wigan live streaming Premier League soccer

2010-08-28T19:14:00.000+06:00

Watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Wigan Athletic live streaming free online 28th August 2010 - Tour of the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Wigan Athletic Kick-off TV Schedule Saturday, 28-8-2010, 16:00 CET against the clock to live in White Hart Lane in the Premier League. Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes will be without their game Barclays Premier League with Wigan. We hope that fans of both teams can enjoy the score live, Tottenham Hotspur vs Wigan Athletic preview, predictions, reviews and highlights here.

Tottenham vs Wigan Live

Premier League - Tottenham vs Wigan
Tottenham vs Wigan live online
Match date: 28 August, 2010 - Kick Off : 16:00 CET
Venue: White Hart Lane, England

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Under pressure, Wigan Athletic will travel to White Hart Lane for Tottenham Hotspur face Barclays Premier League with manager Roberto Martinez hopes his players can build on their midweek Carling Cup win to inspire his first points in the league.

"There's always a good atmosphere at the club after the first win of the season, he exudes confidence in the city and assist stakeholders in their work during the week," Martinez said the club's official website. Watch live online streaming Wigan vs Tottenham, watch live online Wigan vs Tottenham, watch live Wigan vs Tottenham, watch online streaming Wigan vs Tottenham, watch online Wigan vs Tottenham, watch Wigan vs Tottenham."Everyone is trying to show that occasionally they can do and the results we had, there are many places at stake in the team when I receive.

"It is important that the team is ready and focused, going for a Cup final for us as a win of the season in search of our first league. Unfortunately, it is bad news for Victor ( Moses), the poor have to go against Hartlepool. Normally, bids tend worse than they actually look like, but in this case it is straps on both sides of his ankle affected, and it would be definitely out of the game against the Spurs. He could also miss England Under-21 international, but we expect 2-3 weeks is the maximum duration for which it would be. "

With spurs riding a wave after qualifying for the Champions League group stage this week and now against the European champions Inter Milan, Martinez is not expected magnitude of the task his team pulled intimidated.

"They are in a great moment for a good result in European competition, then you can imagine how they feel now." A. martinez

"We must be prepared to know that what we do on the field and ensure that we carry. When you play a team who are in a confident mood, they are a team play harder against the . But we have this season that he is not on the team you play is about how we conduct ourselves during the day.

"We need a way to erase the economic goals that we have been recognized since the times of positive and sustainable way that we play in a position to find, as in the first half against Chelsea. We need to go to White Hart Lane and a good representation of us. It will be difficult, Come Away with all three points, it is difficult for any team, not get anything from there, but we need to challenge, to show what we can do. It does not matter who you play against, if you do not get these things will hurt, and that is where our work is concentrated. "

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New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons live NFL Preseason 2010 Week 2

2010-08-20T04:21:00.002+06:00

Watch England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons live streaming 2010 NFL preseason week 2 online coverage.New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons live stream will begin at 19th August clock at 08:00 P.M ET.Everyone should watch Atlanta Falcons vs England Patriots live exclusive entertainment NFL Preseason 2010 2nd week video.You can easily watch this match live here.Here is the link streaming live from the New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons NFL Preseason online HD broadcast.

England Patriots VS Atlanta Falcons Live

Week 2 – NFL Preseason 2010

Date: 19. 08. 2010

Time: 08:00 P.M ET

Match Venue: Georgia Dome

Live/Repeat : LIVE

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New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons NFL Predictions:

The NFL Vegas odds event that takes between the New England Patriots against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome clock will start at 8:00 on Thursday, as the New England Patriots NFL try to win Odds on the way to Las Vegas odds makers Atlanta.The win now win the Patriots of New England 1:12 odds favorite for the NFL Super Bowl XLV. If you are interested in your predictions about the New England Patriots NFL AFC East Foulkes then you have to win over to Bodog.com the NFL odds makers, the Patriots, their identity as a favorite to 125 have the same head with the New York Jets.

The Patriots of New England vs Atlanta Falcons NFL Odds struggle should be televised at 08:00 clock and Tom Brady make an appearance early int he NFL predictions confrontation. Last week was the Patriots of New England NFL predictions victory over the New Orleans Saints in NFL Picks as -130 favorites.Everyone should watch England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons win video.Who HD? We hope that this can also watch your team.You England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons are video highlights here.To England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons live stream online by clicking directly on the link above.

The Atlanta Falcons are in a 20-10 victory as the favorite at -135 odds NFL predictions 08.13.2010 against the Kansas City Chiefs. The total number of guests fell in the NFL Vegas odds posted 34.5 (n -110).

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New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons live stream online for free - information from the 2010 NFL Pre-Season game between the New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons Reading Thu, 19 to August 2010, the television schedule on Thursday, is 20.00 clock ET and in concert at the Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA. Fred Taylor is only one involved in the early season tilt to see on Thursday. In the last year of his contract, Randy Moss was raised - and fantastic. Falcons QB Matt Ryan had a chance for a closer look at the Patriots Tom Brady in the joint exercise on Tuesday. Tom Brady Patriots Youth: This was a fun training camp. Enjoy the Patriots of New England vs Atlanta Falcons Live scores, preview, reviews and highlights.

If you have a choice on the New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons NFL plan to make NFL Matchup Odds Paris. The odds makers currently have the New England Patriots NFL rank 2 ½ (-110) point NFL predictions oppressed against the Atlanta Falcons that are currently defined as the favorite with odds -135. If you have more or less Vegas NFL betting, Vegas Over / Under odds are currently 37 (-110 s) published.

New England Patriots in their opening pre-season have been with the payment to the Saints in New Orleans 27-24 pleased. The Patriots have been favorites Home 1.5 points and had an impressive first pre-season in a game that hung in the whole 35th Although there was an exhibition game, it was a lot of interest, such as New England was the host defense of the Super Bowl, and often saw as a mid-season.

look like the Patriots will continue their impressive early season on Thursday, as Atlanta Falcons, who travel to another NFC playoff contender in the best challenger to the Saints in the NFC South Division face.

The Patriots enter action this weekend from the heels of bad news, the defensive end Ty Warren on the injured list has been recorded and will miss the entire season 2010th

"Tough break for Ty, but we must move forward," said New England head coach Bill Belichick said. "He missed some time in the last two years we have faced them all the same. Unfortunately, this part of the game.

The Patriots felt good about their victory against the Saints when he helped erase the bad memories from the last time they took the field at home when they were by the Ravens in Baltimore, blown 33-14 playoffs.

"It's a new year. We had 20 practices," said Belichick. "What happened last year was last year."

"There were good things. There was not some things very well," Belichick said. "This is probably the way it is most pre-season games. We have a long way to go. But there were good things . I've seen worse. "

Click Here To Watch England Patriots VS Atlanta Falcons Live

The National Football League (NFL) is the highest level of American professional football. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 that the American Professional Football Association, the league changed its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of thirty-two teams from the United States. The League is a regular in two conferences - has divided the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC), and each conference four divisions of four teams. The NFL is an unincorporated association of its 32 teams organized. The NFL is by far the largest contributor to the league sport in the world with average attendance per game, with 67 509 fans per game in the last regular season (2009).

Enjoy this pre-season 2010 NFL Week 2 Atlanta Falcons vs New England Patriots NFL 2010 Live telecast.Watch weeks pre-season 2 Atlanta Falcons vs England Patriots miss RFQ page.It seems that this game between the Atlanta Falcons vs England Patriots will begin August 19 at 20:00 clock (ET). Everyone should watch Atlanta Falcons vs England Patriots video.Who HD will win? We hope this will be your team. You can see the Atlanta Falcons beat the New England Patriots video highlights here.To Atlanta Falcons vs England Patriots ago listen online just click on the link directly above.

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You can easily match live here do not watch your time and enjoy all the live NFL Preseason game. Here is the link streaming live from the New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons NFL Preseason online HD broadcast.Your Live subscription allows you to quickly access the most comprehensive list of the NFL live, football feeds from anywhere in the world where you have access to an Internet connection.

Sturm Graz vs Juventus Live streaming now by UPC-Arena

2010-08-20T01:09:00.000+06:00

Sturm Graz vs Juventus,Sturm Graz vs Juventus live,Watch Sturm Graz vs Juventus live streaming Europa League soccer match today. Catch live all the main football games of the season for free. Live streams will be updated before the kick-off. Video highlights will be posted, right after the match. Sturm Graz Vs Juventus live stream telecast of UEFA Europa League on 19-08-10, Kick-Off 20:05 UK Time. You can watch free online live stream telecast of this UEFA Europa League Qualifying (Play-Off Round) football match. Highlights and goals video will be right after the live coverage of the match. So lets enjoy this exclusive telecast of SK Sturm Graz and Juventus match.

Sturm Graz vs Juventus Live
Europa League - Sturm Graz vs Juventus
Sturm Graz vs Juventus live online
Match date: 19 August, 2010 - Kick Off : 21:05 CET
Venue: UPC-Arena (Graz)

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Juventus is famous football club in the Italy. Juventus team is one of the most successful teams in the Italian football club. Captain, Alessandro Del Piero is the all time leading scorer in the club with 274 goals in 644 matches.

In the last six matches, Juventus won three matches, lost two matches and made draw in one match. In the last match, Juventus won against Shamrock Rovers with 1-0 at Stadio Alberto Braglia in the Europa League third-round on August 5th, 2010.

Sturm Graz is one of the Austrian football clubs. This club won the Austrian Football Championship twice. Sturm Graz won two matches, lost two matches and made draw in two matches in their last six matches. In last match, Sturm Graz was defeated by Rapid Vienna with 2-0 in Austrian T-Mobile Bundesliga on August 8th, 2010.

Last 6 Results for Sturm Graz

SK Sturm Graz – Rapid Vienna 0 – 2
Dinamo Tbilisi – SK Sturm Graz 1 – 1
FC Wacker Innsbruck – SK Sturm Graz 2 – 2
SK Sturm Graz – Dinamo Tbilisi 2 – 0
SK Sturm Graz – SV Kapfenberg 2 – 0
SK Sturm Graz – Arsenal 0 – 3

Last 6 Results for Juventus

1 – 0 Juventus – Shamrock Rovers
0 – 2 Shamrock Rovers – Juventus
3 – 0 AC Milan – Juventus
2 – 3 Juventus – Parma
1 – 1 Catania – Juventus
3 – 0 Juventus – Bari

Manchester City vs Timisoara live streaming online Europa League

2010-08-20T00:03:00.001+06:00

Watch Manchester City vs Timisoara live streaming Europa League soccer match videos and goals. Timisoara vs Manchester City Live streams will be updated before the kick-off. Manchester City will do so without additions Jerome Boateng and Aleksandar Kolarov for Champions League play-off at the first stage of FC Timisoara, after both players were excluded because of an injury. Germany midfielder Boateng can not play because of a cut on the leg while Kolarov has a serious problem with ankle ligament damage which kept him away for weeks.Catch live all the main football games of the season for free.

Manchester City vs Timisoara live online

Europa League – Manchester City vs Timisoara
Match date: 19 August, 2010 – Kick Off : 20:45 CET
Venue: Dan Paltinisanu Stadium

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Timisoara vs Manchester City live Match preview:

City boss Roberto Mancini has confirmed his lineup a few changes with new signing Italian starlet Mario Balotelli permission to see his debut for the club like Inter Milan, while Joe Hart is expected to remain in goal.Manchester City vs Timisoara,Manchester City vs Timisoara live,Manchester City vs Timisoara live stream,watch Manchester City vs Timisoara.
“I might be two or three changes, but we have players that allow me to do.” A Mancini said.
“I was pleased with the spirit and fight to Tottenham. They are a good team who have been together for long.
“They were very good in the first half played well, but we in the second and 61 per cent of possession. In order to control the ball like we did was excellent.Manchester City vs Timisoara,Manchester City vs Timisoara live,Manchester City vs Timisoara live stream,watch Manchester City vs Timisoara.
“Joe Hart will play. I had a very difficult decision to make before the Spurs to laugh because I have two goalkeepers in world class. It is one of them difficulty sitting on the bench.
“I respect a lot of Shay Given. It is a good man, I want him to stay, but I also understand that the decision might require.
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Decision in Roberto Mancini Joe Hart today’s match against the Romanian team of Timisoara play has many confused and bewildered, and could also be the death knell in the face of Shay Manchester City career. Having established that the Irish keeper was necessary because the club was conducted on four fronts, many people thought it meant that the former Newcastle United man was needed as a first choice for the Cup competition.Manchester City vs Timisoara,Manchester City vs Timisoara live,Manchester City vs Timisoara live stream,watch Manchester City vs Timisoara. To determine that it was not even the first choice for a Champions League play-off has serious sting.Manchester City vs Timisoara,Manchester City vs Timisoara live,Manchester City vs Timisoara live stream,watch Manchester City vs Timisoara.
Perhaps Mario Balotelli and are therefore used to play his first game for his new club and the major issues on this page is nothing less than a convincing win against a team that decided the average Romanian League finished fifth and are still waiting for one of their opening four matches this term.

Liverpool vs Trabzonspor live kick-off time and online streaming

2010-08-19T23:56:00.002+06:00

Watch Liverpool vs Trabzonspor live stream online free coverage of UEFA Champions League . Watch Liverpool vs Trabzonspor live Free online the Live broadcast of the UEFA Champions League qualification (play-off round) football game.Watch Europa League soccer match between Liverpool vs Trabzonspor live streaming online match videos and goals. Catch live all the main football games of the season for free.Liverpool vs Trabzonspor Live streams will be updated before the kick-off. So enjoy this exciting coverage of Rapid Vienna and Aston Villa game.

Liverpool vs Trabzonspor Live

Europa League - Liverpool vs Trabzonspor

Match date: 19 August, 2010 - Kick Off : 20:45 CET
Venue: Anfield, England

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Liverpool vs Trabzonspor live Match Preview:

We Trabzonspor vs Liverpool game today that the European League Play-Offs and Roy Hodgson's men go into it as a favorite significantly dependent on virtually all the major bookmakers. It looks like it might be routine orders today for the Reds and they will lead their eyes as they pad and a tricky tie from Turkey to face second stage.Liverpool vs Trabzonspor,Liverpool vs Trabzonspor live,Liverpool vs Trabzonspor live stream,watch Liverpool vs Trabzonspor,Liverpool vs Trabzonspor 2010

Liverpool will still reach their Champions League play-off attempts, the group phase with a draw against the Turkish side Trabzonspor. Giants at Anfield midfielder Javier Mascherano have not and defender Daniel Agger available for selection after both players were injured Sunday in a 1-1 draw against Arsenal.

Click here to see Liverpool vs Trabzonspor Live Now see

Agger has a concussion after he suffered a blow to the head of the ball at a free-kick, while Argentine captain Javier Mascherano strained calf after a return from the end of the pre-season training, but Giving It All during the game.

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has revealed that he had done so little training in this summer that could replace new signing Christian Poulsen in accordance with Mascherano despite the Brazilian Lucas Leiva is to begin a more likely candidate. Brazilian Fabio Aurelio could also be in line to replace Agger on his return to Anfield.

Substitute goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri could be last game for the club, if adopted Hodgson, the first choice Pepe Reina in Spain, rest was the goalkeeper obviously not high on his Sunday. Brad Jones, the newcomer is not available because the transmission is not completed in time for the registration of UEFA.

Liverpool star Fernando Torres, a performance can during the game, but Hodgson is unlikely that the player from the beginning of risk.

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Bookmakers do not support their goals in 6:04 with a price more than 2.5 goals, while less than 2.5 is stored available to 11/10. Trabzonspor will not be an easy target and when Liverpool started slowly, then put into play "in the title could go their way.

Fernando Torres is the only player to view a list of ratings, the price of the guests at any time. You will see the provision of Spanish 7.4 while the score at 02:05 of the first or last trades, and you can access the same probability, 2 or more goals back. A hat-trick would pay a relatively thin 01.12.

David Ngog has good form lately and there has been a good score if he starts the game. If you do not see him in the starting lineup then I'll wait until he comes, but you can go back before the game against 5:06 for guests at any moment. It's the same price as Steven Gerrard, David Amoo and Milan Jovanovic. Lauri Dalla Valle is money given to guests at any time.

Liverpool before a potentially difficult tie tonight as they held on the one hand, the Turkish experience at Anfield. Trabzonspor is difficult to cross to reach the group stage of the Champions League. Hodgson will first want to win convincingly, and if possible take a clean sheet in Turkey for the second stage.

The Anfield boss will decide whether to give, Fernando Torres his first start of the season and may also choose to provide at Ngog forward with support from Milan Jovanovic. Javier Mascherano is likely to announce an absence can first start for new signing Christian Poulsen.

Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa live Kick-Off time and streaming online

2010-08-19T21:42:00.000+06:00

Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa live stream online free coverage of UEFA Champions League by Gerhard Hanappi Stadium on 19-08-10, 17.45 Kick-Off Time Clock UK. Rapid Vienna host Aston Villa Champions League for the play-off game of the first stage Thursday with Villa winger Stewart Downing determined to help his team, the good start made to say goodbye to their season, despite continuing midfielder James Milner.Watch Free online listening, the Live broadcast of the UEFA Champions League qualification (play-off round) football game. So enjoy this exciting coverage of Rapid Vienna and Aston Villa game .

Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa Live

Champions League - Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa

Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa live online

Match date: 19 August, 2010 - Kick Off : 18:45 CET

Venue: Gerhard-Hanappi Stadium, Austria

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Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa live Match Preview:

Villa started the season with a 3-0 victory against West Ham in the Premier League, but Downing looks forward to another European campaign, the winger only shows both the giants of the Midlands side will beat Austria.

"The Champions League is a good competition. I played at Middlesbrough and played in some fantastic games," Downing told the club's official website.

"I know what is the atmosphere for the reasons, and it's great. These are games you play and want to know how keV (MacDonald) is - it will send a strong team out there for this game.

"He wants to win and who do not want to lose. Now he is in change, he got a job to win games and it is in management. We are ready for the game in Vienna and I am looking forward to it."

Downing already opening his scoring account for the new season with a goal against the Hammers, but is hopeful again - starting with one another in live TV Vienna.Watch Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa Football online.Watch Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa Online Live TV . Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa live tv now.Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa live TV.You can all live TV in Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa instead.

"It had been a good start for me," said Downing. "It's always nice to score goals and involvement. Personally, for me it was great, a good start. Every team that we have done very well and should the team a lot of confidence.

"It was frustrating to be injured and not ideal. The nice thing is that I got into a good winning team and it makes things easier. I had a good pre-season and we started well. It went pretty well for me before the season .

You can tune in and watch Aston Villa vs Rapid Vienna 2010 stream live streaming coverage online distribution, without missing the action, including targets and controversies that may arise on the ground. There is not a game that is closest to and to get a better connection and if Aston Villa vs Rapid Vienna in 2010, and free live streaming commentary by the fans is highlighted. Where can you Rapid Vienna vs Aston Villa live football - click on the link to see the top.

Free Live Coverage of Rapid Vienna againts Aston Villa in the UEFA Champions League qualifying match Thursday, August 19, 2010. I put Rapid Vienna Vs Aston Villa Live Streaming TV Links free coverage for the game here. Link is available beginning 20 minutes before the game. So please [Bookmark Ctrl + D] this page and return 20 minutes before the game.

Last 6 Results for Rapid Vienna

SK Sturm Graz – Rapid Vienna 0 – 2

Rapid Vienna – Beroe 3 – 0

Rapid Vienna – SV Red Bull Salzburg 2 – 1

Beroe – Rapid Vienna 1 – 1

Rapid Vienna – FC Magna Wr. Neustadt 1 – 2

Rapid Vienna – FK Suduva 4 – 2

Last 6 Results for Aston Villa

3 – 0 Aston Villa – West Ham

0 – 0 Aston Villa – Valencia

1 – 4 Aston Villa – Benfica

3 – 1 Aston Villa – Feyenoord

1 – 2 Walsall – Aston Villa

2 – 1 Bohemians – Aston Villa

Jennifer Lopez would like to have more children.

2009-07-24T11:58:00.003+07:00

Jennifer Lopez has admitted that she and husband Marc Anthony would like to have more children.

Jennifer Lopez

According to People the 'Monster-In-Law' actress is playing the part of a pregnant woman for upcoming film 'The Back-Up Plan' and admitted that the role has influenced her desire to add to her family.

Speaking to Extra, she said: "I would love to have more kids. I don't know if we will. I don't know if that's in the cards for us - but we'll see."
Meanwhile, Lopez said her twins are growing up fast - and have just started talking. "They're more than walking now... they're starting to talk. I put Max to bed yesterday... and I said, ''I love you baby. I'll see you tomorrow.'' And he was like, ''I love you,''" she added.

Frank McCourt, author of 'Angela's Ashes,' dies in NYC at 78

2009-07-21T01:40:00.004+07:00

Frank McCourt, the Irish-American storyteller who parlayed the miseries of a Limerick upbringing into an extraordinary late-life literary blooming, died of cancer Sunday in New York City.

Frank McCourt

Frank McCourt,retired teacher and

author of the best sellingbook "Angela's Ashes,"
sits during an interviewin his New York
apartment. Brother Malachy
McCourt says Frank McCourt died Sunday
afternoon July 19, 2009, at a Manhattan
hospice in New York City at age 78.

Mr. McCourt, 78, had spent the past 13 years buoyantly touring the globe on reading tours and writing two sequels to his 1996 best-seller, Angela's Ashes, which sold more than 5 million copies and was translated into more than 20 languages.

He was a survivor of poverty who became rich, the child of immigrants who made good. He was the retiree who stepped into a magical second life. He was the winning ticket for every ordinary person who has imagined that he or she could turn their lives into a book.

"What the memoir requires is a distinctive voice, and Frank was a master of his voice," said Mary Karr, a friend of McCourt and author of the best-selling memoir "The Liar's Club."

McCourt, the beloved former school teacher and author of "Angela's Ashes," died Sunday of cancer. He was 78, gravely ill with meningitis and recently was treated for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer and the cause of his death, said his publisher, Scribner.

"We had this big dinner party in Roxbury (Conn.) last month, and he was there," said author Gay Talese, a longtime friend. "I made him a vodka martini, and he didn't look at all like he was going to disappear from the Earth in a month. He was very jovial, as usual."

Until his mid-60s, McCourt was essentially a New York character — the kind who might turn up in a New York novel — teaching by day and at night singing songs and telling stories with his younger brother Malachy, and otherwise joining the crowds at the White Horse Tavern and other literary hangouts.

But there was always a book or two being formed in his mind, and the world would learn his name, and story, in 1996, after a friend helped him get an agent and his then-unfinished manuscript was quickly signed by Scribner.

Jennifer Lopez has been busy filming her new movie, “The Back-Up Plan,” in New York.

2009-07-19T02:44:00.001+07:00

Jennifer Lopez is filming The Back Up Plan in New York City today. Filming is scheduled to take place on 64th Street between Madison and Lexington Ave in midtown Manhattan.
In the film, Lopez plays a single pet shop owner desperate for a child. Just after deciding to become pregnant via artificial insemination, she meets the love of her life.
Source:http://www.examiner.com

Sandra Bullock's loves To Go Stark Bullock Naked

2009-07-18T01:56:00.001+07:00

Sandra Bullock has said having to strip naked for her latest film was not a big deal and "just like a normal day".

Sandra Bullock stars alongside Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal

The actress' latest film, The Proposal, saw her and co-star Ryan Reynolds, aka Mr Scarlett Johansson, filming in the nude for three days on end.

Sandra said: "when everyone else acts like it's just a normal day it really helps you relax."

By the third day, she added, the crew would just be casually wandering past the naked stars asking: "How you doing? How was lunch?"

Although the star had started out with "a triangle and two flesh-coloured little dots" to maintain her dignity, she admitted they soon fell off.

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds

"You could literally see everything," she told Sky News.

Sandra added that it was not a big deal really anyway as, "when we're on the beach, we're probably wearing about the same amount, if not less".

"Maybe in Hollywood that's the case… most girls wear a bikini."

The Proposal, which is released this week, sees Sandra play a power-obsessed book publisher who, while fighting to avoid deportation to her native Canada, ropes assistant Andrew (Reynolds) into marrying her.

And for the sake of his career, he rather absurdly plays along.

She becomes caught up in various 'fish-out-of-water' scenarios as he takes her on a trip to Alaska to meet his family.

You could literally see everything!

Actress Sandra Bullock on performing naked

The movie is meant to make you laugh, and involves a boy and a girl getting together, but whatever you do, don't call it a romantic comedy.

Sandra has been put off the term after seeing years of what she feels are bad rom-coms.

The actress said: "They just didn't write good ones. I would watch them and just go 'oh my god', the egg on the faces of these people.

"I think we need to remove the word romantic from these kind of comedies. If there's a male and female in it, they know you're going to get together, and it's the journey of getting there that should be entertaining, not the end result."

Romantic or otherwise, this is Sandra's first movie of the kind since she teamed up with Hugh Grant in 2002 to make Two Week's Notice.

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Labels: Mr Scarlett Johansson, Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Bullock, The Proposal

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Jennifer Garner is headed back to her old network (ABC) as a producer

2009-07-18T01:50:00.004+07:00

Alias star Jennifer Garner is teaming up with her former network -- as a producer.

Garner has struck a new production deal with ABC Studios through which she develop projects through her Vandalia Films production company along with partner Juliana Janes.

The two plan to lure film writers to television and work with writers from Garner's past series Alias and Felicity. Their focus is to develop female-driven projects along the lines of Grey's Anatomy.

New Trailer Of Drew Barrymore's Wants You to 'Whip It!'

2009-07-18T01:47:00.001+07:00

It has been 27 years since the world first got to know Drew Barrymore, and she has sure grown up. From a scene-stealing cutie at age 6 in ET: The Extra Terrestrial, to rehab at age 13, to one of Hollywood's power players today, Barrymore has been working hard to recreate herself over the years, even developing her own production company to make movies she likes. Now, the former child star is taking her first turn as a director with the new movie, Whip-It.

Whip-It is the story of a young woman searching for her identity. Eventually, she discovers the powerful, take-no-prisoners style women of the roller derby. The movie is the 10th film from her production company, Flower Films. The movie stars Ellen Page, another former child actress who has successfully made the transition to adult characters, not always an easy thing for young stars.
If you are wondering why you should watch Whip It! I have four things to offer you - Hot girls, shorts skirts, roller skates and mayhem!

Drew Barrymore steps behind the camera for the first time with Whip It! and from the trailer below it would appear she has a done a great job. Of course trailers are made to show off the film and not make it look crappy but I like the overall look and feel of the film.

Second worker kills after Madonna Stage accidentin France

2009-07-18T01:46:00.000+07:00

A second person has died following the collapse of a stage being set up for a Madonna concert in France.
According to BBC News, 23-year-old British citizen Charles Prow died overnight on Thursday of his injuries at a hospital in Marseille, France.

Prow was part of the crew building the stage for Sunday's Madonna show at the 60,000-seat Velodrome in the southern French city. His passing followed the on-site death of 53-year-old Frenchman Charles Criscenzo, who was killed during a crane collapse on Thursday afternoon.

Technicians were setting up the stage at the stadium when the partially built roof fell in, bringing down a crane on the structure. The singer, who has been on the road for a year with the elaborately staged Sticky and Sweet road show, was in Udine, Italy, when told of the accident and issued a statement soon after expressing her condolences.

"I am devastated to have just received this tragic news," she said in a statement released by concert promoter Live Nation. "My prayers go out to those who were injured and their families, along with my deepest sympathy to all those affected by this heartbreaking news." Sunday's show has been canceled in the wake of the accident.

'I Really Want To Reproduce' sayes sakhira

2009-07-18T01:45:00.000+07:00

“I really want to reproduce,” Sakhira told the Associated Press recently. “I am so ready. I really would like to have a big belly, to walk around with my big belly.”

Mischa Barton Shocker -- Stunning Photos Taken One Day Before Her Meltdown!

2009-07-17T22:26:00.001+07:00

Actress Mischa Barton looks like a bloated shell of herself in these shocking new photographs obtained by RadarOnline.com.

See more shocking photos of Mischa Barton - one day before her meltdown!

The photos were taken Tuesday, just one day before the OC actress was placed under an involuntary psychiatric hold at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles -- ala Britney Spears -- by the Los Angeles Police Department.

Mischa Barton under an involuntary psychiatric hold

The formerly waif-ish starlet was arrested for DUI and marijuana possession in Southern California after driving in two lanes last year. She later checked into rehab, yet denied she had a drinking problem.

Mischa Barton out of control partying; get the details.

Sotomayor Faces Some Questions on Bias Case

2009-07-16T23:46:00.004+07:00

WASHINGTON — Judge Sonia Sotomayor endured another round of sharp questions Thursday about her handling of a race-discrimination suit brought by New Haven firefighters. But by mid-morning she seemed assured of at least one Republican vote on the Senate committee weighing her Supreme Court nomination.The sharp questions were fired at her by Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, who pressed her repeatedly about the way she treated the firefighters’ lawsuit as a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

As she has before in the hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Sotomayor tried to explain her vote against the firefighters in a cursory, or “per curiam,” decision, whose very brevity seems to have infuriated critics of the decision as much as the actual ruling. The judge has said the per curiam handling was not inappropriate, given the detailed decision rendered by a lower district court.

But Mr. Kyl refused to accept that explanation, citing a comment from a dissenting judge on the Second Circuit, who described the issues in the firefighters’ case as “indisputably complex and far from well-settled,” and thus deserving fuller exploration by the Second Circuit.

And Mr. Kyl expressed impatience with what he considered the judge’s indirect, rambling answers. “Excuse me, if I could just interrupt, we only have 20 minutes here,” Mr. Kyl said at one point, alluding to the time allotted each senator in this round of questioning.

The New Haven case, in which a group of white and Hispanic firefighters sued the city after the results of a promotional exam were thrown out because black firefighters did not fare well, has emerged as one of the most contentious issues in the hearings.

The Supreme Court recently overturned the Second Circuit in the case, ruling for the plaintiffs. Mr. Kyl asserted that, even though the high court ruling was by a 5-to-4 margin, it was clear from reading the various opinions that all nine justices had disagreed with the Second Circuit’s cursory treatment of the case — an interpretation Judge Sotomayor said she did not accept.

The senator grew so exasperated with the judge’s replies to his queries that he said at one point that he was going to treat her as she would treat a lawyer who gave vague, rambling answers. “That’s all fine and dandy, counsel, but answer my questions,” he said.

Judge Sotomayor fared far better with Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of seven Republicans on the 19-member panel, who signaled that he intended to vote for her.

“We’ll see what your future holds, but I think it’s going to be pretty bright,” Mr. Graham said.

The senator spoke at length about the dangers of “activist judges” who try to remake the law according to their visions of how the world should be. But despite his disagreements with some of her stances, Mr. Graham said he was confident the judge was “broad-minded enough” to understand that “the world is bigger than the Bronx, bigger than South Carolina.”

Moreover, Mr. Graham introduced a supportive letter from Kenneth W. Starr, the one-time special prosecutor who investigated the affairs of former President Bill Clinton. “You have earned the respect of Ken Starr,” Mr. Graham said.

Before wishing Judge Sotomayor “good luck,” Mr. Graham extracted an apology from her over her observations that “a wise Latina woman” might decide a case differently from someone without those attributes.

“I regret that I have offended some people,” the judge said.

The senator also alluded to the firefighter Frank Ricci, the named plaintiff in the New Haven lawsuit. “Mr. Ricci has a story to tell, too,” the senator said.

In fact, Mr. Ricci is expected to tell his story to the committee soon.

During a recess on Thursday, the committee’s ranking Republican, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, said that he was undecided on the nomination but that he was “very, very worried” about some of Judge Sotomayor’s positions. The senator has voiced concerns about “liberal activist” judges, and in an interview on Thursday with CNN he wondered how Judge Sotomayor would perform “once loose on the American public” with a lifetime Supreme Court seat.

But Mr. Sessions has pledged to give the nominee a fair hearing. He has said he empathizes with nominees because his own nomination for a federal district judgeship was scuttled two decades ago over accusations that he had shown insensitivity on racial issues — accusations that he and some black associates disputed.
Source http://www.nytimes.com

Emma Watson’s And Her Boyfriend Jay Barrymore

2009-07-16T15:53:00.003+07:00

Emma Watson goes shopping with her boyfriend, financier Jay Barrymore, at her local Waitrose grocery store in London on Wednesday (July 15).

The cute couple picked up a copy of British chef Jamie Oliver’s latest cookbook, “Jamie’s Ministry of Food.”

Emma, 19, has no plans to do her own fashion line. She tells WWD, “I’m not really interested in doing it for my own ego. I’m not a designer. If someone asked me to do something that was beneficial to a cause, then maybe I’d consider it, but not just [to be able to say] ‘Look at me! I’ve got my own line! [It’s] gotten so ridiculous. The idea of making my own perfume makes me want to vomit.”

Emma will be moving to the states to earn a degree at an Ivy League college. She’s rumored to attending Brown University. Does that mean Jay will be heading to the states this fall as well?

Countdown Of 'Harry Potter': "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince" breaks midnight record

2009-07-16T01:06:00.002+07:00

Remember those Harry Potter fans who said they would boycott the sixth movie because Warner Bros. delayed its release to make more money? Yeah, right, good luck with that. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" has arrived and our Yvonne Villarreal was out there among the muggles and brought back this report.
Harry was a wizard at the witching hour.

Setting a new all-time record for midnight box-office, "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince" rung up an estimated $22.2 million from 3,003 midnight performances Wednesday.

The sixth installment in Warner Bros.' oh-so-lucrative film franchise continues its first day of release in 4,275 domestic locations. "Prince" expands to 4,350 theaters on Friday.

The midnight coin for "Prince" compares to a $12 million haul from similar showtimes for the last "Potter" pic, 2007's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." That was part of a first-day tally for "Phoenix" totaling $44.2 million.

"We're ecstatic," Warners domestic distribution president Dan Fellman said. "We owe a big thanks to the Harry Potter fans, who are supporting us so well even after the picture was moved back."

Warners delayed the release of "Prince" from November to July to boost its box-office prospects for this summer.

Warners' 2008 blockbuster "The Dark Knight," which had held the record for midnight box-office at $18 million, also fetched the most opening-day box-office ever. Bowing on a Friday, "Dark Knight" registered a mind-bending $67.2 million last July 18.

Ben Affleck thinks relationship with Jennifer Lopez Poisoned His Career

2009-07-16T01:03:00.001+07:00

Although he's never blamed Jennifer Lopez directly, Ben Affleck has admitted in the past that the high-profile nature of their relationship was very detrimental to his career.
Ben Affleck has confessed that when he was in a relationship with Jennifer Lopez he had lost control over his life, which was eventually bad for his career.

“I was no longer in control of my life. I thought I wanted certain things, but I didn’t. I got lost. I felt suffocated, miserable and gross. I should never have gone down that route or got sucked in to all the publicity,” Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

The actor revealed that he had decided to move away from limelight as his career was being damaged.

He said: “I was typecast as myself. Too many people weren’t getting past what they read about me. That was damaging. I can tell from experience it’s bad for you, and bad for your career. So I took a break, went away for a while and let things calm down.”

However, the ‘Chasing Amy’ star is now happily married to actress Jennifer Garner and is father of two daughters, three-year-old Violet and six-month-old Seraphina.

He added: “Work has taken a back seat. My job is not as important as it was. Saying that having a family changed my life is a cliche. But it’s true - it re-arranged my life and made me see clearly.”

Affleck dated ‘Waiting for tonight’ hitmaker in 2002 after starring together in the film ‘Gigli’.

They got engaged but parted ways shortly before their scheduled wedding in 2004.

Kelly Rowland is not interested in fashion career

2009-07-16T01:01:00.001+07:00

Kelly Rowland has ruled out launching her own fashion range, insisting that she is not "passionate" enough to design.

The 28-year-old singer discovered her limitations after signing up to host Bravo reality series The Fashion Show, which sees budding designers competing to create the best clothing lines.

Reflecting on the commitment required, Rowland told WENN: "Designing is not easy. I think clothing lines just pop up [and] people don't realise there's so much work and so much detail that goes into creating a whole line.

"I don't want to do one. I'll leave that to the designers. I'll figure out something else to be. You really have to have a passion for it, that's with anything - but designing specifically."

Rowland's former Destiny's Child bandmate Beyoncé launched her own House of Deréon fashion line in 2005, teaming up with her mother for the project.

Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor defies labels

2009-07-14T17:53:00.004+07:00

Conservatives are right to pillory liberal judges such as those of the New York State Court of Appeals who ruled a quarter-century ago that child pornography was protected by the First Amendment.

Thankfully, the U.S. Supreme Court soon decreed otherwise, and the very first case after that restoration of decency was handled by a young Manhattan prosecutor named Sonia Sotomayor.

She has now gone on to become the first Hispanic woman nominated to the Supreme Court, but she does not neatly fit any other labels the aggressively dumb right-wing pundits like to employ.

If Sotomayor seemed a liberal when starting out as a prosecutor handling a parade of the disadvantaged charged with petty misdemeanors, she became harder to categorize after she graduated to more serious cases involving undeniable evil.

A number of the jurors in the child pornography case were reduced to tears when Sotomayor and fellow prosecutor
Karen Greve Milton screened the films the two defendants had sold to an undercover detective in Times Square. The children were as young as 7.

"I saw children exploited and abused," Sotomayor recalled Monday in the prepared statement at her confirmation hearing.

Jurors in another case, one with multiple adult homicides, were left in tears after Sotomayor questioned a victim’s sister on the stand. Sotomayor gently led the sister through the heartbreaking moments after her brother was shot in the face by a killer known as the Tarzan burglar.

"I felt the pain and suffering of families torn apart by the needless death of loved ones," Sotomayor told the senators.

Throughout her five years with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Sotomayor adhered to the same principles that carried her from the Bronxdale Houses to Princeton and Yale Law School, principles any true conservative has to admire.

"Extremely hardworking, diligent,
focused, organized," Milton said of her former colleague in the child porno case.

Hugh Mo, senior prosecutor in the Tarzan burglar case, summed up what continued carrying Sotomayor on to the federal bench and the U.S. Supreme Court nomination.

"She has a sense of purpose," Mo said Monday.

Purpose, not agenda was the prime force behind the conviction of both defendants in the child porno case. Clemente D'Alessio and Scott Hyman were
sentenced to 2¼ to seven years.

In the Tarzan case, Richard Maddicks was convicted of three murders along with so many burglary, assault and weapon charges that Sotomayor prepared a chart for the jurors.

Maddicks was sentenced to 62½ years, and it was unlikely he managed to watch Monday's hearing. The two TVs per housing unit at the
Sullivan Correctional Facility are on only at night and not likely ever tuned to replays of Senate hearings.

One case where Sotomayor did not fully prevail despite her hard work involved three young men charged with firing a shot in dispute at the Baruch Houses on the lower East Side in 1983.

Only one had wielded the gun, but Sotomayor felt the law held the others to be equally responsible. All three happened to be Puerto Rican, and she demonstrated way back then how silly it is to call her a racist who favors her own kind.

"She wanted all three to go down and go to prison," recalled defense attorney Stephen Goldenberg.

At the close of one session, a legal issue arose and the judge instructed both sides to present their arguments in the morning. Sotomayor arrived with a fully researched brief.

"Our luck to get a DA who goes home at night and writes briefs," Goldenberg
recalled. "You want her to go out at night and drink."

Even so, only the shooter was convicted. Joey Pacheco served nearly four years even though nobody had actually been shot.

"I guess she figured a bystander could get hit," Goldenberg said.

In this city where innocents are regularly felled by stray bullets, we should wish all gun collars were prosecuted with that intensity.

Anybody who really thinks she is a liberal racist should look up that Puerto
Rican gentleman who fired a shot in the Baruch Houses.

Emma Watson: Robert Pattinson is a super nice guy

2009-07-14T01:12:00.001+07:00

Emma Watson says kissing Rupert Grint is like smooching "your brother".

The 19-year-old actress locks lips with her co-star in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows', the final installment of the boy wizard franchise, and has been dreading filming the scene for years.

Emma said: "It was really awkward. Rupert's like my brother, so it just felt very, very strange. But he's a gentleman, and he was a great kisser."

Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the titular boy wizard, had similar problems filming his love scenes with Bonnie Wright, who plays Ginny Weasley.

He said: "Even though Bonnie is obviously stunningly beautiful, I've known her since she was nine and I was 11. So that was kind of weird at first. But we got used to it. We got over it pretty quickly in fact."

'Harry Potter' star Emma Watson expresses her feelings toward 'Twilight' hunk and Hogwarts student Robert Pattinson. "[Pattinson] is a super nice guy," the actress says "I'm really happy for him that he's gone on to be so uber successful."

Pattinson played Cedric Diggory in 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' and 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.'

Watson says of her former costar's fame, "I hope he's doing okay. It's gotta be tough."

Pattinson is currently filming 'Remember Me' in New York, while Watson is promoting 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,' out in theaters July 15.

School was 'escape, comfort' during Harry Potter says Emma Watson

2009-07-14T01:08:00.000+07:00

Appearing on the television program, Live with Regis and Kelly this morning, actor Emma Watson said that she found school an escape and comfort throughout the craziness of her life with Harry Potter.

Promoting Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince based on the bestselling fantasy series by J. K. Rowling, Ms. Watson confirmed her plans to attend an Ivy League university in the U. S. beginning in late August.

Kelly Ripa complimented her choice to attend college even though she already had a full-fledged acting career, saying she set a good example. College seems a natural choice for the actor who plays bookish Hermione Granger throughout what will be 8 films in the end. Ms. Watson said school has been a large part of her life, despite growing up in the spotlight:

"Having school kind of grounded me, and it was a really nice escape and comfort," says Watson. "I love it."

She has always balanced work and school and hopes to continue doing that while in college. She chose an American college after meeting a few college students from here and hearing what their studies were like. Americans study a greater variety of subjects rather than the same subject for three years as they do in England.

Ms. Watson described having a few cooking and laundry mishaps in her new flat near the Leavesden Studios where Harry Potter is filmed, but that living on her own now is an overall good experience.

When Ms. Ripa asked Emma what she would be doing right now if not acting or going to school, she replied that she'd like to be a makeup artist or an artist. "I love creative stuff like that," she said.

She took a holiday in Cancun, Mexico in January, and Kelly joked that Emma wanted to get indoctrinated into the American college experience right away.

"No one warned me," said Emma. "A friend took me out one night, and one night is enough for a lifetime, eh? You guys like to party."

Regis Philbin asked Emma whether she ever had a crush on any of the actors growing up doing the films, particularly Daniel Radcliffe or Rupert Grint. She answered:

"I confess. I had a bit of a crush on Tom Felton (who plays Draco Malfoy) when I was younger in the early films." Did Tom know? "It was obvious. Very, very obvious. But never Dan or Rupert. They've always just been friends."

They have just finished filming Part I of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and they're about to start Part II, according to Emma. Then the films will be done.

When Mr. Philbin asked Emma what she expected it to be like when they wrap the final Harry Potter movie, she said:

"I think it will be really strange. It will be bittersweet. In think, on the one hand, it will be desperately sad because something that my life has revolved around for more than half of my life will be over, and on the other hand I can't wait to come to college and I can't wait to try new things and new projects."

It is sure to be bittersweet as well for millions of Harry Potter fans who have watched Ms. Watson grow up on screen over the last decade.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens in theaters across the country tomorrow night, at midnight.

EMMA WATSON - WATSON BRUSHES OFF PATTINSON ROMANCE

2009-07-14T01:04:00.000+07:00

WATSON BRUSHES OFF PATTINSON ROMANCE

EMMA WATSON has defended her former HARRY POTTER co-star ROBERT PATTINSON's budding reputation as a Hollywood playboy, insisting the pair was only friends during filming.
Twilight hunk Pattinson's current onscreen love interest Kristen Stewart has also been fighting off rumours they became a couple after appearing onscreen together last year (08) in the vampire love story.
But Watson insists the 23-year-old British actor was a gentleman onset when they worked on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
She tells the New York Daily News, "He's just a good friend. He's a super-nice guy, and girls love him. We're just friends - but he sure was great to work with."

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009-07-14T00:56:00.000+07:00

Dir. David Yates. 2009. PG. 2hrs 33mins. Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Gambon, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Bonnie Wright, Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman.

At Hogwarts in year six, a young wizard’s thoughts turn to the hot chick in Incantations class, and the potions most of interest are love potions. While Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) skulks around moodily looking strangely like David Bowie in the Thin White Duke era, Harry (Radcliffe), Hermione (Watson) and Ron (Grint) spend an inordinate percentage of Half-Blood Prince obsessing about who’s snogging whom.

Yes, there’s that whole Voldemort problem to deal with, and certainly people are disappearing mysteriously while Dumbledore (Gambon) rumbles darkly but unhelpfully about the dark secrets of Tom Riddle, the boy who would become Ultimate Evil. But the teen leads engage in the rather thin plotting only intermittently, and screenwriter Steve Kloves happily follows their lead.

For Potter-ites, there are plenty of satisfactions to be had, but the fun mostly comes from recognizing plot points from the novel merely suggested onscreen. When Harry finally gets engaged in some action, the climax is suitably exciting and dark, but it feels oddly tacked on after two-plus hours spent mostly in the world of high-school romantic intrigues.

Online Pranksters Cause Massive Damage to Hotels Nationwide

2009-07-14T00:53:00.000+07:00

Please, sir, do not throw your toilet out the window, no matter what the stranger on the phone is telling you.

If the phone in your hotel room rings unexpectedly at 2 in the morning, you might soon become the next victim of a network of scammers who are causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage at accommodations around the country.

Often imitated and deviously duplicated, a group called PrankNET appears to be at the center of a growing trend that has harried hoteliers and restaurateurs for months and is now being investigated by the FBI.

The head of PrankNET, who goes by the online name "dex" and has been behaving badly since 2000, leads an online chat system where he and fellow merry pranksters collaborate. Members of PrankNET chat online, stream their calls live on an Internet radio show and post their greatest hits to a YouTube page, a popular breeding ground for more pranks.

During their calls they often drop the name of a security corporation or say they are phoning from a hotel's front desk to lend themselves an air of credibility — and to get their victims to do surprising things.

In February, Dex's work made headlines when he called a KFC in Manchester, N.H., and convinced workers there to douse the restaurant with fire suppression chemicals, evacuate the building and strip outside in freezing temperatures. Dex accomplished all of this by pretending to be their boss from a corporate office.

Calls recently posted to PrankNET's YouTube channel have upped the ante even further, capturing scenes where confused hotel patrons have been duped into setting off fire alarms and sprinkler systems — flooding hotels and panicking sleeping guests.

A Florida family staying in an Orlando Hilton was tricked last week into smashing windows, breaking a mirror, bashing in a wall with a lamp and tossing their mattress outside, causing about $5,000 in damage, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The caller persuaded them to do all of that in order to save themselves from a gas leak.

The sheer difficulty of tracing prank calls placed online, and the social-networking programs used by pranksters, has increased their visibility and daring. Last week, a North Carolina teenager was indicted in federal court for allegedly phoning in bomb threats to colleges and universities — and taking payments to threaten specific high schools, canceling classes for anyone who'd put $5 into his PayPal account.

Another couple was called on PrankNET recently by someone claiming to be from their hotel front desk who told them that "deadly" exotic spiders had escaped and were going to swarm their hotel room. In order to avoid that catastrophe, they had to shatter their windows with the top of their toilet tank. After a few tries, they succeeded. Crisis averted.

That post was hidden by PrankNET following a FOXNews.com inquiry, even as the administrator of its YouTube page told FOXNews.com that "copycats" were to blame for many of the pranks in the news.

Though the perpetrators in many of these cases remain unclear, PrankNET's administrator took direct credit for at least one prank:

In York, Neb., a Hampton Inn employee was tricked into setting off an alarm and then was convinced that the only way to make it stop was to break the hotel's windows. He enlisted the help of a trucker who smashed his vehicle into the front door, shattering the glass and causing more than $1,000 in damage.

The owner of PrankNET's Twitter account — believed to be Dex — claimed in a post the night of the incident, "I just pulled off the most epic prank. I had a hotel guest back his truck into the hotel front window (in the lobby), and break the window." That post, too, has been deleted.

A small community of prank callers have long enjoyed Dex's work, but some are growing concerned over his increasingly destructive ends.

"While I can't help finding Dex's calls extremely amusing, I think that they need to stop before he seriously hurts or kills someone," said Brad Carter, who runs the Web site phonelosers.com and has been following Dex's activity.

"I'm amazed that nobody has hurt themselves yet by breaking these giant plate glass windows [at hotels]. I'm amazed that he's still making all of these calls when he knows the FBI is investigating them and he's probably caused millions in damages at this point."

The FBI's field office in Knoxville, Tenn., is looking into possible revelations of Dex's identity following an incident that caused an estimated $50,000 of damage at a Holiday Inn Express in Conway, Ark. An employee there was convinced to set off the fire alarm, shatter front windows and bash off a sprinkler head, which set off the sprinkler system and flooded the hotel.

A Knoxville woman named Jericho Batsford contacted the FBI's field office in Knoxville and said she knew Dex's identity and confirming that he was responsible for the Conway call and many others, according to the Log Cabin Democrat of Arkansas.

Batsford, who could not be reached for comment, told the newspaper that she used to pull similar pranks herself. Some videos circulating online among prankNET members show someone identified as Dex, though their accuracy could not be confirmed.

Despite this string of incidents, an FBI official in Washington said the pranks do not represent a trend. "They're looking into it [the incident at motel], but it's not a widespread thing," said a bureau source. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center has received just one complaint stemming from the incidents.

But cybersecurity experts say such attacks are dangerous and may be on the rise.

"It can be very serious for the people who are being attacked," said Parry Aftab, a cyber law expert. "It hasn't become a systemwide abuse ... but it will increase as more people get ideas on how to do these kinds of things."

Route to resignation: Palin's political, personal turmoil

2009-07-14T00:45:00.000+07:00

Anchorage » In late March, a senior official from the Republican Governors Association headed for Alaska on a secret mission. Sarah Palin was beset by such political and personal turmoil that some powerful supporters determined an intervention was needed to pull her governorship, and her national future, back from the brink.

The official, the association's executive director, Nick Ayers, arrived with a memorandum containing firm counsel, according to several people who know its details: Make a long-term schedule and stick to it, have staff members set aside ample and inviolable family time to replenish your spirits, and build a coherent home-state agenda that creates jobs and ensures re-election.

Like so much of the advice sent Palin's way by influential supporters, it appeared to be happily received and then largely discarded, barely slowing what was, in retrospect, an inexorable march toward the resignation she announced 10 days ago.

Palin had returned to her home state from the presidential campaign as one of the hopeful prospects in her struggling party, even if she had much to prove to her detractors. Standing before the Legislature in January, she vowed to retake her office with "optimism and collaboration and hard work to get the job done."

But interviews in Alaska and in Washington show that a seemingly relentless string of professional and personal troubles quickly put that goal out

of reach.

Almost as soon as she returned home, the once-popular governor was isolated from an increasingly critical Legislature. Lawmakers who had supported her signature effort to develop a natural gas pipeline turned into uncooperative critics.

Ethics complaints mounted, and legal bills followed. At home Palin was dealing with a teenage daughter who had given birth to a son and broken up with the infant's father, a baby of her own with special needs and a national news media that was eager to cover it all.

Friends worried that she appeared anxious and underweight. Her hair had thinned to the point where she needed emergency help from her hairdresser and close friend, Jessica Steele.

"Honestly, I think all of it just broke her heart," Steele said in an interview at her beauty parlor in Wasilla, the Beehive.

Yet to the dismay of some advisers, Palin dived into the fray, seeming to relish the tabloid-ready fights that consumed her as the work of the state at times went undone.

Her public feud with David Letterman over a tasteless sexual joke he made about one of her daughters spun into a broader fight at home with a fellow Republican over state efforts to combat sexual abuse.

She had a political aide issue a news release condemning Levi Johnston, the teenage father of her daughter Bristol's newborn, for his assertion that Palin had known the unwed high-schoolers were having sex all along.

It was the sort of intermingling between her personal and public agendas that had drawn ethics complaints against her even before Sen. John McCain tapped her as his running mate in August.

But now, Palin had fewer defenders to lend support. Her husband, Todd, her most trusted adviser, was spending less time at her side both because they needed money from his oil industry job, friends say, and because questions had been raised about whether he had been too involved at the Capitol.

Her growing list of detractors quickly signaled that they were not impressed with her celebrity status.

"We had business to do," said State Representative Nancy Dahlstrom, a Republican who had worked on Palin's 2006 race for governor. "It's not all about adoration."

Late last week, as her sport utility vehicle made its way through the town of McGrath, Palin said in an interview that the seeds of her resignation had been planted the morning McCain named her as his vice-presidential choice.

"It began when we started really looking at the conditions that had so drastically changed on Aug. 29," she said. "The hordes of opposition researchers came up here digging for dirt for political reasons, making crap up."

Troubles await back home

When Palin made it back to Alaska in November, the state that had once given her an 83 percent approval rating was no longer so enchanted.

Democrats who had been crucial to her governing coalition now saw her as a foe. Republican leaders who had previously lost fights with her smelled weakness. An abortion bill she supported requiring parental consent stalled, the Legislature rejected her choice for attorney general and lawmakers became skeptical of the natural gas pipeline effort.

"It's like, 'Ooh,' " Palin said in the interview, " 'not so good anymore, because it's got Sarah's name on it.' "

Martin Buser, a champion dog musher who is close to the Palins, said: "When she came back it was pretty clear it was not a trip with any light at the end of the tunnel. It was a spelunking trip that had no light and no end."

She was met at the Capitol by a growing pile of ethics complaints filed by opponents that, under Alaska state law, had to be investigated.

During the campaign, an investigation by the Republican-dominated Legislature found that Palin had abused her office by leaning on subordinates to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as a state trooper. She was forced to pay back taxes after it was disclosed that she had billed the state for thousands of dollars in per diem expenses meant to cover travel costs while staying in Wasilla. Still, of the 19 ethics complaints filed against her, most have been dismissed.

"We spend most of our day, my staff, a lot of the members of the Department of Law and myself, dealing with things that have nothing to do with policy or governance," Palin said in the interview. "It has to do with setting the record straight in this game that's being played right now."

By all accounts, Palin became consumed with the complaints, no matter how small-bore -- which many were -- or where they came from.

When a local Democratic blogger accused her of becoming a "walking billboard" by wearing a jacket emblazoned with the logo of Arctic Cat, her husband's team sponsor at the Iron Dog snowmobile race, she issued a news release titled "Governor Comments on Latest Bogus Ethics Complaint."

"Yes, I wore Arctic Cat snow gear at an outdoor event, because it was cold outside," her statement read. A follow-up release was triumphantly titled "Ethics Complaint on Governor's Apparel Dismissed."

Feuds begat feuds. Palin alleged in June that Letterman's joke that one of her daughters had been "knocked up" by the Yankees star Alex Rodriguez during a recent trip to New York encouraged "sexual exploitation" of younger women.

Her comments then prompted a Republican lawmaker, State Representative Mike Hawker, to accuse Palin of underfinancing sexual abuse progra Palin, in turn, directed public safety officials to give her fodder for a retort, requesting that they put out a statement saying her policies would reduce sexual assaults on minors.

Even Palin's supporters came to believe that she was losing focus amid all the fighting.

"It was very relentless," said State Representative John Coghill, a Republican. "My only criticism of her was she probably paid too much attention to it."

In mid-spring, as the country grew alarmed over the swine flu, Palin skipped a briefing for administration officials on the outbreak by her chief medical officer, Jay Butler. A spokeswoman, Sharon Leighow, noted that the teleconference took place about a month before the first case of the flu was reported in Alaska and that at the time the governor was meeting with top staff on the issue of federal stimulus funds. Since then, the state has had 122 confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu.

Butler said he resigned his post in June in part because the administration asked one of his highly regarded division heads, the state public health director, Beverly Wooley, to resign. "I felt that it was not a good time to be downsizing," said Butler, who is now working on a swine flu vaccination at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Butler said the governor's office apparently deemed Wooley insufficiently supportive of the parental consent bill backed by Palin.

Leighow would only say, inexplicably, that Wooley had been terminated by the health department, not the governor.

Amid all the turmoil, Palin's enthusiasm for the job itself seemed to be waning, her office appointment books from January 2007 through this May indicate. Since her return from the national campaign her days have typically started later and ended earlier, and the number of meetings with local legislators and mayors has declined. The calendars were provided to The New York Times by Andree McLeod, who obtained them through a public records request and has filed ethics complaints against Palin.

Things on the home front were equally strained. Paparazzi regularly stalked the family, once ambushing Bristol Palin when she arrived with her newborn and her father at the Beehive beauty salon. Palin was forced to wait for her in the car with Bristol's baby, Tripp, whose image was fetching a particularly high tabloid bounty.

If Bristol Palin was avoiding the limelight, her estranged boyfriend was seeking it. Johnston appeared bare-chested in GQ magazine holding Tripp. He told the talk show host Tyra Banks that he was certain Palin knew his relationship with her teenage daughter had been sexual.

Palin's top political aide cranked out another news release: "We're disappointed that Levi and his family, in a quest for fame, attention and fortune, are engaging in flat-out lies, gross exaggeration and even distortion of their relationship."

Appeal outside Alaska

Despite Palin's travails in Alaska, she continued to have national cachet.

Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey's producer called with interview requests. She fielded lucrative book deals, ultimately accepting one estimated to be in the millions of dollars. A veteran television producer proposed a "West Wing" meets "Northern Exposure" reality show about her. Out-of-state political trips were flashbacks to the presidential campaign. Crowds chanted, "Run, Sarah, Run!"

In January, Fred Malek, a longtime Republican kingmaker, held a dinner to introduce Palin to some of the party's biggest names, prompted partly by what he saw as shabby treatment by the McCain campaign. Malek said she charmed former Vice President Dick Cheney at the dinner and bonded with Cheney's daughter Liz over both raising five children.

The night was a highpoint. But already, Palin was having trouble reconciling the gravitational pull of her national support with the stresses of Alaska.

John Coale, a Washington trial lawyer and a Democrat who befriended the governor, said that during a political trip to Atlanta in December she expressed concern about her personal finances and complained that whenever she left Alaska "there was tremendous criticism up there."

To Coale, the Palins seemed unprepared for the national stage. "I don't think they got it, that they were in the arena," he added. Coale helped Palin set up a legal defense fund and a political action committee to pay for her political activities. But both caused additional proble

While the defense fund has raised more than $250,000, according to its trustee, the money cannot be spent pending resolution of an ethics complaint that contends that the contributions could amount to improper gifts.

The political action committee, named SarahPAC, was intended to help Palin steer clear of state ethics laws prohibiting the mixing of official duties and political activities. But according to people who dealt with it, a disconnect emerged between Palin's political and official operations, resulting in embarrassing blunders.

After the Conservative Political Action Conference, a meeting of the Republican Party's evangelical base, announced that the governor would have a coveted speaking role at its annual gathering in February, she canceled, citing scheduling conflicts. Then, organizers of one of the most important Republican Congressional fund-raisers of the year said they had been assured by a political aide to Palin that she would be their headliner, only to have her Anchorage office announce that she knew nothing about it.

Allies like Malek chalked up the confusion to Palin's reliance on one aide to juggle the PAC's demands. Malek said he urged Ayers, the governors' association official, to write his memorandum and head to Alaska to get Palin's operation in order.

Malek said he told Palin that "you have got to set up a mechanism so you can return calls."

"You are getting a bad rap," he recalled saying. "Important people are trying to talk to you. And she said, 'What number are they calling?' She did not know what had been happening."

Tugs, pulls and pressures

Hope for the intervention's success soon faded. Despite advice to stick close to home and focus on an Alaska agenda, the governor accepted an invitation to attend an anti-abortion dinner in Indiana in April, even though the state budget was hanging in the balance in the Legislature.

When Tom Wright, chief of staff for the speaker of the Alaska House, suggested that the governor would catch heat for leaving, Palin stormed into his office and, according to a person familiar with the conversation, "proceeded to ream him out."

In early June, when Palin visited Malek in Washington, "My sense was she was very unhappy with the multiple tugs, pulls and pressures in her life, that her family life was not even close to what she regarded as acceptable," he said, adding, "she just had a dissatisfaction with the way the job had developed."

When she announced on July 3 that she was leaving the job, the national political establishment speculated that it was part of a scheme to position herself for a White House run.

Palin scoffed at the notion. "There's no ulterior motive," she said in the interview. She said the lieutenant governor who will succeed her on July 26, Sean Parnell, will pursue "the same agenda as mine -- minus the distractions."

In her hometown area at least, people take her at her word, but they doubt she is out of the game for good.

"She's very young and she has a long time to be a potential candidate and to mature and develop a thicker skin," said Janet Kincaid, a supporter in Palmer. "In politics, you've got to just let it roll or it will eat you alive."

At the governor's Anchorage office, staff members are struggling to roll with Palin's surprise announcement. Last week, a clock on the wall continued its countdown. Under a "Time to Make a Difference" placard, the clock ticks away the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the scheduled end to Palin's term. As of Friday, it had 513 days left.

"I don't know how to reset the darn thing," David Murrow, a spokesman for the governor, said earlier in the week.

Democrats, Republicans draw lines as Sotomayor hearings begin

2009-07-14T00:36:00.000+07:00

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor got a warm welcome Monday from the Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats as Chairman Patrick Leahy hailed her "historic nomination," but Republicans charged that she too often allows personal views to color her judicial rulings.

The first Hispanic to be nominated for the court, Sotomayor faces what's expected to be a week of hearings that feature largely polite exchanges with Democrats but sharp, pointed questions from the GOP.

The committee has 12 Democrats and seven Republicans. "Unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to get confirmed," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., even though he and his GOP colleagues offered a long list of concerns.

"President (Barack) Obama said that he would nominate judges based on their ability to empathize in general and with certain groups in particular. This empathy standard is troubling to me," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. "The Constitution requires that judges be free from personal politics, feelings and preferences."

Leahy, D-Vt., opened Monday's hearing by recalling other "firsts" on the court and how their races or ethnicities once raised questions.

Today, however, Leahy said, "we're in a different era," and he said he hoped that Sotomayor would get the same kind of consideration as Sandra Day O'Connor, whom President Ronald Reagan named as the first woman on the Supreme Court in 1981. O'Connor won overwhelmingly bipartisan support.

President Barack Obama "has done his part" in nominating Sotomayor, Leahy said. "He's made an historic nomination."

As Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., also was praising the nominee, a man leapt up in the audience and hollered, "What about the unborn? Abortion is murder." Police quickly removed him from the room, and Leahy said that there'd be "no outbursts for or against the nominee."

Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the committee's top Republican, stuck largely to judicial philosophy, expressing his concern that too often "a judge is free to push his or her own courtroom political and social agenda. I reject this view."

Too often, he charged, Sotomayor has a philosophy that "allows subjectivity" and affects her rulings on issues such as abortion, gun control, private property rights and capital punishment.

"I will not vote for - no senator should vote for - an individual nominated by any president who is not fully committed to fairness and impartiality towards every person who appears before them," Sessions said.

"I will not vote for - no senator should vote for - an individual nominated by any president who believes it is acceptable for a judge to allow their own personal background, gender, prejudices or sympathies to sway their decision in favor of, or against, parties before the court.

"In my view," he said, "such a philosophy is disqualifying."

Graham said that Sotomayor's 2001 comment that a "wise Latina" could come to better conclusions than white males was particularly troubling.

"If I'd said anything remotely like that, my career would be over," Graham said. "I think your experience can add a lot to the court, but I don't think it makes you better than anyone else."

While those questions will get a full airing this week, Monday sent a signal that the historic nature of this nomination - and the Democrats' strong majority - will make it hard for Sotomayor to be rejected.

Leahy described "Judge Sotomayor's journey to this hearing room (as) a truly American story," as he mentioned her up-from-the-bootstraps life, starting in the South Bronx. He reviewed her stellar, and in some cases groundbreaking, academic and legal career.

She had a lot of options after graduating from Yale Law School, Leahy said, but "chose to serve her community" as a prosecutor. Then it was on to judgeships; President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the federal district court and President Bill Clinton elevated her to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals about 10 years ago.

"She's had more federal court judicial experience than any nominee to the Supreme Court in nearly 100 years," Leahy said.

Her strength, he said, is that she has a "deep understanding of the lives of ordinary Americans."

"We do not have to speculate what kind of a justice she will be. We've seen what kind of a judge she has been," Leahy said. "She's been a judge for all Americans. She'll be a justice for all Americans."

Republicans are more skeptical, vowing to press Sotomayor on her views on affirmative action and "empathy," a quality that Obama has stressed.

The questioning is to begin Tuesday. Monday was a day for setting the table for what's to come, starting with opening statements from the committee members and Sotomayor, who was expected to speak Monday afternoon.

She did speak briefly at the start. Leahy asked Sotomayor whether she wanted to introduce any of her family members.

"If I introduced everybody who's family, like we'd be here all morning," she joked.

An animated Sotomayor then turned in her chair and cited her brother, mother, mother's husband, niece and other relatives.

Obama to name surgeon general

2009-07-14T00:08:00.000+07:00

President Obama will name a new surgeon general at 11:40 a.m. in the Rose Garden. According to the Associated Press, his pick is Regina Benjamin, a family physician from Alabama.

Benjamin made headlines after Hurricane Katrina for her efforts to rebuild her Bayou La Batre, Ala., health clinic, which serves 4,400 people who would have a hard time finding health care elsewhere, the AP says.

Last fall, she received a MacArthur Foundation "genuis grant," and she is a recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights.

Big Brother 11: rave parties and nominations

2009-07-13T23:36:00.000+07:00

So far in “Big Brother 11,” CBS is working as hard as humanly possible to get you to realize that this season is all about cliques. In at least every other confessional a contestant mentions what clique they are in, and in the rare event we forget (and we do not notice the shirt X contestant is wearing saying what clique they belong to) a helpful reminder pops up on screen.

In terms of strategy we also learned a great deal about the houseguests in this episode. Jessie, the Head of Household (check out the HoH Twitter here), is pretty much the same Jessie most of everyone remembers: loud and overdramatic. However, one thing he is to be given credit for his not falling for some of Laura’s constant flirtations. The guy at least knows when he’s being played, and that will help him out in the long run.

The challenge this week introduced another new “Big Brother” twist: the “haves” and “have-nots.” The team who finishes last in the challenge has to spend a week in one of the most depressing-looking rooms ever created: it’s gray, boring, and not in the least bit comfortable. They also have to shower without cold water and eat some mystery nonsense known as slop.

Before the challenge, we were subjected to an interview by Ronnie of Team Brains proclaiming that this group was going to dominate the challenge thanks to their superior problem-solving skills. The challenge? Connecting a bunch of pipes together in so that liquid would run through a bunch of tubes and cause a wheel to spin at the end. The twist? There really wasn’t one…outside of the fact that the entire room was themed like a rave! (Cue music from “Night at the Roxbury”). Needless to say, the show has seen better challenges. However, Ronnie did get a nice slap back to reality as he failed to back up his bragging and the “Brains” failed horribly.

After the losers were shown their new accommodations, Chima of Team Brain was not altogether happy and decided to tell everyone about it with an increasingly pouty face. She then made one of the most frustrating exclamations anyone can think of on a reality show: “I want out.” Seriously? Thousands of people auditioned for this show and you want out the first week?! Thankfully Jessie decided to nominate Chima for eviction along with Lydia, who he apparently feels is playing the game too hard and could be a threat down the road.

With this, it’s on to the rankings, based on how likely each person is to stay in the game.

13. Chima

Originally it was decided on that one of the Brains would be used as a “pawn” so that someone else would be a surefire goner. After Chima’s little post-challenge fit, though, she will most likely be the one leaving the “Big Brother” house come Tuesday.

12. Lydia

Since she’s up for eviction, you really can’t put her any higher on the list. Then again, you can’t fault the tattooed make-up artist much for her gameplay. Though she could’ve been more social, it was mostly a situation of being in the wrong clique at the wrong time.

11. Ronnie

Something tells me Ronnie’s not long for this game. Maybe it’s in the editing, that has consistently presented him as arrogant and manipulative. Then again, nobody really knows exactly how long he will be on board since the show is live.

10. Laura

“Laura is fake,” as Jessie so carefully pointed out. Turns out it was probably the most truthful statement made the entire episode. She attempted to tell Jessie he was the hottest person alive at one point, but didn’t put any thought at all behind it. Is Laura really here to win or just for a vacation?

9. Jessie

He’s the Head of Household this week, so that immediately means he will be a candidate for elimination next week. The one thing he has going for him is an alliance or two (with Russell and supposedly Ronnie), but with people getting paranoid (and with the Athletes having four members) alliances can break pretty fast.

8. Natalie

In a way Natalie’s personality is a good thing; she’s one of the few people in the house that actually seems to have a personality and won’t kiss up to the Head of Household. However, the images of her taunting other contestants in Thursday’s challenge are stuck in my mind.

7. Jeff

Where did Jeff go? He was mostly invisible in this episode. Plus, the fact that he’s been seen so little talking to his fellow athletes seems like he’s falling a little out of touch in his own clique. I wonder if down the road someone will get a chance to flip…

6. Braden

Like Jeff, Braden was next to invisible in this episode. This could mean that he has a decent strategy going, or it could mean that he’s just not very exciting.

5. Kevin

Will Kevin win the show? Possibly; he’s not ruffling any feathers, but he needs to find himself an alliance pretty fast and stop panicking that he “shares no common ground” with the other groups.

4. Casey

Casey had a great episode, moving from the bottom of my projected leaderboard up to fourth. His leadership made him a great asset in the rave challenge, and none of the other houseguests are complaining about him just yet.

3. Jordan

Jordan isn’t acting fake like some others (*cough* Laura), but she’s still playing the strategy angle. Being a “popular kid” in itself may give her more attention, but she’s looking solid for a while.

2. Michele

From what it seems Michele has a pretty good strategy going: do whatever Ronnie says and let him take the fall. She doesn’t have much of an alliance on her own just yet, but having a cushion like she does in this game is a valuable asset.

1. Russell

Russell is an even better example of this. He found a perfect alliance partner in Jessie, who will automatically grab most of the attention due to both his position and his personality. Not only that, but he’s getting along well with the Brains and there is alliance potential there. Finally, he’s a challenge threat; even though he’s a tough competitor, his group of friends right now will likely keep him safe.

Who do you think is on the way victory? Add a comment and let me know! Check back tomorrow night for more coverage of “Big Brother,” and keep reading for more TV news.

Levi Johnston says Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin resigned because she couldn't handle the pressure

2009-07-13T23:30:00.000+07:00

Hockey hunk turned political pundit Levi Johnston doesn't think his baby's grandma Sarah Palin could handle the White House: She can't take the heat.

"She's very smart," Johnston told NBC Monday morning. "But I just don't think she can handle the stress level as governor -- I don't think she can handle it as president or vice president."

Johnston, the 19-year-old high school dropout and former fiancé of Palin's daughter Bristol, said on the "Today" show that he wouldn't vote for Palin if she launched a presidential bid.

"If you would have asked that question a while back, I think I would have [voted for her]," Johnston said.
"But after what she has done now, you know, quitting on Alaska, I don't really think she has been the governor she should have for Alaska."

Palin is resigning the governorship later this month, with more than a year remaining on her term.

"I'd do just about anything for her," Johnston said of his infant son's grandmother. "But I really don't think I'd vote for her if she ran for president."

Speaking from the NBC's studio in Rockefeller Center, Johnston accused Palin of failing to be upfront with the nation about her abrupt decision to resign. Johnston said he heard the vanquished GOP vice presidential nominee saying money was a primary motive.

"We had tons of offers coming in from everybody out there and just all kinds of ridiculous things," he said. "There's been talk about it would be nice to just take the money and run."

Johnston, who appeared shirtless in a recent magazine photo spread, said there was talk among the Palins about doing a reality show "or just something easier."

When asked how much Palin stood to benefit from her book deal, Johnston said he's "heard" anywhere from $7 million to $9 million. "It's up there," he said without citing the source of his knowledge.

Last week, a spokeswoman for Palin, publicly disputed Johnston's commentary on Palin's reasons for resigning.

"It is interesting to learn Levi is working on a piece of fiction while honing his acting skills," the spokeswoman said.

A Palin spokeswoman could not be reached early Monday for a response to Johnston's new comments on the "Today" show.

In the "Today" interview, Johnston said Palin would come home "stressed out" in the weeks following the fall election. At that time, he was living at the Palin home.

"She wasn't as outgoing," he said. "I just didn't see the spark in her eyes about, you know, being governor anymore."

She was quiet, spending time in her room, he said. "We could tell something was wrong. She was sad she lost.
I mean, who wouldn't be?"

Johnston said he "definitely" believes the fame got to her head.

Earlier this year, Johnston publicly complained about a rift between him and the Palins. But "everything's great now," he claimed.

Obama announces surgeon general choice

2009-07-13T23:21:00.000+07:00

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama announced Monday he has chosen Dr. Regina Benjamin, a family practice doctor from the Gulf Coast, to serve as surgeon general.

Dr. Regina Benjamin holds advanced degrees in medicine and business administration.

The rural family physician has long provided medical care on the Gulf Coast. In 1990, she founded Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in the fishing village of Bayou La Batre, Alabama.

The clinic was heavily damaged by Hurricane Georges in 1998 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but Benjamin rebuilt it each time and continued to offer medical care to the village's 2,500 residents.

Many of her family practice patients are uninsured, according to the MacArthur Foundation, which last year awarded her one of its $500,000 "genius" grants.

Her patient population includes immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, who make up a third of Bayou La Batre's population.

Benjamin received a bachelor's degree in 1979 from Xavier University of Louisiana, attended Morehouse School of Medicine from 1980 to 1982 and received an doctor of medicine degree in 1984 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Benjamin completed her residency in family practice at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in 1987 and has served as CEO of the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic since its founding in 1990.

Health Library

MayoClinic.com: Health Library

She earned a master's degree in business administration in 1991 from Tulane University.

Benjamin also served as the associate dean for rural health at the University of South Alabama's College of Medicine and as president of the State of Alabama Medical Association from 2002-2003.

She is the first woman, first African-American woman and first person younger than 40 to sit on the board of trustees of the American Medical Association, serving from 1995 through 1998.

Sonia Sotomayor, live from Capitol Hill

2009-07-13T23:05:00.000+07:00

Just a reminder that we'll be live blogging the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearing this morning. It is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.

Barring an unforeseen revelation, the upcoming sessions before the Senate Judiciary Committee aren't likely to produce drama on the order of the Robert Bork or Clarence Thomas hearings. But it will be interesting to see how Sotomayor handles Republican questions about claims she is a judicial activist.

It will also be interesting to see how far Republicans push their criticism. Do they really want to be seen as attacking the first Latino high court nominee, given the growth of Hispanic voters? Do they have the votes to stop confirmation anyway?

The betting money is that the GOP will use these hearings as a staging ground for future judicial battles. After all,Sotomayor would be replacing Justice David Souter, who often sided with liberals on close cases. So a Justice Sotomayor would not likely change the ideological balance of the court, with its narrow conservative majority led by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Sotomayor,meanwhile, got a pre-hearing pep talk yesterday from President Obama.

Today will be dominated by opening statements from the senators and Sotomayor. Question time starts Tuesday.

So Oval-ites, approach the bench: Make your case for or against Sotomayor's confirmation in 140 words or less.

Sotomayor hearing opens Supreme Court debate

2009-07-13T23:01:00.000+07:00

Sonia Sotomayor looks almost certain to emerge from Senate hearings this week poised to become the first Hispanic member of the U.S. Supreme Court.

But political debate over President Barack Obama's plans for the top U.S. court has only begun.

Republicans are ready to resist what they fear could be a sharp leftward turn for the court under Obama's Democratic administration, reversing a steady tack to the right under former Republican President George W. Bush.

"For Sotomayor, it is a critical moment to set the public's perception of her. She will define herself for the country in her opening statement," said Doug Kendall, founder of the Constitutional Accountability Center, a liberal legal think tank in Washington.

"But for senators, it is much more about stating their case about the future of the Supreme Court itself."

Obama, a former constitutional law professor, chose the 55-year-old Sotomayor to replace the now-retired Justice David Souter, who had been one of four liberals on the deeply divided nine-member court. Members are appointed for life.

A daughter of Puerto Rican parents who grew up in a public housing project in New York, Sotomayor's story of tough beginnings and Ivy League education mirrors Obama's own while her long experience as prosecutor and appeals court judge gives critics few opportunities to attack her credentials.

FEW CLUES ON POSITIONS

Legal experts parsing Sotomayor's rulings for clues to her positions on everything from abortion to gun control have come up with little, although most agree she will not change the court's ideological balance -- which has been split with four liberals and five conservatives.

Barring an unforeseen scandal, Republicans privately concede that Sotomayor will be confirmed -- not least because Democrats control the needed 60 of the Senate's 100 seats to override any minority opposition.

But they hope to use the nationally broadcast hearing to argue that judges should rule according to the law and without regard to personal feeling.

"Republicans have made a commitment not to prejudge her. This is her opportunity to explain what some may call troubling or puzzling decisions," one Republican aide said.

Obama entered the argument when he said he favored judges with "empathy" -- which conservatives portrayed as shorthand for allowing emotion, or bias, to take precedence over statute.

"Empathy is great, perhaps, if you're the beneficiary of it. But it is not good ... (if) you don't catch the judge's fancy or if you fail to appeal to a shared personal experience," Senator Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary committee, said in a Senate speech.

Republican's have zeroed in on an early Sotomayor speech in which she said a "wise Latina" might arrive at better legal decisions than a white man because of her life history.

And questions could focus on a case in which the Supreme Court, voting 5-4, said the city of New Haven, Connecticut, violated civil rights law by throwing out firefighter exam results which did not produce enough qualified black applicants -- overruling a lower court decision upheld by Sotomayor.

TREADING CAREFULLY

But many analysts say Republicans must tread carefully through the politics of the nomination.

"They have a tricky challenge. They are trying to attack her use of race without impugning her race, and that's not easy to do," said Stephen Wermiel, a constitutional law professor at American University in Washington.

Sotomayor has drawn public support in opinion polls and the top rating from the American Bar Association. She is also seen as a trailblazer by the Hispanic community -- the fastest growing U.S. minority group, accounting for about 15 percent of the population.

"There could be questions raised about any judge's ruling on any case. But the fact is, I believe she has a record that is unparalleled," said Democratic Senator Dick Durbin.

Business groups are also holding their fire. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's biggest business group with more than 3 million members, plans to withhold any endorsement or opposition until her Senate testimony.

"To some extent the timelines are so long and uncertain on what's going to happen in the court that it is underappreciated by Wall Street," said Anne Mathias of Concept Capital Washington Research Group, which tracks Congress for investors.

Manuel Miranda of the Third Branch Conference, a conservative legal group, said Republicans may use the question of the Supreme Court's future to underscore their mounting criticism of the Obama administration on other issues including its huge deficit-spending plans.

"The Sotomayor hearings are a spotlight on the president who nominated her, and if the Republicans don't use it that way they are fools," he said. (Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

For Creamer, disaster strikes at 10th hole in U.S. Open

2009-07-13T01:36:00.000+07:00

It was disaster at hole No. 10 for Paula Creamer, the American star and Pink Panther of women's pro golf.

After a triple-bogey on 10, Creamer dropped her head, her eyes watered and her game continued to go south in third-round play of the U.S. Women's Open on Saturday at Saucon Valley Country Club.

Creamer, who was only one shot behind leader Cristie Kerr after the second round, also bogeyed holes 6, 8, 11 and 17 for an 8-over-par 79.

''The easiest thing to say is I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today,'' said Creamer, who was paired with Kerr.She dropped into a six-way tie for 17th place, six shots over par and in need of a big rally in today's final round if she's to surpass her highest Open finish -- second in 2005.

''I feel it's an unfortunate day,'' Creamer said. ''I shot 79. I played bad. I guess I deserved to shoot that.''

It was windy and the greens were crunchy, but Kerr managed to shoot a 1-over-par 72 and enter today as the only golfer under par at minus-2.

Kerr scored par on on the par-4 10th and sympathized as her American rival crumbled, first by sending her tee shot into the bunker. Creamer's next shot went over the green, almost hitting a television tower. She then mis-hit three straight chip shots and was in disbelief.

Finally, on her seventh shot, Creamer dropped the ball in the hole, but her All-American smile had disappeared. She had played No. 10 well the first two rounds, posting par on Thursday and a birdie on Friday.

But United States Golf Association officials moved the tee markers forward 80 yards, making it a 253-yard shot to the flagstick. The move was made to tempt players into trying to drive the green.

''I didn't say anything to her afterward,'' Kerr said. ''Would have been hard for anybody to say anything to Paula at the time. She was mad. I don't blame her, though.

''But that's what the USGA wants to do. They want to bring in risk-reward. I hit tee shots from that tee on the practice round to know that there's a lot of places you don't want to be hitting driver off that tee, and I gave myself a good opportunity for birdie.''

Kerr knows where Creamer went wrong.

''She tried to hit it at the pin instead of just getting it on the green, taking par and leaving because that was a really tough bunker shot she brought in over the green into play, which was not easy.

''It was a little difficult waiting all that period of time while she was going through what she was going through, but I felt bad for her. She's one of my friends, and you always want to see her playing well.''

Regrouping was tough for Creamer, who was sixth at the Open last year. This season, she has not won an LPGA Tour event and was forced to withdraw from the last two events with a left thumb injury.

But through two rounds, Creamer was on top of her game and her fans applauded her every move.

Then came Creamer's fall from grace on No. 10.

''I'm not sure what happened there,'' she said. ''Just kind of felt like one shot after another seven times. After that it was difficult to bounce back, especially on the back side. There's not as many birdies on the back side as I feel there are on the front. That's not quite the momentum I wanted going into the back.''

Creamer said her thumb has been a little achy here and there, but did not use it as an excuse for a poor third round.

''I wish I could blame it on that, but I can't,'' she said. ''I just didn't play well.''

Her emotions seesawed as a result, especially on 10 when it seemed as though she was going to melt into the green.

''I kind of stood on the green there and just tried to get all my emotions out,'' Creamer said. ''It was difficult because I made a good par on 9.

''I can't tell you how many greens I missed this week. I feel kind of not rusty in a sense, but it's not quite my iron shots that you normally look at.''

Can't always be beauty and grace.

Skidmark Cards Commits to Offer Rihanna, One of It's Skidmark Break-Up Cards and to Donate $100.00 to Local Women's Shelter

2009-07-13T01:23:00.000+07:00

The company challenges Rihanna to give Chris Brown any Skidmark Break-Up Card from it’s web site, free of charge, and the company will donate $100.00, in Rihanna’s name, to a local Women’s Shelter.

The explosive story about the abusive relationship between Rihanna and Chris Brown has caught the attention of many a casual observer. Add to the mix a start-up greeting card company who has weighed in on the issue. Thomas Burr, spokesman for Skidmark Cards, a firm that donates 50% of their profits to help fund shelters for victims of domestic violence, has issued a public challenge. The company challenges Rihanna to give Chris Brown any Skidmark break-up card from it’s web site, free of charge, and the company will donate $100.00, in Rihanna’s name, to a local women’s shelter. The break-up cards are billed as ‘cards that tastefully express and dignify the end of a relationship.” Burr says to Rihanna, or for that matter her handlers, “feel free to get in touch with Skidmark Cards anytime to make the arrangements."

Concerns arose after reports that the couple may have reconciled after the infamous incident that almost landed Brown in jail and Rihanna visibly bruised and shaken. Brown has been ordered to stay away from the iconic young starlet, however; they had been seen as trying to resume their rocky relationship not too long after the night the reported abuse took place.

“This sets a very bad example for victims of domestic violence everywhere,” laments Burr, who goes on to say, “if their relationship is over, then Rihanna has nothing to lose by taking us up on our offer, it will bring some closure to both of them and help victims of domestic violence at the same time.” "She is such a beautiful and talented young performer who has many, many admirers. This means, that of course, there are countless young women who look up to her as a role model. It is my opinion that as a role model, she should in no uncertain terms, show Mr. Brown to the curb and we have a card for that" Burr notes.

"We are sure that Chris Brown is a decent, hard-working, honest, up-front individual who just needs to work on his main issues right now, first and foremost his anger and aggression," Burr says in closing.

There has been no word from the Rihanna camp as of yet. Burr says this is a serious offer and he is willing to keep up his end of the offer any time the shinning star, or her reps see fit. Added Burr “I realize that we are not exactly a household name, however; we are totally devoted to making a difference and helping abuse victims who are not as fortunate as Rihanna or other persons of fame and fortune who have many resources at their disposal.”

The Skidmark Cards web site home page reads: Skidmark Cards with the tagline -“When That Relationship Comes To a Screeching Halt.” The site also contains make-up cards but no-one is recommending those cards to that couple any time soon. As is also stated on Skidmark Cards web site: “We are making domestic violence our business- helping to fund Women’s shelters for victims of domestic violence is what we do." Visit them today at

ON THE TUBE: 'Entourage' starts anew in Season 6 (see PHOTOS)

2009-07-13T01:19:00.000+07:00

To get a little perspective on a new season long-awaited, I’m watching “Entourage” from its humble beginnings, back when Vince (Adrian Grenier), Eric (Kevin Connolly), Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Ari (Jeremy Piven) were getting a fresh start on HBO’s version of an insider’s look at Hollywood.

It seemed so star-studded, with Jessica Alba starring beside the next “it” actor in “Head On,” the movie that catapulted Vincent Chase into Hollywood’s elite “A” list. (Alba was “A” list back then, believe it or not.) With the help of his street-start, Napolean-complex-plagued friend Eric, Vince had successfully left Queens, N.Y., even had the freedom to reject a $4 million paycheck for “Mattherhorn,” only to land a role on the megahit “Aquaman.” (That latter franchise later blew up in his face, of course.) Vince was getting a view that most people can only get from celebrity Web sites and magazines. In essence, Vince was bringing it all home, through the magic of cable, sharing the good life of Hollywood with everyone.

That’s what made “Entourage” so appealing, and although it’s veered a little too insider now and again, especially as it has gained a following, both in Hollywood and the rest of the U.S., it remains a guilt-free way to live life as a star; you’re not supporting papparazzi and their filthy habits, and you don’t have to clean up all the messes that seem inevitable with being a star.

Whether the show can keep up the momentum, sharp wit and authentic feel as the sixth season unfolds tonight (July 12) at 8:30 p.m. CDT — well, we’ll all just have to wait and see since a limited copies of advance screeners were released. (There was a season premiere in Los Angeles, as seen in the accompanying photos, but I was confined to Florida. Oh well.) But that’s just part of the appeal, I guess. Almost everyone, even the movie stars in their cozy Hamptons hideaways, will have to wait for the new formula.

That new formula starts Sunday, as Vince and crew busted, returned to their roots in Queens, and found their savior in Scorsese — yes, as in Martin Scorsese, who directed Vince’s next film, set in and around Manhattan. After having fallen so hard on his luck, Vince’s return to New York (and, specifically, the movie he made there between the fifth and sixth seasons) sets him up for superstardom once again. And with that, of course, comes the frequent appearance of other A-list stars, many of whom are fans of the show. (Even President Obama is said to give his thumbs up, but don’t let that discourage you from watching if you vote GOP.)

Although I can’t guarantee it, I think we’re in for another great season. I’m just hoping Ari can behave himself, as his lowly assistant, Lloyd (Rex Lee) is looking for a promotion. (Good luck with that, Lloyd.) Ari can be a bit much, but Piven pulls it off. He’s likable, even as a donkey. (You know what the synonym is.)

And “Entourage” is likable, even if it is a bit insider.

Sony taps Aaron Sorkin to revise 'Moneyball'

2009-07-13T01:02:00.000+07:00

Aaron Sorkin is best known in Hollywood as a screenwriter and TV producer supreme, having put his high-style signature on everything from "The West Wing" and "Sports Night" to "Charlie Wilson's War." But now, as Variety first reported Thursday, Sorkin has a new role -- he's the closer on "Moneyball," the much-ballyhooed baseball movie at Sony Pictures that the studio shut down just days before shooting was scheduled to begin late last month.

The movie, which had Brad Pitt slated to star as Billy Beane, the maverick general manager of the Oakland A's who was the focus of Michael Lewis' bestselling "Moneyball" book, had its plug pulled after director Steven Soderbergh turned in a last-minute script revision that the studio felt took the film in a radically different, not to mention wildly uncommercial, new direction. But the news that Sorkin has appeared in the bullpen -- get used to it; we're going to employ a lot of baseball lingo here -- sends a clear message that Sony is determined to keep the movie alive. The studio has also brought in producer Scott Rudin, who will serve as an executive producer on the project, which already has two producers, Michael De Luca and Rachael Horovitz.

Although I managed to get Amy Pascal to explain her decision to stop production earlier this month, no one at Sony is talking about this new wrinkle, since the studio clearly believes the troubled project has already received far too much media attention. The same goes for Rudin and Sorkin, though Sorkin did acknowledge, via e-mail, that he is "the pinch hitter who's been called in to start the late-inning rally."

So why would Sony hire Sorkin when the studio already had a perfectly good shooting script, penned by Oscar-winning writer Steven Zaillian? The most likely reason: The studio wanted to send a message to Pitt that it was still absolutely, incontestably behind the picture. If Pitt were to walk away from the project, it could deal a fatal blow to the picture, which is already considered something of a commercial risk, since baseball movies have zero appeal outside of the U.S., meaning that the movie would have to make its investment back solely on the strength of its domestic box-office performance. Pitt is considered indispensable, since the studio has always known it had an extremely short list of A-list stars who could be both believable and bankable as the real-life Beane, a charismatic, fortysomething ballplayer turned crafty but cerebral baseball theoretician. When it comes to potential stars, the drop-off after Pitt is steep.

The best way to keep a movie star on the hook with a project is to surround him with enviable, top-flight talent that exudes an aura of class and respectability. Hence the arrival of Sorkin, who isn't just a gifted writer, but, having worked in theater and TV as well as film, also brings along an aura of writerly glamour and sophistication to any project. Ditto for Rudin, who has been the producer of a string of classy films, most notably "No Country for Old Men," the 2007 Coen brothers film that won a best picture Oscar. As executive producer, Rudin brings a level of gravitas to the project, allowing everyone involved -- starting with Pitt -- to feel that this film could be a player at award season as well as with the masses at the multiplexes.

While Rudin is a canny judge of material, having stockpiled many of the best new novels available, his strength in recent years has also been as a marketing maven, being especially adept at positioning films and helping sculpt their images as critical successes. So it's expected that he would assume the role of the film's godfather, acting as a troubleshooter, advisor and hand-holder whenever needed, especially during the post-production process.

The true test of the film's viability will be what happens after Sorkin turns in his new draft sometime in August. His script will have to satisfy three key parties: the Sony production brass, Pitt and any potential A-list filmmaker who would be stepping in as Soderbergh's replacement. Sony already believes in the material, and it's easy to imagine a host of top filmmakers who'd be eager to work with a major movie star.

The real closer will ultimately be Pitt, who has director approval on all his films but, even more important, will be judging the script not just on its intrinsic value but also by how many top filmmakers it brings to the table.

Studio chiefs greenlight movies, deciding which ones end up in the starting lineup and which ones are relegated to the bench. But when it comes to the complicated process of keeping "Moneyball" alive, the umpire will be Pitt, who will make the biggest call about whether this film, having made it around third base, ends up being safe at home.