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12 March 2010
The Saint Andrews boys and girls water polo teams left the 23rd Annual Winter Park Wildcat Invitational unbeaten last weekend. There were 15 schools from around the state that took part at the International Drive YMCA. The Winter Park girls and West Orange boys turned in the best local efforts. – Girl Water Polo – Girls teams that went unbeaten over the weekend were defending state champs Ransom-Everglades, state runners-up Saint Andrews and Palmetto. Winter Park scored two wins over teams that otherwise had successful outings at the invite. The Wildcats defeated Gulliver Prep 9-6 and Miami Country Day 13-7, giving each their only blemish on the weekend. Winter Park also kept things close in a 7-4 loss to Ransom. Other local highlights: – Boone notched a 10-4 win over Saint Thomas Aquinas and dropped a 9-7 decision to St. Andrews. – Winter Spring got a 7-5 win over Boca Raton and fell 15-7 to St. Andrews. – Oviedo defeated Boca Raton by a 12-2 score and lost a close one to Ransom, 10-8. – Boys Water Polo – As expected, boys teams at Gulliver Prep, Saint Andrews and Saint Thomas Aquinas had strong showings at the invite as each went 4-0 over the weekend. West Orange went 3-1 with wins over Miami Country Day (11-6), Palmetto (13-9) and Boca Raton (10-6) while losing only to St. Andrews, 14-6. State runners-up Winter Park went 2-2 with wins over Ransom (14-4) and Miami Country Day (13-7) and losses to St. Thomas (13-10) and Gulliver (17-5). Other local highlights: – Olympia also came away with a 2-2 mark. The Titans defeated Palmetto (17-12) and Miami Country Day (15-9) and dropped matches to Gulliver (18-3) and Boca Raton (16-8). – Bishop Moore got a 15-10 win over Ransom but lost to both Gulliver (14-6) and St. Thomas (15-8). Top water polo teams to take part in annual Wildcat Invite
11 March 2010
It was a frustrating end to a frustrating season. A young and inexperienced UCF lineup struggled to play well consistently all season. The trend continued during the Knights’ season-ending loss to No. 25 UTEP in the Conference USA men’s basketball tournament Thursday night at the BOK Center in Tusla, Okla. The Miners (25-5) pummeled the Knights (15-17) for a second time this season, this time coasting to a 76-54 win over UCF. It marks the first time UCF coach Kirk Speraw’s team finished below .500 since the Knights went 14-15 during the 2005-06 season. UTEP never trailed UCF, starting the game on a 15-3 run and padding that advantage throughout the contest. The Miners led by as many as 31 points, holding a commanding 64-31 advantage with 11:42 left in the game. The No. 9 seeded Knights needed to play flawless basketball to keep up with the athletic and talented Miners, who won the Conference USA regular season championship and entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed. UCF didn’t deliver, shooting 33 percent from field and turning the ball over 15 times. The Knights had 12 turnovers in the first half, helping fuel the Miners early advantage. Forward Jeremy Williams led UTEP with 17 points, while freshman forward Keith Clanton led the Knights with 12 points. The Knights could not extend a trend of the lower seeds upsetting the favorites in the Conference USA tournament Thurday. No. 2 seed Memphis lost to No. 7 seed Houston, No. 3 seed UAB lost to No. 6 seed Southern Miss and No. 4 seed Marshall lost to No. 5 seed Tulsa. UCF was saddled with injuries during the game. Sophomore point guard A.J. Rompza played despite injuring his knee this week. Freshman guard Marcus Jordan played most of the game while limping on an injured ankle and sophomore forward P.J. Gaynor collided with a UTEP player and left the game late in the first half. He suffered a significant rib injury. Gaynor was helped off the court and taken straight to the locker room.
11 March 2010
How about that, Florida won with offense. The Gators’ defense has been steady all season, keeping every game close, but the offense had been inconsistent in recent weeks. In back-to-back losses to Vanderbilt and Kentucky, Florida shot below 43 percent from the field in each. Alex Tyus, tonight’s star, was averaging 7.6 points per game in his last five. Kenny Boynton’s 3-pointers were often errant. Tonight, Florida used ball movement to create easy baskets, an offensive explosion that carried the Gators throughout a must-win game. First 15 baskets came off 10 assists. Those passing drills finally paid off. Here’s my game story on the Gators’ big win that snaps a three-game losing streak and might just be enough to elevate UF into the NCAA Tournament. NASHVILLE – Billy Donovan is a cold, calculated man for 40 minutes on a basketball court, which made the scene inside Bridgestone Arena so curious. As Erving Walker walked to the free-throw line in the closing seconds to seal Florida’s 78-69 win over Auburn, Donovan broke character by putting his arm around assistant Larry Shyatt and sharing a laugh from the bench. So maybe that’s the response when a three-year NCAA Tounament burden is lifted. Winning the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament doesn’t guarantee Florida a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but the Gators’ chances elevated to somewhere between possible and probable. Welcome back, Billy Donovan. Possibly. A win over Mississippi State in Friday’s second round all but assures the coveted at-large berth. “We want to do more than beat Auburn,” guard Kenny Boynton said. Nothing came easy on this night despite Florida’s 55.6 percent shooting in the first half, which is why the Gators can thank Kenny Boynton’s 3-point parade for possibly staving off a third straight National Invitation Tournament berth. After Auburn cut Florida’s lead to 42-41 with 15:21 left, the Gators (21-11) surged with a 13-0 run punctuated by Boynton’s three consecutive 3-pointers. The shooting barrage came from a player whose 3-point shooting hovered around 27 percent all year. Auburn made mini-runs all game, but Florida always answered behind clutch shooting and a combined 45 points from front-court mates Alex Tyus and Chandler Parsons. Tyus recorded a career-high 24 points, largely off pick-and-roll dunks. The win snaps a three-game losing streak for the Gators. Even in the closing seconds, Auburn (15-17) was a quick rally away from tying the game. “It hyped the whole team up,” said Boynton about his 3-pointers. “I promise you I didn’t recognize the score. I looked up after the third one and we’re up big.” Florida finally broke the game open when point guard Erving Walker slithered through the Auburn press and found Parsons for an easy dunk with 18.4 seconds left. Florida’s 3-point defense kept Auburn away from the lead all game. Auburn finished 4-of-25 from the 3-point line while the Gators held guard Tay Waller to zero points on 0-of-6 shooting. “Our guys were able to respond,” Donovan said. “We weathered some storms.” Ball movement and Tyus’ easy baskets helped Florida shrug off inconsistent shooting in recent weeks. After shooting below 43 percent in each of the last two games, UF’s first 15 baskets came off 10 assists against Auburn. Even Tyus had been a non-factor in recent weeks, averaging 7.6 points per game in his previous five outings. Parsons had his way all night, scoring 11 of Florida’s first 28 points and finishing with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, six rebounds and two assists. The Gators were an uncharacteristic 7-of-15 from the 3-point line, making seven of their first 12 attempts. Auburn guard Frankie Sullivan, who finished with a game-high 27 points, surged with seven straight points to cut Florida’s lead to six in the final six minutes. The Gators never folded. After starting the game down 5-2, Florida exploded with a 26-9 stretch with ball movement. “We had been getting off to slow starts, so we wanted to come out there and throw the first punch, come out with a hunter mentality,” Parsons said. Donovan said his late-game scene was a simple apology to Shyatt for screaming at him earlier. But maybe he knows something his team doesn’t about the Gators’ NCAA hopes. “I hope he does,” Parsons said.
11 March 2010
Judging from this pic, I think Wonder Woman is wearing a thong - not ideal for crime fighting but I bet it sure keeps Superman in line! Wonder Woman, sometime paramour of Superman with her bullet shaped bras (Superman has a fetish?) and athletic legs, has long been considered a heroine in her own right by millions of fans - girls and boys alike. But is she a good role model? When my second son insisted on checking out a Justice League book from the library with she of the Barbie waist and wedgie-defying leotard on the cover, I cringed. Surely this was not appropriate fare for a young developing mind. At the very least it would teach him that DDD breasts are self supporting and GoGo boots are the footwear of choice when fighting crime - both concepts that would make a real-life woman laugh hysterically before remembering with both chagrin and nostalgia the little girl she used to be who was Wonder Woman four years in a row for Halloween. (Not that I'll ever admit to it. Or to the red, white and blue swimsuit with tin foil armbands that has grown musty with age but still has a place of honor in my memory box.) My second son being the stubborn child he is, he made his case (loudly) and I acquiesced (quietly) and the book came home with us. That night during bedtime stories, I discovered that the first page has Wonder Woman's vital stats - because of course we judge even our Superheroines by their bust-waist-hip. But before I could roll my eyes a second time, I was first surprised and then impressed to note that Wonder Woman is (are you ready for this?): Height: 5 ft. 11 in. Weight: 155 lbs Birth Date: Winter 1941 Occupation: Ambassador Real Name: Diana Besides being surprised that Wonder Woman is not her actual name (next thing you'll tell me He-Man is really Dexter) and that one can be an ambassador with a cloth-to-flesh ratio that would embarrass a street walker, I was impressed to note that her animators had actually given her a very realistic weight for her height. This gives her a BMI of 21, solidly in the "normal" range. (Note: BMI charts are totally fine for comparing cartoons. Just don't attempt using them on yourself . Unless you're Jessica Rabbit, you minx, you.) When you think about it, it makes sense - she certainly gets plenty of butt-kicking exercise and you never see her eating junk food. Not bad for a 69-year-old! The other Superheroines also followed suit: "Oracle" is 5 ft. 6 in. and 126 lbs. " Queen Bee " is 5 ft 9 in and an impressive 226 lbs! Hellloooo Queen Latifa! The only ridiculousness is "Sorceress" who is "tall as a willow" and "light as a feather." Of course, she was invented in 2000 and bears more than a passing resemblance to Linda Evangelista. It seems like Wonder Woman, fake as she is, at least has a good self-image. I'm not saying she's perfect but at least she has some serious muscles. Ever seen a Bratzz doll? Skinnyplasticfat. Now if she would just lose the implants and the boots, she might regain a place in my heart. Okay, she can keep the boots - I've been known to wear some impractical footwear myself. What superhero was your favorite growing up? Was anyone else convinced they had a superpower (I was 100% positive I was telepathic because I always knew what my best friend was thinking - she was thinking that she was telepathic because she always knew what I was thinking!)?
11 March 2010
I didn’t get a chance to post this earlier because it’s been a really crazy day. Here’s what Isaac Sosa had to say in a phone interview me about the Knights’ first-round win over SMU and facing UTEP : On the SMU win: Our second half, we adjusted our defense and played a lot better. The first half, they were making shots everywhere. We were also knocking down a lot of our shots during the game. On what holding onto a lead and getting a tournament win says about UCF: It says a lot about us. We’ve been struggling with teams like that lately. We can’t hold onto our leads. I think it says a lot about us that we held on for the win. It gives us a rhythm to play UTEP next game. On the blowout loss to UTEP earlier this season: That UTEP game should not be used. You cannot compare that game to what’s going to happen when we play again. We did a pretty good job in the first half. We did a terrible job defensively in the second half. We’re better now than we were before. I think we’re going to be ready to be ready. We’re just a better team. On playing in the BOK Center: It’s a great arena. We didn’t expect it to be this nice. We thought the Memphis Arena was going to be a lot better, but this turned out to be very nice. We shot the ball very well. We were all very confident. It all went very well. Everyone was comfortable with it.
11 March 2010
You may think you’re doing your diet a favor if you shop for groceries at Whole Foods. But even organic or “whole” products aren’t impervious to the occasional health concern. A recall has been issued on several Whole Foods and Frontier Natural Products spices due to possible salmonella contamination of the pepper found in the products. After contaminated salami sickened over 249 people in 44 states, the cause was traced to red and black pepper used in the salami. The FDA has requested that manufacturers recall products using certain lots of peppers from the Mincing Overseas Spice company and the Wholesome Spice Company. These same peppers were used in the following spice products, which are now being recalled: -Whole Foods Asian Seafood seasoning -Whole Foods Mediterranean Rotisserie seasoning -Whole Foods Mediterranean Seafood seasoning -Whole Foods Muchi Curry -Whole Foods Southwestern Grille seasoning -Whole Foods Toronto Steak Chicken seasoning -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Black Pepper, coarse and fine grind -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Cajun Blackened Fish Meat Seasoning -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Cracked Black Pepper -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Curry Powder -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Garlic ‘n Herb seasoning -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Greek Seasoning -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Muchi Curry -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Oriental Seasoning -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Whole Black Peppercorns -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Salad Sprinkle -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Spaghetti Seasoning -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Thai Seasoning -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Toronto Steak Chicken seasoning -Frontier Natural Products Co-op Veggie Pepper Salmonella can cause fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, and is especially dangerous for children, elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Those who experience any of these symptoms after consuming sausage products or recalled spices should seek medical care. Contact Frontier to inquire about replacement or reimbursement at 1-800-669-3275. If you have a Whole Foods item, get in touch with your local Whole Foods location.
