text:
Mark and his dad continued on their way to Miami after dropping off the hot Marine. That night they found a hot driver at the truck stop and both went to the driver's rig. It was much bigger and the driver couldn't believe that they were actually father and son. He said that it was a first for him.
The following day, they hit the road and again stopped for lunch. They were in a small town in Mississippi at a truck stop. They ate and afterward, Don checked his e-mail and Mark had headed for the rest room. When Don was finished he began looking for Mark, first checking the restroom then the game room. No luck. He tried Mark's cell phone just in case he was in a rig with another driver. It went to voicemail. This definately wasn't like Mark. Don had him paged.
After several pages, Don really began to worry. He began asking the employees of the truck stop and drivers if they had seen Mark, showing them his picture.
He soon approached an older black driver sitting outside on a bench.
'Sir, have you seen this boy? He's my son and he's not answering the page. He's riding with me for the summer.'
The old driver looked at the picture and said, 'Yes, sir, I think I did. He was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, if'un I member right.'
'Yes, that's him. Did you see where he went?'
'Yes, sir, I did. He came out with two other young men, older than him though. He looked nervous and scared and got into an old red Ford pick up and drove off with them. They left pretty fast. They headed off that way,' he said pointing north on the highway.
'Thanks, I really appreciate the information.'
The old man nodded and said, 'Good luck, bud.'
Don knew that this was not like Mark to leave with strangers. He knew in his heart that they had forced Mark to go with them.
Don was about to call the local sheriff when his cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID. It read, 'Unknown'. The number was being blocked.
Don answered immediately. 'Hello?'
'Nice boy you got,' the voice said.
'Where is he? What have you done with him?'
'Oh, he's okay for now. He sure has a nice hot ass. We really enjoyed fucking him. And what's this he told us about you and him having sex and liking others to join you?'
'What are you talking about?' Don asked, knowing that Mark would never have said anything unless he was led to believe that the guys wanted sex.
'Me and my brother was taking a piss and he came in and stood between us. We could tell by the way he was acting that he wanted our cocks. We let him think that we were queer too. He told us that he and his dad had sex and liked others to join in. Is that true?'
'What do you want?'
'Ten thousand dollars in small bills.'
'Look, I don't have that kind of money. It will take me some time to get it. How can I contact you when I've got it?'
'We'll call you in two hours and see what the progress is. If we're not happy with it, we'll take other steps to get the money.'
He hung up. Don immediately called the sheriff. A deputy soon arrived and Don relayed what the old driver had said and about the phone call. The deputy said he knew of several guys that had old red Ford pick ups and would start checking them out. He took Don's number and said he'd be in touch.
Don returned to his rig and waited. It seemed like an eternity before he received the second call.
'What's the status?' the caller asked.
'I've contacted the president of my bank and he's getting it together but he's out of state. He'll have to wire the money to me, then I can get it and turn it over to you but not until my son is back with me.'
'Not good enough. I'll call you back.'
Again, Don waited.
Thirty minutes later his phone rang again. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was his Sue, his wife.
As soon as he answered she said, 'Don what's happened to Mark? I just got a call from some guy that said he had him and wanted ten thousand dollars for his return. He said some things that I don't want to believe.'
'Sue, calm down. The sheriff here is working on it and knows of several trucks that match the description of the one they were in. He's checking them out. As soon as I know something, I'll call you.'
'Don, if you let anything happen to Mark, I'll kill you myself when you get home. And get home soon. We need to talk.' She hung up.
Don suspected that they had told Sue what Mark had said. He'd have to talk to Mark and get their stories straight before they got home. He called his customer and explained the situation and advised that the delivery might be a day or two late. He understood.
Again, Don's phone rang.
'Have you heard anything yet?' the caller asked.
'No, I'm still waiting. Can I talk to Him?'
There was a pause then Don heard Mark's voice.
'Dad, I'm okay. Just....'
'Now you heard him. Get the money and he'll stay that way, but until we get the money, his hot ass and mouth are ours.'
The sheriff's deputy called and said that he hadchecked out some of the leads but still had more to go. Don told him what he had told the guy about getting the money together.
'Let me check out these other leads and if no luck, we'll set up a fake drop and see if we can catch them then.'
'Please, keep me informed.'
'I will, sir.'
Don got one more call and said that since it was getting late, the bank president couldn't do more until the next morning.
'I'll call tomorrow.'
Don slept little that night. He went in and had coffee and began talking to one driver, and for some reason began telling him his problem, leaving out the sex part.
'Bud, you need something to take your mind off of it for a while. Care to go out to my rig?'
If you're talking about sex, no thanks. Not tonight. Any other time I'd be glad to join you but tonight I can't.'
'I understand,' the driver said. 'I hope everything turns out okay for you.'
'Thanks,' Don answered.
The next morning the guy called and Don said that they were still working on it. The guy said he'd call back.
Shortly later the deputy called. He said he'd been working on finding the truck most of the night and thought he had a lead. He said he talked to one guy that said that two brothers lived about sixty miles north and had an old red truck and were mean as hell. He had seen them headed up that way driving fast with a third guy in the truck with them.
'Can you go check them out?' Don asked.
'That's another county and the sheriff there doesn't like to cooperate with us ever since we got credit for a big drug bust.'
'What can we do?'
'When they call again, tell them you have the money. We'll get a briefcase and put in cut paper with real bills on top as a decoy. Set up a meeting with them.'
'I sure hope it works,' Don said.
'I'll wait here with you for the call. I'll radio some deputies to get there first if possible and get hidden. I've got some old clothes and ride with you and when we get there I'll act as if I'm you. They don't know you.'
We waited. The call came and the exchange was set for noon.
'Drop your trailer. Go north to highway 20 and turn left. Go three and an half miles and there will be a dirt road going to your left. Go down it exactly two miles and you can turn around and park. When we pull up, we'll each begin walking toward each other and make the exchange half way between the vehicles.'
'I've got it.'
I had written everything down. The deputy was reading it. As soon as I hung up, the deputy radioed for several undercover deputies to meet him. They soon arrived with a briefcase packed as discussed and the plan was set. They would go out there now and get hidden.
Sam, the deputy, changed into his old clothes and said that when we turned onto highway 20 that he'd take over driving. He wanted me in the back.
We headed out and soon were at the meeting spot. We were fifteen minutes early.
'When I near Mark, I'm going to say 'Hi son, I'm glad you're okay.' I hope he picks up on it and doesn't blow the cover.'
'He's a smart kid. He'll do okay. I hope.'
We saw the old red pick up approaching.
'They're approaching,' Sam said into his radio. 'Get ready.'
He set his hand held radio down and the truck stopped. Sam climbed down with the briefcase and began walking toward the truck. The passenger and Mark headed toward us.
Peeking through the privacy curtains, I saw that Mark looked tired. His hands were tied behind his back.
Part way there Sam paused as the guy told him to open the briefcase. Sam did and showed the contents to him. They again began walking and I head Sam say, 'Hi, son. I'm glad you're okay'


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Part love story, part murder mystery, set on the cusp of the Second World War, Russell Banks' sharp-witted and deeply engaging new novel raises dangerous questions about class, politics, art, love, and madness - and explores what happens when two powerful personalities, trapped at opposite ends of a social divide, begin to break the rules.Twenty-nine-year-old Vanessa Cole is a wild, stunningly beautiful heiress, the adopted only child of a highly regarded New York brain surgeon. Vanessa has been scandalously linked to any number of rich and famous men. But on the night of July 4, 1936, at her parents' country home in a remote Adirondack mountain enclave known as The Reserve, two events coincide to permanently alter the course of Vanessa's callow life: her father dies of a heart attack, and a mysteriously seductive local artist, Jordan Groves, lands his biplane in the pristine waters of the forbidden Upper Lake. Jordan's reputation has preceded him; he is internationally known as much for his exploits and conquests as for his paintings themselves, and, here in the midst of the Great Depression, his leftist loyalties seem suspiciously undercut by his wealth and elite clientele. But for all his worldly swagger, Jordan is as staggered by Vanessa's beauty and charm as she is by his defiant independence. He falls easy prey to her electrifying personality, but it is not long before he discovers that the heiress carries a dark, deeply scarring family secret. Emotionally unstable from the start, and further unhinged by her father's unexpected death, Vanessa begins to spin wildly out of control, manipulating and destroying the lives of all who cross her path. Moving from the secluded beauty of the Adirondack wilderness to the skies above war-torn Spain and Fascist Germany, The Reserve is a clever, incisive, and passionately romantic novel of suspense that adds a new dimension to this acclaimed author's extraordinary repertoire.More
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Where was his editor?!?
- Ms.
Much better than other reviews suggest
- Bruce

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Canterbury Downs track report
Canterbury fans did a double take after looking at the splits posted in Saturday's fourth race. Favored Cyber Hacker had dueled through fractions of 21.93 seconds, 43.81, and 1:08.43 before drawing off in the 6 1/2-furlong allowance, stopping the timer in 1:14.91. The splits and final time were within hailing distance of a legendary track-record performance (1:14) in 1988 - a stretchlong duel between California shipper Don's Irish Melody and Midwest star Who Doctor Who in the $150,000 Chaucer Cup.
Another scorching time was posted in the fifth race when Minnesota-bred stakes winner Shakopee bested allowance rivals by five lengths and finished within a few ticks of the track record for 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:02.98.
The procession continued when Diligent Won equaled the track record for six furlongs in 1:08.68 while narrowly prevailing in an optional claiming contest in the sixth race.
Media relations director Kevin Gorg attributes the fast times to recent wet weather that has resulted in the racing surface being sealed numerous times. The repeated rolling of the track has quickened the surface.
* Full fields are likely for this weekend's Come Summer and Lady Canterbury Stakes, according to stakes coordinator Steve Ruff.
Probables for the $50,000 Come Summer Stakes, a mile turf test for 3-year-old colts and geldings, include St. Paul Stakes winner Stormy Business, Prairie Gold Juvenile winner Departing Now, Kid Grindstone, and Cosmic Kris, in addition to Canterbury-based runners Honor Our Troops and Roust About.
Sunday's $100,000 Lady Canterbury possibles include Gaviola Stakes winner Noisette, recent Churchill allowance winner Rich Find, and Rue Des Reves, a winner of six consecutive starts.


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Paris: Manchester United and AC Milan had plenty to celebrate on Tuesday as the footballing giants moved to within a hairs breadth of the second phase of the Champions League.
Manchester United performed a stylish 4-0 demolition job on Greek champions Olympiakos with two goals from Ryan Giggs and one each from Juan Sebastian Veron and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, while four-time champions Milan brought home the spoils after a 2-1 win at Bayern Munich.
But for every winner there is a loser and Bayern, the 2001 champions, could be the big name left on the outside looking in when Phase II starts at the end of November. This was the German teams second home loss in a row.
Ottmar Hitzfelds side, that has made the last eight or better for five straight seasons, is in crisis after taking just one point from a possible nine.
And after their opening-day conquerors Deportivo la Coruna came from behind to beat Lens 3-1 and limit the damage from last weeks 0-4 reverse at home to Milan, the Germans now find themselves five points adrift of their Spanish group G rivals.
Hitzfeld, who had beforehand stressed to his players that only a win would do, was furious after a gloriously in-form Filippo Inzaghi destroyed his men with two goals to nullify a consolation from Claudio Pizarro.
We made far too many mistakes at the back we werent aggressive enough and after the unnecessary goals against us we just lost it, Hitzfeld raged.
Bayerns influential president Franz Beckenbauer observed dryly that one single point from three matches is clearly not enough. We need a miracle.
As the pride of Germany prepared to fall by the wayside, Milans result showed Italy mean business this season six years after the trophy last went to an Italian side in the shape of Juventus.
Inzaghis two goals took his personal tally to seven in three Champions League games.
Juventus thanked two super strikes from Alessandro del Piero to glide past hapless English Premiership side Newcastle 2-0 at the Stadio Delle Alpi as Newcastle manager Bobby Robson again lost at the venue where his England side slumped on penalties in the 1990 World Cup semi-final.
Juventus now lead group E with seven points two clear of Hollands Feyenoord, who drew 0-0 with Dynamo Kiev.
Back in group F, it is Manchester United who are the dominant force with 11 goals scored in their three matches for full points to date.
Group opponents Maccabi Haifa, Olympiakos and Bayer Leverkusen all have three points, but which of the trio finishes runners-up is of no interest at all to a rampant United, without the unfit Ruud van Nistelrooy but for whom Veron had probably his best game.
The Greeks were down to 10 men for the second period after Jose Moedin Ze Elias was dismissed just before the break.
United coach Alex Ferguson was pleased with his mens showing. It can be difficult playing against 10 men, but I was impressed with the way we played. We kept our discipline, did nothing silly and kept good possession. Now we go to Olympiakos and if we can get a result there I think were through.
Group G is where Milan hold sway and the Italians can kill Bayern off in three weeks time if they win the San Siro return, probably to Deportivos advantage.
While Milan and Juventus are cranking up their campaigns to wrest superiority back to Italy from Spain, Barcelona served notice that they are also to be feared though possibly not quite as much as holders Real Madrid after they continued to bulldoze their way through group H.
Barcelonas 3-1 success over Lokomotiv in Moscow effectively means game over for the Russians but Bruges are also unlikely to play catch-up after their goalless draw at Galatasaray left them seven points adrift of the Catalan giants.
Dutch international marksman Patrick Kluivert and Argentine striker Javier Saviola, with a brace, saw off Lokomotiv, whose Nigerian striker James Obiorah scored their consolation.


text:
At least 10 cars were involved in a wreck at the Daytona Speedway on Saturday moments before the end of the Nationwide race, in a crash that sent driver Kyle Larson's car airborne, although he climbed out of the wreckage afterward, ESPN reported.
There was no official word on whether any spectators were injured in the accident. But images of the crash showed debris flying over a catch fence and into the spectator stands, and CNN said some witnesses reported injuries among spectators.
NASCAR President Mike Helton told ESPN, "Our prayers and thoughts are with everybody they (the emergency responders) are working on."
The Florida crash took place a day before NASCAR's top event, the Daytona 500. CNN reported all of the drivers appeared to be safe after the crash.


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Butterfly Beaded Shawl or Scarf by Joan Dyer
Welcome! You are browsing as a guestWould you like to see projects made from this pattern and much more? create a free account What am I missing?
© matsutake
© joan dyer
© joan dyer
Butterfly Beaded Shawl or Scarf
This pattern is available for $6.00 USD
buy it now or visit pattern website
buy it now or visit pattern website
Errata available: docs.google.com
The pattern has been updated (4/19/2014) and now includes charts. It is also available as a Ravelry download, in addition to the Tess' Designer Yarns website where it may either be downloaded or ordered as a printed pattern (a mailed copy is $7.50).
The errata applies to the initial printed pre-Ravelry version.
Also needed: size 8 hex seed beads (added one at a time using the crochet hook method). One skein of silk and ivory makes a 9" by 72" scarf, and two skeins a 17" by 78" rectangular shawl. The shawl or scarf is constructed in 2 pieces, grafted in the center.
And a very special thank you to nscollins for her eagle-eyed proof reading and technical editing.
For more information, see: http://www.tessyarns.com/?page_id=71&shopp_pid=199


text:
|Outside the Lines:
High School Hype
Here's the transcript from Show 142 of weekly Outside The Lines - High School Hype
BOB LEY, HOST- December 15, 2002. In the wake of the nationally televised game involving LeBron James, the question rises -- how does coverage like that affect high school kids? It is our topic ahead, Outside the Lines.
He's in high school and he's the lead story.
DICK VITALE, ESPN COLLEGE BASKETBALL ANALYST- Are you serious?
J.W. STEWART, ESPNEWS ANCHOR- America's best high school player, LeBron James.
JOHN ANDERSON, ESPN SPORTSCENTER ANCHOR- 17-year-old can't miss...
STEWART SCOTT, ESPN SPORTSCENTER ANCHOR- National magazine cover boy ...
KEITH RUSSELL, ESPNEWS ANCHOR- He'll be the first pick in the NBA draft.
LEY- The attention on LeBron James is simply the latest and most glaring example of the media explosion surrounding high school sports. Star players identified and publicized at younger and younger ages.
JOSH BOTTHELF, EDITOR OF DIME MAGAZINE- People love to use the word exploitation. It's unfair to these kids to spin it like that. These kids are getting a tremendous amount of exposure.
TOMMY ZBIKOWSKI, QUARTERBACK, BUFFALO GROVE HIGH SCHOOL- It's exciting when you're a high school kid seeing yourself on TV.
LEY- That attention and coverage on kids 15, 16, 17, what does it do to them?
SEAN MCCURDY, ST. ANTHONY HIGH SCHOOL- You need to act like an adult, because there is always a camera on you.
BOBBY HURLEY SR., HEAD COACH ST. ANTHONY HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL- You miss your adolescence. You reach an age later on where you're looking around and saying, wait a minute, I missed all these things.
LEY- Today on Outside the Lines -- high school hype. What the national attention on youngsters does to the kids and the games they play.
There's a young snowboarder who competes at the senior level. He already endorses a soft drink, and he just signed with a major agency to represent him. The youngster is 12. Earlier this year, patriotism and pride knew no bounds, celebrating the stunning gold medal moment of figure skater Sarah Hughes. She, at the time, was 16. LeBron James is 17 years old. He's headed for the NBA, and he has been for several years. That ship has sailed, as has the debate on whether high school kids belong in the pros. But this morning we'll talk less about LeBron than the thousands of youngsters who want to be like him and may draw that belief, even if it is misguided, from viewing their own reflections in newspapers, on television, and in the general national conversation on their sport. We discuss this high school hype this morning.
I'll be talking live in a moment with arguably the most influential men in the business of college basketball. First, Tom Rinaldi considers the increasingly bright spotlight America turns on its high school athletes and what may hide in the shadows.
ESPN REMOTE DIRECTOR- Five, four, three, two, one.
VITALE - Are you serious?
VITALE- I just watched the best high school player I've ever seen at this stage in high school.
TOM RINALDI, ESPN CORRESPONDENT -More than 11,500 fans, nearly 50 reporters, about a dozen cameras, and more than a million and a half people watching on TV across the country, all focused on a high school basketball game and its star attraction, LeBron James.
LEBRON JAMES, ST. VINCENT-ST. MARY HIGH SCHOOL- They came out to see me, and I thank the fans -- I thank everybody for coming out tonight and showing support for me and my team.
SUSAN VINELLA, CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER- It's sort of a chicken and egg thing. Some people say he's getting the attention because of the media. As a media person, I say we're covering what's happening.
RINALDI- What's happening goes beyond LeBron James. High school sports in America have broken into the big-time media spotlight, with an explosion in coverage in the last decade. From the universe of regional cable outlets hosting their own preps sports programming, to high school prospects who publish their diaries on websites, to polls ranking the top 25 high school football and basketball teams across the country, promising athletes can earn media attention long before graduation.
PETER ROBY, DIRECTOR NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR SPORT IN SOCIETY- We're losing the line between before the media's allowed and where it's not. They're in the locker rooms, they're on the sidelines, they're in the huddle.
LOCAL CABLE PLAY-BY-PLAY MAN FOR BUFFALO GROVE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL- This week's match-up, a battle of unbeatens at 4-0.
LOCAL CABLE COLOR COMMENTATOR FOR BUFFALO GROVE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL - ACCESS can't remember a player that has had more notoriety, more publicity than Tommy Zbikowski.
RINALDI- Tommy Zbikowski's most pressing coverage at times comes from cameras, not opposing defenses, much to the annoyance of his coach.
RICH ROBERTS, HEAD FOOTBALL COACH, BUFFALO GROVE HIGH SCHOOL- It's a game, and I still believe we need to treat it like that. This is not a college or a professional game. It's a high school game played by teenagers.
ZBIKOWSKI- You get the nerves the first time you're on TV, and now it's -- it's comfortable now. It's not that bad.
RINALDI- Zbikowski has had plenty of opportunities to get comfortable. A blue-chip quarterback prospect from Buffalo Grove High School in Illinois, he's already written a diary for ESPN.com and he has been a fixture on regional cable TV shows.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE- I'm sure you're drawing a lot of parallels to the young man who (last year) won the Heisman Trophy, Eric Crouch.
ZBIKOWSKI- A lot. I know a couple of people have even compared me and him, but -- really, I think it's hard to be compared to a Heisman Trophy winner when you haven't even played a down of college football.
LOCAL CABLE SIDELINE REPORTER FOR BUFFALO GROVE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL- Tom Zbikowski scored all three touchdowns today.
ZBIKOWSKI- You're still a teenage kid, still trying to have fun in high school.
RINALDI- On tonight's Gwinnett prep rally. Across the country, high schools get high attention, especially on cable television.
RALPH PICHURNE, HOST OF GWINNETT PEP RALLY- Ralph Pachurne high flying here with you for the next 30 minutes, recapping the week that was in Gwinnett County football.
RINALDI- The Gwinnett prep rally debuted 10 years ago.
ERIC HUNTER- Hello and welcome to Gwinnett prep rally on "Channel Two Emetco."
JEFF BATTEN, BATTEN COMMUNICATIONS- When we started off in 1993, we were one notch better than "Wayne's World."
BATTEN - Ready, camera one.
RINALDI- Since then, the show focusing solely on County prep action in Gwinnett County, Georgia, has clearly grown up, having aired 1,000 episodes already. Its staff works on as many as five high school programs at a time.
BATTEN- We've had huge companies advertise on a local cable access show. The Army has spent money with us. Major car manufacturers have spent money with us. Major restaurant chains have spent money with us. There's no doubt that marketers feel like that the high school sports, no matter on what level, is something that is helpful to them.
RINALDI- Cable coverage has grown from Friday night lights to a broader spotlight for one reason -- people watch.
DAN CAPASSO, MANAGER LOCAL PROGRAMMING, COMCAST- Everybody relates to high school. Not everybody's been to college. You know, very few of us make it to the pro ranks. But everybody has a memory of high school.
HIGH SCHOOL CHEERLEADERS- Defense! Go with us. Defense! Defense!
CAPASSO- It's just the purest game going.
RINALDI- These are pictures from a fashion spread in "Dime Magazine" of 17-year-old junior high school junior, Sebastian Telfair. A dazzling point guard many consider to be the best prep player in New York City, Telfair has been the subject of dozens of positive profiles, but these pictures in "Dime," a new basketball magazine, raised eyebrows instantly.
BOTTHELF- I think a lot of people did have problems with the photos of Telfair. But the people who had problems have never been exposed to this world. You know, he was dressed like a 16-year-old kid. And hip-hop is the prevailing culture in the game of basketball, and it makes some people uncomfortable.
SEBASTIAN TELFAIR, LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL- I didn't think it was going to turn out how it turned out. You know, I thought they were saying nice (things). You know, I was modeling clothes and things like that. Then when I saw the magazine and the way they put it, with models and stuff, people blew it up more than it was. But that's, like, not me.
ROBY- That's why the media has to use some of its better judgment, because that can be considered exploitation.
BOTTHELF- People love to use the word exploitation, you're exploiting these athletes, you're exploiting Sebastian Telfair by putting him in "Dime Magazine," you're exploiting LeBron James by putting him on ESPN. But I think it is unfair to these kids to spin it like that. These kids are getting a tremendous amount of exposure.
RINALDI - One in 35,000 high school basketball players today reaches the NBA. One. Yet as prep schoolers are deemed stars and their teams appear on TV across the country more often, what's the message? For a teenager today, is making it on to TV a goal unto itself?
BUFFALO GROVE PLAY-BY-PLAY GUY- Zbikowski, on the keeper, end zone, touchdown, Buffalo Grove. Four yards out, Tommy Zbikowski.
ZBIKOWSKI- It's exciting when you're a high school kid seeing yourself on TV.
OBIE NWADIKE, ST. ANTHONY HIGH SCHOOL- You're put on camera, makes you feel like you did something, and actually you haven't accomplished anything. But, I mean, it actually gives you a good feeling. You feel almost like you're a pro.
RINALDI - The pros don't practice in a rented gym like the St Anthony Friars do. Coach Bob Hurley's Jersey City high school team has won 23 straight championships and five players have reached the NBA. But even with the school facing closure due to a budget crisis, Hurley doesn't believe televising games for money is an answer.
HURLEY SR - I don't know that we want to start getting in situations where TV is contacting, like the nun in my school and asking if we're available for a day for games. I think that would be -- that's out of the realm of what we should be doing right now.
MCCURDY- Kids are going to be trying to show off and do different things that if the camera wasn't there, they would just be playing a regular game. Now that they're on ESPN, some kids might get intimidated by it, and some kids might thrive to it.
HURLEY- That becomes why I think a lot of our players now aren't as good as perhaps they could be, because there's so much adulation they're receiving at an age when they're just unprepared for it.
RINALDI- Prepared or not, sports coverage is already looking to high school and beyond. ESPN is contemplating plans to broadcast a national high school basketball tournament. The Football Network, a new channel hoping to launch next fall, will show high school games, as well as Pop Warner action.
JERRY SOLOMON, PRESIDENT, THE FOOTBALL NETWORK- I think there's more attention being given to the younger kids because kids are becoming better athletes at a much younger age.
RINALDI- And ESPN The Magazine's most recent issue, with LeBron James on the cover, just featured Aaron Locke for his potential as a future Shaquille O'Neal. He hasn't made SportsCenter yet, though. Locke is 6 years old.
LEY- Tom Rinaldi. To consider high school hype, we welcome Billy Packer. He has been broadcasting college basketball for 30 years. This year will mark his 28th consecutive Final Four, the last 21 as the lead analyst for CBS sports. Billy joins us this morning from Charlotte. Good morning, Billy.
BILLY PACKER, CBS COLLEGE BASKETBALL ANALYST- Hi, Bob.
LEY- Dick Vitale has been with ESPN since the network's first basketball season in the Fall of 1979. He also broadcasts on ABC. Dick joins us this morning from Sarasota, Florida. Good morning, Dick.
VITALE - How are you doing, Robert?
LEY- Sonny Vaccaro. His title is director of sports development for Adidas, a title that doesn't begin to address his influence in the sport of high school and college basketball, and Sonny joins us this morning from L.A. Good morning, Sonny.
SONNY VACCARO, DIRECTOR OF SPORTS DEVELOPMENT, ADIDAS- Good morning, Robert.
LEY- Let me begin with Billy, if I could. Billy, what do you make of this armchair psychology and sociology we've seen throughout the week in the wake of the LeBron James game? What has the debate missed?
PACKER- Well, what it has missed, I think, is the exploitation is not of LeBron James or high school athletics. The exploitation is of the sport of basketball, and that's the little world that I live in. When you take in consideration 10 years ago, without question, America was number one in men's basketball throughout the world. In just 10 short years, we went from number one to number six in the world championships. Our junior players finished third. They finished with a bronze medal in the world junior qualifying in the men's; so therefore, we have gone from the world's superpower of basketball through all of the way that the basketball has been handled in the last ten years, to a team that just was sixth place using our professional athletes in the world championships.
LEY- And this all relates to high school?
PACKER- If this were to happen -- Bob, if this had happened, let's say, as an example, if I said to you that 10 years from now -- that's been a 10-year span -- that the United States and its military power would go from rank number one in the world to number six in 10 years' time, there would be hell to pay. But that's what's happened to us in basketball, and I think it's been through the exploitation and the misuse of the game by all of us, and that includes the shoe companies, ESPN, CBS, the NBA, and announcers like Dick and myself that sometimes get in a situation of making things much bigger than they really need to be at that given time.
LEY- You've laid out a great menu of things we can talk about this morning, but Dick, do you draw a straight line from a high school telecast and attention on high schoolers to the decline of the sport as a whole?
VITALE- Well, you know, I can understand what Billy is saying, because obviously I think some of the rules out there create the problem that we have and that our players can't get better. I remember Nick Collison telling me he's got Roy Williams with him on the college campus in the summer, and he can't get Roy to work with him because our rules are on archaic. They don't allow our players to develop, they don't let the coaches work with our kids to develop them, and that's why, when you go to Europe, these players are playing consistently. We talk about exploitation.
All I know is this, LeBron James has created such an unbelievable excitement and interest. I'm at a party last night, and the only thing they wanted to talk to me about -- I wanted to talk about Florida, I wanted to talk about the Maryland game. They didn't want to talk about it. They wanted to talk about LeBron James. Exploitation to me, Robert, is very simple -- when you have unsavory people trying to make money off of kids, what we had here was a situation...
LEY- Who are these unsavory people? Identify them.
VITALE- We talk about people behind the scenes, trying to hustle, make money off t-shirts, etcetera. It's not unsavory when ESPN sits in negotiations with a promoter and with the schools, and they agree to televise it because the runaway freight train of hype on this kid was so big over two years, cover of Sports Illustrated. I think it can be a beautiful story. I look for that which is positive, not negative.
PACKER- Bob, Bob. The unsavory characters could start right with Dick, with ESPN, with guys like myself, with Sonny. We all need to step to want plate and say we are the unsavory characters, and what can we�
VITALE- Well, I don't know about unsavory...
PACKER- Dick, Dick. You work for Adidas. Sonny works for Adidas. He doesn't...
VITALE- No, I don't work for Adidas. You are wrong. I don't work for Adidas, Billy. I don't work for Adidas. Let's get that straight. I don't work for Adidas. I give speeches like I do for any corporation, and if they contract me, I give a speech. Just like you do.
PACKER- We all are so anxious to be calling other people the unsavory characters. We have all played a part and a role in taking basketball from...
VITALE- There is no doubt about it...
PACKER- ... where it is to where it's become.
LEY- Let me get a T.O. baby, to use one of your phrases.
VITALE- The definition of unsavory, I didn't buy that, I don't buy that at all...
LEY- Sonny Vaccaro...
VITALE- ...when you criticize me for televising the game, which is so ludicrous and absurd...
PACKER- No, it has to start with all of us.
VITALE- Well, I agree. But we're not unsavory.
LEY- Let's bring in our third panelist.
VITALE- I'm going to church to pray for you and everybody else after I leave here.
LEY- Sonny, who is savory and who is unsavory? I mean, you've been at the heart of this debate for your lifetime.
VACCARO- Robert, you know, the unsavory part is undistinguishable, Bob, because you don't know what people are doing for bad purposes. I understand Dick's plea and I understand what Billy Packer is trying to say, but basically they're both saying something that is nonexistent. You know, I don't know if we can call anyone unsavory if they are doing something with consent of the people involved.
I don't know if coaching is so bad that Billy thinks our game is falling apart. The very people he's talked about, that's looting these games, all these high school kids that lost, they were coached by their high school coaches, Billy. All these pro guys that lost, they were coached by great college coaches.
You know, I understand Billy's plea with the coaching, and I agree with that, and I understand Bobby Hurley's opening introduction to this, because we do need coaching. But what has happened, ladies and gentlemen, we have picked on a very few people, young kids, in this society to have a whole contest on a whole debate about it, and I think it's wrong. I'm going to get a chance to say this. I think it's the most racist thing I have ever seen in my life, is the picking on high school and AAU basketball players, and I think the more we do this, the bigger the racism and the schism gets, Bob, and I am part and parcel to every part of it, and my whole life has been devoted to this. So I will let my other guys speak.
LEY- I mentioned Sarah Hughes at the top, I mentioned the snowboarder. We see the Olympic athletes. There is not the hue and cry, Billy, as when young black kids are associated with AAU coaches, and here we are, four middle aged white guys talking about this.
PACKER- Well, let me explain something to you, why I say this is parallel to men's basketball. Let's just take what we've done with women's basketball in America; the racial situation is basically the same. Women's basketball in the early 1980's was so far behind the Europeans and the Russians, people said we could never catch up.
You know what our women did this summer? They won the gold in the world championship. You know what our women's junior team did? They won the gold. You know what they beat Brazil by in the championship game? Over 30 points. So we have moved in a direction of men's basketball, under the same circumstances, in an entirely different way than we moved in women's basketball, and I think that's because of all of us that had a responsibility to make the game something that it's not.
And we all owe, and whatever we can do to get back on track, to make the game the important thing and not exploit the game, as we all have in different ways. And I'm not -- unsavory might have been the wrong term in respect to somebody thinks that being underworld. Sonny does what he does in a great way. If you ever write a chapter on the history of merchandising basketball, Sonny Vaccaro has to be a major factor in that. And I applaud him, because Sonny in this respect, is always called by many writers to be a guy that works under the table.
I don't think that's the case at all. I think he's worked on top of the table within the system. So in that regard, I agree to Sonny. The point that Sonny and Dick and everybody in basketball is going to have to agree on, however, is we have taken our men's game in this sport and taken it from world dominance to something right now that is questionable, and that's where we have to take account and be held accountable for.
LEY- OK, Dick, I know you wanted to respond, we'll get to it in just a second. We will have more on high school hype, as we continue Outside the Lines.
BOTTHELF- You don't hear the outcry when there's a 15-year-old tennis player or an ice skater. But when it's, you know, a poor black kid or just a black kid in general, I think -- you know, especially when he's part of the hip-hop culture that a lot of white America's not used to, that is something that grabs peoples attention.
ROBY- If you are going to have an opportunity to sell the rights to your television games, to your sports games, to a local cable operator who knows he can drive revenue up, you are going to be tempted to do that, and the superintendent of schools, the principal, the athletic director and the coaches involved have to get together and say, if in fact we are going to try to do these things, then how we going to do it to minimize the intrusion on the kids and keep it in its proper perspective.
LEY- That's Peter Roby. We continue now with Billy Packer, Dick Vitale and Sonny Vaccaro. Dick, the game you telecast the other night, the school's realized some money off of that, but how many schools realistically are in that position, and what the temptation might be for other schools who think they have the next big thing to do the same thing?
VITALE- Well, you got to realize we are dealing with a rare situation here. This kid is a phenom. A teenage phenom. I will put...
LEY- All right. But there is one of those every couple of years, though, Dick. Isn't there?
VITALE- I was very used. Out of all of superstars, Mary Lou Retton, Tiger Woods. Nobody went crazy and screamed when Tiger Woods was on TV in the U.S. Amateurs win. Bottom line...
LEY- Right, but we're not talking about a school though, possibly seeing it as a possible lure to make money.
VITALE- The bottom line is here, we had a phenom, and there was curiosity. Everybody went bananas to see him. I think the one common denominator -- and I don't know the correlation here -- where I disagree with Billy, that's a whole different issue about the world championships and about those games and the development of players. The bottom line is a situation where Billy has great passion for the game. I have great passion.
So does Sonny. And I couldn't agree more with him about Sonny, who is so responsible for coaches making thousands of dollars wearing shoes, when I was coaching -- Sonny, I wish you were there. I got three free Converse, and I thought it was a great thing. Everybody makes a big thing if Billy and I disagree. We are different styles. I'm shy and introverted. He is loud and boisterous. But the bottom line is, we both have a common denominator. We love the game. We all are part of the game.
LEY- Let's talk about the game. Sonny, what's happened to the high school game? Yes, we've got great kids, we identify the best of them earlier and earlier. But for the 99.9 percent of the teams and schools that aren't LeBron James or Sebastian Telfair, what's happened to that game in the last 10 years?
VACCARO- The game that LeBron played, that's what happened. Oak Hill Academy, that's not a high school. The media has made it out to be one of the greatest things in the world. They are number one in USA today. Dick pontificated about their 501 wins and two losses over the years. That's not hype.
VACCARO- No, no, no. Dick, Dick, Dick.
VITALE- No, I didn't, Sonny. No, that's not true, Sonny. I didn't mention that at all.
VACCARO- OK, I am using that -- OK, I don't want this to get into a verbal thing. Bob asked me a question. My point is, Oak Hill Academy is not a high school. A lot of these schools aren't high schools. We're talking, what Billy and Dick and I are used to, the town where you grew up and there was 55 kids in the town and you went to the high school. Bob, it's gone beyond that. We recruit. See, my gripe against the high schools, it's not the high school we knew. The coaches from the high school teams -- you know, most of these guys are not teachers. They...
VITALE- They're not -- a high school coach has been removed from the formula because of AAU competition in the summer. You know, a lot of AAU coaches do a great job.
VACCARO- Thank God for the AAU, because it gives our kids something to do...
VITALE- I agree with that.
LEY- Billy, let me bounce that off of you, because the AAU coaches and the AAU programs are a convenient whipping boy for the excesses, or what people see as the excess. Do you share that opinion, thank God for the AAU's?
PACKER- I don't share that opinion at all. Whenever a player can get an opportunity to maximize his skills and move forward as a basketball player and certainly competition against other people and getting an opportunity to play in the summer, it's something that I did -- basically went down to the local playground and played.
VITALE - I say Amen to that Bob.
PACKER - Obviously my skills could have been advanced if I'd have played against better players more often, so I don't fault the AAU programs at all.
What I fault is the exploitation. As an example, Oak Hill ranked number one in the nation. I did a game yesterday, Maryland against Florida, two quality college basketball teams. Based on what I saw the other night in the television game -- and I really charted that game -- there was not a player on Oak Hill's team that could have affected in any way, shape, or form the Maryland-Florida game, and yet we're talking about Oak Hill like these are a great group of players that are destined to take over the college game. It is amazing to me how promotion and hype have turned people into quality. That's not necessarily what makes quality.
LEY- Whose promotion, whose hype?
PACKER- Well, let's face it, let's take all of us. Let's take -- let's start off with the game the other night, talking about this -- the number one team in the nation, "USA Today" was ranking them...
VITALE- What I said, Billy, during the show. Billy, if you heard the show. If you say you heard the show...
PACKER- I listened to the show very closely.
VITALE- Well, Billy, I questioned the number one rankings. I said I don't know how they come up with these rankings.
PACKER- Well, Dick, let me...
VITALE- I have no idea how they come up with those.
PACKER- Dick, let me question this, and I just heard your excerpt there again. This is the greatest high school player I've ever seen. You are an intelligent guy in regard to basketball, as is Sonny. I've only seen the young man play one time.
So I sat down and I said to myself, of all the high school players I've ever seen, Billy, rank your first and second team. And you know what, LeBron James doesn't fit my first or second team all-time in terms of high school players. That's where we get out of the reality, into the hype. And believe me, if I were to name the guys that I picked, Moses Malone, Connie Hawkins, Wilt Chamberlain, Calvin Murphy, Pete Maravich, George McGinnis, Kevin Garnett, Kareem Jabbar, Pearl Washington, and Austin Carr -- LeBron James does not make that 10. And so we...
VITALE- Well, that's your opinion.
LEY- Let me get back to the topic...
VITALE- You're saying -- wait a minute, time-out, time-out.
LEY- No, Dick, Dick, Dick, hold on.
VITALE- I have a problem with that, Bob. Number one, he is saying that...
LEY- Quickly.
VITALE- ...now after we know the results...
PACKER- No, no, I'm talking about -- as high school...
VITALE- I don't buy that. I don't buy that.
PACKER- ... players 17 years of age, Dick, he does not rank with any of those 10 as a 17-year-old player.
VITALE- No, not now, because those guys have done it, Billy.
PACKER. No, period. I'm talking about when they were 17 years of age.
VITALE- Oh, I don't know about that.
LEY- The point is moot to our discussion. He's a hell of a player. But Sonny, let's talk about the...
VITALE- He's more than a hell of a player. And I agree with Jay Bilas, who said on our radio, who I respect ...
PACKER- Jay wasn't old enough to see Connie Hawkins play -- or Wilt Chamberlain play.
LEY- Let's talk about -- upfront without any money, Sonny. And that's where a lot of people have unease about this. LeBron James for example. There has been some lip service paid to him going to college, but from my understanding at these high school camps he was staying at, and kids would stay in the dorm, he would be in the hotel. It would be extra so-called benefits given to him. So he was ineligible anyway, to go to college from several years ago.
That's where the unease. You understand where people look at these camps, look at the shoe contracts, look at high schools having shoe contracts, and have an unease with this.
VACCARO- You know, it is funny. They have an unease with that, but they don't have an unease with me paying UCLA a lot of money and Nike paying North Carolina a lot of money, and the coaches that Dick referred. See, my problem with this whole set, Bob, is we only have an unease with the lowest common denominator, the least educated of all of them. The high school principal, the high school athletic director -- These people aren't really capable of running a big, first-class organization.
And certainly the high school kid, LeBron notwithstanding, doesn't really understand all the monetary situations happening -- things around him -- at this point in time. But we go and take it one step further and go to the more educated people, the college presidents. Well, they've accepted all the money that you're alluding to, Bob.
I've been beat over the head for 25 years, and I'm proud of getting beat over the head because of what I've done was made you think. You know what I've also done? I offered you money and you took it. So, we're going back, and I watched the previous people talk about exploitation and using all that. No one's exploiting anybody here if somebody else takes something knowingly and willingly and it's a partnership, Bob.
VITALE- Hey Bob. Let me say this, Bob.
LEY- And you -- hold on, Dick, just for a second. Just to establish. We talked about LeBron James. It's either you or Nike is going to put $25 million -- or even add one -- put $25 million into LeBron James' pocket shortly, right?
VACCARO- I'd do it tomorrow morning. I would do it yesterday morning, Bob. I would have done it the first time I saw him two-and-a-half years ago. But you know, the shame about it is, LeBron and his family couldn't make some sort of agreement to do this and put it in a trust fund. The shame about it is all the speculation that we're talking about it. You know, because it's a business deal that the corporate community's willing to do. Nike wants to do it. We're willing to do it. And LeBron's willing to do it.
So why can't he do it? Why can't any child do it? And that's my problem, Bob, with the whole thing. I'm not going to argue with Billy and Dick on the rationale of the game. I'm going to argue with them on the rationale of these people not allowing to better themselves at this point in time, and also, don't ever forget, we're talking to the people, and we made the rules, as Dick alluded to, the hardest for them to understand. These rules are so ambiguous, it's impossible. I will die -- excuse me, Richard -- I will die fighting for, you know, these kids and these people to have a right to share in the wealth of the whole God-dang situation.
PACKER- Bob, I agree in Sonny's position, because he's always been upfront about all this. But let me tell you the gamble that Sonny's taking. Let's talk about LeBron James. I have talked to many NBA people, and they say that he won't be a factor in their league until at least three seasons.
Can I tell you, if they talk about $25 million shoe contracts, there will be $25 million within three years in terms of his NBA contract if he's the Lottery number one guy. That means that in the three-year period of time that most NBA people agree he will not be a factor, there will be a $45 million investment in this young man, assuming that he turns out to be as good as Dick says that he's going to be, or that people are projecting he will be.
LEY- And what's wrong with that?
PACKER- I applaud Sonny in this respect. If you're willing to make a $45 million -- or a portion of 50 percent of a $45 million gamble on a player that may or may not be the next Michael Jordan, I applaud Sonny for going forward. And here's one of the things I really agree with Sonny.
Here's where I have a problem with the NCAA as an example. This young man should be allowed to have personal counsel, and it should be paid for by those people that are generating income so that he can make an intelligent decision of what he is going to do, not only with the money and when he should take it and how he should take it.
Can we expect a young man who does not have a father, has a mother that is not in a position to make these kind of determinations over multi-million dollar contracts, that this boy is prevented from having that opportunity to have proper council? That council is going to be working with the Sonny Vaccaro's, and unfortunately, we have our heads buried in the sand in regard to players like this that are phenoms, but to gamble...
VITALE- I will tell you this...
PACKER- ... in my estimation, I am amazed at Sonny or the people at Nike can go to Phil Knight and say, hey, let's spend $25 million on a guy we are not sure is going to be there.
LEY- All right. Just a quick note. The Sports Reporters are coming along in just a second, shortly after 10:00 Eastern. Dick, go ahead, respond.
VITALE- Well, I just want to simply say this. You know, we're talking about LeBron James. What about DeAngelo Collins? What about Lenny Cooke? What about all those that don't make it? If you really want to solve the problems out there, you can solve them very simply. Very simply. Make all freshman ineligible academically...
LEY- All right, Dick. Chances of that happening are what?
VITALE- OK, but you want to solve problems there? That's one way. Here is the second one. Number two. Why in baseball does it work so beautifully, where a kid, once he enters the college campus can't go to the draft until after his third year? That way it opens the door for kids like LeBron. If they want to go to the pro's after high school, so be it. Let them go to the pros. The college game will go on and on. You know, there are a lot of other kids out there. We are talking about a handful of kids. LeBron James.
What about Omar Cook right now? What about kids like Rod Grizzard, Marcus Taylor? All these kids who got bad advice who listened to guys on the street filling their heads up, who thought they were going to be first round draft choices, and they are not drafted, and they are thrown to the wayside...
PACKER- Dick, Dick, Dick. Look in the mirror...
VITALE- That's the problem.
PACKER- Dick, look in the mirror. You are one of the guys that hyped these players at a point where it is ridiculous. As an example, the game I did yesterday, Maryland and Florida. Chris Wilcox, Darnell Harvey. Two players that left those particular schools. You know what they are averaging? Seven minutes a game in the NBA. One point and one rebound...
VITALE- Exactly...
PACKER- And yet these guys were the Diaper Dandies, the super dupers. They can't miss lottery picks. No they were not...
LEY- Time out. Time out.
VITALE- Time out Billy.
PACKER- ...they are beyond the point of their ability.
LEY- Sonny, you talk to all these kids, you know about them all the time. But Sonny -- Sonny could be closer than anybody -- to the best high school kids year in and year out. To what extent to what they see on the winter nights, when they -- and Dick and I started this back in the 1980s -- talking about high school recruits, and we all share on the incentive. There is an incentive to be shared.
VITALE- There are a lot of big talk shows now. Every talk show...
LEY- OK, but to what extent, Sonny, do these kids listen and revel in hearing their names mentioned and start to believe they are better than they are, because they see themselves on television?
PACKER- They do.
VACCARO- They look forward to it. They look forward to coming to the camps, playing in the all-star games. I agree on that theory. But the only thing that Richard forgot here, is Marcus Taylor was guided by his father. Marcus Taylor didn't play in the AAU circuit. I am saying to you, and the other two kids you referred to, Dick, and it is a question I will direct back to Billy. I don't honestly believe that 90 percent of the kids who we have talked about, who failed because they may or may not have left school too early, or went out of high school, Richard, academically were qualified to go to college in the first place.
VITALE- Yes, but if they knew they had to go to college, Sonny, but see if the kid wants -- I have no problem with a kid going to the pro's out of high school if that is what he wants to do. I know some beautiful people that don't go to college. College is not for everyone. There are a lot of hard working, blue collar people, and if the kid wants to further his skills, and basketball is what he wants to do, so be it. College is for those that want to be there, and want to go to school.
And the bottom line is, as far as hype or Billy says, our job is to talk about the kids we see. And I will never apologize for saying that a kid is a Diaper Dandy. I will never apologize for saying a kid is a superstar. I will pour my heart out to that, pour my enthusiasm out to that. The bottom line is, remember, you can't hide talent. And when a kid is talented like LeBron James, you are not going to hide him. People want to see him, and he will...
LEY- Now, Dick. If you hide him...
VITALE- ... be on TV. And nothing...
LEY- ... but at the same time...
VITALE- ... and that is the bottom line.
LEY- Billy. By the time we get to March, over the last 10 years, what's happened to the quality of the college game? The best are gone.
PACKER- Absolutely, the college game has been diluted...
VITALE- The NBA games too, Billy...
PACKER- ... excuse me, Dick. I believe he was talking to me. The college game ...
VITALE- The NBA games as well.
PACKER- ... has been diluted. The NBA has been diluted horribly. There are 60 guys that have college eligibility who are now out of college, supposedly playing in the NBA. Start to try to name who they are and how they have affected the NBA game. It is amazing to me to see how much the NBA game has been diluted at the expense of the college game, and both of them have been drastically effected in the ability to play on the court. It is because guys have been hyped into believing that they are something that they are not, and the NBA being willing to go ahead and talk about signing a guy on potential rather than performance.
LEY- Well then, we all...
VITALE- I agree with Billy...
LEY- Let me ask you this. There is a new head...
VITALE- I agree with Billy there.
LEY- Well, Dick. Let me ask you this. There is a new head of the NCAA. It is the man who fired Bobby Knight, Myles Brand, president of Indiana University. He has talked about penalizing schools on the basis of graduation rates, and rewarding schools on the basis of graduation rates. It rarely gets to graduating with the best players these days. Dick, is such a thing even feasible?
VITALE- Well, I will tell you this, Bob. If you really care about graduated players, then you make freshmen ineligible; let them enjoy their freshman year.
LEY- But Dick, this is not going to happen, is it?
VITALE- Let the -- well, I don't know if it is going to happen. If you really care -- but of course, financially that will not happen. I agree with Billy whole-heartedly about the quality of play on the NBA, the collegiate level, and that is why I say, a David Stern who had came out with a 20-year-old...
VACCARO- Please, Bob...
VITALE- ... age limit, was also...
VACCARO- Bob, let me...
VITALE- ...something that was very interesting. David, a great commissioner ...
VITALE- ... I thought that if he could sit down...
PACKER- OK, he is not a great commissioner...
VITALE- Wait a minute here...
PACKER- ... he is a good executive for 29 owners. He is not a great commissioner in regard to the status of basketball.
VITALE- I think he is pretty good.
PACKER- He is having a disastrous effect with respect on basketball.
VITALE- I think he has done a great job in marketing. I think that if David Stern could sit down with the Players' Union and with the NCAA, and come up with some...
PACKER- What dream world do you live in?
VITALE- ... sanity.
VACCARO- Bob.
VITALE- Well, you know, I have been dreaming. I've had not�.
LEY- We have 30 seconds in the television world, guys, and I have got the clock. So we are going to move on.
VITALE- Bob, Bob...
LEY- Dick, Dick, Dick, Dick. Hold on just a second. I am going to give each one of you a chance for a closing comment to wrap it up, and ...
VITALE- Hey, I got to go to church, Bob, you told me 10:30 mass, man. I have got to go pray for William, Sonny and me...
LEY- You would have been gone if your answers were shorter, so you can pray on shorter answers.
VITALE- No, I am going to tell our boss now, you promised me 10:00. My wife is waiting, the kids are waiting...
LEY- Alright. Hold on.
VITALE- I got to go pray for you guys.
LEY- Let's go around the horn, and Sonny, where are we going to be in five years in this entire situation?
VACCARO- You know, Bob, I don't know where we are going to be in five years. The only thing I question, my two honorable friends across from you there. You know, tell me about the University of Minnesota and tell me about the University of Michigan. All these great universities that went in and told these kids they were getting great educations. I don't want to go on ad infinitum, Bob.
But the college game is nothing more than a minor league used and paid for so the colleges and the coaches got very, very wealthy. I am sick of listening to the greatness of the college sports. I am sick at listening to universities, and I am sick of listening -- you know, Mr. Myles Brand could be the president of the NCAA.
You know, he had a situation in Indiana that he did or didn't take care of. I have no idea what he did or didn't do. But I do know that the people running the Big 10, the people running the Southeastern Conference, they are the two biggest conferences in the world. These two conferences are infested with nothing but illegalities. And you sit here and tell me about high school and AAU? I am repulsed at that, because no one wants to address damn Michigan and Minnesota and all the damn schools that go on. Now I got my five cents -- I love you, Bob Ley.
LEY- All right, Billy. Reacting wrap-ups.
PACKER- Well, here is what my opinion is, and this is the only way we are going to move in a positive direction in regard to men's basketball in this country. There needs to be a summit. All the different diversions that have been involved in this game, including the NBA, the NCAA, AAU basketball, men like Sonny Vaccaro, the Dick Vitale's of this world, the networks that are involved in this, the NBA Players' Association.
Nothing starts without the NBA Players' Association and David Stern coming to the table. I think if all those entities got together in a room, understanding each other's problems, and you can see they are diverse in regard to some of the things that Sonny has brought up. That is the only way to put this game in a direction that can be positive. Otherwise, we are going to see it, I think, continue in decline and we will find our position in basketball maybe not even sixth in years to come.
LEY- Dick, a quick comment please.
VITALE- Well I would love to have seen someone like C.M. Newton or Dave Gavitt or somebody like the Gene Corrigan, as the executive director of the NCAA, or Tom Jorgensen. Somebody that is involved in terms of the athletic sea. Bottom line is until we can clean up the entire situation where we have this insanity going on.
I mean, Sonny brought up Michigan, and that is a great, great point. I mean that was such a humiliation and embarrassment which took place there with the Fab Five. And to penalize innocent kids that are there now I think is really a crime. But, Billy, I left you two tickets to see LeBron play. You didn't show up. You are just like Elvis, man. You didn't show up.
LEY- All right...
PACKER- Let's not get off on this tangent.
VITALE- No, we got to get off this tangent.
LEY- Billy Packer, Dick Vitale, Sonny Vaccaro, we could have gone for hours. Maybe sometime we will. Gentlemen, thank you all for an honest dialogue. I appreciate it.
VACCARO- Thank you, Bob.
LEY- We continue....
PACKER- Thank you, Bob.
LEY- ...in...
VITALE- Take care, Bob.


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Ontario's governing Liberals are ratcheting up their campaign for the fall election, making the creation of jobs in the green energy sector the cornerstone of their bid for a third consecutive term.
A multibillion-dollar deal with South Korean industrial giant Samsung Group is at the centre of the Liberals' ambitious goal to transform the province into a green energy powerhouse. But the same deal the Liberals are presenting to voters as evidence of their ability to create jobs is being attacked by their opponents for secrecy and "sweetheart" terms. The Progressive Conservatives have vowed to kill it if elected.
On Wednesday, after spending the past 1.5 years refusing to divulge details about the deal, the McGuinty government released the Samsung contract, as well as revisions that include financial concessions and a commitment to create new jobs sooner than planned.
The government's effort to salvage the troubled deal is the clearest signal yet that its ability to fashion itself as a champion of green energy will become a divisive debating point during the campaign for the Oct. 6 election.
Premier Dalton McGuinty will tour a plant on Thursday in Toronto, where he will tout the green energy jobs he says his government is creating. It will be the first of many such stops as he highlights stark choices facing voters over the province's economic future.
"There's no question the stakes for Ontario families are very high," Energy Minister Brad Duguid said in an interview. "[Progressive Conservative Leader Tim]Hudak's placing at risk thousands of clean energy jobs and billions of dollars of investment in our economy."
The $7-billion agreement with Samsung, initially signed in January, 2010, and revised last Friday, is a key plank in the government's push to create North America's first green-energy manufacturing sector.
The government is hoping to generate 50,000 new jobs by luring investors with the promise of generous long-term contracts that include a guaranteed revenue stream. The Samsung deal alone is supposed to produce 16,000 direct and indirect jobs. But Mr. McGuinty has come under fire for luring the company to the province with incentive payments over and above the revenue his government pays green-energy companies.
Under the revised deal, Samsung's incentive payments will be slashed to $110-million from $437-million in return for an extra year to get its renewable energy projects up and running. The company is also promising to have the three plants it is building come on stream by the end of this year. The new, lower incentive will add 36 cents a year to consumers' electricity bills over the 25-year life of the contract.
The changes did nothing to blunt criticism from opposition members, who complained that Samsung is getting preferential access to the province's transmission grid.
"It's still a sweetheart deal," Tory MPP Jim Wilson said. "Today doesn't change the fact that they've given a foreign company exclusive access to a great big part of the publicly funded grid, which is the real gold mine here."
Ontario's renewable energy industry is still in its infancy. The government has said $20-billion worth of investment commitments have been attracted to the province as a result of its green energy policies, but a lot of political uncertainty remains ahead of the provincial election. The nascent industry is feeling the repercussions. Some players are hesitant to make further investments before the vote.
"The political uncertainty has absolutely frozen a portion of the market," said Paolo Maccario, chief operating officer of Silfab Ontario, an Italy-based company that opened a solar-panel factory in Mississauga in April.
Despite some "blows and bruises," Mr. Maccario believes Ontario remains an attractive and credible destination for investment in renewable energy.
Marin Katusa, chief energy investment strategist at Casey Research, an investor research service, noted that producing wind and solar energy would not be economical without government subsidies, especially when compared with the cost of developing coal or natural gas.


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Question: How will fixed costs expressed on a per unit basis
How will fixed costs expressed on a per unit basis react to a change in the level of activity?
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Answer to relevant QuestionsGive the equation that best describes the fundamental relationship among total costs (TC , fixed costs (FC ), and variable costs per unit (VC ). Use TC, FC, and VC in formulating your answerValentine is a manufacturer of fine chocolates. Recently, the owner, Melinda Gross, asked her controller to perform a regression analysis on production costs. Melinda believes that pounds of chocolate produced drive all of ...As a company nears the break-even point, what happens to its operating leverage?This exercise requires students to read about a recent corporate scandal and write a report that explains how the fraud took place and what role the company's environment played in the scandal.Queensberry Distributors, a regional food wholesaler (a company that sells food to various local grocery stores), has established a policy that prohibits its purchasing agents from accepting gifts from food and beverage ...
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At my site I have a couple of managers that are set up as Admin so they can manage tickets relating to their departments. The problem that I am having is that if NOTIFY ME is checked they receive to many notification emails not related to them, if NOTIFY ME is not checked then they don't receive any notification emails. So if they submit a help request they do not receive notification emails that the ticket was assigned, commented on, or closed.
Is this behavior by design and if so can it be modified so they receive only notifications relating to their help requests?
Aug 19, 2010 at 10:34 UTC
You should be able to narrow down the notifications by checking the appropriate boxes under Email Notifications.
Help Desk>Settings
This topic was created during version 4.7.
The latest version is 7.5.00101.
8 Replies
Aug 19, 2010 at 10:34 UTC
You should be able to narrow down the notifications by checking the appropriate boxes under Email Notifications.
Help Desk>Settings
Aug 19, 2010 at 10:36 UTC
Go to: Check settings - help desk settings - admin enable notification - All admins- if you disable some of them the notification will be addressing to the assigned admin.
Aug 19, 2010 at 10:39 UTC
There are also plug-ins available that let you altar user roles for SpiceWorks Admins. Ticket AutoAssign is an example of an plug-in that will automatically assign tickets based on a custom field of your choosing.
Other Help Desk related plug-ins can be found here. All plug-ins available can be found by browsing the Extension Center.
Aug 19, 2010 at 11:26 UTC
I understand your suggestion about the HELP DESK SETTINGS but I have not been able to get the behavior I am looking for.
I want certain admins to be able to manage their tickets, not receive any of the UNASSIGNED TICKETS notifications but still receive notificatios for tickets they create requesting help from other admins - which the don't.
The crux of the problem lies in that admins do not receive "user notifications" for their tickets if NOTIFY ME is not checked. If it is checked then admins receive the UNASSIGNED TICKETS notifications. The TICKET IS OPENED is required so emails are sent out for new tickets so certain admins can assign them as needed.
I hope that make sense.
Aug 19, 2010 at 11:36 UTC
Keep "Notify Me" checked and uncheck the notifications for Unassigned Tickets (reference my screen shot posted above). That should fix the problem. Unassigned tickets can then be assigned by the appropriate administrators from the SpiceWorks Helpdesk, and notifications will only be sent out to the relevant parties associated with assigned tickets.
Aug 19, 2010 at 11:41 UTC
Good suggestion however that break an email being sent out that there is a new ticket for those admins responsible for assigning tickets, or after hours smart phone monitoring.
Aug 19, 2010 at 11:59 UTC
Have you taken a look at the Auto-assign plug-in I suggested above? Automattically assigning the tickets would allow you to maintain your current notification scheme without notifying all admin's of unassigned tickets. This would require a custom attribute to be added to tickets to define the nature of the request, but I think it would resolve the current debacle you are experiencing.
Aug 19, 2010 at 12:10 UTC
Auto-assign is something we want to do but but not right now. I'm not sure it will work for all tickets which might cause problems if no body knows there are unassigned tickets sitting out there.
I guess the behaviour is by design and not fixable with the current settings.
This discussion has been inactive for over a year.
You may get a better answer to your question by starting a new discussion.


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The services at this 54-room city hotel fulfil the requirements of both business travellers and families with children. Facilities at this fully air-conditioned establishment include a restaurant, lobby with 24-hour reception, garage, WLAN Internet access, hotel safe, currency exchange facilities and lift access. Room and laundry services are on offer as well. The hotel provides child-friendly services, such as a playground, highchairs and baby cots.
The hotel is situated near Moszkva T�r, one of the main traffic junctions in Budapest. The main sights can be easily reached by public transport, and there is an underground station just a 5 minutes' walk from the hotel. Guests will find shops in the immediate vicinity, and Margaret Island Park is a 25-minute walk from the hotel.
Every room at the hotel is non-smoking and comes with a double bed. Each room has a private en suite bathroom with shower or bathtub and hairdryer. The rooms feature modern and comfortable furnishings, which have been designed with a touch of Art Deco. Additional amenities include direct dial telephone, satellite/cable TV, Internet access, minibar, individually regulated air conditioning and central heating.
On the health floor, guests can have a sunbath and enjoy a beautiful view of Budapest. Besides the spa pool, the sauna and the indoor swimming pool with sun loungers, guests can also use the fitness equipment.
American Express, JCB, MasterCard and VISA are all accepted as methods of payment.
Room Facilities:
Direct dial telephone
Satellite cable TV
Internet access
Double bed
Individual airconditioned
Central heating


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When your to-do list is longer than your day, something's gotta give. But whatever you cut out, make sure it's not your workout. New research published in Human Resource Management suggests that making workouts a non-negotiable could help you better handle the strain of juggling work and family.
[sidebar]Yes, exercise takes time out of your overscheduled day, but the mental boost you get from it is worth the extra effort. Staying active was shown to boost adults' self-efficacy—a scholarly term for the "hey, I can do this" feeling. "If you get up and do a four-mile run or something, that creates this sense of, 'wow, I did A, now I can accomplish B,' " says Russell Clayton, PhD, an assistant professor of management at Saint Leo University's Donald R. Tapia School of Business. "It extends to the other areas of your life."
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This doesn't mean that busy women everywhere need to be in the gym every day, but it does mean that prioritizing fitness pays off, no matter how time-squeezed you are. "Even small amounts are good," Dr. Clayton says. "Find exercise in life's margins," he suggests, such as walking at lunch or during a meeting, or closing the door of your office and doing a quick workout (like this super-effective 7-minute one).
More from Prevention: 25 Easy Ways To Fit In 10 Minutes of ExerciseTags: emotional healthNewsCopyright © 2017 Rodale Inc.
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Coco Chanel's effortless chic, not to mention her racy personal life, are endlessly fascinating. There have been several Chanel biopics, and now Chelsea's Saatchi Gallery exhibition, Mademoiselle Privé — the title refers to the stern do-not-disturb sign on her atelier door — is toasting her life and work.
And with good reason — after opening her first Paris shop in 1910, Chanel helped free women from constricted, elaborate clothing with her comfortable yet elegant ensembles in fluid jersey.
Her style owed much to her ingenious twinning of black and white — silk camellia corsages pinned to bouclé tweed suits, simple little black dresses, pearls and corresponding shoes.
Black-and-white designs inspired by Coco Chanel
Inspired by Chanel, black-and-white chic for your home
Inspired by Chanel, black-and-white chic for your home
1/7 Join the lotus eaters
Create a dramatic frisson with a feature wall. Black and white on interior walls can be striking - but it doesn't have to be overpowering. Farrow & Ball's Lotus wallpaper fits the bill perfectly and costs £110 for a 10-metre roll.
2/7 Back to the Eighties
Monochrome enjoyed an Eighties revival that today inspires lines at designer homewares and accessories shop Darkroom in Bloomsbury. Its Eighties-style pieces include this Tiler table, coated in black-and-white Murano glass tiles, £750.
3/7 Mono stripes
Tori Murphy's Harbour Stripe throw in graphite and ecru, £250, proves that monochrome is anything but severe or overwhelming when confined to small areas, soft furnishings and accessories - it's less imposing but still has an impact
4/7 Evergreen elegance
A timeless piece of furniture designed in the Fifties, fitting in perfectly with the current trend for all things mid-century, the Evergreen chair is fashioned from steam-bent beech wood and costs £1,400, from Ercol.
5/7 Channelling Coco
Get Art Deco styling with Christopher Guy Harrison's lacquered geometric Menton screen. Part of his Chanel-inspired Mademoiselle furniture collection, it nods to the fact that the fashion icon adored screens. From £7,777.
6/7 Simply stylish
A case of less being most definitely more... the restrained, simple lines of the Coco chair by Mark Gabbertas for Oasiq, are a statement of elegance in themselves. From £370.
7/7 It's all black and light
Even today's lighting capitalises on contrasting black and white. Vico Magistretti's Apollo table lamps in Murano glass, from Viaduct, are available to mix in white or black, with the larger size at £997 or the smaller size at £493.
The show pays tribute to this, starting with its large, deftly drawn black sketch of Chanel at the entrance. Inside, visitors can download an app for a virtual tour of her glamorous flat at Rue Cambon in the French capital. Well, she loved interiors as much as fashion.
It's enough to tempt anyone to emulate her style at home. Yet black and white can be overpowering, so what's the secret to doing it well?
One designer who's always carried it off with aplomb is Sue Timney, who made her name in the Eighties as part of influential duo Timney Fowler, famous for black-and-white textiles and wallpapers. Inspired today by the black-and-white marble floor of Claridge's lobby, she's still a firm advocate of this crisp, two-tone combination.
"It's powerful yet flexible," she says. "These neutral tones go well with colours." For the adventurous, she suggests "the drama of black lacquered walls — provided the plasterwork is in good condition — paired with white or ivory objects to create the ultimate look of luxury".
Decorative artist Bridie Hall, co-founder of Bloomsbury design store Pentreath & Hall, takes a more restrained line. "Monochrome can look severe, but needn't feel overwhelming if confined to small areas and to soft furnishings and accessories, which are less imposing but still have an impact," she says.
Used sparingly, geometric pieces such as Beatrice Larkin's Tumbler cushion and Luke Irwin's Roanoke rug would look striking, but not overbearing — as would Pentreath & Hall's neoclassical plaster friezes by Peter Hone, perhaps hung in an alcove painted black or charcoal.
Black and white can bring to mind neoclassical interiors, the Art Deco era of Chanel and even the monochrome-loving Eighties that, thanks in no small part to another Bloomsbury shop, Darkroom, are enjoying a revival. Typical of its Eighties-inspired wares is the Tiler table coated with black-and-white Murano glass tiles.
Monochrome can also conjure up the Fifties — think Italian designer Piero Fornasetti's witty, graphic homeware, sold in abundance at Harrods. A more toned-down version of this fashionable mid-century style is Ercol's Fifties black Evergreen chair with white upholstery.
More Art Deco is Christopher Guy Harrison's lacquered Menton screen. Part of his Chanel-inspired Mademoiselle furniture collection, it nods to the fact that the fashion icon adored screens.
Even today's lighting capitalises on contrasting black and white. Take Michael Anastassiades's Copy Cat light, which has a small black orb containing an LED source that thrusts light into a larger white sphere.
The stylish black-and-white aspects of grand hotels can become features in the home, thanks to India Mahdavi's jazzy floor tiles for Bisazza, or Emma Molony's Beastly Chronicles wallpaper.
Whichever look appeals, the simplicity of combining these two tones creates a unified effect and, naturellement, allows you to channel Chanel's chic style.
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text: This solitaire lovers surely love this line of card games, he's fun and simple. Collect the cards arranged in the form of three mountains on the active card, the recorded card must not be greater than or less than the active one. Get bonuses doing combos - remove a few cards in a row without using the extra deck.


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As a British person and regular internet user, I come across many people who don't know much about us and our country so I decided to make a take about the British, including some unusual facts that you may never have heard of.
1. England?
The most common mistake people make about Britain is calling the whole of the UK, England. If you're interested in geography, you'd know that the UK is split into 4 "states", if you will. England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It can be insulting for people who don't live in England to be called English . In fact, most people don't like England or the English .
2. Swans
The Queen has a prerogative over all of the swans in England & Wales. Due to them being considered the Queens property, it is a criminal offence to kill or harm a swan or steal swan eggs. Doing so could land you with a £5000 fine or 6 months in jail. It's also believed that she owns all the whales, porpoises and sturgeons in the sea surrounding the UK.
3. We're not posh
I don't know where this stereotype came from but the vast majority of people are not posh (they're the complete opposite) and do not speak with a posh accent. It's common to see people doing their shopping in their pyjama's on a Monday morning, not even showering before they leave the house. I don't deny that there are many posh people in this country, but I'd say we have the same amount of posh people as other countries do.
4. A good ol' cuppa
One fairly accurate stereotype is our love for tea. It's common decency to offer guests a cup of tea and I'm not sure about other households but everyone in my house have at least 2 cups of tea a day which can increase to about 5-6 cups. Everyday, us Brits drink 165 millions cups of tea which is 20x that of the average American.
5. British accents
Referring to #1, when people say "I love the English accent", I'm assuming that they believe everyone in the UK (or England to them) has a posh English accent. This couldn't be farther from the truth! Saying "I love the British accent" is also extremely vague. British accents consist of Irish, Welsh, Scottish and English which are all very different, at least for me. Not only that, but each one has variations depending on where you live in that state, particularly whether you live in city or rural areas. In the Scottish and English video, the guy says he has a Southern English accent, which clearly indicates that the English accent changes entirely in different parts of England. Where I'm from, the accent can change considerably within 20 miles, to the point that we find it difficult to understand each other! I'm Scottish, Welsh and English , from the city but spend a lot of time in the country, so I don't what my accent is.
6. Weird laws
There are many laws that are still in force that haven't been abolished or were created hundreds of years ago.
Despite their irrelevancy to modern times, it is still possible to get arrested if you happen to get caught by an officer who knows their laws, but it's unlikely you'd get a harsh punishment. I have heard of most of these but I can't guarentee their authenticity.
- It's illegal to get drunk in an English pub
- It's illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas day. The law was meant to be abolished but our government isn't the best so it's still an actual law but it's a law that no-one follows.
- In Scotland, it's illegal to get drunk and be in possession of a cow, steam engine or horse
- It can be regarded as an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the Queen's image upside down
- A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself in public
- The head of any dead whale found on the British coast becomes the property of the King and the tail, the Queen. It's illegal to keep a beached whale from the King.
- It is illegal to wear a suit of armor or die in the House of Parliament. There's much debate about the latter, but it's believed that it's because anyone who dies in the Houses of Parliament are entitled to a funeral reserved for Kings and Queens. If someone is about to die, it is required that they're taken away from the grounds immediately.
So there you go! I hope these clear up some myths as well as educate you on how weird Britain is and how our accents are all completely different.


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Question: How does the steepness of the Treasury yield curve compare
How does the steepness of the Treasury yield curve compare with that of the municipal yield curve?
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Answer to relevant QuestionsExplain why the market for taxable municipal bonds competes for investors with the corporate bond market. In a revenue bond, which fund has priority when funds are disbursed from the reserve fund, the operation and maintenance fund or the debt service reserve fund? Answer the below questions. (a) Why do rating agencies assign a different rating to the debt of a sovereign entity based on whether the debt is denominated in a local currency or a foreign currency? (b) What are the two ...What is meant by infrastructure debt? What type of property is security for a residential mortgage loan?
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