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Chris Barrett Google+
Chris Barrett is a Sports Writer with The Sydney Morning Herald.
Australia to sit in on Bangladesh briefing
Chris Barrett Concerns rise over security guarantees at World T20 tournament.
Safety of players at Bangladesh World Twenty20 questioned
Chris Barrett Concerns rise over security at this year's World T20 tournament.
Why winning Tests abroad is the next frontier of modern game
Chris Barrett The Ashes were presumably the furthest thing from the minds of David Byrne and co when Talking Heads released Road to Nowhere a few decades back.
Road trips a killer for touring Test cricket teams
Chris Barrett The last calendar year was a graveyard for touring nations, spelling out just how challenging Australia's next assignment promises to be.
Shane Warne to mentor Australia's spinners for World Twenty20 tournament
Chris Barrett Australia has landed a coup by luring Shane Warne back into the national set-up in an official capacity.
TV sting accuses six umpires of fixing
Chris Barrett Indian TV station says it has exposed six leading cricket umpires willing to fix matches.
Umpire in Australian spotlight for fixing claims
Chris Barrett A seemingly trivial warm-up match between Australia and England before the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka has been thrust into headlights amid allegations of corruption made against six umpires.
Law in line to be Australia's new batting coach
Chris Barrett Former Queensland captain tipped to replace Justin Langer who is moving to WA.
Contempt the danger, says Law
Chris Barrett AUSTRALIA'S batting coach and former Sri Lanka coach, Stuart Law, is adamant Michael Clarke's team will be flirting with danger if they treat the tourists with a lack of respect.
'Worst' pace attack won't test batsmen, says Hogg
Chris Barrett, Andrew Wu SRI LANKA'S fast bowling attack is the worst to come to Australia and will not give the home team any clarity about its top order by the summer's end, says former Test paceman Rodney Hogg.
Chris Barrett
Bowling up an Olympic dream
Chris Barrett Just about every major professional international sport is now on board with the Olympics, except cricket.
Humble Hussey always felt at home in the shadows
Chris Barrett THE ultimate cricket utilitarian, Michael Hussey wants to be remembered as a ''team man'', and says he revelled in, rather than resented, so often having his achievements overshadowed by those of his...
Leap from seventh to a whisker from the top not impossible
Chris Barrett, Andrew Wu REMARKABLY, underachieving Australia could vault from a world ranking of seventh to within a fraction of top spot in the next three weeks and George Bailey, the captain in the shortest format, admits...
Bailey 'irked' by lack of success
Andrew Wu and Chris Barrett Underachieving Australia could remarkably vault from seventh to within a fraction of top spot.
Dusty corner of Chennai turns tyros into globe's best quicks
Chris Barrett Children in uniforms kick footballs and play cricket on fields of dust and red soil as the heat gradually eases out of a steamy south Indian afternoon.
Clarke's rise to stabilise bats: Warner
Chris Barrett Captain has considered promoting himself as high as No. 3 for Thursday's third Test.
Clarke could climb as high as No.3 as selectors aim for batting shake-up
Chris Barrett Michael Clarke's pending move up the batting order will stabilise Australia's fragile top four, according to opener David Warner.
Warner in strife over pub stoush
Chris Barrett and Chloe Saltau An altercation between David Warner and England's Joe Root in a Birmingham nightclub was triggered by the Australian opener's belief that the Yorkshire batsman was using a fake beard to impersonate...
Warner in hot water for swing at rival
Chris Barrett and Chloe Saltau David Warner had to be dragged away from an early-morning altercation with Joe Root in a Birmingham nightclub after the Australian opener threw a punch at the English batsman.
This is no charity tour, Clarke tells batsmen
Chris Barrett Michael Clarke has defended selectors as Australia rung the changes again to try to save face in the Ashes, declaring: ''This is not a charity tour''.


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My husband and I have bought three VW from this dealership in the past two years. Have dealt with the same salesperson and manager each time. We had a great experience and were given awesome deals on each car especially the last one. When we decide to buy our fourth VW we will definitely visit Ourisman VW of Laurel.
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text: In addition to our "final major project" which runs through the year we are also doing smaller briefs to build our portfolio and show that we can create more commercial designs for specfic markets. The brief I am working on now is a collection for Topshop for A/W 2013, taking inspiration from British heritage. This wall contains my own photographs as well as historical clothes from V&A, pictures from London Fashionweek s/s 2013, WGSN trend research and more. Hope you like it! ihaveglambition likes thisrachelrooke likes thisevakittelsen posted this


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Nerdcore since '84
I have a name, but eveyone calls me Goose
501st/ TK Bear Crew member
Costumes, props, nsfw
Just a TK girl on a Saturday night, and a simple girl trying to make my way in the universe.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
The Cure | Just Like Heaven
I love this song. <3
(Source: timothyy)


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Pyromelter said...
I have a recommendation for you:
Get the addon Lil' Sparky's Workshop, and make sure you have auctioneer or auctionator. That addon will tell you the potential profitability of crafted items. If you have a miner and herbalist, you already have the raw mats. Use the addon to tell you which are the most profitable crafted things (and also use your head... a lot of times there are crappy elixirs that are potentially 900% profit but that's based on listed prices, which no one will buy).
I have personally made quite a lot of gold selling tailoring spellthreads and spellweave (my tailor is spellfire specialized). It just so happens that is the market where very few people are posting auctions on my realm. This is versus JC, alch, and inscription, where you will see dozens of auctions for anything they can make most of the itme.


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Business Judgment Rule Governs Move to Go Private, Justices Say
A going-private merger led by a controlling stockholder should be reviewed under the less-stringent business judgment rule, the Delaware Supreme Court has ruled. The high court's decision affirmed a Delaware Court of Chancery ruling that MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings' full acquisition of an affiliate was proper under the business judgment rule.
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NBA Lockout Classics: 1995, Michael Jordan drops a double-nickle at MSG.
Jordan had just put the world on notice. "I'm Back" he said. It was that simple, that short and that sweet. But his return to the NBA wouldn't be that easy.
Or would it?
Jordan had only 4 games under his belt when he made the trip to New York and turned the Knicks, MSG and the entire NBA on it's ear. The basketball God would march into the Mecca and burn the place down and there was nothing Riley or Ewing could do to stop him, short of throwing Spike Lee at him with a catapult. What makes this game so beautiful and an instant classic is that no one knew what to expect from Jordan coming into it. Jordan had retired for over a season and a half to unsuccessfully peruse baseball and was trying to make a come back at the age of 32 in the middle of an NBA season. 32 back then was ancient, especially for someone who hadn't touched a basketball or seen a locker room in nearly 2 years. The NBA was a lot rougher back then, medicine, training and sports science was no where near as advanced as it is today and athletes just didn't try to play into their mid 30's, especially not guards and swing-men. The chances of Jordan's second tenure being as successful as his first seemed as impossible has Jordan waltzing into the NBA without any preseason training or practice and dropping 55 on the Knicks, who were fresh off an NBA Finals defeat to Hakeem and the Rockets.But this was Jordan, the man who would go on to score 51 points just two months shy of his 39th birthday. While NBA fans the world over were amazed by Jordan's double-nickle performance, no one was surprised. Scoring is what Jordan did. He could score on anyone, in any game, at anytime and any age. He could score 40 in a bathrobe and slippers if wanted to, or so the legend of Jordan would have us believe. If anything, I'd say people were more relieved by this game. Relieved that the once-great Jordan was still great and that the NBA, once again, had a legend operating within it's arenas.
Not to take away from Hakeem or anyone else that played in Jordan's prime, but without Jordan, the NBA just felt dull and empty. MJ was the one man that you could love, hate, fear and respect all at the same time.
While this season went on to be a disappointment for the Bulls — losing to the upstart Orlando Magic led by Shaq and the ill-fated Penny in the Eastern Conference Finals — Jordan's second-coming would prove a success when the Bulls would start off their second three-peat by winning 72 games the following season.
I was going to post up MJ vs. 'Nique today, but I took a vote on twitter and this game won. Enjoy!
(Box Score)
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8021 W. 159th Street
Tinley Park, IL 60477
You've likely heard the buzz surrounding the new Audi lineup. It's not just the critics who are enamored with likes of the A6, Q5, A4, Q7 and A5, now available to greater-Orland Park-area drivers. It's the people you see cruising the streets of Chicago, Naperville and Westmont every day. To explore this model-year's late-breaking safety, in-car connectivity, and comfort features for yourself, peruse the vehicles below.
While it's good to have options, there are so many to be found in the new Audi lineup, narrowing down your decision might prove difficult. To see whether or not you and the model(s) in which you're interested are a good fit, swing by Audi Orland Park located conveniently at 8021 W. 159th Street Tinley Park, Illinois for a test drive. Our dedicated team of A6, Q5, A4, Q7 and A5 experts are always happy to provide you with any other details you need to know, as well as vehicle comparisons and answers to any questions you might have.*Excludes: tax, title, license and doc fee


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There are no adjusters made into this bra to have the comfort of the straps in the back as well. Otherwise, we would not be able to keep such a wide size in the back and we would need to put smaller straps in there. This way we have wide strap support all the way through. We apologize that it did not fit your body type.
Kim from Columbia, IN
Anita Response:
5409 is one of our most supportive Anita comfort bras so the fabric is very firm and shaping. This bra style is not designed to allow a lot of adjustment.
When the bra is riding up in the back, either the straps are too short or the under bust size is too wide,
so the balance between straps and under bust band is not correct.
With an indicated size 40A we would not recommend a high support bra like #5409 and rather go for
a lighter Anita comfort style like #5448 Safina with adjustable straps.
Cindy from Lone Tree, Colorado, USA
Anita Response:
The customer indicates, that the bra was moving and couldn't hold the
breast. This is an indication, that the bra size isn't correct and the
band size is too loose.
If the size is correct, the bra should only be adjusted a little bit
through the day. Style 5409 has an elastic part in the back part of the
strap taking care of that through the day.
Style 5409 is one of our best-selling comfort bras especially in big
cups and sizes because of it's supportive fitting.
joan from south salem, ny, usa


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Ascension - Boran's Big Travel Map
Calydon - Boran's Map
Cereth - Untitled
DevinNight - Amberbach
Djekspek - Brewmaster's Map
Greason Wolfe - Breweries of the World
Immolate - Skolheim
MisterAdam - Coalbeard's Journey
RobA - The Knowne World
Sapiento - Centralia
Steel General - Brewhome: A Beerophiles Tour
Zar Peter - Muggeria
Congrats to Ascension.
I wish I would have had more time, thanks to the people that considered my entry and posted nice things about it. March and April were just way too hectic.


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"When Stephen Put The Blue Box Out"
The office of Elizabeth May received a poem from a supporter this month.
is true he waited long
For a majority so strong
That he now can rule the country as he will
Every piece of legislation
He has fancied for the nation
Can be easily enacted bill by bill
He can ram them through with ease
Whether they offend or please
With no reckless coalition to oppose
They can protest they can clamber
They can even have a jammer
They can take it down the throat or up the nose
It's a good time for reflection
Three short weeks since his election
But there were so many things to put in place
With the cabinet appointed
And new senators anointed
He really does desire a change of pace
It is Friday afternoon
And it hasn't come too soon
He's had his last appointment of the day
Feeling very much alive
He'll walk home to Sussex Drive
And perhaps he'll meet some neighbors on the way
From that political midden
Where he usually is hidden
To emerge for only scripted photo ops
He desires to amble freely
So that he can feel he's really
Like any guy, with no need for the props
And returning here at last
Are some freedoms of his past
A joy he hasn't felt for many years
Just an ordinary guy
He is ready to say hi
To each and every one, his common peers
And as he wanders by
He observes that common guy
Doing ordinary things about his place
And there's nothing more that he
Would surely like to be
Than that basic member of the human race
Now at last he's at the door
Of that fabled twenty four
Where inside he's king to all down to a mouse
To the staff he does decree
That in future he will be
A very ordinary man about this house
He will now participate
While he lives on this estate
In fundamental jobs, and household chores
He will join the servile crew
He will do as others do
Those menial tasks inside and out of doors
His request is met with awe
But he can lay down the law
Even if past practice must be bent
They must find him things to do
And if not they'll surely rue
Their failure for he is omnipotent
To produce some useful task
The head servants' forced to ask
For a listing of his skills that do apply
This leads him to insist
He's a trained economist
And can make a Windsor knot in any tie
He can hammer he can glue
He's replaced a bulb or two
He can drive into the ground a long tent peg
And also he is able
To fix a shaky table
With some folded paper underneath the leg
Now there's sudden consternation
With the man who runs the nation
For there's really nothing useful he can do
A new job they must invent
And a message then is sent
To the foreman of the household maintenance crew
There's discretionary queries
There's suggestions there are theories
There are emails texts and fax that fly about
Till that bureaucratic huddle
Resolve their late night muddle
And suggest that he could, take the garbage out.
When this news to him is brought
He is at first distraught
For it does not seem to fit right in his plan
But later he concedes
That these are the sort of deeds
That will mark him as an ordinary man
He is ready to begin
Asking where's the garbage bin
Dressed in sweat pants working duds, so very right
But the task is put on hold
When he must be gently told
That he cannot put it out till Sunday night
There is still one other snag
For the PM's garbage bag
They don't use curbside pickup, although it's free
Staff examines the whole lot
And compact it on the spot
For disposal in a safe facility
Otherwise you can't be sure
That the garbage is secure
And no detail of your life can dribble out
That persona so well managed
Could so easily be damaged
If the public knew what's used to wash his mouth
But the problems set aside
If some garbage is supplied
That's generic non descript and very bland
Two days is long enough
To assemble all the stuff
To deliver it and have it close to hand
As the weekend passes by
He tries to be that common guy
And searches through the house for things to do
He straightens up some books
Arranges furniture in nooks
And has replaced a worn out lace in one old shoe
Interruptions they are steady
And he must be on the ready
For a stream of callers eager to hob knob
Some minister in crisis
Who can't use some shrewd devices
To leave him undisturbed and at his job
Now at last it's Sunday night
And there still is lots of light
He is given some directions, a short blurb
So that now he's fully ready
With determination steady
To convey the prepared garbage to the curb
There are bags and there are bins
Some contain yard waste some tins
It's a job that does require much more than talk
Talk has got him reelected
But for this job he's expected
To now gather up the stuff and walk the walk
First the bags they weigh a ton
He conveys them one by one
And it does require four trips to get them out
The green bin he rolls out next
But by now he's getting vexed
And unparliamentary words escape his mouth
He concludes with the blue box
God it must be full of rocks
He is puffing as he drops it on the ground
He then pauses for a minute
To see what the hell is in it
After which he takes a rest and looks around
Looking up and down the street
Everything is clean and neat
Not another bag or blue box in his sight
Can he be the only one
Who is having all this fun
Something tells him deep inside it isn't right
Why should he be the lead
On this altruistic deed
Why should he be attempting such a thing
When it comes to the environment
He feels no such requirement
To be a hero for recycling
The Embassy of France next door
Has wine bottles by the score
He saw the crates go in the other day
The South African Commission
Could be a leader in this mission
There across the street at Sussex and McKay
With the question still unsettled
And feeling somewhat nettled
Hes finished hauling out there is no more
But returning to his manse
An unintended upward glance
Shows young eyes watching from the second floor
There'll be questions yes there will
And he feels his thoughts go still
What is all of his activity about?
The bags and bin he can explain
But he feels a mental pain
As to why on earth he put the blue box out
It feels like superstition
But he cant take that position
Perhaps they'd see his mind a little bent
A worthy explanation
As he just convinced the nation
Requires an economic argument
The fundamental key
To human activity
Is simple when you do apply the test
Even if your points insane
But you show financial gain
All other arguments are laid to rest
A sudden thought comes to his mind
A little gem a precious find
A statistic that is just one of a billion
That recycling win-win
And this city he lives in
Has from it returned a profit in the millions
At this thought he feels relived
And no longer is he peeved
For his answer can be honest clean and straight
He could easily snow a nation
With baffle gab and obfuscation
But this circumstance requires a different slate
Without request or interjection
He expects a second question
A situation that he's used to on the Hill
And although the evenings late
He knows he must anticipate
That the second question be the bitter pill
It's a macro explanation
Does it have an application
To all the kind of items in the box
He is certain that the tin
Will bring more money in
Than the sure to be a loser tetra pack
If they're not a profit maker
They are just a space uptaker
And the economic rule does not apply
Why not put them in the bags
With the kitchen scraps and rags
Incineration will transfer them to the sky
This economic answers right
But he feels a little bite
Perhaps his thoughts he needs to rearrange
From somewhere they were sleeping
Thoughts of greenhouse gas comes creeping
And all that nonsense stuff of climate change
Could the question be deflected?
To a minister selected
Who could weave or dodge or duck or vacillate
But he did not have that option
Or the means of its adoption
He needs a new approach before it's late
A new slogan theme or rant
A new ra ra a new chant
That will resonate and stand the test of time
in spite of heavy thinking
His only thought or inkling
Is a rework that will say "get tough on grime"
Suddenly there is a light
And a brilliant new insight
In an aspect which is clear and also true
There is no need for lies
For its right before your eyes
The box that is the problem is Tory blue
It does not matter what is in
Any bag or box or bin
The final value of it all can be unclear
It's the wrapping that's the trick
Especially when put on thick
After that there's really nothing left to hear
Yet there's something unresolved
An item small but quite involved
Did he accomplish what he set to do
Did he carry out his plan
As an ordinary man
Not just in noble deed but spirit too
For there is very much ado
About that special box that's blue
Besides its contents and it's putting out
There's the statement which is sent
Of that common mans intent
In words that come from actions, not the mouth
Though he recycles all this stuff
He is sure it's not enough
To solve a problem where he has so little say
But he gladly does his bit
Then he lets the matter sit
Hoping those elected leaders show the way
Alas that leadership is blind
With a frozen state of mind
Incapable of grasping something new
To what that common man aspires
In his deepest hearths desires
As he carries out the box that's colored blue
Patrick Keogh
June 2011
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The best of the Bay Area for KQED fans: discover events hand-picked by our editors, sponsored listings, and more.
KQED Members Exclusive Offer: San Francisco Ballet Opening Night
San Francisco Ballet opens its 2012 season with Onegin, John Cranko's adaptation of Alexander Pushkin's tale of unrequited love. KQED Members get 50% off opening night tickets by visiting sfballet.org/kqed and entering the code 'KQED'. (KQED membership will be verified after purchase and non-member orders will be declined.) KQED Members will also enjoy 2-for-1 dinner buffet in the Opera House before the performance (beverages not included), plus 15% off purchases at the Ballet Shop! Show your KQED membership card for discounts. This KQED offer is valid for the January 27, 2012 8pm performance only, excluding all box seats, and is available for online purchases only. Limit 2 tickets per member. Offer is subject to availability and cannot be combined with any other offer or applied to previously purchased tickets. This offer ends January 27, 2012 at 7pm.
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C.W. Nevius Blog
Movies, media, sports – and as little politics as possible
Posts filtered on Category
New soccer fields? What is this, a trick?
Amid controversial San Francisco topics like medical marijuana and the budget deficit, you never want to forget another hot button issue — renovating soccer fields at the west end of Golden Gate Park with synthetic turf and night lights. The field project, better known as the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields Renovation, is heading for a […] [Read More]
Star treatment for FC Barcelona
The football field at Kezar Stadium, once the site of alley-oop passes from 49ers legend Y.A. Tittle to R.C. Owens, was host to a different kind of football star early Friday morning. Photo by C.W. Nevius FC Barcelona, arguably the best soccer club in the world with international superstar Lionel Messi in uniform, showed up […] [Read More]


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When Toy Guns Looked Like They Could Kill
A private collection of vintage toy water gun packages illustrates, literally, how some American kids learned to love guns.
Steve Pellegrino, a graduate of the School of Visual Arts 3D Illustration program and director of Taglio Design, recently invited me to see a portion of his grandfather's mint toy-package collection from the '50s and '60s. What pop-culture maven could resist the word "mint"?


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MIKE3975 Wrote:
Jul 03, 2012 1:45 PM
Who will hold him accountable? All throughout the destabilization of the middle east, Obama has left hand prints. Even the framing of it as an Arab Spring is gross to ironic proportions. This is worse than Chamberlain at Munich. At least Neville never gave Adolph a billion dollars to fund his appetite.


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Gardening Tips: How To Get Rid of 4 Common Pests
Each spring, little families of aphids like to try snacking on the rose bush in my backyard. Even now that I have more experience maintaining my humble garden, it still can present the occasional bugger conundrum. (Googling beetle varieties really is not fun.)
Rather than immediately grossing you out with pictures of creepers (you'll get to see them if you click through some of the links!), I've created this list of some common garden pests, along with instructions for how to deal with them.
Aphids: These jerks like to suck the juice out of your plants, will reproduce very quickly, and, in some instances, carry crop-damaging viruses. At home, Organic Gardening suggests a strong hosing with water or homemade garlicky pepper sprays.
Cutworms: The term encompasses the larvae of many species of adult moths. The Old Farmer's Almanac tells you how to identify them and suggests eradicating them with physical barriers, crushed eggshells, diatomaceous earth, and coffee grounds.
Japanese beetles: The grubs eat roots, and iridescent adults eat leaves. The USDA has a whole guide for managing them. If you have a large space, try sticky pheromone traps to draw them away from plants. (If it's a small area, a trap can just worsen your problem by drawing more of the pests close to your plants.)
Slugs and snails: They like seedlings and succulent leaves, and you'll know them by their trail of slime. To get rid of them, UC Davis suggests eliminating places where they can hide out during the day. You can complement this tactic with baits such as beer traps — sounds enticing, right?
(Image credits: Loree Bohl)
9 Comments
I have relocated about 300 snails to several neaby green places already. My little garden was neglected for decades before I moved in recently, and copletely covered in ivy, so it's a snail heaven. There are very few places for them to hide now that I've cleaned the garden and ivy up, but they are still there. I've relocated most of the population by now (I hope) and I'm going to try beer traps for the stragglers. Not too keen on using poison.
*green * completely
The beer trap link leads to a clip that no longer seem to work btw
Ladybugs like aphids as food. :)
My dog enjoyed the beer traps, yum tasty. ??? (Ick) Now I hand pick slugs into a jar of beer - using chopsticks dedicated to this task. Presume the slugs die happy?
I read "beer traps" as "bear traps" and thought, "that's kind of overkill"...
Oh, beer traps - we did this in Vancouver - lay out little saucers of the golden liquid and slugs can't resist climbing in. Disposing of them afterwards was always gross, but this method kept our tomatoes safe.
If you have a small garden, you can also take a salt shaker out to the garden in the early morning when the slugs are most likely still feasting on your plants. A light sprinkling of table salt causes the slugs to die, and seems to have no effect on the plants. Diatomaceous earth also works well. This is a naturally occurring non toxic substance.
Want a truely green way to get rid of aphids? Buy some ladybugs from amazon. My daughter and I had a blast when I had about 300 delivered last summer. Cleared up the problem on my cherry tomatoes in about ten minutes.
Snails cannot get through copper barriers. Circling the vegetable beds with some copper cable will help keeping them away as the beer trap does not work with the as it does for their cousins.


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Sandy • When Real Salt Lake coaches and players talk about their CONCACAF Champions League game next week as being a "must-win," they're not kidding.
Losing could tear the team apart.
If RSL cannot win at Tauro FC in Panama on Tuesday night, it almost certainly will fail to reach the tournament's knockout rounds. And if that happens, the team will not receive a crucial salary-budget bonus that comes from Major League Soccer — possibly forcing it to disband the core group of players that has carried it through most of the last four seasons.
"The writing is very much on the wall," coach Jason Kreis said. "We have to go there and get all three points."
On the bright side for RSL, it appears to have a good shot.
Tauro has lost both of its qualifying-round games so far, including a 2-0 loss at RSL on Aug. 21, and has yet to score a goal.
But if RSL cannot escape with a victory, it will allow unblemished CS Herediano of Costa Rica the chance to clinch the top spot in their preliminary group when it plays Tauro at home Sept. 25.
Only the top team in the group advances to the knockout stages.
"Must win," defender Nat Borchers said. "Simple. Can't tie, can't lose. Have to win."
That's the path toward securing the salary-budget bonus RSL needs to help keep the band together at least another year.
The bonus comes in the form of what the league calls "allocation money," which can be used to subsidize salaries or player acquisition costs and reduce the amount charged against a team's $2.8 million salary budget. RSL could earn a similar bonus for winning the MLS Cup, however good those chances might appear at the moment.
League officials won't disclose the exact size of the bonus, but it's known to be six figures.
That might not seem like a lot in professional sports, but in the watch-every-penny world of MLS, it's enough to supplement several important players who otherwise might be lost.
The league provides the bonus as a way of supporting teams with a chance to win the Champions League and make a mark on the game internationally, since many of those teams need the financial help to retain key players who helped them qualify for the knockout rounds.
"It's meant to help keep their rosters together," league spokesman Will Kuhns said.
That's an issue because each Champions League tournament spans two MLS seasons, with qualifying rounds in the fall and knockout rounds in the spring. In between, teams such as RSL have to reconcile their rosters for a new league season, with players often due raises or new contracts.
Without the bonus money, general manager Garth Lagerwey confirmed, RSL would have to make some cuts.
"I like to say if the team is successful and advances in Champions League, we have a big incentive to keep them together," Lagerwey said. "And conversely, by succeeding in Champions League, we get more money, which allows us to keep the team together."
Tomato, tomahto, in other words.
Midfielder Javier Morales — the highest-paid player on the team at $477,500 this season — and defenders Chris Wingert and Tony Beltran have contracts due to expire after this season, and could be players whose demands can be met only with the help of the bonus allocation money. Other players will be due raises, too, while leading scorer Alvaro Saborio is among those who must wait to see if the team picks up an option on his contract, which pays him $405,000 this year.
What's more, midfielder Luis Gil is expected to graduate from the league's Generation Adidas program, meaning that his salary — nearly $200,000 this season, according to the MLS players union — will begin to count against the salary budget.
Talk about a fiscal cliff.
"There are definitely some decisions that have to be made if we don't win this game," Borchers acknowledged. "Fortunately, I don't have to be the one to make those decisions. But there's definitely some tough decisions to be made."
Even a victory in Panama doesn't assure anything, though.
It would simply keep alive RSL's hopes until its final group-stage game against Herediano on Oct. 23, when the teams would be playing a pressure-packed game at Rio Tinto Stadium for the right to advance to the knockout rounds.
"This is business," midfielder Will Johnson said. "This is getting down to the nitty-gritty. This is where good teams win games that are important, and that's what it's all about."
Twitter: @MCLTribune
RSL at Tauro FC
P At Panama,Tuesday, 6 p.m. MDT
TV • FOX Soccer
CONCACAF Champions League
W L T Pts
CS Herediano 2 0 0 6
Real Salt Lake 1 1 0 3
Tauro FC 0 2 0 0
Upcoming games
RSL at Tauro, Tuesday,6 p.m. MDT
Tauro at Herediano, Sept. 25, 8 p.m. MDT
Herediano at RSL, Oct. 23, 8 p.m. MDT


text:
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Becca in TX Wrote:
Dec 05, 2012 5:11 PM
Sorry....Phobia refers to an irrational fear. Someone can believe that the homosexual lifestyle is wrong without being afraid of homosexuals. The gay community labels anyone who doesn't support their lifestyle as homophobic and that's a completely inaccurate use of the term. I don't hate gays. I'm certainly not afraid of gays. I just believe that your lifestyle is sinful and unnatural. That does not mean that I think it's okay for someone to physically harm you because of your sexual orientation, nor does it mean that I think you should be shunned from society. God gave us free will.


text:
Well, here we are. As reported by Hawks beat writer Michael Cunningham, Larry Drew has apparently been tabbed as head coach.
Shall there be weeping, lamentation, and gnashing of teeth? How about dancing in the streets and parading down the avenues? Maybe an extreme reaction either way is neither optimal or appropriate. But how do you define extreme, and besides – this is what blogging is about. You know, overreacting as you please, with no penalty other than a faux jab from another blogger (or fifty, depending on how big the frenzy is). Like it or not, the wheel of this ship has been taken by the first mate of the former captain. And no, it was not a mutiny (that we know of).
You Think You Know…
What should we expect from Larry Drew? Expectations are fluid and tricky. Expect too much, and you will almost certainly be disappoined. Expect too much too soon, and the effect will be similar. Is there a penalty for expecting too little? What will the players expect out of him? What does he expect of himself? All this and more will be learned as time moves on. What's funny is that idea that perhaps what we think we know may actually be more of an unknown than we suppose. Larry Drew has been an assistant coach on this team for the past six seasons, but do we really know him? My hunch is that we really don't know this guy. I won't heap another coal on the head of former coach Mike Woodson, but the simple fact is that it was his voice we've always heard, and his philosophy. Drew has chimed in here and there, but only to more or less echo what his boss has to say. Such has been the case with all of Woodson's assistants, with halftime thirty or forty-five second interviews being the only evidence to the general public that the guys can even talk. And you know what? That's the case most of the time, on most teams. It's not an anomaly. In the end, I think we will get to know Larry Drew in ways we could not possibly have, before.
Even the players will. Oh sure, the guys on the roster know him, but do they know what he would do in any given situation? Do they know what he expects of them? I seriously doubt he has taken scenarios that Mike Woodson has experienced, and said "Hey guys, I wouldn't have done it this way, I would have done it that way." That sort of attitude never really helps anyone, as it tends to be a breeding ground for more disruption, confusion, and division. Perhaps Drew has, however, taken a player aside and explained why his head coach made a certain decision or did things a certain way. Agreeing with your boss may not be something that happens naturally or even often, but buying into and supporting the edicts you've been given do help promote continuity of the team. If this is the approach Drew has taken to his job, his new job will go that much better for him and all that are involved. Sometimes the best way to lead is through influence and persuasion. Again, if Drew realizes this, he is already a step ahead. Or maybe I'm wrong and a more Machiavellian approach is what it takes. Perhaps, perhaps not. We shall see soon enough.
In the meantime, we'll get to know Larry Drew, the head coach.
What's In a Name?
Coining the old Shakespeare quote, I have to wonder why people get so attached to the names of coaching candidates. When is the last time YOU heard anybody say they had to get tickets for this Saturday night because the Jazz and Jerry Sloan would be in town? How about the Magic and Stan Van Gundy? Will people soon be hyped about going to watch the Cavs and (insert Tim Izzo or whoever takes the job once he says no)? If not, then why be worried about a "brand name" coach? Perception is the only answer I can think of. It's the reason we separate the winners from the losers, based on our opinions and several skewed statistics. Actually, statistics aren't skewed. They are just math and numbers. How we use and interpret them is another matter altogether. When a guy wins in one place, it doesn't guarantee that he won't lose somewhere else, and vice versa. If this is true nowhere else in the NBA, it's true on the sideline: production beats flash every time. There's more opinion out there on the subject as the AJC's Jeff Schultz feels we might need to look past the lack of style and see the substance. Also, think about this: every guy available for a job has most likely failed somewhere else or never really gotten a chance. That's the nature of the job in the League. That's the law of experience cutting both ways. What does that mean? Like all assistants, Larry Drew has neither failed nor succeeded yet. So whether or not the glass is half empty or half full is a tale yet to be told.
Dare To Believe
As a fan base, can we get behind this decision, or will we stay hung up in the details surrounding it? In the case of management, the "why" does matter. In the case of the coach, the only thing that matters is "what." Translation – Yes, we should be concerned with why management made a decision to go with Larry Drew. However, where Drew himself is concerned, all that matters is what he does now that he is in the position. We can only hope that he and this team do well enough to make us stop thinking so much about why management does what it does.
Maybe Larry Drew's six years of absolute insider experience with the Hawks will help bridge the gap of those zero years of experience as a head coach in the NBA. Instead of getting to know the guys on this team, perhaps he can focus more on getting them to buy into his own system. And outsider might be more interesting, but last I looked, "interesting" didn't win games. I have no doubts that Drew will be a "different voice." In a way, that is a smoke screen. This team doesn't need "different" as much as it needs "consistently effective." There has to be something there, that's worth having after the so-called honeymoon. Will there be an adjustment period of sorts? I would expect so. But it should also be shorter and less profound. Will there still be obstacles and challenges? Yes, but they are likely already identified, if not the reasons behind them. As much as we don't know about Drew, we do know that he knows enough (far more than we do) about the team. Maybe that can stoke some confidence in the fan base. It certainly should do so for the team.
Odds and Ends
- Will this have an effect on whether or not Joe Johnson leaves or stays? I still think it's all about money and opportunity for Joe Johnson. Aside from the few positive comments Johnson has made in Mike Woodson's direction, we have no idea how he really felt about Woodson, or how he feels about Drew. There is little reason beyond that of the speculative, to think that Johnson's decision will be heavily affected by Drew's promotion to head coach. Then again, you can never count a factor like this out completely. Johnson has to know that some things would change under Drew, from the way they were under Woodson. At the same time, if Johnson has issues with this team, it's going to be with his teammates as much or more as it could be with who the head coach is. While I don't think it will ultimately sway his decision, whether or not Johnson believes Larry Drew will hold guys accountable (as in moreso than Woodson) might be a factor. The question is how much of one.
- The inevitable watch on Jeff Teague will commence from the time he goes to summer league, and Larry Drew will not be able to escape this spotlight in the slightest. Known as a point guard coach, Drew's work with Teague will be compared, perhaps unfairly, to that of Mike Woodson and every young point guard he has dealt with the entire six years he was here. If Teague flops or struggles mightily, it will get very noisy, very fast. Drew will come under fire from both the fan base, and from his bosses (let's not forget, this is Sund's draft pick, and Michael Gearon has made public comments about Teague's playing time). If Teague does well, this bodes well for Drew. Fair or not, right or wrong, this will be watched….maybe even moreso than how Drew handles Josh Smith. Well, okay, we may have a tie on that one. Another guy to watch? Marvin Williams. Do we expect Drew to turn these guys into something they aren't, haven't been, or otherwise? Should we? Will we?
- We have absolutely no insight into what defensive or offensive philosophy Larry Drew holds. Again, it may not be fair, but he will be judged against everything Mike Woodson did. If he does anything that Woodson used to do, he'll hear it from the masses (until it proves to be successful on a consistent basis). But first, he will have to get the players to buy into what he wants to do. That is where the true challenge lies. I don't know about you, but I'm a tad anxious to see what Drew does with this team.
- How much input will Larry Drew have in the draft and free agency decisions? Will Sund make a public statement on this issue? Will it matter? And though we'll likely never find out (but you never know what will be said in the formal announcement), what WAS it that made Larry Drew's interview presentation so impressive?
One issue decided on Hawks Fans. The Summer of Sund continues.
June 13th, 2010
10:52 am
I always said around here that I have "a romantic view" about sports. I love feel good stories, the long hard road to success by the improbable ones.
So the hiring of Drew – following this simple piece of inside news from Smitty – is just what I needed to rekindle my hopes for a good showing next year (regardless of JJ returning).
I know that everyone only thinks about "championship", I, on the other hand, am content when I see a group competing and extracting their best, just like we did against Boston 2 years ago (home games only).
That is why I was so frustrated midway this year when I realized that, contrary to my hopes, Woody had not evolved as an HC and we were doomed to witness what we eventually did: a huge missed opportunity.
If JJ does leave, the 2009-10 season should be known to the Hawks fans as: "the long playoff run that never was".
Let us forget about the word "title" or "championship". First let us concentrate in the word "competing".
Come playoff time Woody's system had as many chances of success as someone has to win the lotto without buying a single ticket.
I don't know Drew's ability as an HC, but what he did shows balls, will power, desire, the capacity to rally people behind him and that he is not afraid to take risks and break face attempting (and apparently a good relationship and trust in Teague).
After a showing like this, only a cold blooded fool would not have at least strongly consider him for the position.
I am glad that they did and now I stand 100% behind his hiring.
I just hope that they find another big man coach which is more skilled than Tyrone Hill to help out developing our player's low post game (Hill must stay after this showing of loyalty, however, a guy who had ZERO post moves cannot teach a lot beyond hustle).
June 13th, 2010
11:57 am
You know what? Doug Collins will change the 76ers offense. Avery will change the Nets offense. Williams will change what the Hornets do. Jackson/Casey would have changed the Hawks offense. BFD that Drew demonstrated what he would do differently. Did anyone really expect that the next coach of the Hawks was going to maintain the status quo?
Sounds like we should expect Ty Hill to stock around. Surely the trade off for helping Drew land a job is Hill keeping one.
I'm glad watching Drew run a few offensive sets made the ASG feel better abot this hire. Whatever it takes to make them feel good that the team's new voice is one that's been herad in practice, film study and games for 6 years.
June 13th, 2010
12:17 pm
Astro and his bag of manure.
The story continues…
June 13th, 2010
12:33 pm
Larry Hoop Dee Drew??!! Really?? Lemme guess, he was cheap!! Another guess, The Hawks don't WANT to attract veteran talent?? Lat one, there is a lot to be said about MEDIOCRITY!!
Woody was the best option. Period. The players were buying into his system and Woody truly had NO players!! Horford is a talent. Josh Smith could be a talent but has maturity issues. Joe Johnson, well he's good compared to the talent on the team. Let's face it, the Hawks are comprised of a bunch of bench players forced into starting roles. We all say it, I just said it out loud.
All of the name brand free agents out there and we hire Larry Drew. Incredible. Not Avery Johnson, ooohhhh noooo, not Byron Scott, neverrrr, or the host of other qualified coaches, name coaches, that we could have gotten here. That's par for the course here in the ATL, M-E-D-I-O-C-R-I-T-Y!!
What name free agent wants to come here? I mean really. Bibby was about the most known vet we got, and when was the last good game he had? Joe Johnson was out to lunch during the playoffs, and Josh, well he is still interested in arguing his point on fouls as if he was a marquee player. Folks, Atlanta DOES NOT have a marquee player. And after this pick for head coach, not a marquee coach either.
Owners, Atlanta Spirit, or whatever the new name is, get a clue, hire talent. Spend the money and get the talent. I know you get tired, like us fans, when we see a Hawk game on TV or live at Philips, the seats EMPTY!! Its the PRODUCT. The PRODUCT is mediocre. Which keeps butts out of the seats.
All we want is a winner and a coach who has the players capable of execution. Some name players would go a long way with that. Can we work on that??!!!
June 13th, 2010
1:17 pm
Yeah vava, you certainly have established yourself as the beacon of optimism.
June 13th, 2010
2:32 pm
Astro Joe and Vava74 , Episode 3,249.
This week, Astro Joe decides to take a sarcastic and cynical view of something. Vava takes a shot at him for it.
Wait…is this a re-run?
June 13th, 2010
2:32 pm
June 13th, 2010
3:38 pm
We have no idea about the interview process. Assuming Mark Jackson was running third due to his lack of experience, we dont know who wanted who. Did Sund want Drew? Or was Casey his choice due to his familiarity with him? Where did the ASG fit in? Maybe Casey did not interview as well. Maybe Casey's plan for the offense was not as interesting as Drew's.
If Drew interviewed better than Casey, if Drew has a very good relationship with JJ, if Drew's plans for player accountability and defense seemed to be more effective than Casey's, would you have wanted the ASG to still select Casey?
I wish ASg would just let Rick do the hiring, but I dont know how it all went down. Although being on the outside, I might have leaned towards Casey, I will give Drew the benefit of the doubt.
But Rick Sund will need to make some moves, because just changing the coach is not enough.
June 13th, 2010
3:57 pm
O'Brien, with the post of the day.
June 13th, 2010
4:10 pm
OB, I'm not hating on Drew at all. He had the burden (of the 3 candidates) to prove that he was the anti-Woody and he chose a tactic that helped him deliver that message. Casey and Jackson likely did not enter the discussion feeling the need to distance themselves from Woody since their was no prior connection. Likewise, he used the advantage of the relationships he has built with players and peers to further his candidacy. One can't help but be impressed by his interviewing strategy. Brilliant, sincerely, brilliant.
Hopefully, the interview played little in the ultimate decision. Sund should have known enough about the work of Casey and Drew that a few good hours of conversation should not have had a tremendous affect on the ultimmate decision. Oops, that's right, Sund may not have made the ultimate decision… that probably came from someone within the ASG who needed to be "sold" through an interview process.
Again, I wish nothing but the best for Drew and I hope he becomes the winningest coach in franchise history. But given the way this decision-making body operates, if that happens I will believe it was mostly dumb luck. But it won't stop me from cheering.
June 13th, 2010
4:22 pm
Bruce Bowen needs to lose the bow-tie… he looks ridiculous.
June 13th, 2010
4:27 pm
Considering what we're dealing with, I'm okay with dumb luck.
June 13th, 2010
4:30 pm
Ray. Yeah, well you know, I was cheering during a 53-win seasons even though some around here we're predicting (correctly) doom and gloom in the post-season. So I obviously don't need much to cheer.
June 13th, 2010
5:44 pm
well here goes the first volley. i see us having a better offense but scoring less. will that be appreciated or even noticed. we can only compare if the team as it was built last year has the same people in place and the same lack of injuries. that also might be lost on the masses. i hope he has the same team on place plus a few other pieces to build around. finally the offense and drew's success will be based on victories and how his offense holds up in crunch time.
again i say, drew glad you are here and i got your back for now. as a fan, i hold my right to jump off whenever i want. heh heh
well before i pony up for next season we will see what my boy rick holds up his sleeve. can he pull another steal of two in a row, rehab bibby to excellence by finding him the fountain of youth and sign jj or the equivalent pieces to help the team in a sign and trade. onward nd upward my boy sund, convince me and others to FILL THE PHIL. maybe i ought to copyright that one.
June 13th, 2010
6:11 pm
we might not win as many games early on like we did last year (assuming JJ comes back). But hopefully the team will play more like a team united. Win as a team, and lose as a team (compared to win with ISO Joe, lose with ISO Joe).
And then hopefully we will finish the year strong with a good showing in the playoffs.
It could be dumb luck, but we will never know for sure.
June 13th, 2010
6:52 pm
The bottom line gentlemen is that Casey has showed little to nothing during his tenure as an HC to give him any (significant) advantage against Drew besides the fact that he was well known to Sund.
Drew has a long experience in the league as both a player and an assistant coach, knows the organization, the team and all of its problems. That advantage was there.
Then he showed that he had the balls to break conventions and come from behind with a creative and gutsy presentation, detaching himself completely from Woody's era.
That, for me is more than enough to give him a clear cut advantage over Casey whose description on the main blog by a guy from the Wolves' blog made me cringe in absolute fear.
Would that presentation by drew have been enough to dethrone a Phil Jackson, a Jerry Sloan or an Adelman in a head to head candidacy?
No, but for goodness sakes, in this case his adversaries were a guy with ZERO coaching experience and a guy who was not particularly successful whilst coaching one of the most dominant players in the league (albeit with a dysfunctional roster around him).
June 13th, 2010
7:24 pm
I hope that Drew has a decent budget to work with as he looks to buils his staff. I hav to guess that hiring an ex-head coach is a little more expensive than adding someone like Darrell Armstrong to the staff. I hope that he has the dough to build a very solid staff to work the details. I'd be shocked if Ty Hill isn't retained. Horford has indicated that Hill helped him in the past and Hill just helped Drew land the gig. If we're going with this notion of "knowing the personnel is an advantage" line of thinking, then it could also apply to some percentage of his staff. I wonder who will become the team's "defensive coordinator" given Drew's offensive acumen?
June 13th, 2010
7:58 pm
It's pretty obvious that Ty will have to stay after being a part of the presentation.
I still think we need to add someone to the staff with actual offensive low post move teaching skills.
Defensively, my initial strategy would be stick with the switching D as our main defense against most of the worst teams in the league (against whom it worked most of the year) and play a mix of man to man and zone against the best teams (or the teams against which the switching D proved ineffective).
It's all about scouting and finding a good balance instead of blindly sticking with plan A.
June 13th, 2010
8:16 pm
vava, I don't think we have the luxry of two "big man" voaches. Not unless Hill (or the other guy) has a more significant role. But honestly, I don't understand the Hill criticism. Dude just finished tutoring a 6′9″ guy into an All-Star center… what's the issue (other than our bigs can't set screens)?
June 13th, 2010
8:37 pm
Just like I will give drew the benefit of the doubt, I guess I will give ty hill the benefit of the doubt too. I look forward to reading about who will be drew's assistants.
What I would like to see drew and our big man coach do is get Josh to cut down on his jump shots, and know when to give the ball up on the break.
I Would like to see the hawks start out man to man. Once Teague stops reaching and stops committing silly fouls, our defense on the ball will be better. And if JJ comes back, everybody will be able to defend their position.
But I agree that there is a place for switching based on the matchups.
June 13th, 2010
8:53 pm
It's not just our bigs. Bibby is the ONLY decent screener on the team.
Hopefully if Drew has a patterned offense, they'll all get better at it.
June 13th, 2010
8:55 pm
If getting a guy who is playing out of his natural position to be an All-Star in his 3rd year is not tangible evidence of an assistant coach's performance, then I truly don't understand how to measure a "position" coach in the NBA. The only way Josh may learn to do some of those things that you referenced, OB, is for Drew o sit him down when he does those things. It's the one stick head coaches have, playing time. And Woody was unwilling to bench his best help defender when he made a boneheaded decision on the other side of the court.
June 13th, 2010
9:00 pm
Sautee, true. And while I tend to blame the screener, I think the ballhandler was also to blame sometimes…. because he is supposed to wait until the screener stops moving before making his move. It's kind of like blaming the QB for every interception when sometimes the receiver runs the wrong route. But bottom line, we have to get better at screens next season (among other things).
June 13th, 2010
9:41 pm
Some good stuff from MC's blog.
I talked to some players this weekend, and all of them said they expect LD's approach to be different than Woody's. Drew often ran the second-team offense in practice and was said to deploy creative sets, with one player describing them as a "fun" departures from the isolations. Another player said when things went badly for the Hawks, LD tended to be more of an "encourager" than a "screamer" and focused his energy on laying out a detailed plan for how the Hawks can get better.
So is Woody a screamer? If he is, I bet he only screamed at certain guys…
, The players credited Woody with creating a loose atmosphere that made it enjoyable for them to come to work but then they didn't get serious when it was time to do so. Woody backed off from the long, hard and frequent practices players didn't like and in the end they didn't work as hard as they should. Woody gave them on-court freedom (especially J.J.) and instead of taking that trust and becoming a free-flowing offensive team, they became a selfish "get mine" kind of team–and resisted Woody's efforts to get them to share the ball.
It will be interesting to see how they respond to Drew. Because the relationship is so much different when it's HC Drew as opposed to assistant HC Drew.
June 13th, 2010
9:57 pm
OB, MC's blog had some interesting opposites in it. Woody wanted to create a loose atmosphere but alledgedly would yell. He had an iso-heavy offense yet MC says that the players didn;t respond when he insisted that they share the ball. He gave players freedom ut not all of them.
Woody was the same to his players as he was to the fans. If you choose to find something positive in his leadership, he provided the evidence. but if you were looking to criticize, he provided plenty of ammo, also. A player could enjoy a loose atmosphere and freedom but could also be yelled at and restricted.
June 13th, 2010
10:47 pm
What's up lady? I see DREW is in the house. The WIZ tried a third time to get TOM THIBODEAU, no luck. He would have been my pick for HC here in ATLANTA. If the HAWKS draft at #54, I recommend a big from TULSA by the name of JEROME JORDAN. I think he's gonna' be a solid center in the NBA.
Blew through HOTLANTA a couple of weeks ago. Did a three week walk-about through the southeast. LITTLE SWITZERLAND, BILTMORE, week in MYRTLE with the grandbabies, through ATLANTA and BIRMINGHAM to MEMPHIS and ARKANSAS. Saw ELVIS at GRACELAND. Went to JACKSON and VICKSBURG. Back through MISSISSIPPI into ALABAMA on the NATCHEZ TRACE. FLORENCE, ALABAMA to CHATTANOOGA, to BRYSON CITY, N.C. Took a train ride, then on to the BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY. ASHEVILLE again, and up to MEADOWS of DAN then back to smoggy old RICHMOND, 3,331 miles. Nice trip. Declaring bankruptcy when the credit card comes in.
June 13th, 2010
10:51 pm
doc/Big Ray:
HAYWOOD is gonna' be free this summer. How about adding him to the front-line?
June 14th, 2010
6:47 am
I think the Hawks would love to have Haywood. But Mark Cuban will probably pay him whatever it takes to stay in Dallas. And Haywood would not want to leave Dallas where he would probably start over Dampier, only to come to the Hawks as a backup.
That's probably why the shelf-life of a coach in the NBA is so short (unless you're HOF quality). Because the same things that a player likes about you, will be the same thing that gets you fired eventually.
6 years was a lot of time for Woody. You hardly see any coach stay with one team that long.
June 14th, 2010
7:16 am
Low post moves. Our "bigs", with the exception of RandMo, don't have a real low post game.
June 14th, 2010
7:18 am
Your guy might be available. From the Oregon newspaper;
Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan is poised to shake up his staff, and it appears he has targeted longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff to serve as his right-hand man.
Sources say lead assistant Dean Demopoulos and assistant Joe Prunty will not be retained, which comes after assistant Monty Williams left the team to become the head coach of New Orleans.
I wonder who Drew's right hand man will be? I would love to have a guy like Bernie Bickerstaff on our bench. Demopoulous would probably be a good addition too.
June 14th, 2010
9:33 am
vava, no doubt Horford needs to add a counter move or 2 to his growing arsenal. But I have little doubt that he will get it done and at this point, I have total confidence in Hill to help make that happen. No one can claim that Horford and Smith weren't much better in the blocks this past season than the previous one.
June 14th, 2010
9:45 am
OB, no doubt, Woody's time was up. he tried some different tricks (eyebrows, utilizing his bigs more in half-court sets, playing Al with Zaza toward the end of the season) but ultimately, the players tuned him out and he ran out of tricks. Bickerstaff would be a great add to the bench. Heaven knows that his Bobcats always gave the Hawks fits even when they had a third of our talent.
During my morning commute, the sports radio shows had a very luke-warm recaction to the Drew hiring. Several said "we'll wait and see", kind of like "if youdon't have anything nice to say…" One guy did suggest that if this was the candidate the players wanted, they should not have hired him, because these players haven't earned the right to pick their coach. He said that should only be something that a proven championship team gets to do… pick their coach. Another speculated that if Drew were Sund's choice, then this would have been done a few weeks ago. That guy believes this was an ASG hire, with Sund still preferring Casey.
They will be on-hand for the 4:00 press conference. Oh yeah, and they already mentioned that they won't buy into any comparisons between Drew and Gentry, since Gentry had a lot of previous head coaching experience.
June 14th, 2010
9:50 am
One more thing, from strictly a marketing perspective, the sports talk guys spent more time discussing Vince Evans' fight at a strip club, World Cup soccer and the latest Vanity Fair article than they did the Hawks new coach. I expected more coverage of the college football re-structuring, game 5 of the finals and the Braves solid road trip… but I surely didn't expect the Drew hire to get less play than World Cup soccer. Egads!
June 14th, 2010
9:53 am
Hill may not be the best big man coach when it comes to offensive moves but I'm sure he does scary alot of people with that face in practice. Lord forbid if he has stink breathe. My gosh, he would be a shutdown defender…
June 14th, 2010
9:56 am
Somebody tell Ron Artest that Queensbridge is going to be where the Laker fans hang him from…
Defense my arse. Give me a great offensive player over a defensive standout any day…
June 14th, 2010
10:00 am
I think Casey would have been Sund's choice too. Former HC, prior relationship with Sund, and a completely new voice. Did Drew win Sund over, or did the ASG get their man, I don't know.
When BK wanted to fire Woody, he would have named Drew the interim HC for the rest of the season. But the ASG said no. And now the ASG wants to make Drew the HC 2 years later? Either way, something doesn't add up.
I don't think it is comparable to the Gentry hiring either. Gentry had HC experience as you mentioned, but also, he still utilizes some of D'Antoni's offense. His main difference is on defense, and he uses his bench more than D'Antoni did. And its not like Phonenix necessarily wanted a 'new voice', as Sund calls it.
I do think Drew needs to light a fire under the players, because they were too complacent at times. And I hope he starts from day one.
From the marketing standpoint, it all comes back to ATL fans being so diverse.
June 14th, 2010
10:17 am
OB, most employees don't mind putting in hard work as long as it translates into success. In this case, success won't be measured until after 82 regular season games. That could create some issues… I hope that he doesn't burn them out trying to be the anti-Woody in the first 60 games or so.
June 14th, 2010
11:10 am
Nothing really new from Sekou here, but I thought I'd share it anyway:
June 14th, 2010
11:10 am
Just checking in to maintain my Hawks blog cred. I am deep in the World Cup right now (sorry AJ).
Larry Drew….. HHMMMM.
I would say that if we hired him from a different team we would have less issues, so that is a positive.
Did they just hire him because he is cheap? Everyone denies it, but…..
Either the ASG is brave, Drew is the man, knew they faced the fact that LD would be perceived as a cheap, boring option, but went with the "best man" anyway.
Or are our fears true…. are the Hawks becoming the Thrashers?
I have not had enough time or energy to form an opinion yet.
Peace to my peeps.
June 14th, 2010
11:20 am
I thought Sekou articulated one of my main concern. Why wait this long to hire an Asst Coach that's already on your staff? And he touch on one of my conspiracies that hiring Drew has more to do with keeping the current core of players intact. They probably feel that Drew gives them the best opportunity to maximize the current core of players.
June 14th, 2010
11:28 am
Melvin, true 'dat.
June 14th, 2010
11:45 am
Interesting from the standpoint of either trading #24 or trying to acquire Jack:
Chad Ford
Raptors hope to clean house
"… the Raptors are not just sitting around. Rather, Colangelo is shopping Hedo Turkoglu, Jose Calderon and Jarrett Jack with an eye toward making trades before July 1. The same source told me that a Turkoglu trade was already in the works and could happen by the draft. While the source was confident something would happen, the source didn't disclose the potential destination(s). The Calderon and Jack discussions are moving more slowly, but over the past few days the Raptors have been pressing forward on those fronts as well. At the same time, the Raptors appear to be closing in on a trade for an additional first-round pick. Colangelo has called every team with multiple picks looking for something in the 20s, according to sources."
June 14th, 2010
11:47 am
Marvin/Bibby for Turk/Jack? I haven't check the salaries but you think?
June 14th, 2010
11:57 am
Melvin, I was think a variation of that, but including our 1st round pick and they send back cash as well. Or, we keep our pick and send Zaza. But there is definitely something there worth speculating over.
June 14th, 2010
12:57 pm
Jarrett Jack for 3 years, $15 mil is ok. And I like Turk, but not for 4 years, $44 mil.
I think this deal might have been mentioned by Melvin previously, but if the Hawks are looking for a bad contract, I would look into Okafor's 4 years $52 mil contract from the Hornets if we can get Collison too, who is still on his rookie contract.
And depending on what happens later on, it might allow the Hawks to trade Josh Smith, start Okafor at Center, and move Al to PF (depending on what Josh would bring in return for a trade).
June 14th, 2010
1:05 pm
Drew was not in the race, he is a "late-entry-come-from-behind-to-win" feel good story and that is the sole reason for the fact that they signed him after such a long deliberation.
This should have some resonance in the fans' spirits and not the opposite.
As an outsider, I find it odd that the typical "american dream" story no longer hits the cord amongst you and that it is received so coldly.
You have gone a lot less mellow and my take is that you stopped watching all those beautiful early holywood "feel good" movies.
Come on! Even if he only makes it past the second round of the playoffs, this will have "american dream" written all over it.
June 14th, 2010
1:12 pm
I have a hunch that under Drew and with JJ gone Marvin will prove himself valuable and an excellent contributor.
Eventually as a 6-man, but valuable the same.
June 14th, 2010
1:51 pm
I hoped it doesn't sound like I bashing Drew b/c that's not my intend. I hope he does well and take this team to the next level. However, I dislike the process on how he was hired. As Sekou mention in his interview, if you are going to fire the current coach, at least have a list of candidates in mind. Why in the heck did Drew came out of left field at the 11th hour? Sounds very suspect to me. Especially after Sund mention that he had a long list of candidates in which he had to evaluate from then make his recommendations to management after the interview process.
June 14th, 2010
2:01 pm
vava, he's a long-time NBA assistant, he's not a diehard fan from the upper decks of the arena. I think you may be confusing Larry Drew with Whoopi's character in Eddie.
June 14th, 2010
2:16 pm
Many reasons to suspect the ASG of internal "tampering" on the head coach thing. Right now, it's hard for people to separate that from what Drew himself can do in the job. Reason being, we are nowhere near the start of the season, so we have no clue.
In the meantime, I hope Sund does some things this summer that takes our minds off of these types of subjects. In a positive way, that is…


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Bill Moyers: NRA Have Turned The 2nd Amendment 'Into A Cruel And Deadly Hoax'
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Piers Morgan: The Day To Debate Gun Control Would Have Been Yesterday
Eliot Spitzer And John Fugelsang Look Back At The Week That Was


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Does anyone ever have any fun in the shelter?
Although shelter life may seem serious because of the difficult situations that many of the women have fled, not all of the focus is on the past.
Residents are also concerned with developing the friendships and social connections that their abusers have prevented them from having. The women also need time to address their personal needs. Several programs at Morningside aim to do just that.
Even though not all children from violent homes have been abused, all have undergone the traumatic experience of witnessing abuse. Our children's caseworker develops age appropriate counseling and playgroups. She also facilitates these groups and provides individual sessions with children as needed.
Ongoing support groups for women and children offer a peer-focused educational environment that helps women understand that they are not alone and are surrounded by women who have survived similar circumstances. Support groups enable women to learn from each other, build trust and a sense of community, and are a valuable tool for women to establish or re-establish independent lives.


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Ryan Cook had quietly been one of baseball's best relievers for the Oakland Athletics, now he's one of fantasy baseball's biggest pickups.
Cook got his first crack at closing last night, tallying his first career save against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Oakland manager Bob Melvin has said the team is going to go with a closer by committee approach, but that never lasts.
Typically, what the means is the manager wants to see his unproven closer pick up a few saves, settle in and have some success before outright naming him the closer. Sure, Grant Balfour or Brian Fuentes may get another shot at the ninth inning here or there, but my guess is that Cook is the guy the team hopes takes the role and runs with it.
Cook kicked off the ninth last night by issuing a walk, then surrendered a single. He struck out the next two batters and induced a ground out to secure the save. Over 27 innings pitched this year, the 24-year-old has a 0.67 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 27 strikeouts. He has had a scoreless outing in 24 of his 25 appearances.
Cook, a 27th-round draft pick in 2008, was somewhat of an afterthought in this winter's trade that sent Trevor Cahill to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The right-hander had a 7.04 ERA in 7.2 innings pitched in his first cup of coffee with the D-Backs last season.
A fastball-slider pitcher who occasionally mixes in a changeup, Cook averages about 95 mph on his fastball, so he certainly looks the part of potential dominant closer.
Oakland is 27-35, nine games back in the AL West, but that doesn't mean they're not worth keeping an eye on. With so many young players emerging, fantasy baseball players have cashed in on a few sleepers. Also, major league front offices would be wise to follow Oakland, as they'll surely be sellers in some capacity come the trade deadline.
The A's started the year with Balfour (seven saves, 3.13 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, .198 BAA) as the closer but switched to Fuentes. After giving up seven earned runs over his past four appearances, Fuentes (5.24 ERA, 1.25 WHIP) has lost the job.


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A lovely quote from the beloved actor and comic Sid Cesar and a great reminder for the BGP gals! Hope you take the time to enjoy life today!
This entry is written by another special guest and BGP fan: Diana. She teaches us the importance of strapping on our BGPs in our friendships.When I was in the third grade, Kimberly Henderson didn't invite me to her birthday party. It was the ultimate form of best friend betrayal for our set, the equivalent of what stealing a boyfriend is today. I was, of course, completely devastated, stung not just by the feeling of rejection, but also with the knowledge that all my other friends would be there going on scavenger hunts and playing "Truth or Dare" without me.Yet even as I cried to my mother about missing out on prank calling our crushes and eating Baskin Robbins ice cream cake (the best part of any elementary school birthday party), I knew I would forgive Kimberly. Besides being a bit of a push-over, it wasn't really conceivable to not forgive someone in the third grade without it becoming a thing.We would inevitably see each other at school every day — on the playground, in Miss Kemp's class, and at the YMCA where we played while waiting for our parents to pick us up. I couldn't avoid her, nor did I want to — as upset as I was, even at age eight, I knew that it wasn't realistic to end our friendship because I was sad I didn't get to eat Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream cake with my classmates.In the years since I've entered adulthood, maintaining friendships has become far more complicated. Distance, obligations, work, the season finale of "The Voice," and a million other things are constantly fighting to keep us apart. We have to actively choose to see each other, carve out the time to send an email when we are up against a pressing deadline, and physically pick up the phone to hear each other's voices when one of our hearts is breaking. It's work. Hard work. Far harder than it was in the days when merely sharing half your Hostess cupcake could seal a best friendship for the rest of the year. Recently, I found out (via Facebook, naturally), that four of my closest friends from college had planned a reunion trip to visit Austin without me. We're all spread out around the country, so we aren't quite the same cult we were back in school when we'd braid our hair and make shirts to wear to football games together, but we all stay in touch, and I've stayed particularly close with two of the girls from the group. We email on the daily about everything from our thoughts on this year's season of "How I Met Your Mother" to our mutual revulsion at Kim and Kanye's choice of baby name.I was stunned and deeply hurt that they would get together without me — that they hadn't even considered inviting me. Less of a push-over than I was at age eight, I asked one of the girls I had been emailing with that morning about the origin of the trip, and expressed my surprise at not being included. She was quick to apologize for the oversight, saying all the right things that one should say to a friend you've unwittingly caused pain, but part of me wanted to stamp my foot and scream in the face of her act of contrition.I didn't want to forgive her. At least not immediately. I wanted to make her sweat it out. Wanted to make her feel bad. Wanted to tell her exactly what I was feeling in all capital letters with exclamation points and angry emoji's. Yet as I considered this, my brief flash of desire to "make her pay," it struck me how easily our friendship could dissolve if I let it. We live 2,000 miles a part, so it's not inevitable that I'll see her at school the next day or the day after that. It's not inevitable that we'll be forced to partner together for a science experiment, or that our parents will set up a playdate for us, not knowing that we are in the midst of an explosive row. As hurt as I was in the moment, I didn't want my temporary state of anger to ruin a 12-year friendship. I didn't want my inability to forgive in the moment deprive us of years of future moments. Of future trips that we might take together. Or even horrified email exchanges about Kimye. And I didn't want to feel angry and sad and a mix of other raging emotions because I was too stubborn to let them go. Too stubborn to remember that God gave me the only tool I need to make everything better in an instant. Because ultimately, the ability to forgive isn't just the best gift you can give a friend. It's also the best gift you can give yourself. Aside from a Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Cake.
A BGP Friend,
Diana Hossfeld is a 30-year-old freelance writer and publicist living in Los Angeles. When she's not gazing into the eyes of her computer screen, she's most like eating, thinking about eating or taking pictures of things she eats for her personal blog, "Diana Takes a Bite."
I am officially 30.5 (in human years). Turning 30 means different things for everyone. I think it is because it is one of those milestone ages. I always associated 30 with being a real grown up; someone who is wise, more confident, and hitting her stride in life. I never had a "before I turn 30" bucket list. It was more like a vague sense of how I thought I would feel. That life would just somehow click and fall into place. I assumed by the magical stroke of midnight on my 30th birthday, something inside me would shift. I would be grounded and sure of my life. I could then confidently guide young 20 somethings and give advice by using words like "journey" "path" and "inner guide". (You know, the turn of phrase that would do Oprah proud). I could look upon a young 20 something and smile all knowingly and chuckle as I sip my martini and repeat to her what the wiser and older women in my life continued to reassure me with: "Oh darling, just you wait: your 30's are the best!" Honestly? 6 months in to my "fabulous 30s" I can't quite vouch for the big 3-0 just yet-but I technically have 9.5 years to give them a shot.
I woke up on my 30th birthday and there was no such magic. However, I did wake up in a magical place. I was celebrating my birthday in a beautiful house in Ojai. That weekend will be remembered fondly for the orange blossoms, the large wrap around porch, my beautiful friends, cocktails, delicious meals, and late night dance parties. It was ideal. I hoped that I could keep some of that magic and bring it home with me in order to activate this shift I was expecting. But when I came home my same life was waiting for me. The same life I had at 29; it was mentally very hard and quite exhausting. While I continued to pull up my BGPs and do the grateful chant (even when I did not feel like it), and pray or attempt to pep myself up that I was doing the right thing- nothing was moving.
There was no shift. No magical alignment, or missing pieces that came to find me. It felt more like I was treading water not making it to wherever it was I thought I should be. Finances are still tough even though I have a 40 hour work week. I am no longer moving place to place like a nomad-but I still miss my lovely, light filled studio. I have my health (although between my angst and boredom at my desk job in the last year I have packed on some pounds). I still have my friends and family- without whom I couldn't survive any decade of life (no matter how "magical").
As a "mature" 30.5 year old, I still cannot help but wonder, don't I get a cookie? You know: a treat! Some kind of reward, gold star, or cosmic high five for doing "the right thing" -the grown up thing. From the start of the BGP blog, our entries were written with the hope that if we all could just put 'em on and pull 'em up and face our uncomfortable times with courage and even a little bounce in our step- something good will come our way. And right now, I have to tell you, I am really needing "that something good". Sure, I can recognize the delight in the small moments of life and understand that it is up to me to look up and enjoy them. But I am ready for the really obvious something good. Some sign that I am on the right path.
But here's the deal, I shockingly realized while writing this post that you and I have already been given a cookie!!! A BIG one. The cookie is: today. And it doesn't stop there. It is the opportunity that awaits us every morning when we wake up. But here's where it's tricky: I have to choose the cookie. I tell ya, it does requires our BGPs because it is an awesome responsibility that God has gifted us with everyday. We get to decide what to do with that amazing gift.
I admit it is tough for me to believe that the cookie is not conditional upon my age, accomplishments, career or relationship status. That it is in fact there for the taking no matter how much money is in my bank account. I also admit that I have been choosing the "right thing" out of fear. Sure it started out as a necessity to put on my Big Girl Panties and make some tough life choices and gain some perspective in order to keep going. That absolutely still rings true for me. But lately I have been playing it safe by trying to predict the future and all its uncertainties. I can honestly say it is not working for me because no matter what: there will always be bills to pay, relationships to navigate and times where you have no idea what you are doing.
So today my BGPs and I have made the decision that we are going to trust in the gift of the cookie. I am going to trust that if I pursue what makes me light up inside God has this handled doesn't need me as His co-pilot. My only job is to wake up with a fearless trust, give thanks for the cookie and then gobble it up; because who doesn't want to feel happy and full everyday no matter what decade they are in life?
Here's to you and your cookie and I hope you enjoy every bite!
Happy Tuesday from the BGP gals and Will Rogers! Our next post coming to you tomorrow!
We know the BGP gals have been MIA for a few months-we hope you had a lovely summer. But you can look forward to our next entry coming soon!
Our next entry is brought to you by another guest writer and fellow BGP fan Avni Shah! She is teaching us the importance and challenges of pulling 'em up when it comes to finances and a budget…
The end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 brought big changes for me: I got married, moved out of my extremely overpriced Venice apartment (you should've seen my husband and I's faces when our landlord confirmed we'd been paying a fortune for a mere 600 square feet tucked behind a bean bag store/hippie den/rave) and into a much larger and only slightly more expensive one in San Pedro. The extra $300 in rent and the cost of another new addition—our dog Sully, who we adopted in January—got me to thinking: can we afford all of this?
I was reading an article about this exact issue in Real Simple this morning and one of the author's points was we often believe that getting a great deal means we can afford what we're buying, and that if we can pay for things at the end of the month, they are part of our budget. Since we were getting so much value compared to Venice—our YMCA membership is less than the Westside gyms we looked at, for one, and our rent is $300 cheaper than we would've spent for a comparable space anywhere close to our old neighborhood—our sense of our finances were: we are saving so much each month. We can pay for everything we purchase—no credit card balances at the end of each month—yet still, there's a cost we're not accounting for, which is what we're not saving.
Since moving in, I've wanted to have a big financial discussion. I kept telling my husband that we had to sit down and go over the numbers. For the last six years since moving to Los Angeles, my savings plan has gone out the window. I've been coasting on the following plan: put in savings whatever you have leftover at the end of the month and haven't spent. I put some money away this way, yes, but the amount I spent cut away from better uses. Paying $200 for a pair of jeans when I could've used it for my 45,000 mile car checkup (which returned worn front brakes and a $500 bill) or for my pending MRI that is going to cost a sweet $516.18 (the technician was very specific) was short-sighted and a bit ludicrous. It would be one thing if I had room in my budget for all of these things, but when all these expenses arose in one month, the thing that got cut short was my savings contribution. In short, I have been living a life I cannot afford; I just didn't realize it because I was able to pay for everything I purchased.
My husband and I finally had that hard talk, that, if I am being honest, I was avoiding as much as I accused my husband of doing numerous times. It is not pleasant to look at the numbers, especially when it means you have to make some hard choices (no more delicious smoothies that cost $9, for starters). So where did we begin? We talked about our income and enumerated every single monthly expense, from gas estimates to health insurance bills to the aforementioned YMCA membership. We put it all down and subtracted it from what we would bring home after taxes. And then we backtracked. How much was available to save and what percentage did we want to attribute to each of our savings categories? Is travel a bigger priority than our IRAs? (It feels like it should be, but I had a panic about working at age 90, so the answer's no on that one.)
Then we looked at long-term goals. What would we need to save to have a kid, for instance? A lot of this was difficult to put on paper and to truly anticipate or even imagine, but at least having the conversation began to make the costs of living the lives we hoped to live become clear. I put some numbers into a college tuition calculator. It was meant to shock my husband, an I told you so lesson from me to him, but it blew my mind instead. The monthly savings contribution to be able to contribute even a small amount to your kid's education 18 years down the line is double a decent sized car payment. And what if my husbands 140,000 mile car breaks down soon as well?
In the end, what we had was what I suppose every "responsible adult" has at some point in their lives: a budget. Now my husband and I have a spreadsheet that tells us how much money we can spend on dining out and at Target (no more just grabbing things cause they seem useful or cool). We know what we each can spend on miscellaneous items, but we also set a budget for things one considers a necessity, like groceries. We started making weekly lists of what we'll eat for dinner so we buy with these meals in mind instead of just grabbing what looks delicious and then wasting it.
May is the first month we're implementing this budget and it's already a bit confusing and rocky. Where do gifts fit in? What about Mother's Day and weddings? What about my dry cleaning? But the point is, we're learning just how much our lives actually cost and what they should cost, and trying to find the middle ground on this.
It's a first step, but a good one. Though I am totally depressed I can't buy any of the clothes or shoes I'm lusting after this month, I feel more in control and responsible. I guess in a way, more than anything else over the past few years—even marriage—this has made me feel like an adult. I'm more aware of where our money is going, and what I do purchase these days is a treat, instead of an entitlement.
-Avni Shah
to read more from Avni you can visit her blog www.avnishah.com
Happy New Year to you and your BGPS!
Yesterday the BGP Gals toasted to 2013 and celebrated their successes of 2012! Start the year off right and reflect on your past year to inspire you into the next. This quote inspires us to pursue and fulfill all of our hopes and goals for this year TODAY! So don't waste any more time. Put 'em on and pull 'em up and start YOUR year.
Let us know what has you inspired for 2013!
You can use our favorite guide brought to you by Dallas Travers.
We wrote about it in our previous post "Oh the Places You'll Go?" You can also access it here.
There is nothing like the end of a year to prompt you to ask yourself: Where Am I? How did I get here? And where am I going next? For me those questions have taken on a much more literal meaning. In the last year I have woken up in the middle of the night, more times than not, wondering where am I? With my brain struggling in between sleep and wake, trying to identify my whereabouts in a groggy fog. I would search the darkened room for something familiar, anything to jog my memory of where I was. From October 2011 until about June of this year I was house sitting, house crashing, sleeping in guest rooms and sofa beds and then dividing my time at my parents' home outside of LA. Over the course of that time I had stayed in 4 different homes off and on, unpacking and repacking my suitcase. The summer of the BGP's, of temp jobs and pounding the pavement with my new attitude adjustment wasn't quite enough to pay the bills on my most amazing, wonderful, can't -believe- I had to give it up-charming-studio apartment. I had to move. I remember crying myself to sleep one night literally asking God "please don't make me move, please don't make me move" -knowing very well I was going to have to move.This was my worst case scenario. My studio was my haven, a joy to live in, and I was so grateful for it. It was also my first "grown-up" apartment. My collegiate/post collegiate roommates and I went our separate ways and I was living alone for the first time. And I loved it. When I moved in I thought it was a magical apartment. (It must have the HUGE closet that disillusioned me). Things were finally going to fall into place. My career would take off and finally the guy was going to show up in my Trader Joe's produce aisle or at my local coffee haunt -oh and those last stubborn 15 lbs were going to fall off as well. This was it- with accent pillows and all.
I know now there is no such thing as a magical apartment, or for that matter, a magical job or relationship. And for as lovely and perfect as I knew my place to be, it was still just an apartment. Also this being my "worst case scenario", while being extremely disappointing, and not ideal , it was survivable. I didn't end up on the floor in the fetal position in shame wondering why had I failed; thanks to my girlfriends, who came over with Margaritas and packing materials, I got through it. This unexpected and odd detour revealed how much love have I in my life. I had friends who opened their homes to me. Fed me. Prayed for and with me. Took care of me and let me cry and lament my worries and fears. Now as this year comes to a close and my 30th birthday, a mere 110 days away, I wish I could tell you I had an answer or a clear step by step plan I could now rely on to map out where I am and where I will be. The real answer is I have no idea. But I do have a BGP end of year tradition that I find very helpful that I would like to pass onto you. The BGP gals like to take stock of their year together. We meet up at our favorite coffee spot (which used to be the site of our ritual bitch and whine sessions); we write down our successes and evaluate the things we would like to improve upon in the next year. It is amazing how much we discount in terms of accomplishments and forget to celebrate the big and small successes. So I encourage you to take some time to celebrate all the BGP moments and Bravos! of your year-no matter how insignificant they may seem. That is why it is helpful to work on this with a good friend who will remind you of all the good and (sometimes uncomfortable) highlights of your year.
I am not sure where I am going next or what will come in the New Year, but I do have the pleasure of going home tonight and wondering underneath the lights of my very own Christmas tree in my very own apartment.*We have included the questionnaire we like to follow for our End of Year wrap up. We like to use the Actors Advocate Career Coach Dallas Travers's exercise as a guide (while it is focused on actors you don't have to be pursuing an acting career to find it helpful). So grab a friend, a pen, and your BGP's and have some fun celebrating your year! (Cut and paste the link below)
Merry Christmas and we will see you and your BGP's in the New Year!
The Magic of the BGP's!Via someecards
Day 29 : Three Blind Mice for @sketch_dailies
When this moment comes, I will be ready.
Day 20: 6am spin class
Ohana Photographers
Ohana Photographers
Vivien Leigh,1940s
by Blaire Bercy
by Anne T. Donahue
ms chapman's voice lifts above the music in un-ironic ways. imagine dolly parton joining wolf parade…" (COYOL EP, iTunes Review)
"Intelligent and...


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Dr. Bashir: This could be a pre-destination paradox…
Dr. Bashir: I could be destined to fall in love with that woman and become my own great-grandfather.
O'Brien: You're being ridiculous.
Dr. Bashir: Ridiculous? If I don't meet with her tomorrow I may never be born!… You saw the way she looked at me. You can't just dismiss this.
O'Brien: I can try.
Dr. Bashir: All right - fine! But I can't wait to get back to Deep Space Nine and see your face when you find out that I never existed!


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WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers reported an overall operating profit of $2.9 million in 2013.
That's up $2.2 million from 2012.
The Bombers say season-ticket sales and revenue hit a record high with some 24,620 sold for the first season at Investors Group Field, generating $8.66 million. That's a 34 per cent increase over 2012.
The Bombers weren't as successful on the field last year, finishing last in the CFL with a 3-15 record.
"We are pleased with the financial results for 2013 and look forward to improving upon them as we continue to settle into our new home at Investors Group Field," Blue Bombers president and CEO Wade Miller said Monday in a release.
The Bombers' net surplus is $7.9 million, an increase of $2.07 million from last year.
CFL on TSN analyst Paul LaPolice opens his playbook and breaks down key plays from each week's games. More...
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text:
NASHVILLE (AP) - Republican Gov. Bill Haslam says he's making it a priority to fund
key education initiatives and care for the state's most vulnerable
citizens despite a tight budget year.
Haslam was to unveil details of his annual state
spending proposal and lay out some of his top legislative priorities for
the year during his State of the State address Monday evening.
Earlier in the day, he met with reporters and
reiterated what state financial officials have been reporting over the
past several months, that revenue collections have failed to meet
He noted the state has $260 million in new revenue
for the budget year beginning in July. However, $180 million will go
toward costs to TennCare - the state's expanded Medicaid program - and
$120 million is proposed for education.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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