text:
Haggerty is a woman with no academic degree from Lyons, Colorado, but
she has published an environmental research paper in
the International
Journal of Forestry Research about
the harmful effects radio
waves have on aspen seedlings.
started studying electromagnetic fields 20 years ago. She had heard
of a preliminary
conducted near her home north of Steamboat Mountain that
aspen seedlings were healthier when shielded
from radio waves.
in 2005, she saw that her geraniums were stunted and had an inkling
that it may have had to do with radio frequencies, since she placed
her plants in a Faraday cage, which is covered by a metal screen that
prevents radio frequency energy from "hitting" the plants.
Haggerty's inkling was correct, since her geraniums were suddenly
growing at a faster rate with larger leaves.
first planted the aspen seedlings in 2007, where one group was in a
Faraday cage, another was wrapped in fiberglass that didn't protect
the plants from radio waves and the third group was completely
unprotected. The procedure began in spring, and by the end of July,
there were noticeable differences in growth. Once October approached,
even the colors varied.
found that the shielded seedlings produced more growth, longer
shoots, bigger leaves and more total leaf area," said Haggerty.
"The shielded group produced 60 percent more leaf area and 74
percent more shoot length than the mock-shielded group.
leaves in the shielded
group produced striking fall colors, while the two exposed
groups stayed light green or yellow and were affected by areas of
dead leaf tissue. The shielded leaves turned red, which was a good
sign. The unshielded leaves in both exposed groups had extensive
decay, and some leaves fell off while they were still green."
to the U.S. Forest
Service researchers, drought conditions are likely the cause
of death for thousands of acres of aspen trees in Colorado. While
Haggerty recognizes that her study is only a preliminary experiment,
she argues that the surrounding area is "saturated" with
radio waves from televisions, radios, microwave ovens, weather radar
and cell phones that are contributing to the demise of these
appears that there may be negative effects on the health and growth
of aspens from the radio frequency background," said Haggerty.
trees are not the only victims falling dead to radio waves. According
to researchers at Chandigarh's
Panjab University in India, radiation
from mobile phones is a key factor in the decline
of honey bees throughout Europe and the United States. The
experiment was conducted by putting two cell phones that were powered
on for a total of one half hour per day inside one bee hive while
putting dummy models of cell phones in another. Three months later,
researchers found a severe decline in honey bees in the active cell
phone infested hive. In addition, the queen bee in the powered cell
phone hive produced less eggs.
it's plants or bees, researchers and everyday citizens like Haggerty
alike have proven that radio waves have an adverse effect on the
surrounding environment and hope that it will change the point of
views of doubters and help find ways to protect the environment.
paper sparked interest in Wayne Shepperd of the Forest
Service's Rocky Mountain
Research Station, and he had Haggerty present her data at the
regional conference on forest decline in Fort Collins in 2008. From
there, the paper was accepted at the North American Forest Ecology
Workshop at Utah State University and is now published in the
scientific journal.


text:
Cheat sheets
Looking for a handy guide to help you decide which baby gear will best suit your lifestyle? Print out these handy cheat sheets to take with you when you register to make sure you know what questions to ask yourself before pulling the trigger.
Click on each cheat sheet below to download!
Happy shopping!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
USAF's F-22 Raptor has been on stand down for few months now. The stand down
was to investigate any potential issues with the aircraft's onboard oxygen
generation system for use at high altitudes. The investigation was started
after pilots were experiencing symptoms of hypoxia during flights in the
The chief of the USAF will get options this week on how to lift the grounding of the F-22 and allow the aircraft
and its pilots to return to the skies. In the cases of the hypoxia-like
symptoms, the pilots were also found to have toxins in the bloodstream. USAF
chief Gen. Norton Schwartz said last week that the full report would allow him to decide what restrictions to place on the return
to operating for the F-22.
There had been previous discussions that one of the potential restrictions
would be to limit the F-22 to an operational altitude of 40,000 feet until the
issue was pinpointed. Others want the aircraft to return to the 60,000 ceiling
right away. One of the reasons a fix for the F-22 issue hasn't been found according
to some is that the Air Force physiologists that are working on the problem
don't have practical experience.
The operational F-22 community wants someone with hands-on experience with the
aircraft to be part of the process. Specifically, they are calling for Kevin
Divers to join the team. Divers is a former pilot who later trained to be a
physiologist, and now runs a consulting firm called Warrior Edge. Divers was
part of the F-22 Combines Test Force during the development of the aircraft.
Divers said during his time in the USAF, "The trend that I saw, as
rated-physiologists left the career field, is that the aerospace physiology
officer leans more on academic knowledge." He continued, "There is a
major gap between research and operational knowledge of the F-22 that could be
causing this delay."
Divers added, "I know all of their [F-22] flight equipment - the [onboard
oxygen generating system] OBOGS, the entire plumbing of the aircraft to the
OBOGS - because I had to study it and look at it from the safety standpoint for
the pilots. My pilot training experience taught me to break down subsystems and
know the aircraft to the level that the aircrew has to know it. Air Force
physiologists aren't trained that way coming into the Air Force."
While the fate of the F-22 should be decided shortly, another investigation
into the F-22 and a crash that killed one pilot has been concluded according
to sources. In November of 2010, a USAF F-22 piloted by Capt. Jeff
"Bong" Haney crashed in Alaska. The pilot was killed in the crash.
The cause has been under investigation and the industry source claims that the
crash was caused by a malfunction in the F-22 engine's air bleed system.
Defense News claims that the same
information was confirmed by another source, this one a pilot. According to an
accident report, the bleed air issue caused the F-22 environmental control
system and the onboard oxygen generation system to shut down. However, the USAF
refutes these sources.
Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. John Dorrian wrote in an email to Defense News, "The information
provided by your 'industry source' is not a wholly accurate characterization of
the crash. However, due to the ongoing Accident Investigation Board process I
am not able to provide point-by-point confirmation, as the information is not
yet releasable. PACAF is conducting the AIB process and will release
appropriate information once the process is complete."
The source claims that he doesn't see how the OBOGS that has caused the F-22
fleet grounding could have been ruled out as the cause for the crash.


text:
When the iPhone 4 and iOS 4.0 was
released, the Dev Team was able to relatively easily develop a
jailbreak using JailbreakMe.com. The jailbreak made use of an
vulnerability in the way that Mobile Safari handled PDF documents.
Now, just hours after the official
iOS 4.1 ipsw was posted to Apple's servers, the Dev Team has
discovered a bootrom exploit that will used in the iOS 4.1 jailbreak.
The Dev Team's Musclenerd tweeted,
"Crazy timing that @pod2g got latest exploit just as 4.1 went
public (lots of work left…keep away from 4.1 for now!)."
to Redmond Pie, this exploit won't be something that Apple
be able to patch as quickly as the previous PDF exploit:
Also, the best
thing about a low-level bootrom exploit is that Apple wont be able to
patch it simply by releasing a new firmware update. Instead, it will
require Apple to release a revised hardware version of iPhone 4,
iPhone 3GS, iPad and the iPod touches with new bootroms in order to
patch the bootrom exploit.
This is good news for iPhone 4 users
that want the fixes included in the iOS 4.1 update (proximity sensor,
Bluetooth connection issues), while at the same time providing access
to the wealth of "underground apps" and customizations that
can be had with unauthorized app stores like Cydia.
You'll just have to be patient as the
Dev Team works its magic to complete work on the iOS 4.1 jailbreak.


text:
Cardinals pour it on in road win over Mets
By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Zack Wheeler's oblique injury may have spoiled a showdown between the top prospect and Carlos Beltran, but it did not spoil Beltran's return to Tradition Field.
The former Mets outfielder filled up the box score with a double and a walk, leading the Cardinals to an 12-4 victory over his old team Wednesday afternoon.
Wheeler was originally supposed to start for the Mets, pitting him against the player for whom he was traded to the Giants in July 2011. But the top prospect strained a right oblique muscle during batting practice early Wednesday, prompting the Mets to sideline him as a precaution.
Instead, Beltran and the Cardinals faced Darin Gorski, a left-hander hoping to make the Opening Day bullpen. Gorski cruised through a 1-2-3 first inning, but opened the second by walking Pete Kozma, allowing a single to Jon Jay and serving up Beltran's two-run double. Beltran later walked in the fourth inning before the Cardinals replaced him with a pinch-runner.
St. Louis starter Lance Lynn also struggled in his Grapefruit League debut, giving up John Buck's two-run homer in the second. Lynn pitched two innings, giving up four hits, walking no one and striking out three. Cardinals prospect Michael Wacha, on the other hand, dominated. The young righty struck out five during three shutout innings, in which he allowed just one hit.
Jay and Matt Adams each finished with two hits for the Cardinals, who brought more than half of their regulars on the road trip. Among them was catcher Yadier Molina, who doubled home two runs in the fourth and finished with three RBIs.
David Wright, who will leave camp on Saturday to join Team USA for the World Baseball Classic, recorded multiple hits for the Mets.
The teams traded solo homers in the later innings, as Shane Robinson hit one in the sixth for the Cardinals, with Anthony Recker answering the tally for the Mets in the seventh. Collin Cowgill also tacked on a homer in the ninth for New York.
Up next for the Cardinals: Veteran Jake Westbrook will make his spring debut on Thursday, when the Cardinals host the Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. CT. Trevor Rosenthal, who is in a three-way competition for the fifth starter spot, will follow Westbrook on the mound.
Anthony DiComo is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @AnthonyDicomo. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
You are logged in as:
Your tax invoice can be downloaded on flysaa.com under Manage & Fly 72 hours after the e-ticket has been issued.
If a Tax Invoice has been successfully generated from the South African Airways Tax Invoice System, the onus rests on the recipient to ensure that his/her mailbox has enough space to receive an e-mail - with a PDF attachment; and that his//her service provider or exchange server allows for delivery of such e-mails. South African Airways, can not take responsibility for undelivered e-mails due to any other reasons beyond our control including the above.
Prescribed details required from the South African Revenue Service on a tax invoices
Tax invoices must ordinarily reflect the following details as prescribed by the South African Revenue Service Act, 1997 (Act No. 34 of 1997):
Johannesburg - 01 September 2009:
South African Airways has increased its frequencies to Perth, Australia, from today, 1 September 2009, and now flies non-stop to the city every day of the week. This cements the fact that SAA operates the fastest and most convenient way to fly to Australia.
Prior to this increase in frequencies, SAA operated five flights per week. The two additional flights will operate on Wednesday and Sunday which now gives our customers a wider choice with daily operations.
SA280 departs Johannesburg on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 22h15pm and arrives in Perth at 13h25pm on the following days. The return flight SA281 departs Perth on Mondays to Fridays at 23h50pm and arrives in Johannesburg the following days at 05h45am.
SA282 departs Johannesburg Fridays and Saturdays at 16h20pm and arrives in Perth at 07h30am the following day. SA283 departs Perth on Saturdays and Sundays at 11h20am and arrives in Johannesburg at 17h15pm the same days.
The increase in flights on the route is in line with SAA's strategy of strengthening its route network where there is potential to grow, and to meet market demand. In addition the new schedules provide great connectivity to and from Africa to help the mining and business communities to use SAA's Johannesburg hub as a major gateway into and out of Africa.
In addition to the daily Perth flights SAA has six codeshare flights per week to Sydney operated by its partner, Qantas. This brings the total number of flights offered by SAA out of the Johannesburg to Australia to 13.
The Australia route is one of SAA's most popular routes.
SAA operates an exclusive product on the route which is sought out by a loyal and growing customer base.
In November 2009 SAA will celebrate its 52nd year of operations into Perth and is the longest serving foreign airline in Western Australia.
SAA will continue to monitor market demand and look for new opportunities going forward.
Issued by Group Corporate Affairs


text:
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)
project was an ambitious
and forward-looking plan. Unfortunately for all its ambition, it
might have been a bit poorly executed. The initial target cost of $100 ballooned
to $188 per laptop.
However, a software great in Britain has devised [video] what could be
the salvation of OLPC and similar future programs --
a fully functional computer that's as small as a USB stick and costs only $25
USD (£15) to make.
The tiny computer -- dubbed "Raspberry Pi" -- looks somewhat like a
standard USB memory stick, as a USB 2.0 connector juts out of it. But on
the side it packs a SD/MMC/SDIO card reader to provide Flash storage (of
course buying said storage might bump the price $10-$20). And on the side
opposite to the USB port an HDMI connector sits, capable of piping out 1080p
video to a monitor/TV.
The little board has smartphone-esque hardware, with a 700MHz ARM11 processor
and 128 MB of SDRAM packed in. Specifics on the processor, including the
manufacturer were not yet revealed. The GPU also was not revealed, but it
is said to be capable of handling OpenGL ES 2.0 (hence the 1080p output).
Mice/keyboards can be plugged in via the USB slot. The computer runs a
version of popular open-source Linux distribution Ubuntu 9 and comes with a
variety of open source software tools (Iceweasel, KOffice, Python).
An expansion port allows for additional hardware models. For example, a
12 MP camera module was shown off.
A full spec sheet and overview is available here.
The inventor David Braben is the founder of development studio Frontier
Developments and co-developer of the game Elite. His game
studio has offered such hot-selling titles as the Rollercoaster Tycoon series, Thrillville, Lost
Winds, and most recently Kinectimals.
Lately Mr. Braben has been driven to try to inspire the next generation to
success in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
He is looking to deploy the mini-computer as a device packed with courses
for children that teach them about the basics of computer hardware and
programming software.
He has launched a UK registered charity dubbed the Raspberry Pi
He states that children will be able to "use [the device] as a computer to
learn program, to be able to run Twitter, Facebook, whatever. But also to
be able to understand the whole process of programming. A lot of things
have been obfuscated these days in the sense that you can't get at them.
There's so much between you and doing something interesting or creative
that it gets in the way. And hopefully this device will be one of the
pieces that helps change that."
The Raspberry Pi foundation plans to distribute the tiny PC to children in the
UK, as well as third world children, though no solid release date has been
announced yet.


text:
Reaction to Honda's
CR-Z two-seater has been mixed. While the vehicle attempts to
capture some of the essence of the CRX which came two decades before
it, its performance (0 to 60 mph in around 10 seconds) and fuel
economy aren't exactly inspiring given its hybrid powertrain.
The CR-Z only manages to achieve 31/37
mpg (city/highway) with a manual transmission and 36/38 mpg with a
CVT transmission -- both figures are well below that of the larger
and heavier Toyota
Hyundai, which is doing its best to
punch Toyota and Honda (among others) right in the throat, is now
said to be setting its targets on the CR-Z. According to Autoblog,
the upcoming Hyundai Veloster -- the replacement for the Hyundai
Tiburon -- will achieve
40 mpg by using a regular four-cylinder engine. This shouldn't be
too hard a target for Hyundai to reach considering that its
3,200-pound Sonata midsize sedan can already
hit 35 mpg on the highway.
While the CR-Z needs a hybrid
powertrain to extract somewhat disappointing fuel economy numbers
given its 2,750-pound weight, Hyundai says that it needs no such
excess baggage. The lighter Veloster is said to be powered by a
1.6-liter engine producing around 140 hp. For comparison, Honda's
CR-Z is powered by a 122 hp four-cylinder engine coupled with a 13 hp
electric motor.
And if toppling the CR-Z in fuel
economy and performance wasn't enough, Hyundai will likely also
undercut the pricing of the CR-Z as well due to the Veloster's lack
of an expensive hybrid powertrain and batteries. The Veloster also
comes with the added utility of seating for four people instead of
only two like the CR-Z


text:
Although Dell's XPS M1330 was
leaked to the press earlier this month, today marks the official launch of
the new 13.3" Santa Rosa-based
notebook. Dell's follow-up to the XPS M1210 measures
12.5" x 9.4" x 1.43" and weighs in at under four pounds.
The XPS M1330 is powered by Core 2 Duo processors and backs
its 13.3" TrueLife display (LED backlighting is optional) with a 1280x800 screen
resolution. The standard graphics solution on the notebook is Intel's X3100
integrated GPU. Paying extra will get you an NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS
dedicated graphics card.
When it comes to connectivity, Dell provides a wealth of
options. There are no less than three WiFi solutions offered (802.11b/g,
802.11a/b/g and 802.11n). Dell also offers an optional broadband modem for
Sprint/Verizon (EVDO Rev A) or AT&T (HSDPA). Hardwire connections include
two USB 2.0 ports, a Firewire port and HDMI-out.
Other niceties include a slot-loading DVD burner, an 8-in-1 media reader, integrated
webcam with dual microphones, consumer IR remote (stores within the ExpressCard
slot), optional 32GB solid state disk (SSD) and an optional fingerprint reader.
The Dell XPS M1330 starts at $1,299 and will come with a
one-year XPS limited warranty, one year of LoJack Theft Protection Service and
10GB of storage with Dell Online Backup. Customers will be able to choose from
three lid colors as well with the XPS M1330 (Tuxedo Black, Pearl White or
Crimson Red).
Dell has also revamped its popular Inspiron notebook family.
14", 15.4" and 17" notebooks now fall under the Inspiron 1420,
1520 and 1720 nomenclature for Intel Santa Rosa-based notebooks and Inspiron
1521 and 1721 for AMD Turion 64 X2-based notebooks.
The new range of Inspiron notebooks are available with a
dizzying array of options including RAID 0,1 support (1721 only), 3G wireless,
2.0MP webcam and a Blu-ray drive (Intel models).
Dell once again plays up the customization bit with the new
Inspirons. Each will be available in Jet Black (matte finish), Alpine White (gloss
finish), Espresso Brown, Flamingo Pink, Midnight Blue, Ruby Red, Spring Green or Sunshine Yellow.
Weight for the Inspirons range from 5.39 pounds for the 1420
to 7.67 pounds for the 1721. Starting prices begin at $799 for the 1420 and
creep up to $999 for the 1720.


text:
well i decided to post this new thread cause there hasn't been much talk about the team next season. How many wins will we have? What players will we aquire through Free agency, Trade and Draft? But the main question is, Will We make it to the playoffs? IMO if everything goes right(i.e we draft Irving/williams/kanter trade bargnani and bring in a Veteran C) then we'll make it to the playoffs with the 7th or 8th seed.
One of the things we really need to address this off season is our 3 pt shooting. We went from one of the best 3 pt shooting teams to the worst. If Derozan comes back shooting 30+% from behind the arc, JJ improves his 3pt shot to the low 30's, bayless comes back with a polished shot and we bring in another wing player(i.e Affalo or chandler) then we'll be among one of the best again.


text:
Brooklyns commentators just named Gray "Air Gray" Hilarious sarcasm ;D
Brooklyns commentators just named Gray "Air Gray" Hilarious sarcasm ;D
always nice to have the opposing coach burn a timeout early
Damn I came here just hoping for a shot of that. The bench reaction in the back was priceless. The replays are all on the opposite angle.
Did I see Amir Johnson cheap shot Blatch?
this scrubby lineup they're throwing out there with lowry is pissing me off just looking at it.
Ross needs to take off the price tag from his arm sleeve
i wanna see more pick and roll with lowry.. i dont like seeing him pass to a big near the 3 pt line for no reason
anyone else constantly nervous and on edge when AA touches he ball?
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text:
STCU Has Big Plans for Historic Spokane Building
The $1.7 billion Spokane Teachers Credit Union plans to put a recently foreclosed property to good use, creating a new branch for itself and office space for others in an historic old building in downtown Spokane, Wash.
The 113,400-member STCU obtained the Hutton Building last year and its board voted this month to convert it into an anchor for the fast-growing credit union, which has doubled in membership in the past five years.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983, the Hutton Building is named for Levi and May Hutton, who opened the building's first four floors in 1907 and added three more in 1910, STCU said.
The Huttons were silver mine millionaires who lived in a fourth-floor apartment where they hosted lavish parties with such notable guests as presidential candidate and future Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, STCU said.
Plans are still being finalized, STCU said, but include a new branch and commercial lending offices to handle its growing member business lending services, as well as office space it will sell on some floors.
"We intend to continue growing our commercial lending program and it's logical for us to have a presence where those activities occur," said Tom Johnson, president/CEO of STCU, which bills itself as the largest inland credit union in the Northwest.
The credit union has doubled in membership in the past five years and last year its commercial lending staff made more than $33.7 million in loans.
Johnson said the project "gives STCU an opportunity to reclaim an architectural treasure" while participating in the growth of downtown Spokane. He said STCU plans to maintain its nearby U-District location in the historic Schade Towers and its downtown branch in the skywalk level of Crescent Court.
Administrative offices and most other back-office functions will remain at STCU's headquarters building in nearby Liberty Lake, Wash.
STCU also noted that Levi Hutton, who had been an orphan, funded the creation of Hutton Settlement, which still operates in the Spokane Valley as a long-term care home for children.
"It's appropriate that the name Hutton, which is so closely associated with helping Spokane children, is now linked with STCU, an organization founded by Spokane teachers and dedicated to education and public service," Johnson said.


text:
Mark Prior in the present tense
Former big league ace has found virtue in quest to return to the Majors
By Doug Miller / MLB.com
The sun is hot on top of a hill in San Diego and the house is white, so white that it looks perfect. A late-model 1990s sedan stops in the middle of the quiet street in the old neighborhood lined with Spanish-style super-casas, mid-century modern showpieces and other glittering fortresses of privilege.
The men in the sedan, who are probably in their 40s, are not close enough to the house to see the sculpted tufts of grass or the doormat marked by the letter P, but they gaze with curiosity through the open garage door and get a good look at the folks who have just exited the family Range Rover. The father is a tall, athletic-looking guy with sunglasses resting atop his brown hair. His wife is a pretty, fit blonde. The two little girls and one little boy who are rustling about look more like their mother -- light hair and blue eyes. They're smiling and laughing and waiting for the next bit of fun in a busy day. The mom ushers them into the house for snacks while the dad lingers.
"Hey," the guy riding shotgun calls out. "Can I ask you something?"
Nine years ago, the man who's about to answer this question was famous. He was a phenom, towering above baseball from the 10-inch-high Major League pitcher's mound. Already a Cy Young Award contender at 23 years of age, and -- paramount to his devotees, the beleaguered Chicago Cubs fan base that had not experienced a World Series championship since 1908 and a World Series appearance since 1945 -- a limitless, blazing 6-foot-5, 230-pound manifestation of rekindled hope aflame.
He doesn't hesitate. He's not taken aback by the request. He's comfortable and happy to oblige neighbors or strangers looking for help. Even though he lost one of the most infamous games in baseball's last half-century on that cool Tuesday night in Wrigley Field in October 2003, nobody recognizes him anymore. Not here, at least. Maybe in Chicago, but not here in his hometown, the place where he's at peace.
Nine years. It's seemed like a long time, having not pitched in the big leagues since 2006 because of one injury or the next one or the bunch after that. It's seemed like a short time, watching his kids grow up so fast, watching as he and his wife evolve as parents and adults now in their 30s, settling into much quieter days in a world where expectations have new meaning. It's no longer the All-Star Game or the World Series or the Hall of Fame here on top of this hill. It's waking up every morning, really early, and trying to do the right things. Trying to get back to the Majors.
These days the questions are less about him and more about Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, another phenom from San Diego, another guy who's had arm problems. Everybody wants to compare them.
Nine years. Maybe it hasn't seemed a day shorter or longer than that at all. Maybe it's that simple. Who knows? Like with everything else that's happened, why bother trying to figure it out anymore?
"Sure," Mark Prior says, emerging into the glow of the late November afternoon. "What's up?"
"Well, I've never seen a house so white. How do you keep it so white?"
Prior laughs a bit. He wasn't quite expecting this.
"Well, it's pretty new. We've only been here 11 months."
"Still, man ... wow."
"OK, I'll let you in on my little secret," Prior says with a smile, walking closer to the car, looking just as comfortable in a rumpled red T-shirt, cargo shorts and sneakers as he did nine years ago in that flawless white pinstriped jersey with the C over the heart and the No. 22 on the back and the blue sanitary socks pulled high over those celebrated, gigantic calves.
"I paint a different section of it every day."
The men in the car shoot him a quizzical look.
"I'm kidding," Prior says, and the three men laugh together before the car pulls away.
Mark Prior walks back to the white house that looks perfect but isn't, because nothing is. He opens the door and goes inside to his family.
|"Sometimes expecting a good thing is more pleasurable than actually experiencing it. Consider the hours blissfully spent daydreaming about an upcoming vacation -- we get our money's worth before we even board the plane."
|-- Tali Sharot, The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain (Vintage Books, 2012), p. 110
It's 8 o'clock on Tuesday morning at the University of San Diego's practice football field. Mark Prior has arrived and he's staking out territory on the sidelines in silence. He's carrying what looks like a lacrosse net, pulling colored balls and a white towel out of a gym bag, and setting it all down onto bright green artificial turf. Prior doesn't look like he's aged much in the 10 years since he first appeared on a Major League mound. He doesn't mind pointing out the handful of gray hairs above his sideburns that catch the early-morning light.
He's greeting his throwing partner, right-hander Stephen Penney, a skinny, red-headed tree of a 25-year-old. They crack a joke about their shared agent, John Boggs, and his glorious, immovable head of hair. They're making a plan. Maybe they can push it more than they did yesterday. They'll see where the workout takes them. So far there's not a baseball in sight.
The pitchers stand and stretch. Unleashed endorphins and the fast-twitch migration of last night's soreness from one muscle to the next render them unaware of the rich memories surrounding them. Mark hasn't thought about it in a while, but he used to pass right through here on those spring afternoons of JV ball at University of San Diego High School across the street. That building has since been torn down, the school moving itself up the coast to Del Mar and taking on a new name.
Prior's 32, so it takes a bit of effort to picture the 15-year-old version of himself, yapping away with the guys, in full uniforms, on their way to the Pony fields and clicking on the USD campus concrete before descending into Tecolote Canyon. Back then there was so much ahead of him and no way of knowing where the dirt trail through a dusty, sagebrush-flanked ravine might be leading.
Penney never had to do that walk. By the time he was progressing through the same baseball ranks, carpools had been worked out. That was 2003, when Mark Prior was no longer a University High sports deity a la Phil Mickelson, Barry Zito and Luke Walton. Mark Prior was already a burgeoning big league ace, the guy who might have lost that gutting Game 6 of the National League Championship Series but still had years of glory ahead.
That game never seems to go away. The Cubs were leading, 3-0, in the eighth inning, five outs from clinching the pennant, when a fan named Steve Bartman tried to catch a foul ball and knocked it away from the glove of approaching Cubs left fielder Moises Alou.
Alou got mad, the Wrigley Field crowd got madder, Chicago shortstop Alex Gonzalez booted a ground ball, and the Cubs lost, 8-3, and then blew Game 7. Yet another winter -- and ensuing decade -- of heartache had begun.
Penney knew all about that game. And when he first encountered Prior, in a 2008 workout session arranged by their pitching coach, Tom House, who had become the pitching coach at Prior's alma mater, the University of Southern California, he didn't know what to expect.
Would this guy be aloof or standoffish, typical of what one might expect of a former No. 2 overall draft pick who hit the bigs within a year? Would he deem a 20th-round selection out of UC-Riverside unworthy of using the same Nautilus machine? Had the Bartman incident soured him for life? Or had the injuries to his shoulder that had kept him out of the Major Leagues since 2006 made him a big league brooder?
He figured he might as well find out, so Penney walked up to him.
"I'm Stephen," he said, shaking Prior's hand. "We went to the same high school."
That was all that needed to be said. It turned out Prior was just another guy who wanted more than anything to make it to the Major Leagues, even though he had already done it. Prior didn't know how to be any other way.
He had grown up in nearby Bonita with a father, Jerry, who had played offensive line for Vanderbilt and saw how big-time athletics could break your body. Once Mark focused on baseball, dominated high school, and showed promise as a Vanderbilt freshman before transferring and shining at USC, scouts and agents flocked.
He was drafted by the Yankees in 1998 but opted for classrooms and dorms instead. He saw the world, traveling with Team USA. Even before going 15-1 with a 1.69 ERA to win the Golden Spikes Award as the top player in college baseball in 2001, Jerry had told all the big league teams that they needed to call Dad and make an appointment if they were interested in Son. Jerry wanted Mark to be a college kid having fun playing baseball, a stance that frayed quite a few fiberoptic cables of the old-boy network.
In August 2001, Prior signed with the Cubs for $10.5 million, a Draft pick record that would stand until Strasburg got more than $15 million in 2009. He went back to school and lived by the beach, working toward the business degree he'd earn three years later. The following year, he pitched all of nine Minor League games between Double- and Triple-A. He struck out 79 batters in 51 innings -- enough for a grand Major League bow on May 22, 2002, where Prior struck out 10 Pittsburgh Pirates in six innings at Wrigley.
That August, the Cubs played at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco. Dusty Baker, the manager of the World Series-bound Giants, got to the stadium early, as usual. He sat in the dugout, enjoying a sunny day by the bay. He saw a striking figure warming up by the warning track and watched. He knew it was Prior. He had read the scouting reports. Now he was seeing it, and he understood. This was the right way to start a career, he thought. Arrive first, leave last. Baker imagined what it might be like to have a guy like this leading his pitching staff.
This morning, Prior casts a shadow over another field, and Stephen Penney stands and faces him. They've done a drill of throwing motions with a towel instead of a ball. Now they're standing 60 feet apart, and almost an hour after they arrived, they're throwing a baseball.
Prior is doing this every morning because his shoulder has gotten stronger and he's been good enough to pitch in Triple-A the last two seasons. He was released by the Red Sox last August, but he's going to do whatever he can to hook on with another organization in 2013. Penney is doing this every morning because this is probably his last chance to get back in the game.
The friends play catch and laugh about how tired they are. Nearby, sitting on the parking-lot curb, a worker in a hard hat eats a breakfast burrito and looks on. A passerby asks him if he recognizes the guy with the brown hair.
"Nope," the guy says. "Is he a pitcher?"
|"The idea behind the self-fulfilling prophecy is that it is not a forecast of a future event, but a cause of the event. ... Therefore, believing in a positive outcome will enhance the probability that the desired outcome will be realized."
|-- Sharot, p. 43
Mark Prior's leaving the field, running to his Range Rover to hurry to the gym. Once he's settled behind the wheel, he mentions a book he read: The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain. It was written by a neuroscientist and it helps explain how we trick ourselves into looking at the bright side of things, even if our lives keep chucking big boulders in the way.
He knows no book could ever describe 2003. It felt more like a movie, walking down Michigan Avenue or the side streets near the three-story townhouse he bought in Lincoln Park and hadn't even furnished with living-room or dining-room furniture by October. People would stop as he walked by, like they were all frozen, like in that scene in "The Matrix." They'd turn around. They'd point. They'd whisper to each other. He saw their eyes widen. He didn't get it.
Prior found himself going to the same safe Italian restaurant, ordering the same gnocchi and tiramisu. Sure, he'd go out with Heather -- they were engaged by then -- and teammates and their wives or girlfriends, but he'd make sure he didn't stray too far from his sanctum.
He'd do it differently now, if he had that option. He always loved Chicago -- the neighborhoods, the culture, the energy. He's still mad at himself for not tagging along with Heather on architectural tours. He understands now why he insulated himself, though. He was 22 years old. He was trying to win games and keep his mouth shut and it was working. Life was flying by.
In his second start of 2003, he shut out the Expos, struck out 12 and didn't walk a batter. By May 12, he was 5-1 with a 2.13 ERA. On June 26, he struck out 16 Brewers in eight innings. On July 7, he and young Cubs ace Kerry Wood were on the cover of Sports Illustrated holding baseballs with flames superimposed between them. The headline was "Chicago Heat." Dusty Baker had left the Giants after losing the 2002 World Series to the Angels and took the Cubs job. Now he had Wood and Prior as his 1-2.
Prior's momentum didn't slow down until July 11, when he collided with Braves infielder Marcus Giles and bruised his right shoulder. He made the All-Star team but was on the disabled list. He came back Aug. 5 and pitched six shutout innings against the Padres in his hometown. Then came two straight complete-game victories, including a 131-pitch effort on Sept. 1, six days before his 23rd birthday, in which he blanked the Cardinals for eight innings. It was his sixth win in a row and he was 14-5 with a 2.36 ERA. He had given up three earned runs in his previous 47 innings.
Teammate Eric Karros called what Prior was doing to batters "a joke," but anyone who thought Prior made it look easy didn't see the agony behind it -- the moments he'd spent screaming his head off, always in the sanctuary of the clubhouse, by himself, throwing balls at lockers, cursing his imperfections. They saw a statuesque sculpture on the mound. They started counting the trophies.
On Sept. 6 in Milwaukee, Prior threw another 129 pitches for another win. The Cubs were 75-67 and a half-game behind Houston for the National League Central division lead. The next day he turned 23.
By the end of the regular season, with the Cubs on their way to the playoffs, Prior had finished a stretch in which he'd gone 10-1 in 11 starts, including 13-, 14- and 10-strikeout games in succession to end the regular season. The pitch counts for those games: 124, 131, 133.
On Sept. 26 on ESPN.com, statistics prodigy Nate Silver and injury expert Will Carroll wrote that, "In the terminology of pitching biomechanics, Mark Prior is a freak." Another source was quoted in the article as saying, "He's the model; he's perfect."
Silver and Carroll mentioned that Prior had been worked more heavily that season than "all but four other pitchers" in their "Pitcher Abuse Points system," but it didn't seem to be too much of a concern.
"There are five major principles of proper delivery that can be summarized as balance, posture, anatomical position, rotation, and release," they wrote. "Prior is textbook with all five."
They ended the piece with a caveat, a reminder that it all could fall apart, just as it had for other hyped pitchers: "Mark Prior is human."
October arrived, and Prior threw a two-hit complete game in his postseason debut, beating Atlanta in Game 3 as the Cubs took the NL Division Series. His pitch count was 133.
In Game 2 of the NL Championship Series against Florida, Jerry Prior watched from the stands along with Mark's mom, brother and sister, family and friends as Chicago's offense scored seven runs in two innings. Mark walked off the mound with an 8-0 lead after five. The Cubs, after losing Game 1, had a laugher in the bag to tie up the series.
Jerry picked up the golf pencil that he'd clutched during all of Mark's games clear back to Little League -- his nervous-habit pitch counter. He looked down at his scorebook. Only 73 tally marks. This couldn't have been better -- an official game, maybe one more inning and a great setup for a possible Game 6. It was even better when the Cubs scored three more in the bottom of the inning.
But Prior came out for the sixth, the seventh, the eighth. By the time he really was done, having given up two solo homers, he was at 116 pitches. The Cubs won, 12-3.
Six nights later was Game 6, and, well, that one can wait until later.
Back at the gym, it's a regular fitness day -- pick a partner -- and Heather's here, too, although she's paired with someone else. "I don't need to be his partner here," she cracks. She's getting after it, too. So is he, bouncing from Pilates balls to a box jump to biceps curls and on. The walls are painted with self-help axioms, human and otherwise:
"The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary." -- Vince Lombardi
"Your attitude determines your altitude." -- Zig Ziglar
"Do or do not. There is no try." -- Yoda
Most of the folks in this workout group don't know a thing about Pitcher Abuse Points or remember who won it all in '03. They're being egged on by the owner, Todd Durkin, a charged, flat-topped brick of a man who practically leaps off the cover of his book -- which is being sold at the front desk, right near the fridge stocked with two different types of coconut water -- onto the gym floor, whistle in hand.
There's a 40-year-old mom who's in great shape and knows it. There's a preacher with a big smile trying to get rid of his big boiler. And doing pull-ups by the mirror along the back wall, there's a former Major League phenom, 32 years old and wincing from the strain.
|"People tend to feel more optimistic about things they believe they can control. Often, this sense of control is just an illusion."
|-- Sharot, p. 69-70
Lunch at last, and Mark Prior is still happy to stick with something that works. He's at a busy restaurant, the one with the turkey sandwich he loves. The manager looks up from the oven to greet him. Heather walks in with Matthew and Caitlin. Amanda's still at school.
The specialty here is Chicago-style pizza, and the walls are covered with Windy City lore: black-and-whites from the Great Fire, Mike Ditka's middle finger, a Jeff Tweedy concert poster. A blue coffee-table book rests on a windowsill behind where Heather is sitting. It says "Cubs" on the cover in large red-and-white letters. Prior's watching Caitlin eat red grapes from a container her mom brought.
The book is subtitled, "From Tinker ... to Banks ... to Sandberg ... to TODAY." It came out in 2005 and led off with a summation of 2004 -- another good campaign, with the Cubs finishing 89-73, but a disaster otherwise. The team was looking like a Wild Card lock until it lost seven of nine in late September and missed out on the playoffs.
As always with the Cubs or any team believed to be cursed, there was plenty of blame to sprinkle around -- on closer LaTroy Hawkins, who had given up a game-tying three-run homer with two out in the bottom of the ninth against the Mets on Sept. 25. On Dusty Baker. And, yeah, even Mark Prior. He had missed the first two months of the season with Achilles tendinitis and made just 21 starts that year, pitching 118 2/3 innings. His record was 6-4. His ERA was 4.02. Fans could be encouraged after Prior's final start in '04, a nine-inning, 16-strikeout effort, but the Cubs lost that game.
The next year wasn't any better. On May 27, 2005, a line drive hit by Colorado Rockies outfielder Brad Hawpe broke Prior's right elbow, forcing him out of action for a month in an otherwise productive year with 11 victories. The Cubs finished 80-82.
The following spring, Prior strained his shoulder, missed the first two months of the season, and wallowed through two more disabled list stints before packing in 2006 with a 1-6 record, a 7.22 ERA, and an established reputation among Cubs fans. Prior was no longer a thoroughbred. He was broken-down, soft and content to sit on the disabled list and collect his checks. Another disappointment in a century-plus full of them.
The message boards piled on about his training methods, with joke after joke about how he could still snap a towel with the best of them. They piled on Baker and the pitch counts. Of course they blogged about Game 2, and don't forget Game 6.
Teammate and close friend Glendon Rusch heard about it at his golf club in Southern California one day when a member of his foursome found out he was a Cub. "Whatever happened to Prior?" the guy asked Rusch. "Did he just fall off the face of the earth?"
Here's what happened: Prior got seven screws put in his mangled shoulder -- torn labrum, rotator cuff and anterior capsule -- by Dr. James Andrews in April of 2007 and missed the whole year. He shuttled back and forth from San Diego to see Andrews in Birmingham and to rehab at home. That December, the Padres signed him to a one-year deal, knowing he wouldn't be ready until June of 2008 at the earliest. In May, Prior was in Peoria, Ariz., at extended Spring Training, trying to face hitters. He could hardly throw a strike, and the ones he did throw were getting crushed by kids who weren't yet in A-ball. He was tired after 20 pitches. Dead tired. He threw one more and almost fell off the mound. He said, "I'm done," walked into the clubhouse and couldn't pick up his arm for a half-hour.
Prior had torn the capsule again, this time clean off the humerus bone, but he wasn't deterred from his plan to make it back. Dr. Heinz Hoenecke operated on him in San Diego, the Padres signed him to a Minor League deal for another shot, and in June 2009, back in Peoria, he tore it again.
With scar tissue on both sides of his shoulder and two young daughters and a pregnant wife waiting for him, Prior went home and did nothing for two months. Some nights he'd ask Heather if she had any idea why he was still doing this. She reminded him that he loved playing baseball. He thought of those games when the guy at the plate didn't have a chance, when Prior felt like he'd almost rather have a guy on third base with none out than bases empty, just so he could strike out the next three and pump that fist on the way back to the dugout. He thought about the clubhouse gags with the guys, the road-trip camaraderie, the daily routine. He'd quiet down because he knew the answer. He had to keep going.
But when he tried to throw that August, he couldn't get the ball past 40 feet and man, his shoulder hurt.
He got in his blue BMW, the one he bought when he was a Cubs rookie, when everything was ahead of him. He drove up to visit Tom House, to see if his mentor had any magic left for him.
Now the turkey sandwich is almost gone and Matthew has eaten enough grapes to earn a few fries. A guest asks if Prior's ever noticed the book on the shelf behind Heather. He says he has not.
"Check it out," the guest says, picking it up and pointing to the thumbnail photo under the header "TODAY." It's a strong, fearless right-handed pitcher in full windup.
"You're on the cover."
|"The trick the brain plays once it encounters the unbearable is to quickly find the silver lining. ... In order to continue functioning, we quickly need to reevaluate our circumstances and reverse our evaluation of the situation that has befallen us so that we can carry on with our lives."
|-- Sharot, p. 173
A Southwest Airlines jet takes off and zooms right above Mark Prior and his son, Matthew, in the Range Rover on the way to gymnastics at 4 in the afternoon. The airport's close to downtown, and it has a single, short runway, so your takeoff is quick and straight up to the sky and your landing can be harsh.
Caitlin and Amanda have been at the facility for an hour, and Heather sits and observes with the other moms. Matthew woke up from his nap and Mark gave him a choice: stay home with Dad or go for a ride to hang with Mom and Dad and watch his sisters. He chose gymnastics ... or, as Mark put it, the vending machine at gymnastics.
During a break in Amanda's balance-beam practice and as Caitlin gets ready to tumble, Mark and Heather and Matthew walk to a nearby juice bar. Matthew scoots around the tables in a miniature car while his parents order a smoothie made of lemon, ginger, apple, celery, cucumber, kale and romaine lettuce. Minutes later, the drink is ready and the three head back around the corner to gymnastics. The high school sweethearts take turns drawing from the green concoction's straw. The sky is beginning to darken and the air starts to cool among the trees where the desert ends at the Pacific.
It's an easy, patient life here with the Priors. Matthew is jubilant with a mouthful of SunChips. For a few minutes, he has everything he wants. Matthew's dad does, too -- except for one thing.
Prior wouldn't let himself think his career was over that day he braved the freeway traffic up to USC. He got to Tom House's office and wanted answers. Would he ever be able to pitch again?
"I don't friggin' know," House said.
They agreed on one thing: Prior's right shoulder was a mess. A big hole in the capsule. Not much to work with there. But, House wanted to know, what would happen if they went right at the pain? Strengthen all the muscles that hold the shoulder together. Throw and throw some more. What if they tried things nobody had tried before?
Prior glared at House as if the old coot had spinach in his teeth. House laughed. It was the same look Prior had been shooting his way since they started collaborating when Prior was 14 years old. Soon Prior was fighting that San Diego Freeway crawl three days a week, working with conditioning coach Jackson Crowther. House had Prior putting elastic bands on his thumbs and walking for 10 to 20 minutes with his arms held aloft like goalposts. And doing something he had never learned how to do: throw a football.
Jerry Prior would have forbidden his son from football if Mark had ever shown interest in it. Too many injuries. Not worth it. And here was his son, 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, mobile -- a model quarterback, really -- and unable to keep a straight face because he couldn't produce even a hint of a spiral and didn't know how to grip the laces.
He got there. One hundred throws a day went from 40 feet with a lot of pain to 60 feet with a little pain to 90 feet and 100 feet and, whoa, wait a minute, hey, here was a little bit of accuracy, a little bit of zip. Then back to a baseball and a real plan, with a focus on recovery and fatigue management. Watching lactate intake. Working on keeping more oxygen in the lungs. Smarter nutrition. Making the nervous system go faster. Mitochondria strength. Mark Prior was improving and learning, absorbing every scientific term House could pluck from the journals. He was fitter than he'd ever been. It was summer 2010 and he was ready.
And he couldn't get a job. Well, not a big league one, not even close, but Steve Boggs, the son of Prior's agent, John, was having fun on the independent-league Orange County Flyers. They were managed by Paul Abbott, who had pitched in the big leagues for 11 seasons. They wanted to see Prior throw. The team was playing on a junior-college field in Fullerton, Calif., because it couldn't afford to rent the Cal-State Fullerton stadium. Prior threw for a few minutes and was up to 88, 89 mph. Abbott gave him a uniform and a contract. Prior was happy to accept the minimum -- not even 800 bucks a month. He told Abbott he wanted to be a reliever. He wanted to see if he could pitch back-to-back days, to get the adrenaline level back up. To go at guys. Abbott said it sounded great.
"Be yourself again," Abbott told him. "It's not hard. Just be Mark Prior."
Prior debuted against Vancouver and pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Then the Flyers got a five-day break because the next team on the schedule, from Tijuana, had lost their field. This was "Z-ball," after all. The games were re-slotted in Yuma, Ariz., on a back field where it was 110 degrees at 10 in the morning. Prior had forgotten his sliding shorts and had to find a Dick's Sporting Goods. He got his pregame meal in full uniform at a nearby Subway. He hadn't been this happy on a baseball field in four years.
The "season" continued. Prior was up to 90, 91. Abbott watched him out there, still running poles, still doing exercises while other guys were showing up right before first pitch and drinking beers right after the last out. Abbott heard Prior beating himself up. "You know ... with my luck," was a common one. But he also saw lots of smiles.
The team went to Maui. Seriously. Somehow, someone paid for it. There was another indie team on the island, Maui Na Koa Ikaika, and the Flyers flew out to play them and ended up at the Grand Wailea Resort. The $450 low-end rooms were free, but the $20 cheeseburgers weren't. These guys had to eat, so Prior, the only one with a Costco card, shepherded a few over to the island's only location to stock up.
The Flyers were making a late-season push, so Prior grew a playoff beard with his teammates. He wasn't expecting to get a call from his agent after a morning of snorkeling, but John Boggs called him and told him the Rangers were offering a Minor League deal. He was off to Oklahoma City.
Before he left for the mainland, he addressed his teammates, thanking them for the opportunity, the support. They saw how serious he was. Was he getting a tad emotional? Steve Boggs could have sworn he was.
Prior got in one inning for Oklahoma City before the season was over. He went back to San Diego, beard in tow. The Cincinnati Reds were in town playing the Padres, so Prior sneaked into the manager's office before the team arrived. He made himself comfortable and smiled when Dusty Baker walked in.
They talked, as they had a few times a year since 2006. They made their points. Prior had never blamed Baker for his injuries the way so many Cubs fans had, but he did ask his former manager about the strategy in Game 2 of the 2003 NLCS, leaving him in for so long despite such a big lead. Baker had come to accept that he'd be forever pilloried by Cubs fans and the stat gurus he called "propeller-heads," with all that data to back up their claims, but who knew at the time? Throwing a baseball is an unnatural motion. Even the healthiest pitcher can get hurt. He told Prior he had learned from it. Prior said he understood.
Now the family leaves gymnastics and heads to the cars as the evening arrives. Another airplane takes off from the short runway as Caitlin and Amanda play rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets to go home with Mommy. Amanda wins and Caitlin and her dad plot a reverse-psychology strategy for her next go-around.
There's one more thing to do tonight. It's an exercise that might unearth some lingering emotional scars or something deep that Prior has yet to figure out about himself, like how he manages to stay so calm yet so driven despite all the setbacks. Or maybe it's nothing.
Either way, Prior has been asked if he's willing to watch Game 6 of the 2003 NL Championship Series for the first time since he experienced it from the mound as Heather watched from the cold Wrigley stands nine years ago.
"Sure," he says. "Why not?"
|"Emotion strongly enhances our recollective experience. It increases the confidence that we are remembering the incident as it actually unfolded, and the vividness of the image. However, this enhancement in recollection does not happen at once; it takes time."
|-- Sharot, p. 85
The game is on. Mark and Heather Prior are sitting on their large wraparound sofa. The kids are asleep.
Announcer Thom Brennaman, joined by former-ballplayer analysts Steve Lyons and Al Leiter, reveals the stakes: the Cubs are one victory from clinching, up three games to two, "but we are talking about the Chicago Cubs. A franchise that has not been to the World Series since 1945."
Tonight, Prior says he'd never heard of "The Curse of the Billy Goat," the tale of Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis being booted, along with his stinky pet goat, from Wrigley during that 1945 Series and dooming the franchise by proclaiming they'd never win again. He says he wasn't aware that the team hadn't won the Series since Oct. 14, 1908.
"I was still young," Prior says. "I was completely oblivious. We were just trying to win."
Brennaman continues. "We know all about Mark Prior," he says. "Arguably he has been the best pitcher in the National League the entire season."
The camera catches homemade signs strewn throughout the crowd. One reads, "World Series our PRIOR-ity" and "Prior for President."
The guest fast-forwards through Prior's seven shutout innings. Bottom of the seventh and Prior's at the plate. He bunts a two-strike pitch, a clutch sacrifice. "This guy was, for lack of a better word, bred to be in this position tonight," Brennaman says.
Tonight, Prior rolls his eyes.
"That is the biggest misnomer," Prior says. "Breeding."
"Right," Heather adds. "A robot."
"I worked with House, so I was groomed," Prior says. "It's the biggest bunch of BS ever ... to say I was scientifically put together. My mechanics have been my mechanics since Little League."
Top of the eighth. Marlins utility man Mike Mordecai flies out to left. Cubs still up, 3-0.
"Wow," Heather says. "Your face was so fat back then."
Prior laughs. "Thanks," he says.
Juan Pierre steps into the box and fouls off one pitch after another before lining a one-out double to left. Now Luis Castillo enters the frame. This is it. This is the at-bat.
It's a 1-and-2 count when the camera shows the huge throng gathered on the street outside the stadium.
"I had absolutely no idea that there were so many fans out there," Mark says, watching himself miss with a curveball. The camera pans down the left-field line to where the Cubs relief pitchers sit, motionless.
Castillo fouls one out of play. A graphic on the screen says Prior's average of 113.4 pitches per start in the regular season topped MLB and that he's averaging 124.5 in the postseason.
Prior mutters, "Led the Majors."
Castillo fouls off another. Cubs reliever Kyle Farnsworth is shown getting loose.
Prior reaches 93 mph on his 113th pitch, and then, on a tablet screen nine years later, left-handed Castillo swings and hits the ball.
"Again in the air, down the left-field line," Brennaman says while the ball drifts foul to Aisle 4, Row 8, Seat 113.
"[Left fielder Moises] Alou reaching into the stands and he couldn't get it, and he's livid with a fan!"
Many remember the ensuing imagery: Alou's mini-tantrum, the scrum in the stands that includes Bartman, even though the TV cameras haven't yet ID'd him as the person of interest.
Tonight, 32-year-old Prior watches as 23-year-old Prior gloves the next ball thrown by Bako, nods, and gets back to work.
"What we're seeing is all the drama, that as a player, in the course of a game, you're not thinking about," Prior says tonight. "I mean, I'm just trying to pitch."
Now FOX shows the slow-motion replay. And a slower replay.
"That's a Cub fan who tried to make that catch," Brennaman says, to which Lyons responds, "Why?"
Prior throws the next pitch, 50 seconds after the last one. It's ball four, low, and it gets away from Bako. Wild pitch.
"We'll call that a passed ball," Prior says now, grinning.
Pierre is on third, Castillo on first. Pudge Rodriguez, the tying run, is ready to hit.
Now another replay of the incident, focusing on Prior, who had pointed to the stands and barked what appeared to be, "That's [expletive] fan interference!"
"I'm sure I reacted to [Alou's] reaction," he says tonight. "Or maybe I just reacted. I don't know. It was just weird."
Then the shot of Bartman with his cap and headphones, glasses and expressionless expression. The forever shot.
"Poor guy," Heather says, and Mark is asked how he feels about Bartman.
"Honestly, I don't have any negative feelings toward him because of what he did," he says. "You don't want him to go through that. I feel awful about that part of it. But dwelling on that situation ... as I've grown, matured, the older I get, especially with kids, the more I realize that you have to move on.
"At that age, I had so much to look forward to ... a pile of positives. Why would I be worried about this one negative thing?"
Prior puts Pudge in a quick 0-and-2 hole. Bako sets up to block a ball but adjusts when Prior spins a curve that Rodriguez rips for a single to left. Pierre scores. It's 3-1.
"That's the pitch that bothers me," Prior says tonight. "Probably more than anything. Put it on the plate and he strikes out. You've got to bury that pitch."
Miguel Cabrera is next. He swings at the first offering, bouncing a high, slow hopper into history when shortstop Alex Gonzalez moves for a quick double-play toss just before the ball's in his glove.
Brennaman: "Bobbled by Gonzalez and everybody's safe!"
The bases are loaded. A Cubs fan is shown with his hands on his head. Young Prior is stoic as he looks in at Derrek Lee, the next batter.
"Every coach has told every player, 'Don't show your emotions on the field,' and you don't," Prior says tonight. "Initially, I probably thought, 'Oh, crap,' but Gonzo was one of the best shortstops there was. He had saved my [rear] probably 100 times.
"And I'm still more [ticked off] that I didn't bury that pitch to Pudge."
Prior delivers and Lee hits it hard. It drops onto the left-field grass. The game is tied. Baker is walking to the mound to take the ball from his phenom.
"I threw him a 95 mph fastball in on his hands and he just turned on it," Prior says tonight. "The bullpen came in and didn't really calm it down. What are you gonna do?"
As Farnsworth strides to the mound, the iPad is turned off. Game 6, once again, is over for Mark Prior.
|"Our belief that happiness is just around the corner is, ironically enough, what keeps our spirits high in the present. Imagining a better future -- which is attainable if we follow certain rules (or so we think) -- maintains our well-being."
|-- Sharot, p. 88
Mark Prior and Stephen Penney are back at the USD field. It's Wednesday, 8 a.m. sharp, and Prior has set up all the props and placed his iPhone gently on top of a metal tackling dummy.
It's not ringing today. He won't hear for a few months if he'll be offered a Minor League deal for 2013 or if he'll be asked to audition. He's still weeks from getting and accepting an invitation back to Wrigley -- a January mini-camp where he addressed the Cubs' top prospects on how to handle pressure and hype at a young age.
He's sure he'll keep getting compared to Strasburg, who was shut down for the playoffs last year by a team with the best record in the National League. Everyone will want to explain why pitchers get hurt, whether it's overuse or "scapular loading" or the "inverted W" or whatever. Prior's done trying to explain it.
This morning he's wearing a red warmup shirt with the "B" of the Boston Red Sox on the chest. It was part of his gear last year while pitching 25 innings -- his most in a season since 2006 -- for Triple-A Pawtucket. He stayed healthy, something he couldn't do in an 11-game stint in 2011 with the Yankees organization cut short by a groin injury, and he did OK. He struck out 38 batters but walked 23, and knows he has to be better. The pitching coach there, Rich Sauveur, said he didn't know what Prior was doing at 91 or 92 mph for guys to be taking some of the ugly swings they were taking, but that he should keep doing it.
He hopes he can. He had a blast last summer. He sat down next to then-Pawsox hitting coach Gerald Perry on a bus ride to Rochester and a 15-minute conversation turned into two hours. When he and catcher Mike Rivera ate breakfast in a downtown Indianapolis cafe, there were Cubs fans who recognized him. A Chicago lady told Prior that her son had a picture of him on his wall. Rivera made sure that anecdote made the clubhouse rounds.
When the team went to Buffalo, Prior took a side trip to Niagara Falls. The family came out to Pawtucket one weekend and they drove to Cape Cod, picked blueberries and played on the beach.
One night in Pawtucket, Heather sat with Matthew, Caitlin and Amanda in the stands while Mark warmed up and it hit her: This was the first time all three children had seen their father pitch. She was close to tears for a brief moment until the poignancy was overtaken by the reality of playing host to three toddlers at a baseball game.
For Mark, it was all back, that hard-to-describe feeling on the mound -- the moment when you know you're better than the guy with the bat in his hands. Nothing could beat it. And although Boston released him in August because the Red Sox were going young in the bullpen, there was always 2013. No reason to give up now. Not with three kids asking him every day when and where he's going to pitch next. Mark and Heather assure them it'll be somewhere. Even if it's an independent league, they'll all go out on the road together for the summer and Daddy will pitch and they'll all have fun and they'll love it, because that's why Daddy's still doing it: it's fun and he loves it.
Prior and Penney move out onto the field, heading to the 20-yard line. Penney's got a football in his hand. He's the quarterback and Prior's the receiver, lining up wide right. They march up the field. Some passes are complete, some aren't. They turn around at the goal line and head the other way.
Now Prior's the QB, and his form looks good. He's finding the laces every time, throwing a consistent spiral with some oomph to it. They get down to the 20 and Penney does a fade route. Prior lofts one high into the left corner of the end zone. Penney reaches out both arms and hauls it in, making sure to get both feet in bounds.
Mark Prior laughs and pumps his fist. Touchdown.
Doug Miller is a Senior Writer for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @DougMillerMLB and read his MLBlog, Youneverknow. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Nevada Student Branch Will Now Have Student-Designed Debit Card
Students at Carson High School in Carson City, Nev., will now be able to get a student-designed debit card when they open a checking account at the Greater Nevada Credit Union branch in the school.
The 45,000-member, $445 million GVCU has had a branch in the school since 1996, which it uses to promote financial education and vocational training. Students enrolled in a class on banking at the high school, which is taught by Greater Nevada staff, run the branch.
The credit union said 60 students participated in a design contest for the card and the top three designers were asked to meld their designs and to make sure the card design met Visa's requirements for debit cards which carry its brand.
"Contests like the debit card design pique students' interest in something they may not otherwise think about," said Teresa Breeden, Carson High School engineering, drafting, and art instructor.
"Plus, we have our very own debit card design now, which should continue creating awareness of the student checking account and other financial resources available right here on campus," Breeden said.
Any Carson High School student age 16 or older can apply for the new card and its accompanying checking account with a parent's permission.


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GIVEN: The new line of apparel inspired by World Vision
When I interviewed Kevin back in April, he spoke of Jedidiah's unique ability to connect fashion with social causes, his heart for the child trafficking issue, and how combined, these two things have fueled a partnership between Jedidiah and World Vision. At the tail end of our chat, he mentioned Jedidiah's newest venture -- creating a brand consortium that will leverage the Made For Good mission statement and embedded generosity model. Today, he guest blogs to let us know exactly what he's been up to the last six months.... -Lindsey, managing editor, WV Blog
* * *
A lot has been happening since the last time I interviewed on this blog.
We recently wrapped up our spring/summer partnership with World Vision, where we raised money to build a trauma recovery center in Cambodia for children exploited by sex trafficking.
Earlier this year, we also worked with World Vision and created a group of relief effort t-shirts for the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It was a humbling experience for us to see this program raise $40,000 in just a few short weeks. We are now doing the same with special edition Horn Of Africa tees are available now.
Even though we've accomplished a lot in the past year in our efforts to support World Vision's work, we had a desire to do even more.
So, a few months back, we started kicking around the idea of creating a consortium of brands all based on the philosophy of the Jedidiah business model, which is "embedded generosity." We believe in the concept of social enterprise, and that through commerce, new resources can be directed to assist the humanitarian work being done by World Vision and other great organizations. This is the foundation of Jedidiah -- "to use apparel sales as a vehicle to provide care, support, and financial resources to those in need."
Out of this conversation of expanding the Jedidiah footprint, we have created a new company called Made For Good (MFG). MFG is our new home to a family of brands, all of which share the same desire -- apparel that is made for the good of others.
More recently, we are excited to announce a new brand we have developed specifically for the benefit of World Vision.
GIVEN, inspired by World Vision, will generate a new revenue stream to help World Vision fulfill its mission to build a better world for children. The premise behind the brand is simple -- nonprofits regularly ask their donor base to GIVE. We believe that our capacity to GIVE is directly related to our acceptance of what Jesus has first GIVEN us. When we fully embrace this concept and fully realize that all we have has first been GIVEN to us, our passion for GIVING to others grows.
In this exclusive relationship, 30 percent of all revenue will be GIVEN back to World Vision to help support its mission. GIVEN, inspired by World Vision, is now part of the MFG family of brands that use apparel sales to provide care, support and financial resources to those in need.
The line has been launched with t-shirts, long sleeve raglans, polos, and fleece for men and women. But we have lots of plans to add more outerwear, accessories, and other apparel items along the way.
Our hope with Jedidiah, Made For Good, and GIVEN is not just to raise money for our nonprofit partners, but also to encourage companies to walk down a similar path. No matter what your job is, no matter what your talent is, there is a place for you to serve and to GIVE to others. The best way to influence people to follow a path to Christ is to serve others.
As we approach the holiday season -- the GIVING season -- be encouraged. We have all been GIVEN so much.
Shop GIVEN now.
And check out the World Vision Facebook Page today for a special promo code for the GIVEN store.
Kevin Murray is the CEO and founder of Jedidiah and Made For Good. Check out the new items available at GIVEN -- including t-shirts, long-sleeve, polos, and other outerwear. Thirty percent of proceeds from sales of items in this apparel line will support World Vision's efforts to fight poverty and injustice around the world.
Read related post When commerce and charity share a mission.


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On Friday
a panel of six U.S.
International Trade Commission judges forced a review of a
senior colleague's decision in a patent case worth over $1B USD.
The case was brought by veteran imaging firm Eastman Kodak Comp. (EK)
against Canada's Research in Motion (RIM)
and Cupertino, California's Apple, Inc. (AAPL).
Kodak contests that features present in both companies' smartphones
infringe upon patents it holds on digital image previews.
The review will force a second panel to reexamine the case and make a decision
on whether to alter the initial judgment.
I. Picture of a Pioneer
Kodak wasn't always reduced to trying to fight for its meals in front a federal
trade panel. The company has a long history of innovation, stretching
back one and a third centuries.
The American imaging giant grew out of George Eastman's invention of rolled
film. Founded in 1888, the company struck gold with its Brownie black and
white camera. In 1930 it made it to the elite DOW Jones Industrial
Average index. And in 1936 it continued its film success with the
introduction of the world's first 35 mm commercial color camera, the Kodachrome.
In the 1970s many giants of the photography industry like Japan's Nikon and
Canon were examining what potential electronics could hold for the imaging
industry. But Kodak was the first company to truly envision a future of
digital imaging.
Kodak engineer Steven Sasson invented the world's first true digital camera in
1975 (though it was predated by some earlier photodiode-based imaging work at
Phillips Labs in the late 1960s). In 1976 Kodak invented the Bayer
Pattern color filter array (CFA) allowing digital imaging sensors to record
color shots.
In 1986 Kodak invented the world's first megapixel or better resolution sensor.
At 1.4 megapixels the sensor could produce an equivalent 5-inch by 7-inch
print to a film camera. That device would find its way into the world's
first commercial digital single-lens reflex (SLR) camera in 1991. The Kodak DCS100 [PDF] had a 1.3 megapixel
sensor, could store 156 uncompressed images on its 200 MB 3.5-inch SCSI hard
drive, and carried $13,000 USD price tag.
II. The Price of Progress
For all its innovation and gains Kodak found itself on the wrong side of the
digital imaging revolution it helped create at the turn of the century.
The company saw its new invention kill the lucrative film business.
And worse still, it saw its own digital sales fall behind its veteran Japanese
rivals, and some fresh faces from South Korea like Samsung.
Even as it continues significant innovations, by 2010 Kodak
had fallen to sixth place in digital camera sales, according to a report by market research firm DigiTimes.
That report indicated that in 2010 Kodak is projected to have shipped a
mere 10.5 million units, placing it behind Canon, Sony, Nikon, Samsung, and
In 2001, Kodak made $13.2B USD in revenue [source]
and was growing. But the next few years saw growth slow, as the company
peaked at $14.3B USD in revenue in 2005 [source].
An annual report released by Kodak in January showed revenue continuing a
downward spiral, with the company making a mere $7.2B USD in 2010, approximately
half of what it made five years prior.
That decline has been reflected in the company's stock price. On the New York Stock Exchange stock shares reached
$48.83 in 2001, but by 2005 had declined to a peak of $36.88. In 2004 the
company was removed from the DOW Jones Industrial Index after 74 years.
By March 2011 share prices had reached a low of $2.90. The stock was
removed from Standard and Poor's S&P 500 index in December 2010.
III. The Turn to Litigation
Kodak began to sue major corporations. It began to sue a lot of them.
In an effort to maintain revenues the company in recent years has desperately
sought new cash streams. And it found that by leveraging its vast
intellectual property portfolio it could generate such a rich cash flow.
Over the year's Kodak's innovations have earned it a treasure trove of active
patents. And the company also over the last couple decades acquired
numerous patents from start-ups and individual IP holders.
Armed with this IP arsenal, the company forced over 30 electronics makers into
licensing agreements.
The most recent victims were South
Korea's Samsung and LG Electronics. Both companies produced phones
that incorporated digital image previews, something covered by a Kodak patent.
In December LG Electronics agreed to pay Kodak $414M USD in licensing royalties
after receiving an unfavorable decision by the USITC. That helped to
boost Kodak's licensing haul to $838M USD in 2010, according to a report by Bloomberg.
In March 2011 Samsung followed in suit, agreeing to pay $550M USD in royalties.
Those settlements helped bring Kodak's estimated annual licensing haul to
between $250M USD and $350M USD through 2013.
IV. Apple and RIM -- a $1B+ Target
But Kodak was not done hunting big game. Thirteen months ago it initiated [Press Release] a case against
Canada's RIM, based out of Waterloo, Ontario, and Cupertino, California-based
Apple. Two of the smartphone industry's top five players, the pair sold
millions of smartphones last year. And according to Kodak, those phones
contained digital imaging previews that were covered by its intellectual
In the Samsung and LG Electronics case USITC Judge Carl Charneski found that
the Korean electronics makers violated Kodak's '218 digital imaging preview
patent. While the USITC cannot directly force financial compensation, it
can block all imports and exports of parts and products. Faced with being
shut out of the world's most lucrative market, Samsung and LG Electronics
settled before individual six-member USITC panels.
Kodak was hoping for more of the same in its case against RIM and Apple.
Instead it received a crushing blow that could cost it the gains from the
Samsung and LG Electronics case.
In January 2011 Judge Paul J. Luckern [blog],
who happens to be the Chief Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) on the USITC panel,
ruled that the patent that the case hinged upon was invalid[Press Release] due to
Kodak requested the USITC review that decision and reassess its ruling against
Apple and RIM. On Friday a panel convened to decide whether to grant that review.
Many expect that Kodak's desperate plea would fall on deaf ears, given
Judge Luckern's experience and eminence.
V. Kodak Strikes Back
However, Kodak scored a surprise victory. The USITC agreed to a review,
scheduled for May 23.
The review will be carried out by a full six-member panel and will examine
whether Judge Luckern was correct in ruling Kodak's patent invalid. If
the decision is upheld it would be a huge loss for Kodak that could cost it not
only the $1B+ USD in potential licensing from Apple and RIM, but also the $1B
USD from Samsung and LG.
A favorable ruling could yield it $1B+ USD more in settlements. In short,
$2B+ USD is hanging in the balance.
Investors reacted to news of the review with optimism. At the opening
bell Kodak's stock was at $4.01 USD per share, up 18 percent. It has
since fallen to around $3.80.
Apple's investors reacted to the decision with relative disinterest, as the
stock opened up $1.61 USD per share, a small 0.4 percent rise to $353.15 per
share. RIM, by contrast opened slightly up, but has since fallen to
$55.27 USD per share, down on pessimistic analyst outlook and concerns about
the decision.


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Toyota's Lexus division has been having a rough year. For
starters, the product line is aging and lacks the visual "punch" of
many of competitors from Germany. As a result, both BMW and Mercedes have surpassed
perennial luxury sales leader Lexus this year in sales. Part of this can be
attributed to the
devastating earthquake in Japan that hampered production, but the loss of
momentum can mainly be blamed on the lack of new blood for the brand.
After teasing
the LF-Gh concept in April, Lexus last month unveiled the first in a multi-pronged
attempt to claw back at the luxury market. The 2012 GS 350
rides on an all-new platform (the engines are mostly carryover), and features
an impressive new interior. Today, Lexus has unveiled the hybrid counterpart to
the GS 350: the GS 450h.
The second-generation
GS450h gets its motivation from a 3.5-liter V6 engine (Atkinson Cycle) and
a water-cooled permanent magnet electric motor. Total system output is 338hp
and is good enough to push the 4,190-pound midsize luxury sedan to 60 mph in
5.6 seconds.
Interestingly, Toyota is still sticking with a NiMH battery
pack for the GS 450h instead of lighter, and more powerful lithium-ion
batteries like its competitors. Toyota is usually at the forefront of
hybrid/battery technology, so we're assuming that the company decided to maximize
cost cutting instead of maximum performance/efficiency.
"The all-new GS 450h will provide our customers with an
exciting blend of performance and precision in a new hybrid package," said Mark
Templin, Lexus group vice president and general manager in the U.S. "With its
dynamic exterior styling, roomy interior and advanced technology features, the
GS 450h further demonstrates Lexus' mastery of the luxury hybrid."
Lexus will not only be battling diesel and hybrid models
from Germany with the 2012 GS 450h, but it will also be battling
the M Hybrid which has total output of 360hp and EPA ratings of 27/32/29
(city/highway/combined). Lexus has not yet released EPA numbers for the new
2012 GS 450h, but the existing model is rated at 22/25/23


text:
researchers at Localytics looked at the Apple
iPhone 3GS and Motorola
Droid and upgrade rates to the latest respective OS versions
-- iOS
4.0 and Android
2.2 "Froyo" -- over their first two weeks of
availability. What they found was that nearly twice as many
Android users upgraded to the latest OS as iPhone
users.The study showed
the dramatic benefits of Android's over-the-air OS updates --
something Apple has either been unable or unwilling to implement.
IOS 4.0 saw a steady crawl upwards in adoption rates, that allowed it
to temporarily get ahead of Android 2.2. But when
the Android OTA packages landed, in a single day the Android 2.2
adoption jumped incredibly from around 42 percent to around 92
percent. By the end of two weeks, Android's upgrade totals had
reached 96 percent, while Apple had a mere 56 percent.One
thing Loyalytics says the study shows is that iPhone users are using
iTunes less. If they had plugged into iTunes they would have
been prompted to update, but many users still appeared not to have
connected after almost two weeks. This may be a result of Apple
enabling over-the-air content downloads from its iTunes store, which
is directly accessible from the iPhone.However, the study
brings mixed news to developers on both fronts. For Android
developers the rapid updates are good in a way, because they can be
assured a homogeneous platform. It can also be bad, because if
an update breaks your app, you may only have have a couple of days to
fix the problem before the majority of users can't use it.For
iPhone developers the opposite is true. The platform is more
heterogeneous in terms of OS versions, which can be confusing as to
which versions to target and when. On the other hand, iPhone
devs have more time to fix bugs created by OS updates.The
researchers conclude:
extent to which the iPad is or isn't cannibalizing PC sales is
being debated. But it seems reasonable to assume that even fewer
iPads will be plugged into computers than iPhones, suggesting that
iPad upgrades to iOS 4.2 later this year will lag iPhone upgrades. At
some point, Apple will probably need/want to provide OTA upgrades to
both the iPad and iPhone, at least over WiFi.
course as anyone who knows Apple could tell you, the company is sure
to take adopting this new feature at its own pace, however fast or
slow that may be.


text: So there's these theories that guy will step up to the plate and fight obito using the 8th gate to help kakashi since he's out of chakra and isht like that. And in doing so though guy is going to die. What's everyone's thoughts and opinions on this theory? I for one am actually really into the idea xD


text:
The Ford
system operates by placing a small cylinder of cold compressed gas
that sits underneath the rear seats, with an inflatable bag located
in the seatbelts. After a vehicle impact occurs, this new
system is designed to spread the force of impact over more parts of
the human body, which helps reduce the amount of impact felt by the
human chest.
Although airbags are now common safety devices in
all modern vehicles, Ford is poised to become the first automaker to
introduce the inflatable rear seatbelts -- they'll launch next fall,
when the 2011 Explorer is made available.
"It's hard to
know for sure ahead of time, but this
airbag has tremendous benefit by increasing the surface area (of
the seat belt), and that allows them to restrain the torso better on
a frail body," University of Michigan trauma surgeon Dr. Stewart
Wang told The Detroit News. "I think that the
potential benefits are quite substantial."
As automakers
look for new ways to attract car buyers, Ford has been quick to
introduce in-car technology and additional features unavailable in
some baseline and midrange vehicles from competing companies.
new optional safety device will eventually be available for all Ford
vehicles, but will have an additional cost auto buyers must pay.


text:
People Search > Address Lookup > New York > Adams > M
On this page you'll see a list of streets. They are all located in Adams, NY. Use this section of our directory to help you find information about any address. Here's how it works:
Click any street name you see below. If the street you want isn't showing up here, you can click one of our other links to find the right one. After locating the street, give it a click. We'll show you a list of addresses on that street, all of which can be found within the city you initially selected.
Once you narrow your search down to a single address, click it and we'll show you who owns the property. PeopleFinders also has much more information available about that address. To get it, simply order a property records report. They contain all the vital facts you need to know about the property in question.