Manti Te'o 2012 Highlights HD

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Manti Te'o 2012 Highlights HD Manti Te'o 2012 Highlights HD

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Poetry 'n' Such with Paul Piatt

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiai3BtFB8mkYNX2KlOBevvMx0aWt9-4BAf8zzWjHqPB6lYj0AZnDRHeWIrJQar1CyiRyzTwryIJow1tAZBCV1YbK9wSuwALFlb20tH7yRHoxwaUzw1LeXeRcke9lgn8SD5bN_LmYX2faM/s1600/Paul_Delany.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiai3BtFB8mkYNX2KlOBevvMx0aWt9-4BAf8zzWjHqPB6lYj0AZnDRHeWIrJQar1CyiRyzTwryIJow1tAZBCV1YbK9wSuwALFlb20tH7yRHoxwaUzw1LeXeRcke9lgn8SD5bN_LmYX2faM/s400/Paul_Delany.jpg" width="285" /></a>Gentle and heartfelt greetings to all of you discerning drinkers of the warm and aromatic coffee of life that is the IWS website.<br /><br />Renown poet and IWS Literary Editor, Paul Piatt here once again, in order to share with you some of today’s finest in the world of poetry, prose, and people.<br /><br />Today during our continuing journey along the sullied yet hopeful boulevard of words made magical, and life’s pentameters made iambic, I artfully and empathetically attempt to put finger to keyboard, and apply a balm of solace to the rage that has angrily graced the pages of the IWS website this week.<br /><br />Jay and Matt, as if twins of Joshua, have spent this week openly trumpeting their anger and disdain for others who practice, preach, and or exhibit less than what one might consider ideal human behavior.<br /><br />I understand their frustration with the world that encompasses them.  I too, as a young man sojourning through middle America in the 60’s, experienced a similar frustration which I wrote about in a poem from 1963...<br /><br /><i><b>A Negro’s in Brooklyn</b></i><br /><i><br /></i><i>I slithered through the streets of Brooklyn</i><br /><i>like the snake through the Garden of Eden.</i><br /><i>I nostralized the greens a-cookin’</i><br /><i>and heard a colored family screamin’…</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>“Greens again mama? I can no longer do.”</i><br /><i>“You’ll get what I fix, and you’ll like it too.”</i><br /><i>“I want a steak like the white folk eat.”</i><br /><i>“Steak don’t grow on trees, eat your pigs’ feet.”</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>An overheard conversation righted my ship.</i><br /><i>For it was then I knew…</i><br /><i>Pigs’ feet keep one grounded.</i><br /><br />See, gentle readers? I too knew angst and anger yet kept it in check by the writing of words, and I hope too, that Jay and Matt, can use this as a lesson in therapy and self-actualization.<br /><br />I have another cathartic poem to offer unto Jay and Matt, and you as well today.<br /><br />My longtime friend and fellow wordsmith, Blanche Carte has this piece of excellelexiconitry from her new book, <i>“Riding Shotgun with Billy Joel.”</i>  I give you…<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjltXUZeR2wWZQAeyjk8xDbtwikNWNnTo6IE7gcpnvrvPj98iiWXCq4PjVTq9YHOD88nww8839-uw2toIbZXOFnYUZXZ_GVpAWGYvEejP4YtlUrqcX1f63Vwb0gRL6V7vn5KUUJaRFC3UM/s1600/blanche_lincoln+HOT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjltXUZeR2wWZQAeyjk8xDbtwikNWNnTo6IE7gcpnvrvPj98iiWXCq4PjVTq9YHOD88nww8839-uw2toIbZXOFnYUZXZ_GVpAWGYvEejP4YtlUrqcX1f63Vwb0gRL6V7vn5KUUJaRFC3UM/s400/blanche_lincoln+HOT.jpg" width="325" /></a><i><b>The Angry Cucumber</b></i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Here I sit.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Atop a mound of dirt,</i><br /><i>sweating in the oppressive heat of the seventh month sun.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>A bit of water here, a tint of water there.</i><br /><i>I am abused and manhandled as a mighty, yet gentle flavor grows within me.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Here I weep.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Beneath the August rain,</i><br /><i>fighting the aphids, the rabbits, the kids next door.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>A bit of tending here, a tint of tending there.</i><br /><i>I am plucked from the vine like an orphan stolen from his parents.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Dipped in vinegar…Seasoned with salt…Bathed in Rosemary.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>I am stuck inside a jar and when ready for the tongue, eaten by a toothless man.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>My earlier anger seems trite.</i><br /><br />I hope that my words and those of Blanche have comforted Jay, Matt, and all of you.<br /><br /><i>For now, as I travel the road less traveled,</i><br /><br /><i>Paul Piatt</i><br /><br /><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com"><i>mattmaniws@ymail.com</i></a><br /><i><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">MattMan_IWS</span></a></i><br /><br />Annnnnd…Jay and I bitched a lot yesterday on the IWS Radio Show…It was a good time, and if you missed it live, you can catch it all right c’here:<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.adobe.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" height="105" id="143577" name="143577" width="210"><param name="movie" value="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf?file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Fplaylist.aspx%3Fshow_id%3D4273579&autostart=false&bufferlength=5&volume=80&corner=rounded&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/flashplayercallback.aspx" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf" flashvars="file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Fplaylist.aspx%3Fshow_id%3D4273579&autostart=false&shuffle=false&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&width=210&height=105&volume=80&corner=rounded" width="210" height="105" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" wmode="transparent" menu="false" name="143577" id="143577" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><br /><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 220px;">Listen to <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/">internet radio</a> with <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid">Im With Stupid</a> on Blog Talk Radio</div></div>

Poetry 'n' Such with Paul Piatt

Gentle and heartfelt greetings to all of you discerning drinkers of the warm and aromatic coffee of life that is the IWS website.Renown poet and IWS Literary Editor, Paul Piatt here once again, in order to share with you some of today’s finest in the…

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'American Idol': The Idol Chatter live blog

From: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/">http://www.usatoday.com</a> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 14px;">Brian Mansfield </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; line-height: 14px;">10:38p.m. EST January 16, 2013</span><br /><img alt="American Idol" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/idolchatter/2013/01/16/group1sm-1-4_3_r536_c534.jpg?1b79b3da202957124496e3768cfb7b67cdb10c81" /><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><i>Welcome to the first Idol Chatter live blog of</i>American Idol'<i>s 12th season. I'll be updating posts on this page throughout the Wednesday premiere show. Hope you'll join me here and comment often! -- Brian Mansfield</i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>Saving the best for last? </b>It's time for the last audition of the night, so it'll be a tearjerker. Ashlee Feliciano's family fosters and adopts medically complex children. Her parents have three biological children (including Ashlee) and have adopted four more through the foster-care system. Feliciano seems sweet, the kind of woman you hope gets good things.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Her version of Corinne Bailey Rae's <i>Put Your Records On </i>is certainly a good thing, confident and sure and in the pocket, and Feliciano jumps between her registers with impressive ease. "I don't think you understand what you just did," says Minaj, who thinks she'll inspire the show's young female viewers. Carey sees lots of potential, and Urban loves her nasal lower register. Jackson brings in the entire family so the judges can share their decision with them.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"Oh, Ashlee, that's a yes," Urban tells her.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">***</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>The Turbanator. </b>One of the best voices we've ever heard, and we only get three notes? Uh-oh, time for a backstory.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Brett Holt is a huge <i>American Idol</i> fan -- he has auditioned seven times in the past. "I challenge anybody in America to take me on in <i>American Idol</i> trivia." Seacrest challenges him, and he does OK, though he does think it's Season 13 (that's OK, so does Seacrest). Brett has auditioned seven times in the past -- will this be the lucky day? For the briefest of seconds, it seems like he might. But then his version of Nat King Cole's <i>When I Fall in Love</i> goes off the rails. Then goes further and further off. But the student of <i>American Idol</i> finally gets his face time -- now he's a trivia answer of his own.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Next up: Gupurpreet Sangh Sarin, who changes his turban with every outfit (today it's lavender). He's got 40 or 50 turbans, which means he changes his headgear the way Danny Gokey did his glasses. Let's see if he's got Gokey's chops. At the very least, he has studied Indian classical music.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Actually, he does, doing a surprising soulful take on Maroon 5's <i>Sunday Morning</i>. Then Randy gets him to sing a few Indian scales. Minaj doesn't think he has a standout voice, though, and Urban worries that his voice may be a little too light for the competition. Carey digs him, though, and gives him a yes. Jackson's going to give him one more shot. But Urban says no, leaving Sarin's fate in Minaj's hands. Sarin tries to win her over by telling her he has a marigold turban the color of her hair. Danged if it doesn't work. "Turb! You're going to Hollywood."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>Music of the night: </b>Albert Chang works as a receptionist for a medical clinic in New York. Ryan wonders what he likes to do when he's not in the office. And Albert doesn't have an answer for him. "Sing," Seacrest suggests. And so he does, having chosen the title song from <i>The Phantom of the Opera</i> -- and it's truly a harrowing experience, especially when he jumps into his high, squeaky voice. "Your range is better than Mariah's!" Minaj exclaims. For future bad contestants, she channels her inner Simon Cowell, putting on a British accent for so long that Mariah's afraid she's going to start doing it.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Angela Miller has 40% hearing loss in one ear and 20% in the other. Mariah wonders how that affects her singing. Miller tells her that she has to turn the monitors up incredibly loud when she's on stage. But it's not a problem for an a cappella rendition of Jessie J's <i>Mamma Knows Best</i>. "I haven't felt that for the whole day," Minaj says, "that thing that makes me feel something in my soul." The other three agree. "She's got real PO-tential," Jackson tells the judges after Miller leaves.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">***</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>Shattering expectations: </b>Rozanna Shindelman, a 21-year-old from Staten Island, N.Y., doesn't usually sing in front of people, except for her parents -- who say they give her chills. They hear her singing To<i> Know Him Is to Love Him </i>before the judges and just look enraptured. But Jackson doesn't: "Dude, it was bad." Shindelman asks, "Was it really that bad?" Urban seconds Jackson's opinion: "Yes." Shindelman's audition is the first of a whole series of bad auditions where the judges struggle to break the news gently to the deluded wannabes.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Maybe 17-year-old blueberry farmer Sarah Restuccio will change things. She's a country singer who auditions with Carrie Underwood's <i>Mama's Song</i>. The judges look intrigued, but the guys, at least, might be on the bubble with her -- until Randy asks for a second song, and Restuccio says she can sing <i>Superbass</i>. She launches into a rap that has Minaj rocking, but the other three judges are mystified. Is she a country singer or a rapper or what? Minaj, who has already said Restuccio could be a "humongous" country star, totally gets it: "She's every little girl! There are so many girls that identify with her that comes from where she does. … I don't think her doing<i>Superbass </i>means she wants to be a rapper. … She doesn't have to choose anything." (BTW, my 11-year-old daughter totally agrees with Minaj -- she's ready to start voting now.)</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>***</b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>Ben, the four of us need look no more: </b>Day Two begins with a guy named Benjamin who looks like Rerun from <i>What's Happening</i> going to a costume ball as Michael Jackson. He's going to sing "two love songs for two beautiful ladies." Carey and Minaj's smiles soon turn to giggles, especially when he thrusts his hips toward them as he sings. "You obviously love Tom Jones," says Urban. All four judges are laughing hard, but they slowly learn that, despite his curly black wig and shiny red suit, Benjamin actually thinks he can sing.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">***</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>Frankie goes to Hollywood: </b>Shira Gavrielov had a No. 1 hit in Israel when she was younger, and she makes a great impression on the <i>Idol</i> crowd. Minaj loves her choice of song -- Amy Winehouse's <i>Valerie</i>. It's a quick yes for her.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">The last contestant for Day One, Frankie Ford from Flatbush, was adopted at age 8. He sings on the subway to make money, which is actually pretty good experience for a singer who wants to learn to connect with an audience. Enough people told him that he had skills that he decided to audition. With the Eurythmics' <i>Sweet Dreams</i>. But he gets nervous, starts the song too hard, then has to stop. He regains his composure, and it's very different. He reinvents the song, with a remarkably strong yet subtle approach. The looks on the judges' faces change from concerned shock to big smiles. "I believe in you, man," Jackson tells him. Carey says: "What I think you have is an inner glow, which is always beautiful to see." Minaj doesn't think he has the best voice she's heard, but she believes people will want to hear more from him -- from his voice and his story. He's in -- and deservedly so.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>A key mistake: </b>One of <i>Idol</i>'s twists this year was to let family and friends nominate contestants. Then, Jackson goes on the road to check them out. The first singer to get surprised is Jessica Kartalis of Staten Island, N.Y., who gets a pass to go straight to the judges. Jackson asks for an original song, and Kartalis' choice begins <i>a cappella</i> -- which is a problem, because she starts the song in the wrong key, then sounds horribly out of tune when she starts playing her acoustic guitar. It's an audition-killing moment. Carey tells her she felt bad for her, but she's clearly not ready. (Takeaway lesson: If you're going to start a song <i>a cappella</i>, make sure you get your note first. It's only a strum away.) Oh, well, at least she didn't have to wait in line.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">***</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>The one-legged tap dancer: </b>Since she wanted to be a singer and she knew how much image plays into that career choice, Christina "Isabelle" dropped 50 pounds before leaving Duluth, Ga., for Berklee College of Music (my alma mater) in Boston. Her rendition of <i>Summertime</i> has a lot of heft, though. "OMG," says Minaj, who believes she'll go far in the competition. Urban wonders who she's been listening to, and she points at Carey. He's impressed by her "natural," "human" voice. "I think it was a great choice and something different (huh?)," says Carey, who'd like to see her explore more. Four yeses. "This proves that anyone -- shape, size, body type -- if you have confidence in yourself, you can go far," Christina says afterwards.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">The next contestant, tap dancer Evan Ruggiero, was shooting for Broadway at age 18 -- but got diagnosed with bone cancer a year later. "When you get diagnosed with cancer, everything stops," he says. Your life goes from career goals to staying alive. He went through 16 months of chemo and multiple surgeries, but the cancer recurred. Doctors told him they needed to save the dancer's life by amputating his leg. "Just because you have a disability doesn't mean you can't be the next <i>American Idol</i>," Ruggiero says. His take on Jason Mraz's <i>I'm Yours</i> is serviceable, but it's not especially impressive. Jackson gives him a little leeway, asks him to play something on the guitar: He chooses Bon Jovi's <i>Wanted Dead or Alive</i>. This tune suits him better -- he just might have a shot, especially with that backstory. Urban even adds the second vocal line, then says: "That's more in your wheelhouse," he says, but he's not sure the star factor is in place yet. Minaj is impressed with his ability to adapt to tough circumstances and thinks he has the potential to touch a lot of people -- but just not on this show, this year. Ruggiero takes the rejection in stride: "Maybe I touched someone out there who's watching this," he says. "This isn't the worst that could happen to me."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">***</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>Baby, baby, he's bad: </b>James Bae's a 15-year-old Justin Bieber wannabe from Long Island, N.Y. "I sing in my room, thinking it's a concert, getting ready for the real one," he tells Urban. Unfortunately, nobody in his room has told him that his rendition of<i>One Less Lonely Girl</i> is completely tuneless. Taking a cue from the headphones Bae wears around his neck, Carey wonders if he has ever considering DJing. "It's artistic, you can still deal with music, but you <i>don't necessarily have to be a singer</i>," she says. They turn him down, but Minaj takes a moment to give him a few words to let him down easy. "I won't ever forget you," she tells him, in a moment that shows just how human she can be behind the Barbie-doll get-up.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">***</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>Tenna Torres has got a friend: </b>Hey, Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj do have something in common -- they're both <i>Mean Girls</i> fans. But it's not long till they bring out the claws, in what's clearly going to be one of the season's recurring themes.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Next hopeful: 28-year-old New York singer Tenna Torres. "I've been listening to Mariah since I was 5 years old," says Torres, who attended Carey's Camp Mariah and actually sang for her at age 13. Carey makes a huge fuss over Torres' pictures of the two of them some 15 years ago.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">All the judges make a fuss over Torres' rendition of Carole King's <i>You've Got a Friend</i>, which is a sold mix of power, control and melodic invention. "If we could have somebody like this come out of this moment of <i>Idol</i> 12, I would be personally proud," Carey says. Urban finds her patience and pace refreshing. "Welcome to Hollywood!" Jackson tells Torres. Carey asks for copies of the photos.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">***</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>Back in the New York groove. </b>This year's first audition show takes place in New York (Thursday's will feature Chicago). The judges take their seats and get to work -- which means Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj are mixing it up over Nicki's fuzzy accessory.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Michael Buonapane stomps in riffing on Queen's <i>We Will Rock You</i>. It gets the judges to stop their bickering, but I don't think it makes a particularly good first impression. He doesn't do much better the second time around, spinning around in some sort of bizarre clogging dance-chant. "Let's say no, be friends," Randy says. "It's not you, it's us."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">***</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">This year, <i>American Idol</i> has a great way to start the season -- just show last year's winner, Phillip Phillips, who's on his way to having the best-selling single in <i>Idol</i>history. Phillips plugs in his guitar and begins singing <i>Home</i>.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"They say home is where the heart is -- so welcome home," Ryan Seacrest says as he recaps the history of the Georgia pawn-shop worker. "History has shown that an Idol can do anything," Seacrest says, going over some impressive sales and awards numbers the Idols have put together collectively over the years.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Then, it's time to introduce the judges: Returning original dawg Randy Jackson; country singer Keith Urban; pop star Nicki Minaj; and ("last but not least") diva queen Mariah Carey. Can this group improve on the crew from the past two years, which were often entertaining but more often repetitive?</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Maybe, maybe not. It's good to know, though, that the contestants will react the same -- both good and bad. Some things never change.</div>

World's Hot Daily News 'American Idol': The Idol Chatter live blog

From: http://www.usatoday.com Brian Mansfield 10:38p.m. EST January 16, 2013Welcome to the first Idol Chatter live blog ofAmerican Idol's 12th season. I'll be updating posts on this page throughout the Wednesday premiere show. Hope you'll join me her…

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Frank Zamboni Honored With Playable Google Doodle

From:<a href="http://www.pcmag.com/">http://www.pcmag.com</a> <strong class="author" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #006699; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 8px 4px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;">By <span class="reviewer hcard" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="url fn" href="http://www.pcmag.com/author-bio/chloe-albanesius" style="border: 0px; color: #006699; display: inline-block; float: none; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Chloe Albanesius</a></span></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 19px;">January 16, 2013 10:51am EST</span><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Frank Zamboni" height="400" src="http://www9.pcmag.com/media/images/371656-frank-zamboni.jpg?thumb=y" width="400" /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">Google has provided users with a new way to waste time today, thanks to an interactive homepage doodle in honor of entrepreneur Frank Zamboni.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">Anyone who has spent any time at an ice-skating rink has undoubtedly laid eyes on Zamboni's most well-known invention - the Zamboni ice resurfacers. Today, in celebration of Zamboni's 112th birthday, Google's doodle lets you play Zamboni driver.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">Visit Google.com and press the "play" button to enter Google's digital ice rink. Using the arrow keys, navigate the Zamboni around the rink, erasing scratch marks made by the skaters. Erasing all the marks will take you to higher levels, where you can also earn gas for your Zamboni. The game is complete with old-school video-game sounds, though they can be turned off. The more levels you complete, the more intricate the ice scrapings become.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">Frank Zamboni was born in 1901 in Utah, but relocated to California in 1920, where his older brother George had an auto repair business, according to <a href="http://www.zamboni.com/about/zamboni-archives/the-zamboni-story/" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">his bio</a>. The family eventually shifted into refrigeration, and built a skating rink in Paramount, Calif. in 1939. At the time, the ice was resurfaced by pulling a scraper behind a tractor, while workers collected ice shavings and wiped away dirty water. The process took more than an hour, however, so Frank Zamboni started experimenting with other options in 1942.</div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Frank Zamboni Google Doodle" border="0" class="right" src="http://www6.pcmag.com/media/images/371657-frank-zamboni-google-doodle.jpg?thumb=y" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat repeat; border: 0px; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">A prototype for the Zamboni we know today, however, was not developed until 1947, while it took another two years before Frank could adequately clear ice from a rink. At that point, he applied for a patent, which was awarded in 1953.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">Frank Zamboni passed away in 1988, but his company lives on. In April 2012, Frank J. Zamboni & Co., Inc. <a href="http://www.zamboni.com/press/zamboni-company-to-deliver-machine-10000-2/" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">delivered</a>its 10,000th production machine to the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is not the first interactive doodle for Google, meanwhile.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">A May 2012 <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404767,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">playable doodle</a> featured Robert Moog's signature Moog synthesizer, with all the accompanying bells and whistles. A <a href="http://www.moogmusic.com/content/google-doodle-how" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">quick-start guide</a> on moogmusic.com provided details on how to play the doodle, which also allowed users to record their creations and share them with friends.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">On Sept. 7, meanwhile, <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409414,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Google paid homage</a> to Star Trek with an interactive homepage doodle that celebrated the 46th birthday of the original TV series. Google dressed up the letters in its logo as Star Trek cast members, and with the click of a mouse, you could beam Kirk to an adventure beyond the confines of the starship USS Enterprise.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">Back in 2010, Google's <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2364064,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">playable Pac-Man doodle</a> collectively consumed about 4.8 million hours of our time. Google eventually <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2364106,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">created a standalone site</a> so people could continue their playtime.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3b3b3c; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">For more of Google's doodles, see the <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/0,1206,l=262220&a=262220,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">slideshow</a> below. Recently, the company has honored the first computer programmer <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2413020,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ada Lovelace</a>, <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407571,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amelia Earhart</a>, as well as <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403995,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">artist Keith Haring</a>, zipper pioneer <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403445,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Gideon Sundback</a>, and even commemorated its own <a class="" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410259,00.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #007ba1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">14th birthday</a>with a birthday cake doodle.</div>

World's Hot Daily News Frank Zamboni Honored With Playable Google Doodle

From:http://www.pcmag.com By Chloe AlbanesiusJanuary 16, 2013 10:51am ESTGoogle has provided users with a new way to waste time today, thanks to an interactive homepage doodle in honor of entrepreneur Frank Zamboni.Anyone who has spent any time at an…

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Aaliyah reworked: 10 mashups to celebrate her birthday

From: <a href="http://www.latimes.com/">http://www.latimes.com</a><br /><img alt="Aaliyah" src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-50f71998/turbine/la-et-ms-aaliyah-reworked-10-mashups-to-celebr-001/600" /><br /><br /><div class="small" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 6px; padding: 0px;">The singer Aaliyah would have been 34 on Wednesday. <span class="credit">(<span class="photographer">Jim Cooper / Associated Press</span>)</span></div><div></div><br /><br /><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #292727; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px;">By Randall Roberts</span><br /><div class="byline" style="color: #292727; float: left; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit"><span class="toolSet" style="background-color: white; display: inline-block; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-right: -50px; margin-top: 6px; width: 335px;"><span class="titleline" style="display: block;">Los Angeles Times Pop Music Critic</span><span class="titleline" style="display: block;"><span class="dateString" style="color: #930000; display: inline; font-style: italic;">January 16, 2013</span><span class="dateTimeSeparator" style="border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; color: white; display: inline; font-size: 10px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: -1px; margin-left: 6px;">, </span><span class="timeString" style="color: #930000; display: inline; font-style: italic; text-transform: lowercase;">1:14 p.m.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="clear" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43;">You know the songs, tragically frozen in time after R&B singer </span><a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/music/aaliyah-PECLB000001.topic" id="PECLB000001" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43; text-decoration: none;" title="Aaliyah">Aaliyah</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43;">'s untimely death: "Try Again," "Are You That Somebody" and "We Need a Resolution." We've heard them, sung them aloud while cruising the city, romanced to them, danced to them. And we've also adapted them. By reworking those </span><a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/music/timbaland-PECLB004718.topic" id="PECLB004718" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43; text-decoration: none;" title="Timbaland">Timbaland</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43;">-produced jams, their sheen and joy pops in new ways. The singer would have been 34 on Wednesday.</span><br /><div id="story-body-text" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.43; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Below are a few inspired Aaliyah reworkings that have popped up on <a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/arts-culture/computer-networking-internet/social-media/youtube-ORCRP00000211004.topic" id="ORCRP00000211004" style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none;" title="YouTube">YouTube</a>, which, combined, not only push the singer's work in new directions but also confirm her influence on the generation of singers who followed. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Kendrick Lamar versus Aaliyah: Lamar's killer "Swimming Pools (Drank)" combined with Aaliyah's "We Need a Resolution." Writes mashup artist Raheem D: "These two tracks were similar BPM's and had similar themes to do with drink so I decided to make it seem as if Aaliyah was fed up with Kendrick's alcohol intake during his party going which leads her to ask 'Where you were last night' and 'Where'd you go instead?' </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 1.43;">Aaliyah's "Rock the Boat" mixed with </span><a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/music/rihanna-PECLB005404.topic" id="PECLB005404" style="color: #666666; line-height: 1.43; text-decoration: none;" title="Rihanna">Rihanna</a><span style="line-height: 1.43;">'s "Rude Boy," all mashed with the killer Enur rhythm for "Calabria." </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Rihanna is an Aaliyah inheritor, as evidenced by this killer combo of RiRi's "Umbrella" with the rhythm and a cappella of Aaliyah's "More Than a Woman."</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Drake's "Marvin's Room" versus Aaliyah's "If Your Girl Only Knew." Aaliyah's tough track tempers Drake's boasts, killer combo ensues. (Note, because of Drake's potty mouth, we can't embed this -- and it's not safe for jamming at work. But <a href="http://youtu.be/4v2t1pFHr88" style="color: #2262cc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">click to listen</a>.)</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Frank Ocean "Thinkin' Bout You" versus Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody." </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Miguel's "Sure Thing" versus  Aaliyah's "One in a Million."</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;"><span class="credit">Yes, Aaliyah can rock too. This would be the Disturbed backing Aaliyah.</span></div></div><span class="credit"></span></div>

World's Hot Daily News Aaliyah reworked: 10 mashups to celebrate her birthday

From: http://www.latimes.comThe singer Aaliyah would have been 34 on Wednesday. (Jim Cooper / Associated Press)By Randall RobertsLos Angeles Times Pop Music CriticJanuary 16, 2013, 1:14 p.m.You know the songs, tragically frozen in time after R&B sing…

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Obama invokes Constitution in arguing for gun control

From: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/">http://www.washingtonpost.com</a><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/U4ND6cGQIns?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><strong style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>Video: </strong></strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">President Obama and Vice President Biden formally announced the specifics of their gun-control proposals in a press conference Wednesday.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br /><div class="module byline" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-style: none; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><h3 property="dc.creator" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: normal; margin: 17px 0px; padding: 0px;">By <span class="author vcard" style="color: #666666;"><span class="fn"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/scott-wilson/2011/03/02/ABt5vmP_page.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Scott Wilson</a></span></span>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-invokes-constitution-in-arguing-for-gun-control/2013/01/16/d5397cb4-600d-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_story.html#license-d5397cb4-600d-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712" id="license-d5397cb4-600d-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712" rel="item-license" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"></a><span class="timestamp updated processed" contenttype="article" datetitle="published" epochtime="1358368872000" pagetype="leaf" style="color: #6e6e6e;">Wednesday, January 16, <span class="time special" style="color: #cc131e;">12:41 PM</span></span></h3></div><div class="relative" id="article" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div id="article_body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="article_body entry-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /><article><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;"><span class="dateline"></span>In making his case Wednesday for tighter controls on gun ownership, President Obama used the document most often cited by firearm advocates to show that such restrictions violate the founding spirit of the nation — the Constitution.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">By doing so, Obama sought to turn a perceived political weaknesses — his image as an aloof intellectual — into a strength, and, at the same time, to turn a perceived strength of gun advocates — the constitutional right to bear arms — into a potential weakness.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Obama, a former constitutional law lecturer at the University of Chicago, has been forced in the past to defend the legality of his legislative ambitions, <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-06-28/politics/35462035_1_health-insurance-health-care-law-elena-kagan" style="color: black;">particularly the health-care law</a> he secured nearly three years ago.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">But he did so in a different way Wednesday and with a different audience in mind — the moderate America beyond the Beltway that may find the <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://home.nra.org/" style="color: black;">National Rifle Association</a> and its arguments against any gun restrictions as frustrating as Obama says he does.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Where his past legal arguments have been directed at Congress or the Supreme Court, Obama used what he suggested was a clash of sometimes-competing rights guaranteed by the Constitution to assure Americans across party lines that his proposals amount to a modest approach to a societal problem.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;"><a data-xslt="_http" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-says-hell-offer-plans-to-stem-gun-violence-this-week/2013/01/14/b7ad8ea8-5e6c-11e2-90a0-73c8343c6d61_story.html" style="color: black;">Polls show that a majority</a> of the electorate shares his views. But he warned Wednesday that those who do must apply pressure to interest groups and members of Congress in Washington.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">“The only way we can change is if the American people demand it,” <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-obamas-remarks-on-new-gun-control-proposals-jan-16-2013-transcript/2013/01/16/528e7758-5ffc-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_story.html?hpid=z1" style="color: black;">Obama said before an audience that included victims of gun violence</a> and their families, including parents of children <a data-xslt="_http" href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-12-15/national/35847080_1_new-details-medical-examiner-interfaith-service" style="color: black;">killed last month in Newtown, Conn</a>.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">He added that that “doesn’t just mean from certain parts of the country,” the liberal states and enclaves where gun control has the most support.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">“We’re going to need voices in those areas and those congressional districts where the tradition of gun ownership is strong to speak up and to say this is important,” he said.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">His challenge became evident immediately, as a number of congressional Republicans from just the kind of conservative districts Obama referred to issued statements denouncing his plans.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Using Obama’s unequivocal position toward Congress on the need to raise the nation’s borrowing limit next month, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (Kan.) said in a statement that “the Second Amendment is non-negotiable.”</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">“The right to bear arms is a right, despite President Obama’s disdain for the Second Amendment and the Constitution’s limits on his power,” Huelskamp said. “Congress must stand firm for the entirety of the Constitution.”</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Other Republicans followed suit, citing the Second Amendment in each case.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">But Obama made clear that he is eager to have an argument on constitutional grounds over whether a ban on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well other elements of his gun-control package, are legal.</div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Citing a series of recent mass shootings, Obama listed several amendments, as well as the defining phrase of the Declaration of Independence, to argue that a gunman’s right should not compromise any others’.</div></article></div></div></div>

World's Hot Daily News Obama invokes Constitution in arguing for gun control

From: http://www.washingtonpost.comVideo: President Obama and Vice President Biden formally announced the specifics of their gun-control proposals in a press conference Wednesday.By Scott Wilson, Wednesday, January 16, 12:41 PMIn making his case Wedn…

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Comeback kids? Mark Sanford vs. Tiffany Six

From: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/">http://www.washingtonpost.com</a><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18.149999618530273px;">Posted by </span><a href="http://washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost" rel="author external" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #777777; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18.149999618530273px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Visit Alexandra Petri’s website">Alexandra Petri</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18.149999618530273px;"> on January 16, 2013 at </span><span class="get-the-time" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18.149999618530273px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4:50 pm</span><br /><span class="get-the-time" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18.149999618530273px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="(Joshua Drake/Reuters) The thing is, it could work." height="352" src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/files/2013/01/marksanfordipadbackground.jpg" width="640" /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">The thing is, it could work. (Joshua Drake/Reuters)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">It was an embarrassing few minutes. The exposure was regrettable. The angle was bad. The dialogue was unrealistic. And it’s going to be on the Internet forever.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">Never mind that it was years ago. It still comes right up when you Google it. Every so often, in moments of weakness, I allow myself to view it in its entirety, crying softly — although not at the office, of course.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">By now you have surely guessed what I am talking about: Not the porn career of California teacher <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2263238/Porn-star-Tiffany-Six-turned-biology-teacher-loses-appeal-return-classroom.html" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Stacie Halas</a>, also known as “<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/calif-middle-school-teacher-fired-for-appearing-in-porn-loses-appeal-to-return-to-classroom/2013/01/15/d6481fbe-5f83-11e2-9dc9-bca76dd777b8_story.html" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tiffany Six</a>.” Of course not. I meant former <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/01/16/mark-sanford-congress-comeback/1838947/" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">South Carolina governor</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/us/24text-sanford.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mark Sanford’s infamous rambling press conference</a> in which he confessed to an affair, admitted to “crying in Argentina” and spoke bewilderingly of his struggle against self and thanked “the Tom Davises of this world.” As embarrassing videos posted on the Internet go, he has Kim Kardashian beat by several leagues.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">Both Halas and Sanford are now making efforts to move past their pasts. And I regret to note that it <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/01/16/why-mark-sanfords-comeback-bid-just-might-work/" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">seems to be working much better for him</a>.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mark Sanford is making a run for Congress in his former South Carolina district. And people seem to think this is a viable plan. “Hey,” they say. “<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/01/16/why-mark-sanfords-comeback-bid-just-might-work/" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Name recognition</a>!” These are the same people who seem to think Anthony Weiner is an exciting mayoral prospect. Meanwhile, Halas tried to reinvent herself as a middle school science teacher, after a brief career in which she did not break up her family or mislead taxpayers. And she’s still out of a job.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">“There are no second acts in American lives,” F. Scott Fitzgerald said. Well, unless you’re in politics.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">In most lines of work, past indiscretions can be something of a hindrance. Leave an embarrassing video somewhere in the bowels of the Internet? Forget teaching middle school. Halas was fired in April from her post as a science teacher after students and faculty at the Haydock Intermediate School in Oxnard, Calif., discovered some of her videos online. And Friday the California Commission on Professional Competence (in a unanimous 46-page decision) <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/calif-middle-school-teacher-fired-for-appearing-in-porn-loses-appeal-to-return-to-classroom/2013/01/15/d6481fbe-5f83-11e2-9dc9-bca76dd777b8_story.html" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ruled</a> that she should stay out of the classroom. The situation was not helped by her efforts to conceal her past from her employers. The ruling called this more evidence of mendacity and further proof that she was <a href="http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/jan/15/judge-rules-oxnard-teacher-with-porn-past-is-to/" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">no role model</a>, although I have difficulty picturing a scenario in which you make no effort to conceal the fact that you used to appear in pornographic videos and someone hires you on the spot to teach middle school.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">Perhaps that someone has a point. Middle schoolers are a uniquely cruel bunch. But if you are willing to walk into a classroom and teach them science, with the knowledge that this kind of video is lurking over your head on the Internet suspended by a tiny thread — well, this country does need math and science teachers…</div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">But the commission felt otherwise. There are no second chances in middle school science.</div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">Back in the olden days, you always vaguely suspected that the librarian had a sordid past, but you could not quite prove it. What harm did it do? It did not impair her grasp of the Dewey Decimal System.</div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">But not now. Lady Bracknell’s salad days as a can-can dancer are searchable. Don’t think of changing your legal name, James Gatz. Forget adopting that child with your prison record, Jean Valjean. There are no second acts in lives lived half online.</div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">Celebrities can get away with these things. And even politicians, to a certain extent, can ride the wave of notoriety — at least as far as Eliot Spitzer’s talk show.</div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">But what about the rest of us?</div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">I kept assuming that we were about to hit the point where the saturation was complete, where, animated by the knowledge that there is no one alive whose college photos, if broadcast, would not fill the world with shock and horror, we would stop pulling the Gasp!-Behold-Hester-Prynne!-Someone-Stick-A-Giant-’A'-On-That-Lady! act and start accepting that we are all flawed, change is possible, and some allowances must be made. But we have not. We keep pointing. We keep thinking we are safe.</div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">After all, some people are. In school we all knew that one guy Greg who kept a turtle, woke up early, read improving books, and never went out on Thursdays. But do we really want Gregs in charge of everything?</div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">The judge in the porn star teacher’s case noted that the Internet is <a href="http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/jan/15/judge-rules-oxnard-teacher-with-porn-past-is-to/" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“viral” and “infinite”</a>which is a gloomy way of looking at it. There are no comebacks. It is a giant bathroom wall where every scrawl will live forever. If you write big enough you can perhaps write over it. Look at Bill Clinton. But woe to you if that’s the only thing that’s up there. Rick Santorum had to mount a whole presidential campaign to fix his “Google problem.” The only way to induce people to forget is to make even more noise.</div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">If Sanford and Halas’s respective plights demonstrate anything, it is the fact that It is not on the heads of celebrities or even political figures that the ax usually falls. If you are Ann Coulter and you say something deplorable, they book you on cable for more of the same. If you are an ordinary person, you get included in a list of Hideous Racists and lose your job at Coldstone Creamery.</div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">No, it is clear that the artist formerly known as Tiffany Six is in the wrong line of work. Pornography is a poor choice for a first career. You can’t engage in congress on camera and try to engage in anything else afterwards, except to become one of those Famous Celebrities Everyone Dislikes.</div><div style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 22px; vertical-align: baseline;">Perhaps she should run for office instead. It could hardly make things worse. It might be her only hope.</div><br />

Comeback kids? Mark Sanford vs. Tiffany Six

From: http://www.washingtonpost.comPosted by Alexandra Petri on January 16, 2013 at 4:50 pmThe thing is, it could work. (Joshua Drake/Reuters)It was an embarrassing few minutes. The exposure was regrettable. The angle was bad. The dialogue was unreal…

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Manti Te'o's inspirational girlfriend story a hoax

From:<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/">http://www.usatoday.com</a><br /><br /><div class="asset-metabar-wrap" style="clear: both; margin: 20px 0px 23px 70px;"><div class="asset-metabar" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(230, 230, 230); display: table-cell; margin: 20px 0px 0px; width: 888px;"><span class="asset-metabar-author asset-metabar-item" itemprop="name" style="float: left; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 14px; margin: 6px 0px 5px; padding: 2px 10px; position: relative;">Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports</span><span class="asset-metabar-time asset-metabar-item " style="border-left-color: rgb(225, 225, 225); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; color: #999999; float: left; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; line-height: 14px; margin: 6px 0px 5px; padding: 2px 10px; position: relative;">6:44p.m. EST January 16, 2013</span></div></div><div class="double-wide" itemprop="articleBody" role="main" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; position: relative; width: 600px;"><div class="article-metadata-wrap" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; float: left; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 30px 0px 60px; position: relative;"><aside class="single-photo expandable-collapsed" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 20px; position: relative; width: 180px; z-index: 100;"><div class="image-wrap" style="box-shadow: rgb(200, 200, 200) 1px 1px 5px; cursor: pointer; padding: 3px; position: relative;"><img alt="2013-01-16-notre-dame-manti-teo" class="expand-img-horiz" itemprop="url" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/01/16/2013-01-16-notre-dame-manti-teo-4_3_r536_c534.jpg?1b79b3da202957124496e3768cfb7b67cdb10c81" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 131px; vertical-align: middle;" /><span class="toggle" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/sprites/asset-sprite.png); background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; bottom: 0px; height: 21px; position: absolute; right: 0px; width: 21px; z-index: 200;"></span></div><div class="image-credit-wrap" style="color: #666666; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 6px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px;"><span class="credit" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 400;">(Photo: Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports)</span></div></aside><div class="article-metadata" style="position: relative;"><aside class="comp story-highlights " style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 0px 0px 20px; min-height: 60px; width: 180px;"><h3 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #999999; font-family: 'Futura Today Bold', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px auto; text-transform: uppercase;">STORY HIGHLIGHTS</h3><ul style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; left: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><li style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">Deadspin.com reports that Manti Te'o's inspirational girlfriend story was a hoax</li><li style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">Teo's girlfriend Lennay Kekua was reportedly a student at Stanford</li><li style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">Deadspin writes that Stanford has no record of anyone by that name attending the university</li></ul></aside></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">To tell the story of Manti Te'o, Notre Dame's star linebacker, one must discuss his inspirational play in this September's win over Michigan State. Just days after the death of his grandmother and his girlfriend, Te'o racked up 12 tackles and recovered a fumble in a 20-3 victory over the Spartans. The following Saturday, after Lennay Kekua's funeral, Te'o made two interceptions in a 13-6 victory over Michigan.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>BCS TITLE: </b><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/01/07/bcs-championship-notre-dame-teo-falters/1814439/" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/01/07/bcs-championship-notre-dame-teo-falters/1814439/">Te'o unimpressive on national stage</a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>EARLIER: </b><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2012/12/09/notre-dame-manti-teo-lott-trophy/1757833/" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2012/12/09/notre-dame-manti-teo-lott-trophy/1757833/">Te'o wins Lott Trophy</a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">In articles in <i>Sports Illustrated</i> and the <i>South Bend Tribune</i> and in interviews on ESPN, Te'o would recount how his girlfriend, Kekua, requested that he send white flowers to her funeral. Te'o said that the last words he shared with Kekua were "I love you."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"They were with me," Te'o said after Notre Dame's win over Michigan State in an on-field interview with ABC's Heather Cox. "I couldn't do without the support of my family and my girlfriend's family. I'm so grateful for all the love and support that all the fans, both Michigan State and Notre Dame, and fans around the world for supporting me and my family and my girlfriend's family. I miss them. I miss them. But I know that I'll see them again one day."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">It was a beautiful story, one that publicized Te'o's off-field back story in time to heat up his Heisman Trophy campaign. The story grew over the next three months, including a three-minute piece on <i>CBS This Morning</i> on the day of the BCS championship game on Jan. 7.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">The story was also entirely false, according to <a href="http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax">an article by <i>Deadspin.com</i></a>. According to <i>Deadspin</i>, not only did Te'o's girlfriend not die in the days leading up the Michigan State game, she didn't exist at all.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">In what <i>Deadspin</i> is describing as an elaborate hoax, Kekua was an online persona created by Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a friend of Te'o's and a pastor at a church in Palmdale, Calif. Says the <i>Deadspin</i> article:</div><blockquote style="background-color: white; border-left-color: rgb(201, 201, 201); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 2px; color: #797979; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 0px 15px 60px; overflow: auto; padding-left: 20px;">"We spoke with friends and relatives of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo who asserted that Ronaiah was the man behind Lennay. He created Lennay in 2008, one source said, and Te'o wasn't the first person to have an online 'relationship' with her. One mark – who had been 'introduced' to Lennay by Tuiasosopo – lasted about a month before family members grew suspicious that Lennay could never be found on the telephone, and that wherever one expected Lennay to be, Ronaiah was there instead. Two sources discounted Ronaiah's stunt as a prank that only metastasized because of Te'o's rise to national celebrity this past season."</blockquote><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"We know it's a hoax... The only question out there is exactly what Manti knew about it," Timothy Burke, one of the authors of the piece on <i>Deadspin</i>, said during an appearance Wednesday on CBS Radio.</div><aside class="wide single-photo" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #222222; float: none; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 60px; margin-top: 25px; width: auto;"><img alt="None" itemprop="url" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/gameon/2013/01/08/usp-ncaa-football_-bcs-national-championship-alaba_003-4_3_r541_c540.jpg?729ef1a5e3c69f5da0197e57e2bd3dd3fdfcd35f" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="540" /><div style="color: #666666; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 6px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px;">If Notre Dame wants to make another BCS run in 2013 it will need to so without All-American linebacker Manti Te'o.<span class="credit" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 400;">(Photo: Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports)</span></div></aside><div class="clearfix" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">In a statement published on ESPN.com, Te'o called himself a "victim" of "someone's sick joke." CAA, which represents Te'o, said the statement did not come from them.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online," Te'o said. "We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating.<br />It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother's death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"I am enormously grateful for the support of my family, friends and Notre Dame fans throughout this year. To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick. I hope that people can understand how trying and confusing this whole experience has been.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was. Fortunately, I have many wonderful things in my life, and I'm looking forward to putting this painful experience behind me as I focus on preparing for the NFL Draft."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">In a university statement, Notre Dame said that the coaching staff was first informed on Dec. 26 of what the university calls a "sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"On Dec. 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te'o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia," read the statement.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax. While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><i>Deadspin</i> traces back the first national mention of Kekua to an article in the Nov. 28, 2009 edition of the <i>South Bend Tribune</i>, which said that the two met after Stanford's 45-38 victory over the Irish. Kekua was reportedly a student at Stanford; <i>Deadspin</i>writes that Stanford has no record of anyone by that name attending the university.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">The article quotes a friend of Tuiasosopo's as saying he was "80 percent sure" that Te'o was "in on it," and that "the two perpetrated Lennay Kekua's death with publicity in mind."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"Mostly, though," the articles continues, "the friend simply couldn't believe that Te'o would be stupid enough – or Ronaiah Tuiasosopo clever enough – to sustain the relationship for nearly a year."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;"><b>PHOTOS: MANTI TE'O'S CAREER HIGHLIGHTS</b></div><div class="mod galleries clearfix hasendslate hover" data-cst="sports/football/college" data-gal-pageurl="http://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/sports/ncaaf/2012/12/06/manti-teo/1751183/" data-gallery-id="1751183" data-seo-title="manti-teo" data-ssts="sports/ncaaf" data-title="Manti Te'o:Manti Te'o" data-topic="sports,sports_ncaaf" style="background-color: #fafafa; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(242, 242, 242); clear: both; color: #222222; float: left; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; height: auto; line-height: 22px; margin: 10px 0px 20px 60px; position: relative; width: 538px;"><img alt="None" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/01/16/2013-01-16-notre-dame-teo-3-4_3_rx512_c680x510.jpg?0f5c31de35bf4ef88a50c2e35ee3bc4da4bf3083" /><img alt="None" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/01/16/2013-01-16-notre-dame-teo-4-4_3_rx512_c680x510.jpg?0f5c31de35bf4ef88a50c2e35ee3bc4da4bf3083" /><img alt="None" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2012/10/07/usp-ncaa-football_-miami-at-notre-dame-4_3_rx512_c680x510.jpg?0f5c31de35bf4ef88a50c2e35ee3bc4da4bf3083" /><div class="viewport hover" style="display: table; height: 390px; margin-bottom: 90px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 538px; z-index: 0;"></div></div></div>

Manti Te'o's inspirational girlfriend story a hoax

From:http://www.usatoday.comPaul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports6:44p.m. EST January 16, 2013(Photo: Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports)STORY HIGHLIGHTSDeadspin.com reports that Manti Te'o's inspirational girlfriend story was a hoaxTeo's girlfriend Lennay Kek…

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Eagles hire Chip Kelly as coach

From:<a href="http://espn.go.com/">http://espn.go.com</a><br /><br /><h5 style="background-color: #f2f2f2; border: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chip Kelly Named Eagles Coach: <a href="http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:8849920">Video of Eagles hire Chip Kelly as coach</a></h5><div class="mod-video-tags" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sal Paolantonio discusses the Eagles' hiring of Chip Kelly as head coach.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">PHILADELPHIA -- The <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/phi/philadelphia-eagles" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Eagles</a> have hired Chip Kelly after he originally chose to stay at Oregon.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="mod-container mod-no-footer mod-inline content-box floatright mod-no-header-footer" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: black; float: right !important; font-family: verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 261.8833312988281px;"><div class="mod-content" style="border: 1px solid rgb(194, 194, 194); font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h4 style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(194, 194, 194); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 7px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">More on Kelly to Eagles</span></h4><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Fox" class="floatright" src="http://a.espncdn.com/i/columnists/fox_ashley_m.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: right !important; margin: 0px 0px 4px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />New Eagles coach Chip Kelly certainly moves the needle, but he's far from a sure thing, Ashley Fox cautions. <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8849067/chip-kelly-roll-dice-philadelphia-eagles" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: rgb(96, 143, 214) !important; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Column</b></a></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="SportsNation" class="floatright" height="80" src="http://assets.espn.go.com/i/sportsnation/logos/espn_sportsnation_80.gif" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: right !important; margin: 0px 0px 4px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="80" />The Eagles have hired Chip Kelly away from Oregon. Will Kelly's unique offensive style work in the pros?<a href="http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/polls?pCat=46&sCat=3504" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: rgb(96, 143, 214) !important; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Vote!</b></a></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Miller" class="floatright" src="http://a.espncdn.com/i/columnists/miller_ted_m.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: right !important; margin: 0px 0px 4px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />Oregon offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich is widely assumed to be Chip Kelly's successor. At the Fiesta Bowl, he received ringing endorsements, Ted Miller writes.<a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/52656/helfrich-likely-to-step-in-after-kelly-shocker" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: rgb(96, 143, 214) !important; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Blog</b></a></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Kelly becomes the 21st coach in team history and replaces Andy Reid, who was fired Dec. 31 after a 4-12 season.</span></span></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kelly will be introduced at a news conference Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET at the Eagles' practice facility.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Chip Kelly will be an outstanding head coach for the Eagles," owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. "He has a brilliant football mind. He motivates his team with his actions as well as his words. He will be a great leader for us and will bring a fresh, energetic approach to our team."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kelly, who was 46-7 in four years at Oregon, interviewed with the Eagles, <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/cle/cleveland-browns" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Cleveland Browns</a>and <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/buf/buffalo-bills" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Buffalo Bills</a> after leading the Ducks to a victory over Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl. But he opted to remain at Oregon before changing his mind.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I want to thank Chip for his leadership and commitment to building on the Oregon Football foundation of excellence," Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said in a statement. "We have enjoyed incredible success over the past four years. I have great respect for Chip, consider him a friend and wish him the best of luck in the NFL."  </span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mullens said he is confident the Ducks will find the right coach to continue the program's success.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Oregon Athletics has executed two successful head coach transitions in the past eighteen years and each time we continued our ascent. We are focused on identifying a leader who is the right fit to guide Oregon Football," he said in the statement.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Eagles are known to have interviewed 11 candidates, including two meetings with Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kelly re-emerged as a candidate recently and an agreement was just reached Wednesday, league sources told ESPN.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Following the Fiesta Bowl, the 49-year-old Kelly said he wanted to get the interview process over "quickly." Turns out, it was anything but.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">He came close to jumping to the pros last year but turned down an offer from Tampa Bay to return for his fourth season as the coach at Oregon. He has boosted the school's national profile -- flashy uniforms helped -- with a high-powered offense capable of turning any game into a track meet.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="mod-container mod-no-footer mod-inline content-box floatright mod-no-header-footer " style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: black; float: right !important; font-family: verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 261.8833312988281px;"><div class="mod-content" style="border: 1px solid rgb(194, 194, 194); font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h4 style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(194, 194, 194); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 7px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">From College to the Pros</span></h4><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="floatright" src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/photo/2013/0106/ncf_a_kelly_bl_65.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: right !important; margin: 0px 0px 4px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />Chip Kelly becomes the sixth active NFL coach to make the jump directly from college. Kelly has the highest college win percentage of any of those coaches.</span></div><table style="background-color: transparent; border-spacing: 1px; border: 0px; clear: both; font-size: inherit; margin: 0px 7px 7px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 240px;"><thead style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><tr style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><th style="background-color: #d6d6d6; border-bottom-color: rgb(194, 194, 194); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">Coach</th><th style="background-color: #d6d6d6; border-bottom-color: rgb(194, 194, 194); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">FBS Win pct.</th><th style="background-color: #d6d6d6; border-bottom-color: rgb(194, 194, 194); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">NFL Win pct.</th></tr></thead><tbody style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><tr class="last" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chip Kelly, PHI</td><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">.868</td><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">?</td></tr><tr class="last" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pete Carroll, SEA</td><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">.836</td><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">.518</td></tr><tr class="last" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tom Coughlin, NYG</td><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">.614</td><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">.555</td></tr><tr class="last" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jim Harbaugh, SF</td><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">.580</td><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">.750</td></tr><tr class="last" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">Greg Schiano, TB</td><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">.504</td><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">.438</td></tr><tr style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">Doug Marrone, BUF</td><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">.500</td><td style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline;">?</td></tr></tbody><tfoot style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><tr style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="3" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; color: #555555; font-size: 9px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 6px 2px; vertical-align: bottom;"><i style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-- ESPN Stats & Information</i></td></tr></tfoot></table></div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">"It's more a fact-finding mission, finding out if it fits or doesn't fit," Kelly said after the Ducks defeated the Wildcats 35-17. "I've been in one interview in my life for the National Football League, and that was a year ago. I don't really have any preconceived notions about it. I think that's what this deal is all about for me. It's not going to affect us in terms of we're not on the road (recruiting). I'll get an opportunity if people do call, see where they are.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I want to get it wrapped up quickly and figure out where I'm going to be."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kelly doesn't have any pro coaching experience, but aspects of his up-tempo offense are already being used by some NFL teams, including New England and Washington.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Under Kelly, Oregon ran 1,077 plays in just 13 games last season (82.8 per game), according to ESPN Stats & Information. Amazingly, that would have ranked seventh (just two total plays behind the Eagles' 1,079) in the NFL's 16-game schedule this season. The Patriots led the NFL with 1,191 plays this season (74.4 per game). </span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kelly never said whether he was leaning one way or another after the bowl.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I said I'll always listen, and that's what I'll do," he said. "I know that people want to talk to me because of our players. The success of our football program has always been about our guys. It's an honor for someone to say they'd want to talk to me about maybe moving on to go coach in the National Football League. But it's because of what those guys do. I'll listen, and we'll see."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Oregon could be facing possible NCAA sanctions for the school's use of recruiting services, but Kelly indicated in Arizona that he isn't running from anything.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">"We've cooperated fully with them," he said. "If they want to talk to us again, we'll continue to cooperate fully. I feel confident in the situation."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Oregon's players gave Kelly a Gatorade bath as the final seconds ticked off the clock against Kansas State, and afterward a few of the Ducks seemed resigned to their coach moving on.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">"We'll have to see," quarterback Marcus Mariota said. "Whatever he decides to do, we're all behind him. He's an unbelievable coach. He's not only a football coach, but he's someone that you can look to and learn a lot of life lessons from. Whatever happens, happens. But we're all behind him.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">"We'll see where it takes us."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">For a while, it seemed that Cleveland was the front-runner, if indeed Kelly was to make the jump. He met with the Browns for seven hours at an undisclosed location -- five in negotiations with a two-hour break for dinner -- and agreed to talk again. But talks never progressed from that point.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Eagles fired Reid after two forgettable years. A late flurry brought the team to an 8-8 finish last season, but this season Philadelphia endured an eight-game losing streak and dropped 11 of its final 12 games. A 3-1 start soon washed away, and Reid's 14-year tenure ended not long after. Within a week, Reid was Kansas City's new coach.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Still, Kelly has tough shoes to fill. Reid won more games than any coach in franchise history and led the Eagles to nine playoff appearances, six division titles, five conference championship games and a loss to New England in the Super Bowl following the 2004 season.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="mod-container mod-inline content-box mod-podcast floatright mod-no-header-footer" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: black; float: right !important; font-family: verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 261.8833312988281px;"><div class="mod-content" style="border: 1px solid rgb(194, 194, 194); font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h4 style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(194, 194, 194); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px 7px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">SVP & Russillo</span></h4><div class="podcast-player" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: left; margin: 6px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"><object data="http://a.espncdn.com/swf/espnradio/09/audio_player_circular_v2.swf" height="70" id="flashPodcastSwf" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="86"></object></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit says it was a difficult decision for Kelly to leave Oregon. Herbstreit says Kelly will succeed in the NFL and Oregon will struggle without him.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><center style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><hr style="background-color: #dddddd; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #dddddd; float: none; height: 0.1em; margin: 0px 0px 1.45em; width: 127.93333435058594px;" /></center><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Eagles center Jason Kelce says he's surprised Philadelphia landed Chip Kelly but he's excited to be a part of Kelly's up-tempo system. <a href="http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=8850068" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: rgb(96, 143, 214) !important; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Listen</b></a> <img align="absmiddle" alt="Listen" border="0" height="10" src="http://assets.espn.go.com/icons/listen.png" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="10" /></span></div><div class="footer clear" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-size: 10px; height: 14px; line-height: 17px; outline: 0px; padding: 4px 8px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kelly and the Eagles, who have won just 12 games the last two seasons after winning the NFC East in 2010, have the No. 4 overall pick in the draft as well as some talented players on offense who could fit his up-tempo scheme. Running back <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/12514/lesean-mccoy" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">LeSean McCoy</a> and wide receivers<a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/11283/desean-jackson" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">DeSean Jackson</a> and <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/12579/jeremy-maclin" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jeremy Maclin</a> seem like an ideal match. Quarterback <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14877/nick-foles" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nick Foles</a>, however, isn't.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I've never run the zone read," Foles said after the season. "I'm more of a dropback guy. I've been under center. I've been in the gun. If I can adapt, I want to. But I'm not a zone-read quarterback. Some people are gifted with different things. That's just not one of my skill sets. I can work on the speed in the offseason and get better with that. But I've always been a dropback guy in the pocket. I've been able to make plays on my feet throwing the ball or running for a first down."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">On the other hand, <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/2549/michael-vick" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Michael Vick</a> could be perfect. But it's unlikely the Eagles would want to pay the $16 million they'd have to shell out for an injury-prone quarterback, who will be 33 next season.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kelly had high praise for Foles after Oregon beat Arizona 56-31 in September 2011.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I'll tell you what; I'm glad Nick Foles is graduating," Kelly said at that time. "I catch myself watching him in awe sometimes. Nick is a hell of a football player. That kid's a warrior. He's as good as anyone in the country."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Others interviewed by Lurie, general Howie Roseman and president Don Smolenski were former Bears coach Lovie Smith, Atlanta assistants Mike Nolan and Keith Armstrong, former Broncos offensive coordinator <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/8183/mike-mccoy" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mike McCoy</a> and Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">The first Eagles to react to Kelly's hiring on Twitter were defensive players.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Defensive end <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/13239/brandon-graham" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Brandon Graham</a> wrote: "Happy to have Chip Kelly!! Now it's time to get to work!"</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">Safety <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/13340/kurt-coleman" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Kurt Coleman</a> wrote: "Welcome Chip Kelly to the Eagles family. Can't wait to see what he brings to the team in 2013!"</span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div>

Eagles hire Chip Kelly as coach

From:http://espn.go.comChip Kelly Named Eagles Coach: Video of Eagles hire Chip Kelly as coachSal Paolantonio discusses the Eagles' hiring of Chip Kelly as head coach.PHILADELPHIA -- The Eagles have hired Chip Kelly after he originally chose to stay …

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