Babe of the Week: Jennifer Love Hewitt

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The IWS Babe of the Week is none other than Jennifer Love Hewitt! J-Love is one of the all-time greatest babes in history!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ2_yHSVMqOETVXfam8HI3biGIwz54cblAqSMO612Jlz6PkNir-t4sx5UkGbC_q6EgeLhmc4tk6hp1Nu-jrW2tF3H2C1Dm8a4qxj6Ij0DtbCI9IDr13tDk_WpNl6amXUC650ZxTtJl3nM/s1600/Jennifer-Love-Hewitt-Nude-Sexy-Hot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ2_yHSVMqOETVXfam8HI3biGIwz54cblAqSMO612Jlz6PkNir-t4sx5UkGbC_q6EgeLhmc4tk6hp1Nu-jrW2tF3H2C1Dm8a4qxj6Ij0DtbCI9IDr13tDk_WpNl6amXUC650ZxTtJl3nM/s400/Jennifer-Love-Hewitt-Nude-Sexy-Hot.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><br />In addition to being a great actress, she can sing ...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh28F5pTpnSI2kSVpODhrgT6_MBHIGENKFZK1KM18CfmC039pPNT_Awn435AmvzXo0BWkbirpBNvbyIeZe6P4zwXyXM0Mi3-Ai0FxP40yPk-bO8_1smdRa9DoEqnM7fsfEmVSXodDfwxck/s1600/Jennifer-Love-Hewitt-Nipples-Singing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh28F5pTpnSI2kSVpODhrgT6_MBHIGENKFZK1KM18CfmC039pPNT_Awn435AmvzXo0BWkbirpBNvbyIeZe6P4zwXyXM0Mi3-Ai0FxP40yPk-bO8_1smdRa9DoEqnM7fsfEmVSXodDfwxck/s320/Jennifer-Love-Hewitt-Nipples-Singing.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Write ...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVQ-lwSCEjxnLvc_VwK0BT96ItCZOWNP-ChTOPD89S0NlVqQl8EOjWM2nkko0rfOtclgPOtShV4YRbI7-j9v2viJ9AINDlfCkOzJpSYpEOevO28WrkOuZbWECMYCrVUoJIwKeyjEx1Zkc/s1600/Jennifer-Love-Hewitt-Legs-Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVQ-lwSCEjxnLvc_VwK0BT96ItCZOWNP-ChTOPD89S0NlVqQl8EOjWM2nkko0rfOtclgPOtShV4YRbI7-j9v2viJ9AINDlfCkOzJpSYpEOevO28WrkOuZbWECMYCrVUoJIwKeyjEx1Zkc/s400/Jennifer-Love-Hewitt-Legs-Book.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Cook...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho1Fpp7Xc5Zr3chUcs2w04gMnjrCboTYVU3GqCmPlsowZXUOB7VDcunOnXM9sIXwoZVeEm9IP8E3I6C2a-qYPU6RIOB6Kj2Ph8MHsvc2FFzANr6sA3pZdgPDwZfnVmrlAvn5e4AmxefKU/s1600/Jennifer-Love-Hewitt-Cooking-Hot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho1Fpp7Xc5Zr3chUcs2w04gMnjrCboTYVU3GqCmPlsowZXUOB7VDcunOnXM9sIXwoZVeEm9IP8E3I6C2a-qYPU6RIOB6Kj2Ph8MHsvc2FFzANr6sA3pZdgPDwZfnVmrlAvn5e4AmxefKU/s400/Jennifer-Love-Hewitt-Cooking-Hot.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />And even play tennis in a bikini and high heels!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS2-ufC2CgmcMQUJVGJ_AN5smCwQUbzXrLZfdoxD7G-oEbVgFdO7tTiv34aPoCRQEwp-SmP0jPxnsErH-DFKETxxWSbBgI2ck2TYxPyydPubzj4SE5j_lAczWniM_2EkEBNSQkZ-68dfc/s1600/jennifer-love-hewitt-bikini-tennis-heels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS2-ufC2CgmcMQUJVGJ_AN5smCwQUbzXrLZfdoxD7G-oEbVgFdO7tTiv34aPoCRQEwp-SmP0jPxnsErH-DFKETxxWSbBgI2ck2TYxPyydPubzj4SE5j_lAczWniM_2EkEBNSQkZ-68dfc/s400/jennifer-love-hewitt-bikini-tennis-heels.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><br /><br />Jennifer Love Hewitt is such a multi-talented person who has wowed us for years that sometimes we even forget how awesome she is. So, congrats to J-Love for all her success and being named the IWS Babe of the Week!<br /><br /><br />BTW, don't forget to listen to "<a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/03/17/forty-shades-of-matt-and-jay">Forty Shades of Matt and Jay</a>" on the I'm With Stupid Podcast Sunday at 12 Noon ET! We'll be celebrating St. Patrick's Day, talking about how awesome Ireland and Irish people are, celebrating Pope Francis and who knows what else! It's gonna be HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE!!!!!<br /><br /><br /></div>

Babe of the Week: Jennifer Love Hewitt

The IWS Babe of the Week is none other than Jennifer Love Hewitt! J-Love is one of the all-time greatest babes in history!In addition to being a great actress, she can sing ...Write ...Cook...And even play tennis in a bikini and high heels!Jennifer L…

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Today's archidose #658

Here are some photos of the Harbin Cultural Island under construction in Harbin, China, by <a href="http://www.i-mad.com/">MAD Architects</a>, photographed by "<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/red_gloww/">Ben Lepley +_+</a>".<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/red_gloww/8549231098/" title="From the North by Ben Lepley +_+, on Flickr"><img alt="From the North" height="282" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8238/8549231098_ba7b9dd53a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/red_gloww/8548141753/" title="saddle by Ben Lepley +_+, on Flickr"><img alt="saddle" height="424" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8100/8548141753_22d11ca367_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/red_gloww/8544477405/" title="Harbin Opera House by Ben Lepley +_+, on Flickr"><img alt="Harbin Opera House" height="321" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8520/8544477405_895c36e6eb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/red_gloww/8549220974/" title="tinker toys by Ben Lepley +_+, on Flickr"><img alt="tinker toys" height="424" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8247/8549220974_6bcdc75d01_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/red_gloww/8548021523/" title="MAD commander and army by Ben Lepley +_+, on Flickr"><img alt="MAD commander and army" height="291" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8379/8548021523_bc72454c83_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:<br /><blockquote>:: Join and add photos to the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/archi-dose/">archidose pool</a>, and/or<br />:: Tag your photos <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/archidose/">archidose</a></span></blockquote>

Today's archidose #658

Here are some photos of the Harbin Cultural Island under construction in Harbin, China, by MAD Architects, photographed by "Ben Lepley +_+".To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just::: Join and add photos to the archidose pool, and/or:…

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Proposed Brain Activity Map Seeks to Crack Neuronal Code - AlzForum Alzheimer Research News

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; ">Despite decades of research, scientists still do not understand how neuronal firing encodes thought and behavior. To decipher this, a group of scientists proposes an ambitious project to map the activity of every neuron in the brain, and correlate the data with behavior and disease states. The White House has embraced the idea, with President Obama mentioning the plan in his 2013 State of the Union speech (see </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/science/project-seeks-to-build-map-of-human-brain.html?_r=0" target="_new" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">New York Times story</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; ">). The project is expected to appear in the president's forthcoming federal budget proposal. Proponents suggest that this Brain Activity Map (BAM) Project, like the Human Genome Project, represents an investment in future technology and basic research that will pay tremendous dividends later. The findings may eventually lead to better treatments for conditions such as Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and schizophrenia, and perhaps even Alzheimer's disease, said Rafael Yuste at Columbia University in New York City, who helped develop the proposal. BAM plans to start with animal models while developing non-invasive technology to eventually study human brains. Human studies will only come much later, despite the emphasis in popular press reports on human brain mapping.</span><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"This is a thoughtful and provocative set of ideas that will accelerate our efforts to decipher the fantastic complexities of brains," David Van Essen at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, told Alzforum. He is not involved with the BAM proposal. However, he co-leads the <a href="http://www.humanconnectome.org/" target="_new" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">Human Connectome Project</a>, another large brain mapping initiative. This ongoing study maps the structural wiring of the human brain. It also gathers whole-brain activity data using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (see <a href="http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=3298" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">ARF related news story</a>). Van Essen noted that the proposed Brain Activity Map Project will provide an immense number of data that will be complementary to the Human Connectome Project. By measuring the activity of large ensembles of individual neurons in animal models, the BAM Project could help researchers develop computational models of how brain circuits operate. "That would give us a much better basis for interpreting and making sense of the vast numbers of fMRI data being obtained on whole-brain activity in humans," Van Essen said.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">With the federal budget still in limbo, it is unclear how much funding the BAM Project will receive. Story Landis, who directs the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), said that the project is still in the planning stages. At the moment, Landis and Thomas Insel, who directs the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), manage the effort. Strategy meetings are ongoing. One possibility is that the project will be funded under the National Institute of Health's <a href="http://www.neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov/" target="_new" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">Blueprint for Neuroscience Research</a>, which tackles large projects beyond the scope of a single institution, Landis said. Scientists involved in the project claimed that private foundations will also commit funds to the project, although no public announcements have been made. At the request of the White House, scientists stayed mum on funding details, such as how much money the project might need. For comparison, government spending on the Human Genome Project amounted to almost $4 billion over 13 years, while the<a href="http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/napa/" target="_new" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">National Alzheimer's Project Act</a> has been granted about $130 million so far (see <a href="http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/02/20120207a.html" target="_new" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">government press release</a>).</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The BAM proposal gestated at workshops supported by the Kavli Foundation, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, and the Allen Institute for Brain Science. Six of the scientists involved published their thoughts in a June 2012 Neuron paper (see <a href="http://www.alzforum.org/pap/annotation.asp?powID=143649" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">Alivisatos et al., 2012</a>). They pointed to a need for data to bridge the gap between traditional electrophysiology, which samples from only a handful of neurons at a time, and whole-brain imaging methods like fMRI, which lack fine resolution. The solution is to record from thousands or millions of neurons at once to reveal the detailed behavior of entire circuits, the authors suggest. They plan to start with simple organisms such as <i>C. elegans</i> or <i>Drosophila</i>, which have manageable numbers of neurons. Initial circuit mapping could use the well-established technique of calcium imaging, since calcium currents reflect neuronal activation. Ultimately, however, the researchers will need to record voltage, said senior author Yuste. "We don't yet have a good voltage indicator. Some of the most promising leads for future development come from nanotechnology."</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The project may draw upon advances and new technology generated by the<a href="http://www.nano.gov/" target="_new" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">National Nanotechnology Initiative</a>. For example, some inorganic nanoparticles are sensitive to the surrounding electrical field and can emit light in response to excitation, making them promising voltage indicators. Even more useful would be nanoprobes, small silicon arrays stuffed with electrodes. Nanoprobes with dozens of electrodes are already available, and the devices could potentially hold thousands, allowing massive parallel recording from neurons in a circuit, the authors note.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">These methods would be too invasive to use in people. The researchers plan to develop non-invasive methods for human studies. These might include optical imaging of electrical and chemical activity, or using engineered DNA molecules to store action potential spike data, Yuste said. In this latter approach, synthetic cells would contain the DNA and serve as local reporters of brain activity. Because the error rates of DNA polymerases depend on cation concentration, patterns of errors would correspond to spike frequencies. This method would take advantage of the vast information storage capacity of DNA. Yuste noted that these approaches are still speculative.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Despite the technical hurdles, commentators agreed that the proposal is likely to further knowledge of the brain's workings. "Many of the methods are likely to yield fruit, especially if there is a substantial investment in new technology," Van Essen said.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In fact, the initiative may well spur major advances in neuroscience techniques. "MRI methodology has improved tremendously in the last decade, but there has not yet been the same kind of revolution in the way that we record activity in neural circuits," Landis pointed out. This effort may provide those tools, she suggested. Marcus Raichle, also at WashU, said, "This represents a big-time investment in technology development. You can imagine that a lot of interesting things will come out of it that may or may not be relevant to our understanding of the human brain."</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The authors of the Neuron paper draw a parallel to the Human Genome Project, which launched a revolution in sequencing methods that dramatically dropped the price of sequencing and stimulated the genomics industry. An <a href="http://www.genome.gov/27544383" target="_new" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">analysis</a> by the research firm <a href="http://www.tpp-online.org/" target="_new" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">Battelle Technology Partnership Practice</a>, which helps forge public-private partnerships, estimated that every dollar invested in the Genome Project returned $141 to the economy. This includes job creation and tax revenue from genomics companies. Moreover, the scientific impact continues to grow, the report notes. The BAM Project has the potential to do the same thing, supporters suggest. The Human Genome Project has not translated into a treatment for AD, though it has helped researchers pinpoint genetic variants that increase risk for the disease.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Researchers involved in the BAM Project believe that the work may one day lead to a number of therapeutic applications. "The deepest motivation to do this is a clinical one," Yuste told Alzforum. For example, eventually he hopes to be able to compare brain activity in people with schizophrenia to that in healthy controls to find abnormal patterns of activity. "If we can do that, we may be able to devise strategies to alter those abnormal patterns and re-channel the activity," he said. The findings might help treat other circuit disorders like epilepsy or even autism, he suggested. Landis sees additional therapeutic possibilities. Currently, deep-brain stimulation (DBS), which involves placing electrodes in specific regions of the brain, alleviates symptoms in people with Parkinson's disease, depression, and is showing promise in other diseases (see <a href="http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=2448" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">ARF series</a>). With a better understanding of how the circuits work, "We would be able to make much more sophisticated changes," Landis said. Such knowledge would also allow researchers to develop better brain-machine interfaces for controlling prosthetic devices, already a subject of intense investigation (see <a href="http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=2173" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">ARF related news story</a>; <a href="http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=3151" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">ARF news story</a>).</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Direct applications for Alzheimer's disease are less clear, since the disease is neurodegenerative rather than one of faulty wiring. However, brain connections also falter in AD (see <a href="http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=985" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">ARF related news story</a>; <a href="http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=1684" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">ARF news story</a>; and <a href="http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=3208" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">ARF news story</a>), and DBS can stimulate memory in patients (see <a href="http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=2528" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">ARF related news story</a>; <a href="http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=3149" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); ">ARF news story</a>). Yuste sees another possibility. Nanoprobes could be modified to serve as chemical sensors, detecting molecules such as β amyloid or tau. This technology could allow researchers to study the distribution and concentration of these molecules in real time in animal models of AD, Yuste suggested. In this way, nanotechnology being developed for the BAM Project could advance AD research.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; ">Raichle noted, however, that given the length of time before such methods are ready, other therapeutic approaches to AD may well provide answers first. He also stressed that the BAM Project complements, but does not replace, other methods of studying the brain. "There are very important metabolic processes that don't necessarily track with the firing of an action potential," he said. One example is brain glucose use and metabolism, which can be visualized with FDG-PET.</p></div><a href="http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=3414">http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=3414</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Proposed Brain Activity Map Seeks to Crack Neuronal Code - AlzForum Alzheimer Research News

Despite decades of research, scientists still do not understand how neuronal firing encodes thought and behavior. To decipher this, a group of scientists proposes an ambitious project to map the activity of every neuron in the brain, and correlate th…

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Kobe Bryant, Dahntay Jones defends his play

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/atl/atlanta-hawks" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Atlanta Hawks</a> swingman <a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2008/dahntay-jones" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dahntay Jones</a> outspokenly defended himself against criticism from <a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/110/kobe-bryant" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Kobe Bryant</a>, claiming that he did not intentionally attempt to injure the <a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/lal/los-angeles-lakers" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Los Angeles Lakers</a> superstar in the final seconds of Wednesday night's game.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bryant suffered a severely sprained left ankle when he landed awkwardly after taking a potential game-tying jump shot with 3.9 seconds remaining. He appeared to land on the foot of Jones, who was defending him closely on the play, and rolled the ankle before crumpling to the floor in pain.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="mod-inline image image-right" style="background-color: white; border-left-color: rgb(194, 194, 194); border-left-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 1px; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px;"><a class="enlarge" credit="Courtesy of Kobe Bryant" href="http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2013/0314/nba_r_kobe-ankle_mb_600.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[+] Enlarge<img alt="Kobe Bryant" border="0" height="300" src="http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2013/0314/nba_r_kobe-ankle_mb_300.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 4px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="300" /></a><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px;"><cite style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #ababab; display: block; font-size: 10px !important; margin: 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Courtesy of Kobe Bryant</cite>Kobe Bryant tweeted this photo of his ankle, claiming it is "still very swollen."</div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Following the Lakers' 96-92 loss, Bryant said referees need to do a better job protecting shooters from defenders who go underneath them while shooting.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"As defensive players, you can contest shots, but you can't walk underneath players," Bryant said. "That's dangerous for the shooter."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bryant later tweeted: "#dangerousplay that should have been called. Period."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jones reacted to Bryant's barbs Thursday during an interview with "SportsCenter," saying that he was simply defending the shot and trying to help the struggling Hawks pick up a much-needed win.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I didn't try to intentionally come up under him," Jones said. "I was trying to play as hard as I could, to compete at a high level, to try to to help my team win and try to contest the jump shot.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I didn't want to give up on the play. I take pride in how hard I compete and not give up on plays, and that's all I was trying to do. It would be very hard for me in a nine-second span to be able to play defense and gauge where I could get my foot up under his as I'm looking at the ball and trying to contest the jump shot."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><blockquote class="mod-quote-box quote-box-left mod-inline" style="background-color: white; border-right-color: rgb(194, 194, 194); border-right-style: solid; border-width: 0px 1px 0px 0px; float: left; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: 261.8833312988281px;"><span class="quote-start" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #aaaaaa; float: left; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 60px; font-weight: bold; height: 20px; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 8px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px 10px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Jones" class="floatright" height="90" src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/2008.png&w=65&h=90&scale=crop&background=0xcccccc&transparent=false" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: right !important; margin: 0px 0px 4px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="65" />It would be very hard for me in a nine-second span to be able to play defense and gauge where I could get my foot up under his as I'm looking at the ball and trying to contest the jump shot.</div><span class="quote-end" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #aaaaaa; float: right; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 60px; font-weight: bold; height: 20px; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">”</span><cite style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; clear: right; color: #333333; display: block; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 10px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">-- Dahntay Jones in response to criticism from Kobe Bryant</cite></blockquote><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Regardless of whether Jones made a dirty play, the NBA acknowledged in a statement Thursday that officials should have called a foul on the play.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"After review at the league office, video replay confirmed that referees missed a foul call on Jones as he challenged Bryant's shot and did not give him the opportunity to land cleanly back on the floor," the league statement said. "Bryant should have been granted two free throws."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bryant would not speculate whether he would play Friday against the Pacers. He left Philips Arena on Wednesday walking with a limp but without the aid of crutches.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A team source told ESPNLosAngeles.com's Ramona Shelburne that Bryant's chances of playing against Indiana are "not good."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Losing Bryant, the NBA's second-leading scorer, for an extended period would be costly for the Lakers (34-32), who own a half-game lead over the <a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/utah/utah-jazz" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Utah Jazz</a> for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bryant's frustration over the play and his injury was palpable Thursday when he tweeted, "17yrs. Countless fades. This has happened TWICE. Jalen and Now Ankle still very swollen. Treatment all day."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bryant's Jalen reference goes all the way back to Game 2 of the 2000 NBA Finals when he played just seven minutes after landing on then-<a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/ind/indiana-pacers" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Indiana Pacers</a> guard and current ESPN NBA analyst <a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/738/jalen-rose" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jalen Rose</a>'s foot.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"He Jalen Rose'd me," Bryant said of Jones on Wednesday night.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rose has admitted trying to slide under Bryant in that game.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jones said that he's not even certain Bryant landed on his foot, asserting instead that the 15-time All-Star appeared to roll his ankle on the floor.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Right after the game, I went to go check the videos because I felt bad because I heard what everybody was saying," Jones said. "I wanted to make sure that he didn't come down on my foot.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"One take looks like it could have been the back of my foot, another take looks like it was the floor. But I didn't feel anything come down on me."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; 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; float: right !important; font-family: verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; 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;">Down The Stretch They Come</h4><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="floatright" src="http://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/nba/med/trans/lal.gif" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: right !important; margin: 0px 0px 4px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />The Lakers are in the thick of the playoff race, but will be hard-pressed to reach the postseason without Kobe Bryant. Among the three teams that are fighting for the 7th and 8th spots in the Western Conference playoff picture, the schedules are quite similar.</div><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;"><center style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Remaining Schedules This Season</center></h4><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;"></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;">Rockets</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;">Lakers</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;">Jazz</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;">Home-Road</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;">11-6</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;">8-8</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;">10-7</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;">Over .500</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;">9</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;">8</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;">9</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;">Under .500</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;">8</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;">8</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;">8</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;">Win pct**</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;">.501</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;">.496</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;">.531</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="4" 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;">** Avg win pct of remaining opponents<br /><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; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bryant has a history with Jones, who was called for a flagrant foul for tripping Bryant in Game 4 of the 2009 Western Conference finals when he played for the <a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/den/denver-nuggets" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Denver Nuggets</a>.</div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Jones acknowledged tripping Bryant in that game, claiming that it was a retaliatory play as a result of a physical series.</span><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"The trip came as a result of me losing my cool," Jones said. "I had been guarding him that whole series, and tempers had gotten flared and I had received a couple elbows to the face and to the throat that I felt like I wasn't getting my fair share of calls. On the last elbow, I just kind of lost it a little bit. I lost my cool and I retaliated with a play that I thought I was getting back.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I got a fine and I got a flagrant 1 called on me, and it was well deserved. I knew I was wrong, I wish I could have taken it back but I couldn't and I moved on from it."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The recent play has been the talk of the league.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"It's not a clean play. It's a dirty play," said<a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/gs/golden-state-warriors" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #225fb2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Golden State Warriors</a> coach Mark Jackson, who was a teammate of Rose, on ESPN Radio's "The Herd" on Thursday. "I'm not sure if Dahntay Jones did it intentionally. But he certainly did go under Kobe and didn't allow him room to land, which is rule No. 1.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"So it's a tough play and hopefully Kobe will be back sooner and won't have to miss much time."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; 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 floatleft mod-no-header-footer " style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; float: left !important; font-family: verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; 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;">Who You Gonna Call?</h4><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="floatright" src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/110.png&w=65&h=90&scale=crop&background=0xcccccc&transparent=false" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: right !important; margin: 0px 0px 4px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />If Kobe Bryant misses time and the Lakers find themselves in a tight game, who will they turn to? Bryant has taken 52 percent of the Lakers' field goal attempts in clutch time, which occurs in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime when the score is within five points either way.</div><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;"><center style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lakers' Highest Usage Percentage In Clutch Time This Season</center></h4><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;">Player</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;">Clutch Time 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;">Kobe Bryant</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;">49.0</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;">Pau Gasol</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;">18.1</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;">Antawn Jamison</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;">14.6</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;">Metta World Peace</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;">13.7</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;">Steve Nash</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;">13.3</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;">Jodie Meeks</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;">11.6</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;">Earl Clark</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;">11.4</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;">Dwight Howard</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;">11.1</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="2" 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; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hawks coach Larry Drew completely disagreed with Jackson's assessment of the play.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I would not call that a dirty play," Drew said during an interview with ESPN Radio's "Coach and Company" on Thursday. "It's just a play that unfortunately Kobe comes down on Dahntay's foot. Officials have to make what they feel is the right call in that particular case, and obviously they didn't feel that a foul was committed.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"But I totally disagree with Mark Jackson, and anyone who would call that a dirty play. We're not out to hurt anybody."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A reporter asked Bryant after Wednesday's game if he felt like Jones deliberately tried to injure him.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I don't ever want to put that on somebody, I really don't," Bryant said. "I just think players need to be made conscious of it and I think officials need to protect shooters. Period."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; 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; float: right !important; font-family: verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; 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;">Mike and Mike in the Morning</h4><div class="podcast-player" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: left; margin: 6px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; 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></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic share their thoughts on the injuries to Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony. Did Bryant get hurt due to a dangerous play by Dahntay Jones?</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;"><a href="http://espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: rgb(96, 143, 214) !important; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">More Podcasts »</a></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jones maintained, however, that he was playing tough defense and that he didn't want to give Bryant a clean look at the basket.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"My job as a defender is to get as close as possible so they have to see you," Jones said. "When he fades away, I'm not supposed to just give up and let him hit the shot that he wants. So I just tried to get closer and not give up on the play and let him know that I was still there.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Coming up under him -- there's a fine line between that. I didn't maliciously try to come up under his foot. I think his leg kicked out and it made contact with me and it made him land awkwardly."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Deliberate or not, Bryant was upset that Wednesday likely was the Lakers' final game against the Hawks this season.</div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">"I can't get my mind past the fact that I got to wait a year to get revenge," he said.</span><i style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Information from ESPNLosAngeles.com's Ramona Shelburne and Dave McMenamin and The Associated Press was used in this report.</i><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?&playerBrandingId=4ef8000cbaf34c1687a7d9a26fe0e89e&pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:9055499&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true"></script></div>

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bryant, Dahntay Jones defends his play

Atlanta Hawks swingman Dahntay Jones outspokenly defended himself against criticism from Kobe Bryant, claiming that he did not intentionally attempt to injure the Los Angeles Lakers superstar in the final seconds of Wednesday night's game.Bryant suff…

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More Problems Aboard Carnival Cruise Ships

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="The Carnival Dream docked in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, in December 2010." height="476" src="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/03/15/ap100105029316-d03bd2de32f32f7d88a916a688fe1033499409dc-s40.jpg" width="640" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 1.5;">For the past month, management at Carnival Cruise Lines has been in a nearly constant state of damage control.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; line-height: 1.5;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><br /><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 15.6pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 80.25pt; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For the past month, management at Carnival Cruise Lines has been in a nearly constant state of damage control.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 15.6pt 0cm; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the past week alone, three of the cruise line's giant floating playgrounds have experienced embarrassing malfunctions that have at least inconvenienced, if not angered, many passengers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 15.6pt 0cm; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's the latest status report: On Saturday, Carnival Elation had to be escorted by tug because of a problem in its steering system. Since Wednesday, Carnival Dream has experienced power interruptions at the island of St. Maarten, stranding more than 4,000 passengers. And now, Carnival Legend is limping home to Tampa at reduced speed because of an issue with one of its propulsion units.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 0.0001pt 0cm; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All this, of course, follows by barely a month the so-called "<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/02/13/171905480/carnival-apologizes-for-triumph-conditions-cancels-14-upcoming-cruises" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4774cc; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">cruise from hell" aboard the Carnival Triumph</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>after an engine room fire left the vessel adrift in the Gulf of Mexico with 4,200 passengers aboard.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 15.6pt 0cm; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Christopher Muller of Boston University's School of Hospitality tells CNN that the latest wave of issues at Carnival appear to be a management problem.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 15.6pt 0cm; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"They are doing something wrong with preventative maintenance," he says. "Carnival has so many working ships that to say the fleet is in distress is maybe a little bit broad, but clearly something is not right."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 15.6pt 0cm; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Carnival has blamed the problems aboard the Carnival Dream, docked in St. Maarten, on a malfunction that occurred in the ship's emergency diesel generator during a routine safety test.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 0.0001pt 0cm; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"At no time did the ship lose power, and the ship's propulsion systems and primary power sources were not impacted,"<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.carnival.com/Core/FAQ.aspx?faq=update#q-1370045" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4774cc; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Carnival said on its website.</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>"However, for a period of time last night, there were interruptions to the elevators and restroom services. Toilets and elevators are currently working, and have been since about 12:30 a.m."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 0.0001pt 0cm; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On Friday, the cruise company announced that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/morning_call/2013/03/carnival-dream-passengers-flying-to.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4774cc; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">12 commercial planes would take the Carnival Dream's 4,363 passengers back to Orlando</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>— the closest major airport.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Carnival Legend's problems, though at sea not in port, appear to be more in the way of an inconvenience. One of the</span></span><br /><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111;"></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 0.0001pt 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ship's two<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.abb.com/cawp/db0003db002698/b4c6f2757969bba6c12571f100410217.aspx" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4774cc; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Azipods</span></a>, a directional propulsion unit, was experiencing an unspecified<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Carnival-Legend-experiencing-technical-issue/-/1637132/19325528/-/b2ju0sz/-/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4774cc; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">"technical issue"</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>that has forced the ship to reduce its speed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 0.0001pt 0cm; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even before the latest problems,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/02/15/172108211/as-cruise-industry-grows-so-have-its-problems" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4774cc; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">questions have been raised</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>about the cruise industry in general and specifically Carnival, the largest line in the industry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 0.0001pt 0cm; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span lang="EN-US" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;">Update at 11 a.m. ET: Carnival Lowers Earnings Forecast:</span></strong><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 0.0001pt 0cm; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Carnival's share price is down 2.3 percent and the company says it expects net revenue yields to be flat this year, versus an earlier forecast that they would rise 1 percent to 2 percent,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/15/carnival-results-idUSL1N0C73CD20130315" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #4774cc; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Reuters reports.</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; margin: 0cm 80.25pt 15.6pt 0cm; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The cruise line cites weakness in Europe and pricing promotions. But as the news agency notes: "Carnival, which operates lines including Holland America, Costa and its namesake line, is grappling with a series of recent headline-grabbing mishaps involving its ships that have dented demand for its vacations."</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.6rem;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; float: none; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: 107px; max-width: 690px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; width: 690px;"><br /></div></div>

Carnival Cruise More Problems Aboard Carnival Cruise Ships

For the past month, management at Carnival Cruise Lines has been in a nearly constant state of damage control.For the past month, management at Carnival Cruise Lines has been in a nearly constant state of damage control.In the past week alone, three …

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The Ides of March All-Stars

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="Julio Franco" src="http://simlb.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/julio-franco-ap2.jpg?w=610&h=470" /><br /><span style="background-color: #c52e1b; color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">Julio Cesar Franco gave pitchers plenty of reasons to be wary during his professional career that spanned three decades. (AP)</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;">For some arcane reason — maybe to prove that I read Shakespeare in high school like everyone else — “Beware the Ides of March” is a phrase I wait all year long to drop on friends. After all, it’s worth paying mind to the calendar to check if you’re about to fall victim to a political assassination, as Roman emperor Julius Caesar did in 44 BCE. Generally, it’s not the case, but I have to wonder if ballplayers named Julius or Caesar — or their Latin equivalents, Julio and Cesar — feel a bit of added concern.</span><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And with that standing as perhaps the worst lede in Hit and Run history, we turn to Baseball-Reference.com. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?sourceid=Mozilla-search&search=julius" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In the annals of major league history</a>, there have been just nine major league ballplayers with the given name of Julius, only two of whom used it as their first name during their careers: Julius Willgrod, who played 10 games in the National League way back in 1882, and Julius Matos, a futility infielder who hit .244/.278/.310 in 104 games for the Padres and Royals in 2002-2003. By the time they reached the majors, others had opted for derivatives such as Jule (Mallonee, a White Sox outfielder in 1925), Julie (Freeman, another 1880s player), and June (Greene, a pitcher/pinch-hitter from 1928-1929).</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Some took an even more novel approach. Icicle Reeder had one of the coolest nicknames around, though perhaps his name referred to his 4-for-26 showing in his six-game career in the 1880s. Moose Solters stuck around the AL for nine seasons (1934-1941, 1943) as a decent outfielder who drove in 100 or more runs four times. Julius Henry Fournier, a pitcher for the Reds in 1894, and Julius Neal Watlington, briefly a Philadelphia A’s catcher in 1947, used their middle names rather than their first ones. <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Et tu, Watlington?</em></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span id="more-4736" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Several other players have had Julius as a middle name, including current Diamondbacks shortstop Didi Gregorius, a native of the Netherlands whose real name is Mariekson Julius Gregorius. The most famous of these is perhaps the ultimate Ides of March player: Cal McLish. A pitcher who spent 15 years in the big leagues between 1944 and 1964, with time out for the military and the open-classification Pacific Coast League, McLish’s short first name is a comical contrast to the mouthful that is his given full name: Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish. A few months ago, blogger<a href="http://valueoverreplacementgrit.com/2012/12/27/the-most-memorable-names-project-cal-mclish/" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Diane Firstman</a> pieced together the story behind that name:</div><blockquote style="background-color: white; border-left-color: rgb(30, 77, 121); border-left-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 2px; color: #1e4d79; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; margin: 30px 0px 30px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; quotes: ''; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He has stated that the origin of his lengthy name is that his father was given permission to name the newborn, and he took full advantage of the opportunity. <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/30/local/la-me-cal-mclish-20100830" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">McLish said</a>. “There were eight kids in the family, and I was No. 7 and my dad didn’t get to name one of them before me. So he evidently tried to catch up.” His father was three-quarters Choctaw Indian. McLish once related, “I don’t know why he named me Calvin Coolidge. He never voted Republican in his life, in fact, he was a Democrat. Just like the name, I guess. And I suppose that’s why he slipped Julius Caesar in there, too.”  <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tuskahoma</em> means “<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=MfcAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA155&dq=%22red+warrior%22+choctaw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=k5LcUKTxLYfp0QGq_4C4BA&ved=0CF4Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22red%20warrior%22%20choctaw&f=false" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">red warrior</a>” in the Choctaw language and is a<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskahoma" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> community in Oklahoma</a>.</div></blockquote><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Of course, there has been no shortage of players named Julio — <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?search=julio" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">too many to list</a>, in fact. Among active ones, the Rangers’ Julio Borbon, the Astros’ J.D. (Julio Daniel) Martinez and the Braves’ Julio Teheran are carrying on the tradition. The best of them in baseball history is clearly <a href="http://mlb.si.com/2012/12/12/jaws-and-the-2013-hall-of-fame-ballot-part-iv-more-stray-hitters/" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Julio Franco</a> — Julio Cesar Franco, at that. A three-time All-Star who played for eight different major league teams, Franco spent an astounding 31 years in professional baseball, from his signing out of the Dominican Republic by the Phillies in 1978 to his retirement from the Mexican League in 2008, when he was 49 years old. He made stops in Japan and Korea along the way, racked up well over 3,000 total hits (2,586 at the major league level, data is incomplete for his years abroad), and is still the oldest major leaguer to hit a home run.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Also deserving of mention among the Julius-derived first names are the Julians. The only one of the four to earn All-Star honors is Julian Javier, the starting second baseman for three Cardinals pennant winners and two champions from 1960-1972. The most recent is pitcher Julian Tavarez, who pitched from 1993-2009 and was <a href="http://thegoldensombrero.com/archives/1190" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">often mistaken for Freddy Krueger</a> from <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nightmare on Elm Street</em> movies. Julian Valentine Wera, a third baseman for the Yankees in the late 1920s, went by Julie, while Julian Jawonn Redman was better known as Tike during his eight-year career (2000-2007) as an outfielder.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There haven’t been any players with the first name of Caesar, though McLish isn’t the only one with that as a middle name; knuckleballer Tom Candiotti, who spent 16 years in the majors between 1983 and 1999 and compiled a 151-164 record, was born Thomas Caesar Candiotti. A dozen different players named Cesar have reached the majors, including All-Stars Cesar Cedeno and Cesar Izturis. Cedeno spent 17 years in the majors, the first 12 of which came with the Astros from 1970-1981; he reached the majors at 19 and was a four-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner by the end of his age 25 season, but injuries and <a href="http://www.generalissimo.com/chinmusic/inside/cedeno.html" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">off-field troubles</a> derailed his route to Cooperstown. Izturis, who has been knocking around the majors since 2001 is currently in the Reds camp; they would be his ninth major league team.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Among retired Cesars, the most prominent ones besides Cedeno are Cesar Geronimo and Cesar Tovar. Geronimo was a four-time Gold Glove winner in a career that ran from 1969 through 1983. He was briefly Cedeno’s teammate in Houston, though my attempts to determine whether those ‘Stros produced the first “double Cesar” lineup have been met with blank stares. He gained more prominence when he was traded to Cincinnati and became the centerfielder on the Big Red Machine that won three pennants and two World Series from 1972-1976. Tovar was an infielder with five teams from 1965-1974 who holds a couple of interesting distinctions. In 1968, while playing for the Twins, he became <a href="http://www.startribune.com/sports/96934744.html?refer=y" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">the second player ever</a> to appear at all nine positions in a single game; he even struck out Reggie Jackson with a screwball. He’s also in a three-way tie with Eddie Milner and Hall of Famer Billy Williams for <a href="http://milkeespress.com/lostninth.html" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">breaking up the most-no-hitters</a>, with five — meaning that five times, he collected his team’s only hit of the game. Two of those came in the ninth inning, both against the Orioles (Dave McNally and Mike Cuellar) in 1969. Also worth mention in terms of distinctive footnotes in the record book is Cesar Gutierrez, who went 7-for-7 for the Tigers on June 21, 1970, setting an AL record (and tying the major league record) for hits in a game.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Among the other active Cesars are Cesar Ramos, a lefty reliever for the Rays, and Cesar Carillo, briefly a pitcher for the Padres in 2009 and now a Tigers farmhand; the latter has been linked to the Biogenesis scandal*. Eric Chavez is among the many major leaguers with Cesar as his middle name; in his case, it’s in honor of Mexican-American labor leader Cesar Chavez. Seven other players stand with Franco as Julio Cesars: DePaula (a Twins pitcher in 2007), Gonzalez (an infielder from 1977-1983), Lugo (an infielder for seven teams from 2000-2011), Mateo (a Mariners reliever from 2002-2007), Peguero (a Phillies outfieder in 1992), Ramirez (an outfielder for four teams from 1999-2005) and Solano (a reliever for the Astros and Mariners from 1983-1989).</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">*<strong style="border: 0px; color: #221f20; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Update:</strong> No sooner had this entry been published than <a href="http://twitter.com/JeffPassan/statuses/312670659715166209" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MLB handed down a 100-game suspension</a> to Carillo for a non-analytic positive, something it can do unilaterally because he’s currently a minor leaguer. ”Beware…” indeed.</em></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On another note, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/friv/birthdays.cgi?month=3&day=15" style="border: 0px; color: #ec2c21; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">43 current or former major leaguers</a> have been born on the Ides of March, including Harold Baines, Bobby Bonds, Mickey Hatcher and Kevin Youkilis. Sadly, not a Julius, Caesar, or Julio Cesar in the bunch. There haven’t been any Brutuses at the major league level, either.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Even skipping the birthday boys, we can still put together a complete starting lineup:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; color: #221f20; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">C:</strong> Julius Neal Watlington<br style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px;" /><strong style="border: 0px; color: #221f20; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1B:</strong> Cesar Cedeno<br style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px;" /><strong style="border: 0px; color: #221f20; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2B:</strong> Julian Javier<br style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px;" /><strong style="border: 0px; color: #221f20; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3B:</strong> Cesar Tovar<br style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px;" /><strong style="border: 0px; color: #221f20; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SS:</strong> Julio Franco<br style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px;" /><strong style="border: 0px; color: #221f20; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">LF:</strong> Julio Borbon<br style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px;" /><strong style="border: 0px; color: #221f20; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">CF:</strong> Cesar Geronimo<br style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px;" /><strong style="border: 0px; color: #221f20; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">RF:</strong> Julius “Moose” Solters<br style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px;" /><strong style="border: 0px; color: #221f20; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SP:</strong> Tom Caesar Candiotti<br style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px;" /><strong style="border: 0px; color: #221f20; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">RP:</strong> Calvin Coolidge Julius Casear Tuskahoma McLish</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If not exactly a true All-Star caliber team, I have to think that lineup could at least hold its own in the World Baseball Classic, a team that could cause opponents to say — wait for it — “Beware the Ides of March!”</div><div class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled" id="jp-post-flair" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"><div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; border: 0px; clear: both; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.129412); border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 648px; zoom: 1;"></div></div></div></div>

Ides of March The Ides of March All-Stars

Julio Cesar Franco gave pitchers plenty of reasons to be wary during his professional career that spanned three decades. (AP)For some arcane reason — maybe to prove that I read Shakespeare in high school like everyone else — “Beware the Ides of March…

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