Maker of maple bats on board with MLB ban

updated 7:24 p.m. ET Nov. 23, 2011

TORONTO - The president of a Canadian bat company is embracing a Major League Baseball ban on the use of low-density maple bats by new players.

The change was included in the agreement between players and owners that was announced Tuesday, a deal that still needs formal ratification. Arlene Anderson, the president of the Ottawa-based Original Maple Bat Corporation, predicts the ban will have little affect on manufacturers.

"It's actually something that we welcome," she told The Canadian Press in a phone interview Wednesday. "We don't want breakage on the field, it's not good for anyone. Certainly in terms of young hitters, they will get used to the other products and many of the older players have used heavier weights to their advantage. So this will have a minimal impact on us."

Ash bats were a traditional favorite but the harder maple bats have soared in popularity over the last 15 years.

Maple bats tend to break more easily, and when they do they often send large shards of wood flying. Low-density models ? essentially the lighter bats ? tend to shatter more often, putting pitchers, infielders, base coaches, umpires and fans in harm's way.

Anderson's company, which makes the popular Sam Bat, said she has seen a shift toward longer, well-balanced bats instead of low-density models.

"Basically what we're talking about is the weight of the wood, the volume of the wood that is used for a particular model," she said. "Certain players love to have what they call a big-barrel bat, lots of meat on the barrel, but then very lightweight wood.

"So the problem, of course, is when you create a larger barrel and you still want to have the bat very light, the wood density has to give," Anderson said. "This is something though that most manufacturers will recognize as not being the strongest product."

Anderson said her company has been reporting wood density information to MLB on a regular basis. She said they serve about 100 major leaguers, including NL MVP Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, who uses a longer, higher-density KB1 bat.

The ban would only apply to new major leaguers. Other players would be grandfathered and could continue using low-density bats if desired.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Arbitration on the table

??Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder and Jose Reyes were offered salary arbitration Wednesday, guaranteeing their teams two extra draft picks next year if they sign with new clubs.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45422978/ns/sports-baseball/

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Nokia Music joins the auto-playlist club, brings Pandora-like song-finding to Lumia 800

Smartphone owners have a lot of options for streaming music these days, and if a new challenger doesn't get off to a good start, it could easily get left in the dust. How is Nokia planning to keep up with the likes of Spotify and Pandora on its upcoming Windows Phone? By conscripting Echo Nest, the folks behind iHeartRadio and Spotify's own song-finding features, to pull the playlist picking strings behind Nokia Music's Mix Radio. Using a lightweight browser app, Mix Radio assesses your appetite for beats with a "taste profile" derived from your music library, and uses the data to generate personalized radio stations. The outfit is calling it the "most personalized global music service the world has ever seen." Nokia Music also offers 100 professionally programmed streaming stations and roughly 15 hours of downloadable programming. Echo Nest told us we'd hear more from Nokia itself soon, but if you just can't wait, hit the break for the song-picking puppet master's own press release.

Continue reading Nokia Music joins the auto-playlist club, brings Pandora-like song-finding to Lumia 800

Nokia Music joins the auto-playlist club, brings Pandora-like song-finding to Lumia 800 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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USDA: 'Locally grown' food a $4.8 billion business

Carolyn Anderson, right, looks over some peppers with vendor John Goode as she shops for items at The City Market Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, in Kansas City, Mo. A new U.S. Department of Agriculture report says sales of ?local foods,? whether sold direct to consumers at farmers markets or through intermediaries such as grocers or restaurants, amounted to $4.8 billion in 2008. That?s a number several times greater than earlier estimates, and the department predicts locally grown foods will generate $7 billion in sales this year. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Carolyn Anderson, right, looks over some peppers with vendor John Goode as she shops for items at The City Market Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, in Kansas City, Mo. A new U.S. Department of Agriculture report says sales of ?local foods,? whether sold direct to consumers at farmers markets or through intermediaries such as grocers or restaurants, amounted to $4.8 billion in 2008. That?s a number several times greater than earlier estimates, and the department predicts locally grown foods will generate $7 billion in sales this year. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Carolyn Anderson, right, talks to vendor Brian Ray as she shops at The City Market Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, in Kansas City, Mo. A new U.S. Department of Agriculture report says sales of ?local foods,? whether sold direct to consumers at farmers markets or through intermediaries such as grocers or restaurants, amounted to $4.8 billion in 2008. That?s a number several times greater than earlier estimates, and the department predicts locally grown foods will generate $7 billion in sales this year. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Carolyn Anderson picks through a variety of peppers as she shops at The City Market Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, in Kansas City, Mo. A new U.S. Department of Agriculture report says sales of ?local foods,? whether sold direct to consumers at farmers markets or through intermediaries such as grocers or restaurants, amounted to $4.8 billion in 2008. That?s a number several times greater than earlier estimates, and the department predicts locally grown foods will generate $7 billion in sales this year. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Carolyn Anderson, left, walks the aisles of The City Market as she shops for items Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, in Kansas City, Mo. Whether it is a quest for fresh or a way to support local growers, consumers are keeping it local when shopping for their food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says marketing of all local foods either directly to consumers at such things as farmer's market or through grocery stores amount to $4.8 billion in 2008. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Carolyn Anderson picks out some ornamental gourds as she shops at The City Market Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, in Kansas City, Mo. A new U.S. Department of Agriculture report says sales of ?local foods,? whether sold direct to consumers at farmers markets or through intermediaries such as grocers or restaurants, amounted to $4.8 billion in 2008. That?s a number several times greater than earlier estimates, and the department predicts locally grown foods will generate $7 billion in sales this year. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

(AP) ? Carolyn Anderson likes to chat up the growers at her local farmers market in Missouri, at times hanging out behind the beds of pickup trucks brimming with ears of corn.

For Anderson, 29, it's all about keeping it "local." And there's fresh evidence of just how big of a deal that word can mean for farmers' finances.

A new U.S. Department of Agriculture report says sales of "local foods," whether sold direct to consumers at farmers markets or through intermediaries such as grocers or restaurants, amounted to $4.8 billion in 2008. That's a number several times greater than earlier estimates, and the department predicts locally grown foods will generate $7 billion in sales this year.

While there's plenty of evidence local food sales have been growing, it has been hard to say by how much because governments, companies, consumers and food markets disagree on what qualifies as local. The USDA report included sales to intermediaries, such as local grocers and restaurants, as well as directly to consumers through farmers markets, roadside stands and the like.

It found that farm sales to people like Anderson have just about doubled in the past two decades, from about $650 million, adjusted for inflation, in the early 1990s to about $1.2 billion these days. The much bigger, $4.8 billion figure came when sales to local restaurants, retailers and regional food distributors were added in.

"Think of it as expanding what the picture looks like," said Stephen Vogel, who helped do the study for the Agriculture Department's Economic Research Service. "What this report does is say, 'Look, this market is bigger than you thought.'"

But the report also puts the local food movement in context. It's dominated by fruit and vegetable growers. While only 5 percent of U.S. farms sell their products in local and regional markets, 40 percent of vegetable, fruit and nut farms do.

Consumers tend to assume that the produce they are buying at these markets are fresher, made with fewer chemicals and grown by smaller, less corporate farms. That may be true in some cases and not in others.

"Local" also doesn't necessarily mean "organic," a label that carries strict requirements for growers and is overseen by the Agriculture Department. But the word still carries plenty of cache with consumers like Anderson, a farmer's granddaughter who sees shopping at the farmers market in Kansas City, Mo., as a ripe opportunity to get to know the growers and what went into the stuff they're selling.

"Especially on a beautiful day, you're chatting with them about their livelihood ? I enjoy that experience as well as the food that comes out of it," she said.

The number of farms selling directly to consumers has grown, from an estimated 86,000 in the early 1990s to about 136,000 now, according to the USDA. And the number of farmers markets has about doubled, from 2,756 in 1998 to 5,274 in 2009.

Paul Gnaedinger has raised everything from organic corn and soybeans to wheat and rye on his organic farm near Pocahontas, Ill. Lately, he's turned to grass-fed beef.

He sells regionally and wasn't surprised in the growth in local food sales, chalking it up to consumers becoming more savvy in their purchases ? and perhaps a bit greener, knowing that shorter shipping distances may lower the carbon footprint and the chances of contamination in transport.

"I don't want to say they're not trusting of other food sources," said Gnaedinger, 53, who also works as a nurse. "They do tell me they don't want to buy something in Colorado one day, then see it shipped to California before it's shipped here.

"There's real demand in the market for people wanting to know where their food is coming from, that it's going through local channels."

On his 1,800 acres near Friesland, Wis., Larry Alsum, 58, grows several varieties of potatoes that he sells mostly to grocers in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. He also handles wholesale distribution for farmers who grow everything from cabbage to sweet corn, squash, cucumbers and peppers.

He says his operation has blossomed into a $50 million business ? roughly double what it was a decade or so ago ? with a focus on locally grown food. Perhaps only one in five consumers actually cares what that means, he said, but it's more than did just a few years ago.

"As the cost of oil and gasoline continue to rise, there are going to me more opportunities for locally grown," he predicted. "And that just gives us a built-in advantage in marketing."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-14-Food%20and%20Farm-Local%20Food/id-4a888965b64b43f78eb9231a563266b7

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Sharp's splashproof Aquos SH-01D arrives at the FCC's door, won't shut up about its 12.1 MP camera

Japan has typically had exclusive access to Sharp's skinny and big-screened smartphone series, but that could soon change. Details of the Aquos SH-01D have now appeared in the FCC's bulging mail box, a phone packing a dual-core 1GHz processor and a glasses-free 3D 4.5-inch screen. Add in water resistance and a whopping 12.1 megapixel camera, and you can see why it's piqued our interest. The phone is already booked to make an appearance in Japanese NTT DoCoMo stores later this month in blue, white and black options. Of course, despite Sharp's application for an FCC nod of approval, the company may have no intentions of selling it on US soil. We'll keep our phone-hungry fingers crossed that it gets okayed for overseas travel.

Sharp's splashproof Aquos SH-01D arrives at the FCC's door, won't shut up about its 12.1 MP camera originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sudan rebels in Darfur, border states sign alliance (Reuters)

KHARTOUM (Reuters) ? Rebels in Sudan's Darfur region and troubled southern border states said Saturday they had formed an alliance to topple the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, raising the prospect of more violence in the volatile areas.

Sudan accused South Sudan, which split away as an independent country in July, of having helped set up the alliance and called it an act of aggression.

Analysts said the new alliance showed closer coordination among various rebel groups left in Sudan after the South seceded under the terms of a 2005 peace agreement.

Sudan's army is fighting separate insurgencies in the western region of Darfur as well as in the southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile bordering South Sudan.

Violence in the joint border region has led to tensions between Khartoum and South Sudan. The United Nations accused Sudan this week of having bombed a refugee camp in South Sudan, a charge denied by Khartoum.

Khartoum and Juba accuse each other of backing rebels in each other's territories.

Darfur's main rebel groups -- the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) -- and the SPLM-N, which fights the army in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, said they had formed a political and military alliance.

The alliance called "Sudanese Revolutionary Front" is focused on "toppling the regime of the (Sudan's ruling) National Congress Party with all possible means" and replace it with a democratic system, the groups said in a joint statement sent to Reuters Saturday.

A joint military committee will be formed to coordinate military action against Khartoum, it said, without elaborating.

"This is a military and political alliance. We will coordinate fighting to end this government which wants no peace," said Ibrahim el-Hilu, a spokesman for one faction of the SLA.

Sudan's security services accused South Sudan of having helped form the alliance by allowing rebels to meet in the new country to prepare their declaration, the state-linked Sudanese Media Center (SMC) said on its website.

"The sponsoring of South Sudan's government of the so-called Sudanese Revolutionary Front is a clear sign of aggression of the southern state against Sudan," SMC quoted a security official as saying.

Analysts say the alliance may mean no immediate military threat to Bashir but dashes hopes of a political resolution to insurgencies in Darfur and southern border regions.

Fighting erupted between SPLM-N rebels and the army in South Kordofan in June and spread to neighboring Blue Nile state in September. Both states are home to populations who sided with the South Sudan during a decades-long civil war with the Khartoum government and now complain of marginalization.

A separate insurgency has raged in Darfur since 2003, again involving rebel groups who say they have been marginalized by the political elite in Khartoum.

Sudan signed a peace accord with a small Darfur rebel group Thursday, but JEM and other larger groups have refused to sign.

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Khalid Abdelaziz)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111112/wl_nm/us_sudan_rebels

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Samsung signs up PowerVR SGX MP GPUs for future devices, keeps its options open

Even though it's already listed on the dance card for ARM's upcoming MALI-T658 mobile GPU, Samsung is also licensing tech from Imagination Technologies. The new agreement will allow it to include Imagination's PowerVR SGX multiprocessor GPU (a.k.a Series 5XT a form of which already resides in the A5 chip used by Apple's iPad 2 and iPhone 4S as well as the PlayStation Vita) in its upcoming devices, but doesn't specify how many cores or what configuration may be used. MobileTechWorld also speculates this could be in preparation for SoCs built to run Windows 8, but until we actually get a peek inside whatever devices are up Samsung's sleeve it's impossible to know for sure.

Samsung signs up PowerVR SGX MP GPUs for future devices, keeps its options open originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/11/samsung-signs-up-powervr-sgx-mp-gpus-for-future-devices-keeps-its/

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Results of the PARTNER Trial Cohort A cost effectiveness analysis reported

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 10-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Judy Romero
jromero@crf.org
Cardiovascular Research Foundation

New analysis measures cost effectiveness of transcatheter aortic valve replacement compared to surgical valve replacement

SAN FRANCISCO, CA NOVEMBER 10, 2011 The cost effectiveness of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVR) compared to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) depends on whether TAVR is performed via the femoral artery or transapically, through a small incision in the chest, according to a new study.

Recently, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVR) has been shown to result in similar 12-month survival as surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis. The potential cost-effectiveness of TAVR versus SAVR in the PARTNER trial was examined and the results were presented today at the 23rd annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium, sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation.

The PARTNER trial randomized patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis and high surgical risk to either TAVR (N=348) or SAVR (N=351) and followed them for a minimum of 12 months. Health state utilities were estimated using the EuroQOL (EQ-5D) at baseline, one, six, and 12 months. Detailed medical resource utilization data were collected on all study patients, and hospital billing data were collected for both index and follow-up hospitalizations for any cause from consenting U.S. patients.

The objectives of the study were to combine cost data with survival and Quality of Life (QoL) data to estimate the12-month cost-effectiveness of TAVR compared with AVR and to explore potential differences in costs and cost-effectiveness of TAVR vs. AVR for the transfemoral vs. transapical populations.

Among high risk aortic stenosis patients eligible for the transfemoral approach, TAVR, compared with surgical AVR:

  • Provided small but significant gains in 12 month quality-adjusted life expectancy (0.06 0.07 Quality Adjusted Life Years, QALYs)
  • Was associated with higher procedural costs but slightly lower index hospitalization and total 12 month costs

However, not all patients qualify medically for the transfemoral approach. Among patients only eligible for the transapical approach:

  • TAVR provided no increase (and possible decrease) in QALYs
  • TAVR increased procedural, index admission, and 12 month costs (by ~$10,000/patient)

"Results of this trial indicate that for patients with severe aortic stenosis and high surgical risk, transcatheter aortic valve replacement is an economically attractive and possibly dominant strategy compared with surgical aortic valve replacement, provided that patients are suitable for the transfemoral approach," said Matthew R. Reynolds, MD. Dr. Reynolds is Director of the Economics and Quality of Life Research Center at Harvard Clinical Research Institute (HCRI), an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Director of Electrophysiology at the Boston VA Health Care System.

"Current results for transcatheter aortic valve replacement via the transapical approach, compared with surgical aortic valve replacement, are unattractive from a health economic perspective," said Dr. Reynolds.

"Whether the transapical approach can be refined to provide faster recovery and better results from a cost perspective should be the subject of further study."

###

The PARTNER trial is funded by a research grant from Edwards Lifesciences, Inc. Dr. Reynolds reported that his research organization (HCRI) receives research grant support from the company.

About CRF and TCT

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) is an independent, academically focused nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the survival and quality of life for people with cardiovascular disease through research and education. Since its inception in 1991, CRF has played a major role in realizing dramatic improvements in the lives of countless numbers of patients by establishing the safe use of new technologies, drugs and therapies in interventional cardiovascular medicine.

Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) is the annual scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation. TCT gathers leading medical researchers and clinicians from around the world to present and discuss the latest developments in the field.

For more information, visit www.crf.org.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 10-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Judy Romero
jromero@crf.org
Cardiovascular Research Foundation

New analysis measures cost effectiveness of transcatheter aortic valve replacement compared to surgical valve replacement

SAN FRANCISCO, CA NOVEMBER 10, 2011 The cost effectiveness of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVR) compared to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) depends on whether TAVR is performed via the femoral artery or transapically, through a small incision in the chest, according to a new study.

Recently, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVR) has been shown to result in similar 12-month survival as surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis. The potential cost-effectiveness of TAVR versus SAVR in the PARTNER trial was examined and the results were presented today at the 23rd annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium, sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation.

The PARTNER trial randomized patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis and high surgical risk to either TAVR (N=348) or SAVR (N=351) and followed them for a minimum of 12 months. Health state utilities were estimated using the EuroQOL (EQ-5D) at baseline, one, six, and 12 months. Detailed medical resource utilization data were collected on all study patients, and hospital billing data were collected for both index and follow-up hospitalizations for any cause from consenting U.S. patients.

The objectives of the study were to combine cost data with survival and Quality of Life (QoL) data to estimate the12-month cost-effectiveness of TAVR compared with AVR and to explore potential differences in costs and cost-effectiveness of TAVR vs. AVR for the transfemoral vs. transapical populations.

Among high risk aortic stenosis patients eligible for the transfemoral approach, TAVR, compared with surgical AVR:

  • Provided small but significant gains in 12 month quality-adjusted life expectancy (0.06 0.07 Quality Adjusted Life Years, QALYs)
  • Was associated with higher procedural costs but slightly lower index hospitalization and total 12 month costs

However, not all patients qualify medically for the transfemoral approach. Among patients only eligible for the transapical approach:

  • TAVR provided no increase (and possible decrease) in QALYs
  • TAVR increased procedural, index admission, and 12 month costs (by ~$10,000/patient)

"Results of this trial indicate that for patients with severe aortic stenosis and high surgical risk, transcatheter aortic valve replacement is an economically attractive and possibly dominant strategy compared with surgical aortic valve replacement, provided that patients are suitable for the transfemoral approach," said Matthew R. Reynolds, MD. Dr. Reynolds is Director of the Economics and Quality of Life Research Center at Harvard Clinical Research Institute (HCRI), an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Director of Electrophysiology at the Boston VA Health Care System.

"Current results for transcatheter aortic valve replacement via the transapical approach, compared with surgical aortic valve replacement, are unattractive from a health economic perspective," said Dr. Reynolds.

"Whether the transapical approach can be refined to provide faster recovery and better results from a cost perspective should be the subject of further study."

###

The PARTNER trial is funded by a research grant from Edwards Lifesciences, Inc. Dr. Reynolds reported that his research organization (HCRI) receives research grant support from the company.

About CRF and TCT

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) is an independent, academically focused nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the survival and quality of life for people with cardiovascular disease through research and education. Since its inception in 1991, CRF has played a major role in realizing dramatic improvements in the lives of countless numbers of patients by establishing the safe use of new technologies, drugs and therapies in interventional cardiovascular medicine.

Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) is the annual scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation. TCT gathers leading medical researchers and clinicians from around the world to present and discuss the latest developments in the field.

For more information, visit www.crf.org.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/crf-rot_1111011.php

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Izzo: Carrier Classic to be a 'memory-maker'

Workers uncover the basketball floor to be used for the Carrier Classic NCAA on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011, in San Diego, Calif. North Carolina and Michigan State will play the first Carrier Classic basketball game on the flight deck of the ship, Friday, Nov. 11. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Workers uncover the basketball floor to be used for the Carrier Classic NCAA on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011, in San Diego, Calif. North Carolina and Michigan State will play the first Carrier Classic basketball game on the flight deck of the ship, Friday, Nov. 11. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The basketball floor to be used for the Carrier Classic NCAA college basketball game is seen on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011, in San Diego, Calif. North Carolina and Michigan State will play the first Carrier Classic basketball game on the flight deck of the ship, Friday, Nov. 11. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Rear Admiral Dennis Moynihan, left, talks with Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, center, and North Carolina head coach Roy Williams before a news conference for the Carrier Classic NCAA college basketball game aboard the USS Carl Vinson, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011, in San Diego, Calif. North Carolina and Michigan State will play the first Carrier Classic basketball game on the flight deck of the ship, Friday, Nov. 11. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Light standards and camera platforms rise from the deck of the USS Carl Vinson at it's dock site in Coronado, Calif. Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011. North Carolina and Michigan State will play the first Carrier Classic basketball game on the flight deck of the ship. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

In this image provided by the U.S. Navy bleachers are set-up on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson Monday Nov. 7, 2011 for the Quicken Loans Carrier Classic basketball game. The Michigan State University Spartans are playing the University of North Carolina Tar Heels aboard Carl Vinson for the first ever Quicken Loans Carrier Classic on Veteran?s Day, Nov. 11, 2011. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy - Seaman Amanda Huntoon)

CORONADO, Calif. (AP) ? The aircraft carrier that buried Osama bin Laden at sea is ready for the first college basketball game to be played on an active flat top.

As long as the rain stays away from the Carrier Classic on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson on Friday afternoon, coaches Tom Izzo of Michigan State and Roy Williams of No. 1 North Carolina are confident their teams will put on a great Veterans Day show for the approximately 7,000 in the crowd, including the nation's basketball-fan-in-chief, President Barack Obama, plus a national TV audience.

Izzo and Williams said they and their players were blown away when they boarded the nuclear-powered carrier, which stretches 1,092 feet, weighs 95,000 tons and has four steam catapults that can accelerate a jet fighter from 0 to 165 mph in just more than two seconds.

"My first impression when I walked in far superseded whatever I thought it could be, and we've been talking about this for seven or eight years," Izzo said Thursday aboard the carrier, which is berthed at North Island Naval Air Station. "If you could have seen our players' eyes as we walked in, you just had such an appreciation for what we're doing. It's bigger than a game. It's bigger than North Carolina against Michigan State. It's kind of a dream come true for us. In a small, small way, I think we feel we're giving a little bit back and maybe recognizing the people that deserve to be recognized, instead of just the athletes."

The game, a rematch of the 2009 national championship game won by North Carolina, was conceived to celebrate Veterans Day and salute active-duty military personnel.

"Wow," Williams said about his reaction to seeing the ship and the basketball court. The island, which serves as the command center for the ship and flight-deck operations, looms just 50 feet from one end of the court. For some high enough in the stands, there's a view of the San Diego skyline across the bay.

Williams said his players' eyes and mouths were wide open as they walked around the flight deck after arriving in San Diego on Wednesday.

"This is a celebration," Williams said. "The basketball game, from the tipoff till the final horn, we're going to be working our tails off about the game. But every single second prior to it and as soon as the game's final horn is over with, we're thinking about hopefully putting a smile on some people's faces who represent our country and serve our country.

"I'm as thrilled as I could possibly be," Williams said. "They're not fake ? I've got cold chills up here talking about it. It's the neatest thing that I've ever been involved with."

Forecasts earlier in the week suggested that a storm might hit around tipoff. But based on updated forecasts, the game will be played on the flight deck, said Mike Whalen of Morale Entertainment Foundation, which is organizing the game. Had the threat of rain been greater, the game would have been moved below to the hangar deck.

The coaches shrugged off suggestions that playing outdoors, with possible wind gusts, would be a concern.

"I would be willing to bet 90 percent of our players will be thrilled to death to do something that nobody else has ever done," Izzo said. "That's the uniqueness of this, too. There are a lot of great players, a lot of great programs, but you talk about a memory-maker, there's been no player that's ever done something like this. So if they want to play indoors, I hope they tell me before the game; I'll make sure I don't play them. Unless it's a starter."

Added Williams: "They can go downstairs and play 3-on-3. Nobody will be watching."

The court is surrounded by stadium-style seating, which organizers hope will block any wind. No balls will be in danger of bouncing into San Diego Bay.

The coaches think it'll be neat playing outdoors.

"When Tommy and I played, we used to play outside," Williams said. "But kids don't play outside anymore. We better get a lot of shooting in today and tomorrow because we haven't been outside. He may have outsmarted me, but we haven't been outside."

Said Izzo: "My guys haven't shot real well in the exhibitions. I told them to shoot the exact same way and the wind will blow it in."

Tar Heels senior center Tyler Zeller said the coaches keep teasing the players about who's going to fall off the ship. At one point, he worried that the massive carrier will move during the game.

"It is something that none of us have ever experienced," he said. "I'm looking forward to it but I'm also a little nervous about it. It'll be fun to be able to give back to them and be able to play a game in front of them."

Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis, credited with coming up with the idea for the game, said he was looking for a "dramatic way to reach out" to the military.

By chance, the carrier that became available to host the game was the one that conducted bin Laden's burial at sea after he was killed by Navy SEALs in a raid ordered by Obama.

Capt. Bruce H. Lindsey, the commanding officer of the flat top, said neither he nor any of his sailors can talk about that mission.

But Lindsey did say his daughter is a senior at Chapel Hill, "so I just have to root for Chapel Hill."

Magic Johnson and James Worthy will be honorary captains for their alma maters.

When the Carl Vinson is at sea, following sports events ? when possible ? is important for the crew, Lindsey said.

"They follow sports all the time, so much so that I have to steer the ship so I get the satellite beam hitting us just right," he said.

___

AP Basketball Writer Aaron Beard in Chapel Hill, N.C., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-11-Carrier%20Classic/id-a24b0f68d2e94ede8e885a5389beafc9

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Thousands in Asia exchange vows on lucky 11-11-11

(AP) ? Thousands of Asians are jamming wedding halls or joining matchmaking groups in hopes of finding love on what could be the most auspicious day in a century.

The 11th day of the 11th month has been celebrated as Singles Day in China since the early 1990s, but this year it is being called Super Singles Day because the year also ends in 11.

In Shanghai, thousands of couples registered to get married on Nov. 11 compared to about 500 on an average day. The celebration will carry over to Saturday, when 10,000 singles are to converge on a huge "matchmaking emporium" in the city.

In Malaysia, about 1,000 ethnic Chinese couples exchanged vows at temples and clan association halls. Some even lined up to ensure they could start their married life at 11 a.m. sharp.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-11-11-11-11/id-216999a637bd48758eff444919ab7f87

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