THE clattering of metal on metal was music to the ears of thelatest Scottish sporting star Mike Kerr yesterday as he brought hisGreat Britain team-mates back to his home city of Glasgow.The 29-year-old was paralysed diving into a swimming pool on holiday inCorfu 11 years ago, but, sport having been the main focus in hislife before then, the former amateur football centre-half has usedwheelchair rugby to move to a new level of competition.After fiveyears battling to win a place in the fully professional GreatBritain squad, he finally achieved his dream this year, and theformer Uddingston Grammar School pupil is looking forward tocompeting in the Paralympics in London and claiming a first medalfor GB.He told The Scotsman: 'It is fantastic to be playing in myhome city because, for me, playing wheelchair rugby has been aboutfour or five-hour trips south.'I've been in chair for 11 years inAugust past. I had a diving accident on holiday. I say a divingaccident, but I dived into a swimming pool at the shallow end andknew from the moment I hit the bottom of the pool that I wasparalysed. I just knew. I'm paralysed from the nipples down. When Ifirst had my accident I was really weak and it took me a long timeto build up my strength, but wheelchair rugby gave me a real focus.I played football, a little rugby and some other sports before theaccident. Sport was all I was ever good at.'A year after my accidentI tried wheelchair rugby and fell in love with it. It was fullcontact and that was the big draw, and I'm really fit and healthynow.'The main purpose of Kerr's and the GB squad's visit to theKelvin Hall was to launch a new Scottish team that will compete inthe British league, joining the Gaelic Warriors from Ireland, Welshand English teams. The Glasgow players like the name 'Warriors' too,and the SRU and able-bodied Warriors and Scotland skipper AlastairKellock have offered their support. Scotland attack coach GregorTownsend gamely had a shot in the wheelchair yesterday and declaredit as tough as it looks, while the Wooden Spoon charity are alsobacking the venture.The sport is played by teams of four players ona basketball-style gym court, with defenders and attackers graded bytheir disability, and wheelchairs specially adapted, at a cost of upto GBP4,000, to mirror their roles in the game. Funding is,therefore, a major issue with this venture initially supportedlargely by English sport.What was also launched yesterday, however,was a UK pilot scheme for youth wheelchair rugby. It kicks off nextweek at Ashcraig School in Craigend, Glasgow. The team will becoached by Steve Palmer, one of the UK's leading internationalistsover the past decade. The former GB captain, who suffered a spinalinjury 15 years ago in similar circumstances to Kerr - he was pushedinto a pool by friends on holiday in Rhodes - lost his place to theScotsman in the GB team and has retired at the age of 38.He said:'After 11 years at the top level I don't have the same fire now,whereas Mike certainly does and he is really grasping hisopportunity.'But when I was asked to get involved in this pilot inGlasgow and then taking the initiative across the UK, I hadbutterflies in my stomach again.'The Paralympics in Beijing was thebest three weeks of my life and the memories will live with meforever. I've probably had a better life being in the chair andplaying wheelchair rugby than I had beforehand. Before, I was justanother guy who goes to work; ends up in the pub of an evening. I'ma lot healthier now than I would have been, I've travelled the worldseveral times, I've got friends in places like Australia, NewZealand, USA, Canada and all over Europe, and experiences of beingpart of Olympics, World Championships and Paralympics opening andclosing ceremonies, competing on the world stage.'I tell you whatwheelchair rugby has given me as well, the knowledge that I could gointo a training session in a bad mood, and in this full-contactsport, you can hit a few people [in chairs], get rid of a lot of badenergy and go home with a smile on your face.'Although we're all'love your fellow man' we all love a bit of violence, especiallywhen it's legal. I know there's a bit of tenacity in the Scots aswell, so I think we'll get going up here pretty well. Wheelchairrugby has been fantastic to me and I feel I'm a better person forme.'Palmer is an engaging and ambitious character, and havingwatched youngsters from Ashcraig having a ball yesterday learningthe game - Ashcraig will be the venue for all youngsters and adultsinterested in playing wheelchair rugby to join up - he sees a futurefor a Scotland national side, and French and Italian teams leadingto a championship that mirrors the Six Nations.Kerr added: 'To getselected for the Paralympics would be the pinnacle. I need to keepworking hard and hoping for the best. I've never done any other job,so if I lose my place in this team I will lose my job. When I had myaccident a lot of people helped me so I'm pleased to be able to givesomething back. It's nice to be the face of the sport in Scotland,but my hope is that seeing us performing well internationally andinitiatives like this will make more people in wheelchairs realisethat they can have fun and a future in sport at a very highlevel.'More info: www.gbwr.org.uk
среда, 19 сентября 2012 г.
Forget archery. Streaking is original Olympic pursuit TOM SHIELDS ON THE GAMES - The Sunday Herald
IT is safe once again to watch television now that the Olympicsare over. There is much less chance of finding Team BBC going allhyper-jingo because some bloke has paddled his canoe a bit fasterthan the rest and got a gold medal for it.
Even worse was when Team BBC got all depressed because a weelassie has fell aff her BMX bike and failed to contribute toBritain's stupendous collection of medals.
I do not buy into this Team GB business. It's a copy of Team USAand if GB is going to be naffily patriotic, it should be done in amore British way. Or, preferably, not at all.
What is the big deal, anyway, about this haul of medals? Most ofthem were awarded for messing about in boats, going a bike, orsitting on a horse. Not very Olympian pursuits.
The Olympics are not very Olympian these days. They are playingsoftball which, apparently, is a variation on rounders. They arewindsurfi ng.
They are jumping about on trampolines and surely it will not belong until the bouncy castle is included as a discipline.
Some of the so-called sports are so high-tech, you wonder wherethe individual skill factor comes in. Archery involves bits of kitthat look more Nintendo Wii than Robin Hood.
Same with the shooting, apparently.
But I'm a big fan of small bore shooting. I think they shouldshoot some big bores as well. Compile your own list of targets.
Perhaps, we might return to the original ancient Greek concept.The first written report on the Olympics dates from 776BC which is along time ago, just before my dear colleague Doug Gillon startedcovering the games for the Herald.
My research assistant Wikipedia reveals that the 776BC Olympiadconsisted of just one event, the stade which was a run ofapproximately 210 yards. It was won by a cook called Coroebus whoran naked.
Coroebus is the first recorded Olympic champion and possibly thefirst known streaker.
The ancient Greek games featured a pursuit called pankrationwhich spectators of a bloodthirsty disposition might like to seerestored to the modern Olympics. Pankration was not so much a sportas unmitigated violence.
Punching, kicking and choking were all allowed. An adeptpankraist would be able to deliver the 'straight kick to thestomach'.
Other pankraistic niceties include the 'tracheal dig using thethumb' and the 'choke from behind using the forearm'.
Were pankration introduced for London 2012, I can imagine acommentator on Team BBC enthusing over a superb tracheal grip chokeas a Team GB pankraist goes for gold.
We might even have the modern pankration which would involve theuse of knives and guns as well as punching, kicking and choking.
There is plenty of scope for axing sports from these bloatedOlympics.
Stuff like badminton, baseball, volleyball, dressage (wherehorses walk around a paddock), and fencing (where no-one getsstabbed, unlike in modern pankration).
Who needs Olympic football and tennis when they are on all theyear round anyway?
The Olympics should be all about the track and fi eld events.Good, oldfashioned running, jumping and throwing things.
To prevent it all becoming too serious, I would introduce the egg-andspoon race. Real eggs, not potatoes where there is scope forcheating by digging the spoon in.
And the three-legged race.
And catching the javelin.
To be fair, a number of athletes have tried to add to the generalgaiety with their dropping-the-baton variations on the relay race.
With the exclusion of extraneous pursuits (such as basketballwhich I missed from my earlier hit list) and even with the inclusionof the eggand-spoon and three-legged races, the Olympics could bedone and dusted over a long weekend and we could get back to thefitba.
Meanwhile, it's going to be a long and tedious journey to 2012 asTeam BBC and other media get their teeth into the preparations forthe London games. It will be even more gruesome when the games takeplace.
There is one ray of hope. Team Scotland might do quite well.
CRUFTS has been taken to task over canine health. The BBC said itis reviewing coverage of the show in the light of its owndocumentary investigation into systematic inbreeding which leavesmany dogs with debilitating conditions.
It is a noble initiative by Team BBC but I fear they are barkingup the wrong tree. We are dealing here with dogowners. People whoare barking in their own right.
People who trail round after animals picking up shit. People wholovingly French-kiss a slabbery bloodhound.
People who actually believe their dog understands what they aresaying.
People who feed a poodle chicken breast and feed their childrenchicken nuggets. Do not expect these irrational people to understandgenetics.
I know, since I once was dog-crazy.
I put up with a Labrador who thought Clarks children's shoes (ata day's wages a pair) was a snack food.
I put up, but not for too long, with a setter who roamed thecountryside chasing aeroplanes.
Then there were my two well-bred pugs, the epitome of Kennel Clubdeportment. Patrick was forever trying to get up his mum, Sophie.
Sophie was no angel, enticing Patrick behind the sofa in thefirst place.
The BBC will not be able to change the animal instinct. We'retalking about the humans who run Crufts, not the canines.
NHS Greater Glasgow are concerned about my emotions. Which isnice of them since they have GBP42m of budget cuts to worry about atthe moment.
They have sent me a survey via my GP saying: 'Clinicians areaware that emotions play an important part in illnesses. . . Thisquestionnaire is designed to help your clinician know how you feel.'
The emotional evaluation consists of a series of statements, eachwith a choice of four options.
Such as: 'I get a sort of frightened feeling as if somethingawful is about to happen'. I lied, of course, choosing: 'A littlebut it doesn't worry me.'
Other lies and half-truthful answers included: Worrying thoughtsgo through my mind? From time to time but not too often. (Recession?Unemployment?
Fuel poverty? World War Three? A blood sugar count nearly as bigas my waist measurement? I laugh in the face of adversity. ) I feelcheerful? Most of the time. (Despite all the people who ask me:'What's up with your face?') I get sudden feelings of panic? Notvery often. (Well, quite often. OK, very often indeed. ) There weresome entirely honest and truthful replies: I have lost interest inmy appearance? I take just as much care as ever. (The phrase badly-packed parachute springs to mind. ) I can sit at ease and feelrelaxed?
Definitely. (Except I only sit when there is no opportunity tolie down. ) I can laugh and see the funny side of things?
As much as I always could. (I think it's called being clinicallymorose. ) But the main thrust of the survey is dread. Do I get asort of frightened feeling like butterflies in the stomach? Do Ifeel tense or wound up?
Actually, I was quite all right really until I got thisquestionnaire.
San Antonio Express-News All About Cars column. - San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio, TX)
Byline: G. Chambers Williams III
Apr. 9--NISSAN ENJOYING SWEET RIDE: Nissan's strong push over the past five years to become a household name and major automotive presence in the U.S. has paid off.
For the company's fiscal year ending March 31, Nissan has joined the elite million-vehicle-sales club in the United States. The company sold 1,001,200 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles here over the past year, joining General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota and Honda as the only automakers to have achieved that kind of success.
'This milestone achievement, along with record-breaking sales for the past three consecutive years, not only made company history but also fulfilled Nissan North America's fiscal year commitment to sell 1 million units,' the company said in announcing the year-end results.
Nissan has been on a roll since shortly after Carlos Ghosn took over the company in 1999 and began bringing really cool new products to market, including some of my personal favorites: the current-generation Nissan Altima midsize sedan, the Nissan 350Z sports car, the Infiniti G35 sport sedan and sport coupe, and the Nissan Titan full-size pickup.
Those are just a few of the successes the company has racked up over the past several years.
Just like what's been happening at Cadillac, it seems that just about everything Nissan has touched since the turn of the century has turned to gold.
Other recent runaway successes have included the Nissan Xterra compact SUV, which this year entered its second generation; the midsize Pathfinder SUV, which also is completely redesigned for 2005; and the Maxima, which was redesigned last year and is the flagship sedan in the Nissan lineup.
There also are the Infiniti FX35 and FX45, radical-looking crossover luxury sport wagon/SUVs that have created a whole new segment in the industry; the similarly styled Nissan Murano, one of the coolest affordable sport wagon/SUVs on the market; and for 2006, the all-new Infiniti M35 and M45 luxury sport sedans, which by all accounts appear to be the best sedans the company has ever built.
'We're extremely happy with not only meeting our fiscal year objective, but also by breaking our own sales records,' said Jed Connelly, Nissan North America's senior vice president for sales and marketing. 'We applaud all of our employees and dealers who worked hard toward this 1-million-unit goal. And, of course, we thank our customers for placing their trust in our brand.'
San Antonio dealers played a part in that success as well, the company said. Sales in the San Antonio market increased 14 percent over the previous year, and the market was one of its strongest in Texas.
Overall, sales in Texas were up 24 percent over the previous year, Nissan said.
'Nissan has experienced phenomenal sales growth in the U.S., with Texas accounting for much of that new growth,' said John Spoon, vice president for Nissan's South Central Region. 'Our dealers in San Antonio really stepped up to the plate introducing new products and helping to strengthen Nissan's customer base in the city. All of that hard work has truly paid off, and we couldn't have reached this milestone without them.'
The company said sales growth 'was not only driven by established models such as the Altima midsize sedan, but also by all-new products' such as the more powerful 2006 Xterra, the redesigned 2006 Frontier midsize pickup, the third-generation Pathfinder and the Titan pickup.
'Dealers here have come a long way, but we still have a lot of work to do if we want to continue to grow in the San Antonio market,' said Mike Cook, dealer operations manager for the South Central Region. 'As we approach this new fiscal year, we will have new challenges, but with this outstanding dealer body and exciting new product in the pipeline, I'm confident we will continue to succeed as we have this past year.'
Toyota and Honda still outsell Nissan here, with Toyota the leading import brand. Honda sales have cooled somewhat nationwide, though, as Nissan's sales have boomed.
Some analysts attribute Honda's problems to strong competition from Nissan and another up-and-coming Japanese rival, Mazda Motor Co.
Nissan, Toyota and Honda are the only import brands in the million-unit-sales club, but Toyota is way ahead of its Japanese counterparts.
While Nissan was finally joining the club, Toyota moved into the next bracket: selling more than 2 million vehicles in the U.S. for the first time. For calendar year 2004, Toyota Motor Sales USA reported it sold 2,060,048 vehicles here.
The company also posted its 10th consecutive year of record sales gains in the United States, and its Lexus division was the nation's top-selling luxury brand for the fifth straight year. And the Toyota Camry midsize sedan was the best-selling car in the United States for 2004, having beaten the Honda Accord three years in a row for the top spot.
As for Honda, some of the luster of previous years has disappeared, blamed by some analysts on the bland styling of the company's vehicles, as well as a perceived complacency by Honda in the marketplace.
Although Honda set sales records in the United States for the ninth consecutive year in 2004, a big sales push in December was needed to help the company achieve a meager 1.4 percent increase in sales over 2003.
The company sold 1.19 million vehicles in the U.S. during 2004. But Honda's U.S. sales were down 10.6 percent in the first two months of this year, according to industry weekly Automotive News.
Honda also has seen the median age of its customers increase to 45 from 43 last year. Toyota, Nissan and some other rivals are seeing their customer bases getting younger. Toyota has been helped in that respect by its new Scion youth brand, which is being seen as much more 'cool' than Honda vehicles by consumers younger than 25.
Don't ever count Honda out, though. The company knows how to build cars that appeal to the masses, even if they aren't seen as being very cool. And the masses will continue to buy those vehicles.
Where Nissan is scoring is with consumers who consider style nearly as important as substance. They are learning that with Nissan, you can have a cool vehicle that will last a long time with very little maintenance, just like vehicles from Honda and Toyota that might not be seen as so stylish. Toyota has acknowledged its problems with blandness and says it's working hard to overcome that perception.
NEW SUBARU SUV TO BEGIN AT $31,320: Subaru of America says the base price for its all-new 2006 B9 Tribeca midsize SUV will be $31,320 for a five-passenger version and that a fully equipped seven-passenger model with rear-seat entertainment system and navigation will list for $38,320.
The B9 Tribeca, which was introduced in January at the Detroit auto show, will go on sale late next month. It will become the company's flagship vehicle and will be the largest Subaru vehicle yet.
Production began recently at Subaru's plant in Lafayette, Ind.
Also, Subaru introduced two new versions of its compact Forester sport utility at the recent New York auto show. They are another L.L. Bean edition, featuring a tie-in with the famous outdoor equipment retailer; and a sporty performance model called the 2.5 XT Limited, which comes with a 230-horsepower engine.
Send your car questions or news of your club events to G. Chambers Williams III, San Antonio Express-News, P.O. Box 2171, San Antonio, TX 78297-2171; telephone (210) 250-3236.
To see more of the San Antonio Express-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mysanantonio.com.
Copyright (c) 2005, San Antonio Express-News
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.
Andrew Weil, M.D. Launches Weil Baby Line of Ultra-safe, Environmentally Friendly Feeding Products. - Pediatrics Week
To provide parents with safe, healthy and environmentally responsible choices in baby feeding products, Andrew Weil, M.D., world-renowned leader in integrative medicine, and Key Baby, LLC, are pleased to announce the launch of the Weil Baby™ line of bottles, nipples, sippy cups, pacifiers, gift sets and accessories. Trusted and tested by pediatricians, lactation consults and moms, the complete range of products are based on Dr. Weil's 30 years of clinical experience. Weil Baby™ products are currently available on www.weilbaby.com and will be available at select Babies 'R' Us stores, www.BabiesRus.com, select Whole Foods stores and Duane Reade stores in late August.
'These products reflect the prudent combination of functional design and the best material-safety available today to help infants get a healthy start in life,' said Dr. Weil. 'My philosophy is that it is far better to maintain good health from an early age than to attempt to achieve it later in life.'
Weil Baby™ Products are a Breakthrough in Healthy and Safe Feeding
Weil Baby™ bottles and sippy cups feature the breakthrough AirWave™ one-piece venting system, which helps eliminate air bubbles ingested by babies and toddlers, reducing the risk of colic, gas and spit-up. The containers are made of both glass and Tritan™, a remarkable clear material that contains no bisphenol A, commonly known as BPA, which may disrupt normal estrogenic activity (EA). Extensive laboratory testing has shown that Tritan™ is completely EA-free, making the Weil Baby™ line ultra safe.
Weil Baby™ Products are High Quality and Unique
Weil Baby™ made the investment to produce the products in the USA to offer moms the highest degree of quality assurance that the products have met strict quality control standards and have lot-number traceability. These qualities are rarely, if ever found in other baby feeding products.
The current Weil Baby™ line sports a unique, stylish look -- the bottles are made in an ergonomic cylindrical shape, while the handle, sippy cups and pacifiers come in assorted colors. 'The principle aim was not to create 'high style' baby feeding products, but rather to make products that were optimally safe, healthy and convenient,' said Dr. Weil. 'But as is often the case with objects that are carefully designed to be extremely functional, they just happen to be attractive!'
Weil Baby™ Products are Environmentally Friendly
Weil Baby™ products are also good for the environment. American production means shorter transportation routes, which minimizes our carbon footprint. The packaging is made with 100 percent recycled paper, the windows are made PET, one of the most recyclable materials on earth. The inserts are fully compostable and dissolve in water because they made from Plantic which is also known as Biomax from DuPont .
A Complete Healthy-feeding Collection
In 2010, Weil Baby™ plans to add several breast pumps to the line, including the only FDA-approved, hospital grade breast pump sold at retail. They are designed to be the most comfortable pumps available, easily adjustable and highly portable -- perfect for moms-on-the-go. In addition, Weil Baby™ is also adding formula dispensers, nipple shields for breast feeding, electric steam sterilizers and bottle warmers, travel bottle warmers, collapsible snack containers and an innovative silicone breast milk spoon feeding system. 'At that point, a complete healthy-feeding collection will be in place,' said Dr. Weil.
Keywords: Weil Baby, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Food, Pediatrics, Sports, Colic, Pediatric, Pediatrics.
Clash of the Titans: will Diller be taken off his own board?(Barry Diller and John Malone of IAC/InterActiveCorp.) - Daily Variety
The battle between Barry Diller and John Malone that's suddenly erupted signals the end of an era and of an alliance that's endured more than two decades.
Malone has lost patience with Diller's awkward aggregation of dotcoms, known as IAC/InterActiveCorp. And he was incensed by Diller's attempt to squeeze him out of the picture--especially after putting up with a tepid stock and Diller's princely pay packages.
IAC shares closed Tuesday at $25.65--up from the day before but well off their 52-week high of over $40.
Malone had long been a Diller fan. He provided seed money and support to launch Silver King Communications in 1995 with Diller as chairman-CEO. A major stockholder, Malone formally agreed way back then to let Diller, who'd had a brilliant career at ABC, Paramount and Fox, vote his interest in Silver King. And Malone stuck with the company though many iterations: USA Networks, USA Interactive, InterActiveCorp.
But now it's war. Acrimony and court papers continued to fly Tuesday as Diller said Malone had 'gone off the deep end' in seeking to oust Diller and a handful of other directors from IAC's board.
Malone filed papers in Delaware Chancery Court Monday asking that Diller, his wife Diane Von Furstenberg, Warner Music chief Edgar Bronfman, Jr., banker Steve Rattner, Victor Kaufman, Alan Spoon and Arthur Martinez be replaced by a Liberty slate.
At issue is Diller's plan, announced last November, to split IAC into five separate publicly traded companies: HSN, Ticketmaster, Interval Intl. vacation timeshare service, LendingTree mortgage broker and a downsized IAC which would include the Ask.com search engine. The move is an acknowledgement that the pieces aren't doing much together-Lending-Tree in particular has been hard hit by the mortgage crisis and is dragging down the rest.
IAC has two classes of stock, A and B. Through a combination of the two, Malone controls 30% of IAC's equity and 62% of its voting rights, even though Diller is still legally entitled to vote that stake as he wishes.
Fur started to fly when Diller asked the Delaware court earlier this month if the new entities could have one single class of stock, instead of two. That change would serve to dilute Liberty's voting control over the new companies by half and, according to Malone, constitutes a 'corporate coup.'
Liberty insists that a split-up of this magnitude represents a 'fundamental change' which would require Liberty's consent before Diller can exercise his proxy authority. Liberty's lawsuit alleges that Diller 'orchestrated the spinoff proposal in a self-serving attempt to rid himself of Liberty's control ling influence,' and followed the suit by the request to oust Diller and purge the board.
Liberty also questions Diller's leadership of the company, and his large compensation packages; he was among the nation's highest-paid CEOs in 2005 and 2006.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
IAC countered that, 'Under the proxy, Diller is entitled to vote the shares without regard to the directions of Liberty and without subservience to the specific interests of Liberty.'
And Diller called Liberty's DiRer latest move regarding the board 'a desperate sideshow ... All it demonstrates is that Liberty will stop at nothing to advance their own interests at the expense of the other stockholders. Needless to say, IAC will not be daunted.'
Pundits don't think it's likely Malone has a strong legal case to clean out IAC's board at this point. But it's not clear how the issue of voting control will shake out.
'To take away voting control from a shareholder is, I think, a very tricky thing to do. It seems that he (Malone) would somehow have to be compensated for giving up his voting rights,' said one Wall Streeter.
Pros wrestling
The battle is expected to be long and rough.
Malone, a cable pioneer who made his name as a brilliant financial strategist and prescient investor, is the guy who spent two years playing mind games with the formidable Rupert Murdoch. Malone purchased a big chunk of News Corp. voting stock on the sly stock Murdoch really didn't want him to have. The News Corp. chief was forced to buy it back after many months of tense negotiations. Malone walked away-with nearly 40% of DirecTV, regional sports networks in three cities, and a bundle of cash.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
MaloneMalone also spooked Time Warner in 2006 when it applied to the Federal Trade Commission to speed up the conversion of its nonvoting stock in Time Warner into voting shares. Time Warner management was then (as now) under intense pressure to take action to boost the share price.
But he's had his missteps. He saw his company evolve from a Wall Street darling into an overly complex mishmash of stakes in various entities, some start-ups, some established. As the market soured on Liberty, Malone engineered a breakup into several spinoffs and tracking stocks. While confusing at first, the maneuver has proved rather successful. Liberty Global, especially, is now a favorite with investors.
Diller, a creative and visionary Hollywood exec, has plenty of Street cred as a brilliant dealmaker.
A particular one-two punch has become legend on Wall Street: Diller had Edgar Bronfman, Jr. sell him Universal's TV biz for $1.2 billion in cash and a minority stake in Diller's company. Bronfman then unloaded Universal to Vivendi. The French conglom's CEO Jean-Marie Messier bought the assets back from Diller in a deal worth $10.4 billion.
Diller, with a stake in Vivendi Universal Entertainment, was a headache for NBC as the GE unit acquired VUE. GE bought out Diller's personal stake in VUE right off' for hundreds of millions. But through IAC, Diller still controlled an uncomfortably large 5.4% share in the new NBC Universal. After years of irritably fielding questions about Diller's influence, GE bought him out in 2005 in a deal worth $3.4 billion.
It was after parting ways with Universal that Diller devoted himself full time to creating an online behemoth, snapping up various Netcos in short order and juggling them. In 2003, IAC acquired travel site Expedia from Microsoft for $1.5 billion. Other buys included Precision Response, Styleclick and Hotels.com.
Later, IAC spun Expedia off into a separate public company. Diller merged Ticketmaster's online business, Ticketmaster.com, with CitySearch into a separate company with an IPO in 1998. He recombined Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Inc. with Ticketmaster in 2001.
Russia series summit to think about - Chicago Sun-Times
Bravos, brushbacks and other electrical bananas from the cluttered laptop of your admittedly atavistic sports media critic:
- NBC's jackknifing audience numbers for the Vancouver Olympics prove one thing -- the National Hockey League must ice the concept, post haste, before re-upping for yet another Reamed Dream at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
After ''modernizing'' and further ''Americanizing'' the NHL, commissioner Gary Bettman can't be faulted for presuming he could push the globalization of the league via the Winter Olympics -- even if it meant bringing the regular season to a hollow halt during a month when it should be flourishing.
But it's just not happening.
If anything drove that point home, it was that the figure skating-skiing-bobsledding triple on NBC Sunday night outdrew MSNBC and the USA's 5-3 victory over Canada by a viewership ratio of almost 3-to-1. That comparative TV interest, according to international media, was even more lopsided in other countries.
One possible solution for Bettman and his governors: Resurrect a streamlined version of the old Canada-USSR ''Summit Series'' as a September prelude to the 2014-15 NHL season.
After an NHL-less Winter Games, match the new Stanley Cup champions that fall in an international best-of-three vs. the Sochi gold medalists.
Unprecedented world championship rights, global theater and what a start to the new NHL season -- plus, no more major trifling with the classic rhythms of an NHL campaign.
- ESPN's suspension of Tony Kornheiser from ''Pardon the Interruption'' for his stupid and sexist remarks about network colleague Hannah Storm raises the old question: How did this Scaramouche ever get this far in the business to begin with?
If you like 'em talent-free, devoid of original thought and as telegenic as Barney Fife's nephew, Kornheiser is your man. To think he made his bones at the Washington Post only makes it that much more understandable how the extremely unctuous newspaper clings to LBJ-era JFK assassination theories and had Watergate spoon-fed by an embittered old FBI guy.
Kornheiser is expected back on ''Pardon the Dolt'' in two weeks. That's bad news for co-host Michael Wilbon, a beacon of understated class and style. Maybe ''Leering K'' will quit for good and land a more appropriate gig -- like waste-flow reporter at the Potomac PennySaver.
TWEET-HENGE: WSCR-AM (670) listeners heard the implosiveness continue to tick one recent midday when a whiffy McHost referred to Northern Illinois football as ''meaningless.'' That characterization was sure to set ledgers gnashing in DeKalb, where NIU administrators have guaranteed significant coin to air Huskies games on 670-AM since 2005.
- Former ESPN basketball analyst Rick Majerus says he wants his upscaling St. Louis Billikens out of the Atlantic-10 and back into the Missouri Valley Conference. Could DePaul then be in line for a balancing overture from the Valley? ... An excellent pre-Madness primer is Thornridge: The Perfect Season by Illinois-bred sportscaster Scott Lynn ($22.95, authorhouse.com).
- Colorado authorities have completed a cold-case review into the 1988 disappearance of suburban sportswriter Keith Reinhard with no significant advances. Long-distance odds on the enduring mystery: mayhem, 3-5; mountain, 6-5; Mexico, 20-1. ... Comcast SportsNet will devote chunks of programming in and around the Bulls-Portland game Friday night to mark the first anniversary of the passings of Johnny Kerr and Norm Van Lier.
- Bob Vorwald, WGN-Channel 9 director of production, is mixing business with literary basepaths: He has books titled What It Means To Be a Cub and What It Means To Be a White Sox set for March release before April TV specials of the same names. ... Sticky-fingered Chet Coppock is scheduled to perform ''Bitch'' from his ''Barnaby's on State'' catalog with Legs Akimbo at Goose Island in Wrigleyville Saturday night. Anabel Roda of WLS-AM (890) fronts ''Legs.''
- Jimmy Kimmel, on the urgent overkill from Vancouver: ''I have learned a lot from the Olympics -- mostly that I really miss football season.'' ... And Rocky Wirtz, to Crain's Shia Kapos, on the essence of his beverage and hockey businesses: ''It's always about ice. Either you're skating on it or puting it in your glass.''
Jim O'Donnell's sports media column appears Thursdays in the Sun-Times.
Comment at suntimes.com.
It's a guy thing: Male baby sitters find favor with some families. - The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, OH)
Byline: Jenna Sauber
Jul. 12--The four boys sprawl on the livingroom floor, engrossed in a card game. One listens to an iPod, while another absent-mindedly pets the family dog. A movie blares from the big-screen television in the background.
It's a typical summer day for them with an atypical twist: One of the boys is the baby sitter.
Although most high-school and collegeage males still opt to mow lawns, paint houses or flip burgers for summer cash, others turn to the job of watching kids.
Since last summer, 17-year-old Alex Bates of Hilliard has regularly watched the St. Clair boys: Matthew, 11; Andrew, 10; and David, 7.
'I started watching my little brother when he was 7, and I was about 13,' Bates said.
After seeing his older brother take care of some neighborhood kids, Alex became interested in babysitting. The job has an added bonus of helping him prepare for what he hopes will be a career in pediatric medicine.
'We do things like play video games, watch movies and play outside,' Bates said. 'I don't want it to feel like I'm a baby sitter, but more like I'm just an older person to hang out with, like a cool friend.'
The boys like having Alex around and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere. They say they can relate to him more than they would a female sitter.
'Guys know more things than girls -- like games and sports,' David said.
Matthew observed: 'He's not like teenage girls that talk a lot.'
The term baby sitter suggests diaper-changing, spoon-feeding and bedtime storytelling.
In many cases, though, the male sitters are looking after boys only a few years younger than themselves.
'Some families love to have male (sitters),' said Candi Wingate, president of Nannies4 hire.com, a nationwide Web site for nannies and families looking to hire one. 'If they have all boys, they want someone who will do the sports and the wrestling and the boy things. Men can be just as nurturing as women.'
Often, parents choose male sitters for their sons as a way to keep them entertained and active, as well as to provide a role model.
Powell resident Cheryl Driesen knows her 12-year-old son, Jimmy, is too old for a sitter, but he still needs someone to keep him company in the evening. Jimmy was the one, she said, who began referring to the 18-year-old who comes over a few times a week as a 'buddy sitter.'
'Jimmy loves hanging out with him; he wants us to adopt him as a big brother,' Driesen said. 'When boys get to a certain age, they don't necessarily want girl buddy sitters, and this young man has a good and positive influence on my son.'
While there's some evidence that male sitters are increasing, they remain a minority.
'Our volunteer instructors tell us that, while they have seen a definite increase in the number of boys taking Red Cross babysitter training over the past couple of years, boys are still greatly outnumbered in our classes,' said Lynn Cook, director of communication and marketing for the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus.
For every family that prefers a male sitter, many more seek females to watch their children.
'Families want females,' said Julie O'Donnell, owner of Sitters Unlimited, a Columbus babysitting service. 'The only time I was able to place a male sitter was if the family had all boys. Unfortunately, the males I had hired were not getting enough jobs.'
Some males see the job as a quick way to make money -- and get a head start on potential careers.
Last fall, Ohio State University student Drew Sprouse was looking for an after-school job when he saw an ad in the paper for a baby sitter for two boys.
Sprouse, 21, saw the opportunity as a great way to gain experience for his major: early-childhood education.
'I would have never guessed that I would get into something like this,' Sprouse said. 'But I've really enjoyed it, and it's one of the best summer jobs you could ask for.'
Sprouse has watched Nicky and Joey Roslovic of Upper Arlington for about 10 months.
He is the authority figure, he said, but it's not a typical sitting job. His duties include driving the boys, 13 and 10, to different camps and taking them to the pool or COSI Columbus for the day.
'I'm pretty much here to keep them busy,' he said. 'They kind of look up to me as this college kid they hang out with, more so than their baby sitter.'
jsauber@dispatch.com
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