Dana Vollmer: The Definition of What it Truly Means to be a Winner - Forbes

Dana Vollmer, the first woman in history to swim the 100-meter butterfly in under 56 seconds took Gold at the London Olympics. “Vollmer, 24, set a world record in the 100-meter butterfly on the way to winning her first individual Olympic gold medal,” writes Karen Crouse for the New York Times. “She clocked 55.98 seconds.”

Like most people I know, I’m a big fan of the Olympics. Many of the athletes have incredibly inspiring stories of perseverance, determination, and true grit—all critical to lasting business success. Although Vollmer won a Gold for her contribution to the 4×200 freestyle relay in Athens in 2004, she failed to make the team for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

“Coming back from 2008, after trials, I didn’t know if I was going to swim,” she said. “I had worked for so many years to reach that one goal, but along the way I had a shoulder injury, a back injury, and I was having to deal with fatigue and so much pressure that I just wasn’t having fun with it at all.”

Having been a high school swimmer, I know that even when it’s fun, it’s a lot of hard work. It’s a couple of hours in the pool every morning and every afternoon. I think we were regularly swimming over 12 miles a day (which is nothing compared to the workouts Olympic hopeful’s put in). I can imagine coming back to the pool to prepare for the 2012 games in London took unbelievable personal commitment to the goal of an individual Olympic Gold Medal.

That alone is an incredible story, but it doesn’t begin there. In 2003, at the age of 15, as she was training for a spot on the 2004 team heading to Athens, Vollmer was diagnosed with a heart condition called supraventricular tachycardia. While under the knife, doctors found an even more serious issue. Vollmer had the symptoms of long Q-T Syndrome, a condition that often leads to heart arrhythmia and sudden cardiac arrest.

Although doctors wanted to pursue additional surgery that would have likely ended her swimming career, she and her parents opted to continue swimming. For the next several years, Vollmer worked out and competed with an external defibrillator at poolside in case the worst happened. I remember regularly finishing a particularly grueling set with my heart pounding—I can’t imagine what must have been going through Vollmer’s mind every day as she ended a set, heart pounding, out of breath, and exhausted. It makes her decision to come back after missing the 2008 team even more incredible, doesn’t it.

I’ve seen that determination to achieve a worthy goal manifest in many of the small business owners I’ve known over the years. I saw it working with my parents in the family business early on in my career and spent many late nights of hard work in my own business. Sometimes the difference between success and failure is the willingness to come back tomorrow, despite the setbacks of today.

Soichiro Honda’s story is another great example of determination, perseverance, and grit. Like most countries in the world, Japan was hit pretty hard by the Great Depression of the 1930′s. Honda was an engineer who wanted to sell piston rings to Toyota, but he was struggling to manufacture a design that could meet Toyota’s standard. Although he was ridiculed by other engineers who laughed at his design, he went back to work, pawned his wife’s jewelry and spent the next few years perfecting his design, ultimately winning a contract with Toyota.

Building a factory to manufacture and supply the parts was his next challenge. Because building materials were in short supply, he invented a new concrete-making process that enabled him to build a factory and go into production. Unfortunately, his factory was bombed twice and steel was unavailable to rebuild.

Undaunted, he started collecting surplus gas cans discarded by US fighters “Gifts from President Truman,” he called them. He used them as the raw materials to rebuild his manufacturing process. His factory was then destroyed by an earthquake.

After the war, gasoline was in very short supply. People either walked or rode bicycles to get around. Honda saw an opportunity and designed a small engine that could be used on a bicycle. Because he wasn’t capitalized enough to go into mass production, he turned to 18,000 bicycle shop owners and asked them to help. 5,000 of them responded with orders and cash to help him get his new venture off the ground.

It wasn’t long before Honda started exporting to the U.S. and Europe his “Super Cub” bike, starting a trend that has made Honda the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles since 1959.

Source : Dana Vollmer: The Definition of What it Truly Means to be a Winner - Forbes

Tony Martin Passes On

Legendary singer Tony Martin died on 27 July 2012 at the age of 98.

He was born Alvin Morris on 25 December 1913 in San Francisco, California. His family moved to Oakland, California not long after his birth. He was drawn to music while young and learned to play the saxophone as a teenager. While in high school he joined a local band of which future band leader Woody Herman was also a member. He attended Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga. He left when one of the instructors there informed him that he was flunking everything and should probably remain with music. He left college for Hollywood in an effort to get into films. It was then that he took the name "Tony Martin."

Tony Martin made his film debut as a singer in the film Foolish Hearts in 1935. In the Thirties he would go onto appear in such films as Follow the Fleet (1936), Back to Nature (1936), Pigskin Parade (1936), Sing and Be Happy (1937), Life Begins in College (1937), Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937), Up the River (1938), Winner Take All (1939), and Muisc in My Heart (1940).  Tony Martin was also the featured vocalist on the legendary radio show The Burns and Allen Show from 1937 to 1938. A running joke was that Gracie Allen (she and George were still portrayed as single, even though they were already married in real life) carried a torch for the handsome Mr. Martin. It was also in the late Thirties that Tony Martin's recording career began. Signed to Decca Records, he had his first hit in 1938 with "The Moon Of Manakoora," which went to #15 on the Billboard singles chart. His second single, "I Hadn't Anyone Till You," was also released in 1938 and would prove to be one of his biggest hits, going to #4 on the Billboard singles chart. He would have a string of hit records in the late Thirties that included "You Couldn't Be Cuter," "South of the Border," "It's a Blue World," and "Fools Rush In."

While he would only make a few films in the Forties, arguably Tony Martin's most memorable film appearance came about in that decade . It was in 1941 he played one of the male leads in Ziegfeld Girl and sang "You Stepped out of a Dream" and "Caribbean Love Song." In the Forties he went onto appear in such films as The Big Store (1941), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), and Casbah (1948).  He continued to have hit songs in the early part of the decade, including "Tonight We Love" and "To Each His Own." Mr. Martin's career would be interrupted by World War II. He served for a brief time in the United States Navy, but left after unfounded rumours persisted that he had tried to buy a commission. He then joined the United States Army where he served in the Air Corps. Sadly, the rumours persisted even after the war, so that even though he had served honourably in the Pacific Theatre, nearly every major label refused to sign him following the war. In the end he would sign with the then smaller label Mercury Records. Mr. Martin would have several hits, first with Mercury  and then with RCA Victor, in the late Forties, including "It's Magic," If You Stub Your Toe On the Moon," "There's No Tomorrow," "I Said My Pajamas (and Put on My Pray'rs)," "La Vie en rose,"  and"A Penny a Kiss."

The Fifties would see Tony Martin at the height of his success. From 1954 to 1956 he had his own television series, The Tony Martin Show. He also guest starred on The Jack Benny Programme, Shower of Stars, and The George Burns Show. His film career was also at its height, as he appeared in several films throughout the decade. Among them were Two Tickets to Broadway (1951), Here Come the Girls (1953), Easy to Love (1953), Deep in My Heart (1954), Hit the Deck (1955), and Let's Be Happy (1957). Mr. Martin also had several hit songs throughout the decade, including "I Get Ideas," "Vanity," "Domino." Kiss of Fire," "April In Portugal," Stranger In Paradise," "Here," and Walk Hand In Hand."

By the Sixties the Hollywood musical was in decline and rock music came to dominate the music charts, so that Tony Martin's career went into decline. During the decade he made two guest appearances on television, on The Donna Reed Show and Death Valley Days. He continued to record, but he would have only one more hit. "Theme from the Sandpebbles (And We Were Lovers)" failed to make the Billboard Hot 100, but went to #22 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1967. He would make one final appearance on film in a cameo in Dear Mr. Wonderful (1982). Mr. Martin would continue to make personal appearances for decades. He had married legendary dancer and actress Cyd Charisse in 1948 and the two would remain married until her death sixty years later. The two toured together for years with a cabaret act featuring each of them.

While Tony Martin may not be as famous as earlier crooner Bing Crosby or later crooner Frank Sinatra, he was as great a vocalist as either of them. He had a incredibly rich baritone capable of emotional subtleties of which many modern day performers are wholly incapable. One need only look at the "You Stepped Out of a Dream" sequence from Ziegfeld Girl. Even with such incredible beauties as Hedy Lamarr and Lana Turner on the screen, it is Tony Martin's voice that dominates the scene. While many others would record "To Each His Own," it is Tony Martin's version that is the quintessential one, largely because of his powerful voice.

It was not simply Tony Martin's voice that set him apart from many singers. While many crooners, particularly Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, developed a more casual style, Tony Martin was the epitome of fashion. It was rare indeed that he did not appear in black tie. In fact, he had such a sense of style that in the early Fifties a tuxedo was even named for him. While his fashion sense was definitely formal, his style in live performances was not. Tony Martin was known not only for singing in his personal appearances, but for his stories and remembrances of those who wrote the songs he performed, fellow performers, and so on. As a performer on stage he was very personable.

Indeed, as great as Tony Martin's voice was and as chic as his sense of style was, it was perhaps his sincerity that made him a success. He could take any song and sing it as if he meant it. Few could match Mr. Martin for the emotion he put into his singing. While others had recorded Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" before him and others would do so after him, it is arguably his version that stands out the most. The simple fact was that Tony Martin could take any song and make it entirely his own, singing it as if it was the story of his life. Few singers, even ones with voices as great as that of Tony Martin, possessed that gift. That Tony Martin did makes it a certainty that people will be listening to his songs for decades to come. 

Sometimes I listen to songs on the radio and it blows my mind that kids are definitely into these tunes that are ubber sexual. I mean "Cake" by Rihanna...hubda hubda! I can't imagine driving my well behaved, not sassy or sarcastic child around and hearing her bust out those lyrics!! But then I think back to my favorite girlhood compact disc and boy does a reality check set in. Crazy, Sexy, Cool by TLC was my joint in 5th grade and dang is that CD dirrrrtttyyyyy! Red Light Special was my fave song, and although at the time I don't know how much of it I really got, I knew that it gave me tingles down below when I bumped it on my six disc boom box and thought about my bf Gary! The thought of my poor mother walking into my room and I'm sitting at my desk doing homework listening to Red Light is both horrifying and hilarious! 

My mom was pretty lax when it came to my sister and my music choices. Not to mention that my sis and I were both obsessed with 90210 growing up. I guess this explains my surprise when my mom insisted on watching the first few episodes of Dawson's Creek with me to ensure it wasn't too "mature". Hello lady...ain't nothing on this show that TLC and Kelly Taylor haven't already taught me! 

And for your listening pleasure, take it back to 5th grade with some midnight melodies!

Deliver again the 10, states the 1st best 10, Nadia Comaneci - USA Today

LONDON -- Nadia Comaneci shocked the world -- and the scoreboard -- when she scored the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics as a pony-tailed 14-year-old in 1976. Now 50, she wishes gymnastics still had the perfect 10 in its scoring.

"I think gymnastics was associated with the 10. I thought that belonged to the sport, and somehow we gave it way," the former Romanian Olympian said Wednesday at a news media event held by Adidas.

The International Gymnastics Federation changed the scoring in 1997. Now, it's a score with no ceiling. Top scores are typically in the 15-17 range.

"I think we lost a lot of the fans because they don't understand what is 14 or what is 15? What's the highest score you can get? … It's a little bit confusing for the fans. I think that probably they're going to find a way to bring back the 10 somehow," Comaneci said.

Overall at the '76 Olympics in Montreal, Comaneci scored 10s in seven events. Her first came in the uneven bars at the old Montreal Forum, historic as the home of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. But the scoreboard that day was equipped only for a single digit before the decimal point. So her score appeared as "1.00."

"I didn't understand what it meant, but Longines didn't prepare the scoreboard to accommodate a 1o. … I was a little frustrated at the beginning because I thought I did better than one," Comaneci said.

But everybody figured it out soon enough, and she was vaulted into instant world celebrity. Now, she lives in Oklahoma City with her husband, former gold medal-winning Olympic gymnast Bart Conner. They have a 6-year-old son, Dylan, who started rolling around the mats at their gymnastics academy when he was 2.

"I think gymnastics is a good base (for youngsters), not necessarily to stay with the sport," she said. "They can go into something else, but to be busy and do something athletic.''

She started in Romania when she was 6½. Though she was 14 in Montreal, the qualification age for eligibility in Olympic gymnastics has been 16 since 1997. It had been raised to 15 before that.

Comaneci, who'll be doing some international broadcast work at these Olympics, doesn't favor the new age restriction.

"I was turning actually 15 at the Olympics in '76. … I don't think that one year makes a huge difference," Comaneci said.

"I think that a lot of the kids will miss their chance to compete because some of them will turn 16 (after) Jan. 1 of next year, which means they will have to sit around for four more years. That will be very difficult to compete in your first Olympics at 19 or 20 years old. I think I like the way that it was, but I guess we're just going to go with the rules.''

She doesn't buy the notion that the pressure is too much when you're younger.

"I think it's the other way around. People think that young kids have pressure, but no we don't when we are young because you just go and do whatever you do in a gym," she said. "(But) as the years go by, you become an adult and understand the responsibilities and what people are expecting from you. With me, that happened in 1980 in the Moscow Games."

In Moscow, she wasn't perfect. But she won golds in the balance beam and floor exercise and took silver in the all-around and the team race.

"Two gold medals and two silver, I don't think is that bad. … I think I still did a pretty good job," she said.

For her media event, she wore a black Adidas jersey with "I'm Gold" lettered in gold on the front.

"It should be, 'I'm perfect' in the back," she said with a laugh.

However, she doesn't preach perfection in sports or other areas of life.

"Life is not easy for anyone. You have to have ups and downs," she said. " You can make mistakes. You learn and try not to make them again. That's pretty much my principle.''

In Olympic gymnastics, mistakes will cost points.

"The competition is open for everybody. Whoever is going to hit the perfect thing is going to be the one who is going to win,'' Comaneci said.

But they won't get 10s.

The 2012 field: Comaneci likes the USA's chances of winning its first team title in since 1996. The U.S. women are guided by Martha Karolyi and her husband Bela Karolyi, who coached Comaneci.

"The United States is very good at this particular time. I watched them compete at the nationals. I think they have a great chance to be the favorite to win the team competition," she said.

"But of course the competition is open for everybody. On the paper , I'm just thinking Romania is doing very well. And they proved that at the European championship. I think Russia wants to be there on the podium, and China, of course. I don't know too much about China. I haven't seen them yet."

Her take on the women's all around: "Jordyn Wieber, the world champion (from the USA), is very good. Gabby Douglas, which is a new name for the United States in their team. (Viktoria) Komova, Russia, has a great chance. And I'm thinking of Larisa Iordache from Romania."

Source : Deliver again the 10, states the 1st best 10, Nadia Comaneci - USA Today

Quer conversar com Avril Lavigne?

É exatamente isso que qualquer fã sonha, não é mesmo? Pois, agora você tem a chance de conversar um pouquinho com a nossa loira preferida através de um novo aplicativo chamadoBobsled. Avril Lavigne tweetou hoje:

O que você gostaria de me perguntar pessoalmente através do @LetsBobsled ? Pense e participe! xoxo

E adicionou ESSE link, redirecionando pra uma página no Facebook, onde é necessário apenas cadastrar seu nome, informar como gostaria de ser contatado, caso seja o sorteado, e baixar o aplicativo. Simples e eficaz: é assim que o mesmo funciona. Com ele é possível conversar com pessoas através de ligações gratuitas (porém somente no Canadá, Estados Unidos e Porto Rico), fazer chats com muitas pessoas e também conversar enquanto navega na internet.

Resumindo: é a junção de muitos programas que usamos em nossos computadores e dispositivos móveis. Muito legal! A má notícia é que somenteresidentes nos EUA e de DC podem participar. Poxa vida!

Para conferir o twitter de Avril Lavigne, clique AQUI.

Fonte: AvrilMidia

Initial ratings stumble for NBC Olympics - KFMB News eight

NEW YORK (AP) - NBC's London Olympic coverage has topped Beijing for the fourth night in a row.

The Nielsen company estimated that Monday night's prime-time coverage was seen by 31.6 million viewers, up from the 30.2 million who watched the first Monday of competition in Beijing four years ago.

At least initially, it had appeared NBC had fallen short of Beijing. Nielsen's overnight measurement of the nation's largest cities showed NBC's ratings down 5 percent from the 2008 Games. But Nielsen's viewership estimate is the more definitive number, a measurement based on Nielsen meters all across the country.

Four years ago on the same night, NBC was able to run many events live, including a gold medal race by Michael Phelps. NBC's prime time this year was all tape-delayed material, with a disappointing showing by the U.S. men's gymnastics team.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source : Initial ratings stumble for NBC Olympics - KFMB News eight

Djokovic whips Roddick Murray rolls along at Olympic Online games - Fox News

Wimbledon, England –  Former Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic and this year's Wimbledon runner-up Andy Murray were a pair of easy second-round winners Tuesday at the London Olympics tennis event.

In a matchup of former world No. 1s, a second-seeded Djokovic dismantled previously-hot American Andy Roddick 6-2, 6-1 under the roof on Centre Court at the All England Club, where rain fell on Day 4. The 25-year-old Serbian star fired 13 aces among 33 winners and tallied a mere six unforced errors in advancing.

The reigning Australian and U.S. Open champion Djokovic went 4-for-4 on his break-point chances in the comprehensive victory over Roddick, who had won 12 of his previous 13 matches, including a grass-court title in Eastbourne and a hardcourt victory in Atlanta.

Roddick is a three-time Wimbledon runner-up to the great Roger Federer.

Djokovic was an Olympic bronze medalist in Beijing four years ago.

Meanwhile, the third-seeded British favorite Murray handled Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 6-4 on Centre Court. The world No. 4 Murray lost to the Swiss icon Federer in the Wimbledon finale here earlier this month.

Former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis upset 16th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4, as the Cypriot Baghdatis will battle Murray in his next outing.

Another second-round result saw 15th-seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori overcome fading former top-five Russian Nikolay Davydenko 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Source : Djokovic whips Roddick Murray rolls along at Olympic Online games - Fox News

Born On This Day- July 31st... Colin Higgins

Colin Higgins was one of Hollywood's most beloved directors & screenwriters. He is responsible for one of the most influential films of my youth- Harold & Maude.

Born in the South Pacific island of New Caledonia to an Australian mother & American father, Higgins moved with his family to Redwood, CA from Sydney in the 1950s. After attending Stanford University for a year, he dropped out to hitchhike across the country. His travels took him first to the Actors Studio in NYC & then to Europe where he volunteered for the Army as a sports reporter for The Stars & Stripes. He eventually returned to Stanford to receive his degree in English & later attended film school at UCLA. During his final year, he wrote the screenplay for Harold & Maude.

While today it is considered to be one of the greatest of Hollywood films, Harold & Maude was a huge flop when it opened during the Christmas season of 1971 with little fanfare or advertising. The unusual romance between a young man & a much older woman, starring Bud Cort & my muse- Ruth Gordon, struck a chord with audiences & soon became a cult favorite around the world. His stage version ran for just 9 performances on Broadway, but ran in Paris for 7 years.

Following the success of Harold & Maude, Higgins went on to write & direct some of the most successful films of the 1970s &1980s:  Silver Streak, Foul Play, 9 to 5, & The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas.

In 1986, Higgins established a foundation in his name. The Colin Higgins Courage Awards recognizes ordinary but remarkable individuals who have endured overwhelming hostility & hate, yet have handled themselves with the utmost grace as they educate & enlighten others about the LGBT experience. Each winner receives $10,000 as part of the prize.

In addition to the Courage Awards, the Foundation also funds film scholarships & has supported over 390 LGBT groups, ranging from the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) to gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender outreach & AIDS prevention programs in places like as Fayetteville, Arkansas & Biloxi, Mississippi.

In 1986, he also completed a mini-series based on Shirley MacLaine's book Out on a Limb, which turned out to be his last film project. Higgins died of AIDS in 1988.

Born On This Day- July 31st... Gay Rights Pioneer, Barbara Gittings

During an era when very few gay people dared come out in private, much less in public, Barbara Gittings was a vocal & visible figure in the fledgling fight for gay rights.

In the late 1950s, she founded the NYC chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first national organization for lesbians, even though she lived in Philadelphia. In the 1960s, she took part in early gay rights demonstrations at the White House & Liberty Square in Philadelphia. In the early 1970s, she helped lobby the American Psychiatric Association to change its stance on homosexuality; in 1973, the APA invalidated the definition of homosexuality as a mental disorder.

Gittings also strove to make information about gay men & lesbians more widely available in libraries. Though not a librarian by training, she was for many years the head of the American Library Association’s Gay Task Force; she coordinated & edited the association’s comprehensive bibliography of literature by & about gay people.

Gittings felt keenly aware of the need for such a bibliography as a young woman, when she scoured local libraries, seeking, but seldom seeing, something that would help her understand her own life.

Gittings was born on July 31, 1932, in Vienna, where her father was a member of the United States diplomatic corps, returning to the United States when Barbara was young. When she was a teenager, her father caught her reading The Well of Loneliness, the 1928 novel of lesbian love by the English writer Radclyffe Hall. He told her, via a letter, to burn the book. Gittings’ father mailed the letter, when he could not bring himself to speak to her.

Gittings studied theatre at Northwestern, but she was increasingly distracted by the need to learn as much as she could about homosexuality. She haunted the libraries of Chicago, unearthing little that was relevant & nothing that was encouraging.

Gittings: "I had to find bits & pieces under headings like ‘sexual perversion’, ‘invert, or ‘sexual aberration’ in books on abnormal psychology. I kept thinking, ‘It’s me they’re writing about, but it doesn’t feel like me at all.’"

She left Northwestern after her freshman year, & for decades she supported her activism with clerical jobs. In 1958, commuting from her home in Philadelphia, Gittings started the NYC chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, which was founded in San Francisco in 1955; she later edited the organization’s national newsletter- The Ladder. In 1965, she took part in one of the first gay rights pickets of the White House, in an effort to end discrimination against gay people in federal employment.

Gittings received many awards, among them honorary membership in the American Library Association. The Free Library of Philadelphia named its gay & lesbian collection for her, & the NYC Public Library acquired the papers of Gittings & her longtime partner- Kay Tobin Lahusen, which chronicle more than half a century in the gay rights movement.

She appeared in the documentaries Out of the Past, Gay Pioneers, Before Stonewall & After Stonewall.

Lahusen: “Before Barbara died, we went jointly into an assisted-living facility. Our last bit of activism was to come out in the newsletter of our assisted-living facility.” Gittings died of cancer in her home on February 2007 at 74 years old.

A Foodstuff Experiment

Not to be outdone by 5 Hour Energy Drink, some random no-name company decided to come out with 6-Hour Energy Cookie. This makes sense because huh?

So what do I do? Naturally, I buy one like an idjit.

So I ate the cookie at 9:45 and will check in later at quarter to three to let you know if this morning cookie got me pumped all day like a red bu... sorry. Like a red rhino. *rolls eyes*

Shit's nasty, btw.

**UPDATE:**  My math sucks. I meant quarter to four, not three. And although I haven't felt "charged" in the last 6 hours, I haven't fallen asleep on my ass, either.

Overall grade: F

NBC spoils Missy Franklin's gold medal race - Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)

7:07 am July 31, 2012, by Joel Provano

Missy Franklin poses with her first gold medal (NBC).

Missy Franklin is the star of the London Olympics for the United States, so naturally NBC wanted to delay her 100-meter backstroke race for prime time Monday night.

But the network spoiled the event for millions of viewers just six minutes before the race, airing a promo for Tuesday’s “Today” show that began, “When you’re 17 years old and win your first gold medal, there’s nobody you’d rather share it with. We’re there when Missy Franklin and her parents reunite …”

And for the benefit of those who might have had their TV muted, NBC showed a full-screen photo of Franklin posing with her gold medal.

The Twitterverse wasn’t kind to the Peacock Network:

• Emma V. Haberl‏: Dear NBC, thanks for promoting the interview with “first time olympic gold medal winner missy Franklin”…MOMENTS BEFORE AIRING THE RACE.
• Matt Knisely‏: Biggest failure in Olympic TV History? NBC showing the promo of Missy Franklin winning Gold in the commercial break before she raced.
• Cecil Hurt‏: NBC airs Missy Franklin gold medal promo before the Missy Franklin race. In headline style: Network Extends Middle Finger To America.

The 17-year-old Coloradan is trying to match East German swimmer Kristin Otto’s women’s Olympic record of six individual gold medals. Will NBC spoil them all?

Source : NBC spoils Missy Franklin's gold medal race - Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)

Matt Shadows cumple 31 años

El vocalista de Avenged Sevenfold cumple hoy 31 años.
Matthew Charles Sanders nació el 31 de julio de 1981 en Huntington Beach, California. Aprendió de joven a tocar el piano y la guitarra. En 1999 formaría Avenged Sevenfold junto a los compañeros de secundaria Zacky Vengeance, Jimmy Sullivan y Matt Wendt.

Gymnast Shawn Johnson on Jordyn Wieber Shocker: "It Broke My Heart" - The Daily Blabber from iVillage

If anyone knows what Jordyn Wieber, the reigning 2011 World Champion in gymnastics, might be feeling after failing to make the Olympic all-around final, it might be Shawn Johnson.

Like Wieber, Johnson was the favorite for the all-around gold during the 2008 Olympics, heading to Beijing as the world champion. While Shawn made the all-around final, she saw her hopes of gold dashed at the very end of the competition, having to settle for silver and watch teammate Nastia Lukin take home the gold instead.

“It’s the Olympics, you never know what’s going to happen and unfortunately, in our sport, a lot of it has to do with what judges like,” Johnson told me during an interview at the P&G Family Home, a place for Team USA family members and athletes to spend time together during the Games. “It broke my heart,” said Shawn, who was in the arena and quickly realized what had happened after seeing Aly Raisman’s coach scream and jump up in the air. Aly and Gabby Douglas, who's almost like a younger sister to Shawn, made the team and will compete for Olympic gold in the all-around final. Only two women from each team can make it to the all-around final based on Olympic rules.

“I think everybody in America and in the world … is confused right now,” Shawn added. That includes Jordyn's mom Rita, who wrote a moving post on her blog.  She questioned the current rules. "Shouldn't it be the top eight athletes period???? It doesn't make sense yet. It doesn't matter, it is what it is," she wrote.

While Shawn was shocked about Jordyn, she was not surprised that Aly surged in the qualifying round. “She’s always been a fierce competitor and I think she’s kind of gone unnoticed for a while because the spotlight’s been on Jordyn and Gabby,” said Shawn.

Gabby, just 16 years old, moved to Des Moines two years ago so she could train with the same coach Shawn used to win Olympic gold on the balance beam. “It gives me goose bumps … just thinking about seeing her name on the scoreboard and that she’s made the finals takes everything her family has gone through and makes it worth it.”

Her Advice to Jordyn: “She had a great meet, I mean, she went out of bounds, that was like her biggest mistake, and that’s nothing,” Shawn said. “She did a phenomenal job and she needs to realize that … her record and her background (are) unbelievable and that will never go away. She is still to everybody one of the strongest, if not the strongest competitor in the world.”

Wrote Jordyn's mom: "I am heartbroken that she won't have the chance to fulfill her lifelong dream but I pray she will feel fulfilled and grateful for what she has accomplished and contributed to this sport. ... To be part of an Olympic team is an amazing accomplishment in itself and I hope that is what Jordyn feels in the end."

Looking Ahead to the Team Final on Tuesday: “They can’t get a big head yet,” said Shawn, as the U.S. team, first after the qualifying round ahead of Russia and China, will try to be the first women’s team since 1996 to win gold in the team final. “This is only preliminaries, there isn’t a medal involved here, they have to start over and come back even hungrier than they were today.”

Being a Spectator, Not a Competitor: “It’s strange, it’s emotional, walking into the arena, it’s kind of like a little knife in your stomach, your heart because I knew I wanted to be down there,” said Shawn, who was mounting a comeback and trying to make the 2012 team, until injuries forced her to retire last month. “I also feel like I‘ve been out of it long enough to where it doesn’t feel like I could even be down there so I’m like, ‘Well, that looks just impossible. I’m going to stay seated in my seat and relax.'”

On Blogging during the Olympics for Today.com & Doing Work for P&G: “It definitely helps,” Shawn said. “This is my life, I love athletics, I love sports, I love the Olympic movement and retiring, I was afraid that that would all go away and being reassured that it hasn’t (is)…gratifying. It’s nice to still be able to live my dream but in a different sense.”

Kelly Wallace is chief correspondent of iVillage and is in London covering the Olympics. You can follow Kelly’s daily behind-the-scenes blog reports here and her Olympic tweets by following her on Twitter (@kellywallacetv).

Source : Gymnast Shawn Johnson on Jordyn Wieber Shocker: "It Broke My Heart" - The Daily Blabber from iVillage

DID JESSICA BIEL GIVE JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE AN ULTIMATUM???: CAMERON DIAZ'S recent interview in which she spoke of her continued close relationship with ex-boyfriend JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE has apparantly upset JT's fiancee, JESSICA BIEL.

According to 'The National Enquirer,' Jessica totally lost it when she learned that Cameron had said she will, quote, "always love the man in so many different ways. Justin and I had a journey together and still do."

“Jessica has always been threatened by Cameron’s close relation­ship with Justin,” says and un-named insider. “And she believed Cameron was saying that if Justin was having second thoughts about the wedding, she would be waiting for him with open arms.”

Biel was supposedly so haunted by the thought, she allegedly rushed to confront Timberlake in Puerto Rico, where he's shooting a movie and left him with an ultimatum: cut off contact with Diaz or their wedding is off!

ARE KRISTEN STEWART AND ROBERT PATTINSON FIGHTING OVER CUSTODY OF THEIR DOG?: Thing have gone from bad to worse between KRISTEN STEWART and ROBERT PATTINSON. 

RadarOnline is reporting that a custody battle is brewing over a dog they adopted last year.

The pair adopted a mutt they named Bear from a high-kill shelter in New Orleans early last year and neither seems willing to give him up.

A source says, quote, "Rob told Kristen he wanted Bear. However, Kristen won't give up Bear. She wants joint custody." The blabbermouth adds that "it could get a little messy."

Peep some pics of the adorable mutt HERE and HERE

UPDATE - IT WAS KRISTEN WHO WAS MOVING OUT: It turns out the moving van photographed outside the home Robert Pattinson shared with Kristen Stewart was rented by Kristen.

'People' magazine says he "asked" her to remove her belongings from the house after she made that public apology for hooking up with movie director Rupert Sanders.

Although Rob owns the house, he left late last week and is staying in an unknown location.

ALL THE KRISTEN STEWART CHEATING PICS NOW ONLINE: 'Us Weekly' has posted "all the shocking" KRISTEN STEWART kissing and snuggling cheating pics in one handy location on their website.

Hit up THIS LINK to get to the gallery.

COULD BE TRUE, COULD BE CRAP - DEPP DUMPED: While we still don't know for sure if JOHNNY DEPP was ever getting all smoove up in AMBER HEARD after breaking up with VANESSA PARADIS, the bastion of journalistic integrity known as "National Enquirer" says it's over.

Apparently,because Amber didn't like being referred to as a "home wrecker."

As per their source, quote, "Amber didn't want to be seen as the vixen who tore Johnny's family apart. When she got drawn into the publicity after their split, she wasn't happy at all."

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS FOR JULY 31 – WESLEY SNIPES, J. K. ROWLING AND MORE

SPLITSVILLE - 'REAL HOUSEWIVES' ADRIENNE MALOOF AND HUBBY SEPARATE: A 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' marriage has bitten the dust. Yesterday, Adrienne Maloof released a statement confirming reports that she and husband Dr. Paul Nassif are separating.

“It's an unfortunate situation but, I have to have my kids' best interest at heart,” she wrote. Not long after, Paul filed the petition to become legally separated from Adrienne.

The former couple, who’ve been married for nine years, has three young sons together. Sources say no third party is to blame for the split.

ADAM LEVINE PHOTO TWEETED OUT: Ryan Murphy, the writer and director of the TV show 'American Horror Story', Tweeted a photo of Maroon 5 singer ADAM LEVINE on the set of the show. Adam has a part in the upcoming season.

Levine is playing one half of a pair of characters called "The Lovers," who are patients in the New England mental hospital run by Jessica Lange's character.

Ye! Shiwen, She Won

Ye Shiwen exults after winning the women's 400 IM gold. Pic courtesy National Post.

The 16 year old Chinese girl's feat of out-splitting even the world's fastest male swimmer raises claims of doping

By Francis Adams

Arne Ljungqvist, chief of the International Olympic Committee's medical commission and a veteran anti-doping official showed, on Monday, how an official heading an important body at the Olympic Games ought to react impartially and in a professional manner.

  Ljungqvist quashed claims of doping when asked about 16 year old Chinese girl Yi Shiwen's astounding feat in the pool by saying, "I say no. I personally have no reason other than to applaud until i have further facts."

Arne Ljungvist

 Ye won the 400m Individual Medley gold in a world record time of 4min 28.43sec, erasing more than a second off the world record achieved by Australia's Stephanie Rice four years ago in Beijing. By clocking that record time, Ye would have beaten the world's fastest swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte of the United States.

 “Should a sudden raise in performance or a win be primarily suspect of being a cheat then sport is in danger because this ruins the charm of sport,” Ljungqvist, who has 40 years experience in anti-doping told the National Post.

  Ye's heroics did not go down well with John Leonard, executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association. "But the final 100m was impossible. Flat out. If all her split times had been faster I don't think anybody would be calling it into question, because she is a good swimmer. But to swim three other splits at the rate that she did, which was quite ordinary for elite competition, and then unleash a historic anomaly, it is just not right," Leonard told The Guardian.

 Ye herself told The Guardian that "the Chinese team keeps very firmly to the anti-doping policies, so there is absolutely no problem."
  The clean chit given to Ye by WADA, the world anti-doping body, on Tuesday, has added addtional shine to her record-breaking effort.

 With 17 medals ( nine gold, five silver and three bronze) in two days of competition and dominating the leaderboard, China is more than likely to face the envy of the rest of the world, led by the developed Western nations who have been ruling the podium for almost a century, that is, until four years ago when China hosted the Beijing Games and finished at the top in the overall medal tally.
 Almost every country, dominant in sports or the also-ran, have witnessed doping related incidents.
  An editorial in Tuesday's The Times of India, the country's largest English-language newspaper by circulation and readership exhorted the country to "Begin With an Olympic Dream".
  Unlike India, with an equally huge population, China's orientation toward sports development began with Mao Zedong's slogan of "promoting physical culture and building people's health" that triggered the change.
  It was during this time that the feudal dynasty, with a Confucian cultural heritage embraced modern forms of physical exercises and sport owing to western influence and the advent of missionaries, who introduced track and field events as part of the educational program.
 According to a document "China and the Olympic Movement" by Hai Ren, who was the Professor of Beijing University of Physical Education and Director of the Centre for Olympic Studies at the Beijing University of Physical Education when he wrote it, "1979 marked a significant turning point of Olympic  development in China with its returning to the international Olympic family. During the 1980s a sport developmental strategy was proposed by the National Sport Commission, involving harmonious development between high performance sports aiming at the Olympic Games and mass sports, which focused on youngsters."
 The document says that with the exception of traditional sport such as Wushu, the administration in China restablished the National Games, held every four years into an Olympic-oriented policy. This produced dramatic and positive results.
  In an interesting anecdote from history, it was in 1948, post World War II and at the London Olympic Games that 33 athletes representing China in basketball, football, track and field, swimming and cycling ended up without a medal. As a result their government at that time left them stranded in London, without any money in their pockets. It asked the delegation to solve the problem themselves and made its intention clear that it would not spend a single penny for their return.
  Sixty four years on, the Chinese athletes participating in London 2012 are well fed and looked after by their government. June 23 is marked as Olympic Day and Olympic champions are treated as national heroes and showered with luxuries.
  It wouldn't be a surprise if China walks away as the leader at the end of this year's Olympic Games. 

Shawn Johnson: 'Going to London is bittersweet' - msnbc.com (blog site)

By Shawn Johnson

Gold-winning gymnast and TODAY.com special correspondent Shawn Johnson reflects on attending her first Olympic Games since retiring in June. 

I couldn't be more excited to be in London covering the Olympics. Still, attending my first Opening Ceremony in London as a non-athlete is bittersweet. Here's what happens when you retire from Olympic competition: The first week is awful. It’s like hitting a brick wall. Every decision you’ve ever made pretty much your entire life has been based on your sport and getting to the Olympics: what you eat, what you drink, when you go to sleep. It’s everything. And when you no longer have that, you kind of feel lost.

Within a few weeks, you start thinking about what you want to do and where you want to go. You kind of get separation anxiety, and wonder what you’re going to end up doing. You start missing it.

But for me, opportunities started coming right off the bat, which made the transition a lot easier. In London, I'm going to be the first-ever TODAY.com special correspondent. That means I'll be blogging for TODAY in London, doing behind-the-scenes reporting and sharing my unique perspective on the Games.

It's a good thing I'll be busy, because it's going go be hard sitting in the stands! I'm still the kind of person that wants to be active and down there competing. 

I think it’s going to be the little things that’ll get to me the most.

Wearing a credential that says "media" instead of "athlete," for example. Trying to get into the Olympic village, and having to get a guest pass. I'll be like, "No, I’m an athlete!" and they'll say, "No, you were." I’ll forever be an athlete. But it’s kind of having that dreaded word “former” or “ex” before my name that makes me cringe. I never thought that day was going to come.

Ryan Towe Photography

One thing that's been fun: Packing. I'm bringing nice clothes, like heels for events, and running shoes. As a competitor, I wouldn’t have packed any of that — just leotards, tennis shoes and warm-ups. Street clothes take up a lot more room! A leotard takes up nothing, and we weren't allowed to bring more than one bag anyway. Now, I've got two: one for my shoes and one for my clothes. 

For the first time ever, I'll be able to check out other events that we weren’t allowed to watch when we were competing. I'll be at opening and closing ceremonies, in the audience, watching the gymnastics, of course, and I’ve got tickets to the gold medal basketball game and women’s volleyball.

This will also be my first time in London! I want to see the London Eye, and get a Buckingham palace guard to smile. I’m kind of a nerd that way; I love visiting touristy sites. Any free minute I get, I’m going to be walking around.

And if I meet Will and Kate, I'm going to ask: Where's her favorite place to shop? And what's the queen like? Is she really intense? 

But most of all, I'm going to be watching all of my Olympian friends — even if it's just on TV — and I'll be the one cheering the loudest.

Tell me: What do you want to know about the Olympics? Ask me your questions in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them! 

More: Gold star: Medalist Shawn Johnson joins TODAY.com Olympic team 
Follow Shawn on Twitter
Shawn Johnson on her new book, 'Winning Balance'
London eyes: Behind the scenes with TODAY staffers
Seacrest: If Kim Kardashian was an Olympian, she'd play... 

Source : Shawn Johnson: 'Going to London is bittersweet' - msnbc.com (blog site)

Shooter Narang opens medal count for India, wins bronze - New York Every day News

India's Olympic medal hopes brightened with Gagan Narang's bronze win in 10-meter air rifle event. But there was disappointment too in the Indian campt as the Beijing gold winner Abhinav Bindra failed to qualify for the final round.

India's rifle shooter Gagan Narang clinched the bronze medal in the men's 10-meter air rifle event of the 2012 London Olympics while his illustrious compatriot and defending champion Abhinav Bindra failed to qualify for the final round at Royal Artillery Barracks here Monday.

The gold went to Romanian Alin George Moldoveanu with a total score of 702.1 (599 qualifying, 103.1 final) and Italian Niccolo Campriani bagged the silver with 701.5 (599 qualifying, 102.5 final).

Narang, who is participating in his third Games, had a total score of 701.1 (598 qualifying, 103.1 final). Going into the final round, Narang was third.

In the final round, Narang had a series of 10.7, 9.7, 10.6, 10.7, 10.4, 10.6, 9.9, 9.5, 10.3 and 10.7 to give India its first medal from the London Games.

It was the third time in row that Indian shooters had won medals at the Olympics. Double trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won the silver in 2004, Bindra gave India a historic gold in Beijing, and now Narang has bagged a bronze in London.

Bindra, India's only individual Olympic gold medalist, failed to qualify as he shot 594 to finish 16th out of 47 contestants.

In the qualifying round, Narang, who missed the final round in Beijing Games on a countback, was in his elements. The 29-year-old Hyderabadi shot perfect series of 100 in all the rounds except the third when he scored 98. He also shot 53 inner 10s.

Bindra had just two series of perfect 100 in the third and the fourth round. He shot 99s in the first, second and fifth and faltered in the sixth, when he shot 97. The top eight shooters qualified for the final round. Former Olympic champion and Beijing Games silver medalist Zhu Qinan of China also failed to qualify for the final round.

This article was distributed through the NewsCred Smartwire. Original article © IANS / Daily News 2012

Source : Shooter Narang opens medal count for India, wins bronze - New York Every day News

The Late Great Geoffrey Hughes

Geoffrey Hughes, who played Onslow on Keeping Up Appearances and provided the voice of Paul McCartney in the animated classic Yellow Submarine died on 27 July 2012 at the age of 68. The cause was prostate cancer.

Geoffrey Hughes was born on 2 February 1944 in Wallasey, Cheshire, England. He attended Abbotsford Secondary Modern School, Norris Green, Liverpool. After he finished school Mr. Hughes worked as a salesman in a department store and in his spare time acted with the Merseyside Unity Theatre, an amateur acting troupe. He received his break when playwright Alan Owun and actor Tom Bell watched Mr. Hughes perform in one of Mr. Owun's plays. Mr. Bell made him an offer to go with him to London where he would get him an agent. Mr. Hughes was ambivalent about the offer, and took a position with the repertory at the Victoria Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent instead. It was six months before he took up Tom Bell's offer. Less than a year later he made his debut on the West End in Lionel Bart and Alun Owen's musical Maggie May. He would return to the West End several times, including Run for Your Wife, The Secret Life of Cartoons, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and several other productions.

It was in 1966 that Geoffrey Hughes made his television debut in two episodes of The Likey Lads. In the late Sixties he would also appear in the TV programmes, ITV Play of the Week, Sorry I'm Single, City '68, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), The Wednesday Play, Wicked Women, and Up Pompeii. He was a regular on Currry & Chips. He made his debut in Smashing Time in 1967 and provided the voice of Paul McCartney in Yellow Submarine (1968). In the late Sixties he also appeared in the films The Bofors Gun (1968), Till Death Do Us Part (1969), The Virgin Soldiers (1969), and The Man Who Had Power Over Women (1970).

It was in 1974 that Geoffrey Hughes first appeared as Eddie Yeats on Coronation Street. He would play the role until 1983. In the Seventies he also appeared on the shows Shadows of Fear, The Mind of J. G. Reeder, Play for Today, Thirty-Minute Theatre, Dad's Army, Z Cars, Crown Court, Don't Drink the Water, and Mr. Big. He also appeared in the films The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971), Revenge (1971), Carry on at Your Convenience (1971), Tiffany Jones (1973), Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1974), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), and Nijinsky (1980).

In the Eighties Geoffrey Hughes continued to appear as Eddie on Coronation Street and also appeared in the shows The Bright Side, Doctor Who, Flying Lady, Screen Two, Coasting, and You Rang, M'Lord. It was in 1990 that Geoffrey Hughes first appeared as Onslow, the work shy and bone lazy brother in law of would be social climber Hyacinth Bucket (played by Patricia Routledge). He remained with the show until 1995, the entirety of its run. He also appeared in the shows Spender, Making Out, Boon, I. Lovett, The Upper Hand, and Polterguests. In the Naughts he played Vernon Scripps on the show Heartbeat from 2001 to 2007 and Twiggy on The Royle Family from 1998 to 2008. He also appeared in the shows Casualty and Skins. He appeared in the films Expresso (2007) and Flick (2008).

In 2009 Geoffrey Hughes was appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant for the Isle of Wight.

Geoffrey Hughes was one of the great comic actors of British television. His two best known roles, that of Eddie on Coronation Street and Onslow on Keeping Up Appearances, could best be described as lovable oafs. And while Mr. Hughes had a flair for playing such roles, his talent went well beyond such parts. It was early in his career that he provided the voice of Paul McCartney, doing so well that many thought that it was the genuine Beatle who had provided his own voice. He also played Pistol in a stage production of Shakespeare's Henry V, the Cowardly Lion in a stage production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Trinculo in a BBC film version of Shakespeare's The Tempest. While he had a flair for playing affable rouges, his talent went much further.

Indeed, I must say that Onslow was my favourite character on Keeping Up Appearances largely because Geoffrey Hughes played him so well. Indeed, it is hard to picture any other actor in the role. I must admit I was somewhat surprised when I learned the actor who played Onslow was also the voice of Paul in Yellow Submarine! Geoffrey Hughes was a very funny man and a man of considerable talent. It is so sad to know he is gone.

Nadia Comaneci still hoping gymnastics will return to previous scoring technique and ... - Greenfield Daily Reporter

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LONDON — Nadia Comaneci is hoping gymnastics reverts to the old style of scoring and again give competitors a chance at the "perfect 10" that she made famous.

The Romanian great, who amassed nine Olympic medals including five golds, made history and provided one of the most enduring moments of the Olympics when she achieved the first perfect score at the 1976 Montreal Games at the age of 14.

Her performance on the uneven bars was too good for the scoreboards, which could not display a "10" because no one thought anyone could earn the mark.

Instead they put up "1.00."

"I didn't understand what that meant," Comaneci, 50, said Wednesday. "That's all they could show. I was a little frustrated at the beginning because I thought I did better than one."

In fact, her routine was perfect.

Competitors today don't have a chance at the perfect 10 because of a scoring system change six years ago — 30 years after Comaneci's groundbreaking moment.

At the Olympics in London, Comaneci said wants a return to the old style of scoring and says the International Gymnastics Federation should consider it.

"I think gymnastics was associated with a 10. I thought that belonged to the sport and somehow we gave it away," she said. "I think we lost a lot of fans.

"It's a little bit confusing for fans. I think probably they're going to find a way to bring back the 10."

Comaneci won three golds and a bronze at her famous debut in Montreal and two golds and two silvers in Moscow in 1980. She also won two world titles in a 10-year international career.

Moscow is always considered the Olympics where "she didn't do too well," she said, feigning surprise.

"Nobody talks too much about Moscow," Comaneci added. "It's funny because I get this all the time. 'You went to Moscow but didn't do too well.' And I say 'Two gold medals and two silvers I don't think is that bad.'"

Source : Nadia Comaneci still hoping gymnastics will return to previous scoring technique and ... - Greenfield Daily Reporter

I'm About To Write An Angry Letter...

...to Adobe Photoshop to ask why my skills haven't improved in five years.

Nadia Comaneci normally takes flame on London tour - NDTV

London: Former Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci and ex-basketball star John Amaechi will carry take the Olympic flame as it begins a seven-day tour of London on Saturday.

Olympics 2012 | Schedule | Medals Tally | Photos

The pair will take the torch relay to the roof of the North Greenwich Arena, the venue on the banks of the River Thames that will host gymnastics events and basketball finals during the Games.

Footballer Fabrice Muamba, who suffered a heart attack during an FA Cup match in March, will also carry the flame at the end of the 64th day its 8,000-mile (12,800-kilometre) relay around Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

He will take it through the east London borough of Waltham Forest, where he lived as a boy after moving to Britain from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Muamba was left fighting for his life after collapsing on the pitch while playing for Bolton Wanderers at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane ground during an FA Cup tie on March 17.

The 24-year-old, whose heart stopped for 78 minutes, was taken to a specialist London hospital where he made a remarkable recovery.

Also on Saturday's line-up is Britain's oldest marathon runner Fauja Singh, aged 101 years old, who will carry the torch through the east London borough of Newham.

He started running marathons at the age of 89 and has since completed nine of them, including the 2012 London Marathon in April which he finished in 7 hours 49 minutes.

He also carried the flame while it was in London for the 2004 Athens Games.

The flame's London tour follows its dramatic arrival in the British capital on Friday when it was flown in by military helicopter and lowered to the ground by a marine commando.

Royal Marine Martyn Williams abseiled from a Sea King helicopter hovering over the River Thames, carrying the Olympic flame to the ground in a lantern.

The flame was to then spend the night locked up in the Tower of London, where Queen Elizabeth II keeps her ceremonial jewels and where the Olympic medals are also being stored for safekeeping.

Earlier Friday police arrested a 17-year-old man after he tried to grab the torch from a female torchbearer while it passed through Gravesend, a town southeast of London.

The teenager sprinted out of the crowd toward the torchbearer and was grabbed by the security officers accompanying the torch.

Beginning in Greenich on Saturday, the torch will travel through every London borough in the coming week, carried by 982 torchbearers.

The last torchbearer will light a cauldron at the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium, marking the official start of the Games on July 27.

Romanian gymnast Comaneci won three Olympic golds in the 1976 Montreal Olympics -- where she was the first Olympic gymnast to get a perfect score of 10 -- and two golds in Moscow in 1980.

Former NBA player Amaechi was born in Boston, in the US, but grew up in Stockport, near Manchester, northwest England.

Source : Nadia Comaneci normally takes flame on London tour - NDTV

Hope Solo exhibits lack of leadership - ESPN

Hope Solo is a bad leader.

Sounds kind of harsh, doesn't it? Feels a little like a sucker punch, perhaps something Solo might say about somebody else on her Twitter feed -- impulsively putting somebody on blast because, well, she happens to feel like it. Or because she doesn't particularly like what someone has to say about her United States women's soccer team. In this case, that someone is former U.S. soccer star Brandi Chastain, whom Solo cyber-tacked on Saturday afternoon because she took offense to Chastain's commentary during the U.S. team's 3-0 win over Colombia at the London Olympics.

[+] Enlarge

Matt Kryger/USA TODAY Sports/US PresswireU.S. goalie Hope Solo tweeted about Brandi Chastain's analysis Saturday. In doing so, she showed a lack of leadership, maturity and respect.

During the broadcast, Chastain stated that defender Rachel Buehler's game needed to improve as the tournament progressed, an innocuous observation that would have had a shelf life of, oh, half-a-second if not for Solo's postgame messages. Now, everyone is talking about whether Chastain's comments regarding Buehler's defense were justified and, subsequently, discussing the same thing about Solo's comments regarding Chastain.

If I'm Buehler, I'm less than thrilled with Solo's look-at-what-a-good-teammate-I-am routine. Because, let's be real, this whole mess seems to have a whole lot more to do with Solo being Solo than with her defending Buehler's honor.

Solo is a brilliant goalkeeper, maybe the best in U.S. history. But her leadership skills need a complete overhaul. Her Twitter rant was all kinds of wrong; and the odd part is that she seems to think of herself as brave, a brash voice willing to say what everyone else is too timid to verbalize. She stands with her chest puffed out, the team's last line of defense, on and off the field. But what Solo did on Saturday was toss a boulder into still water, creating a distraction where none existed. And she's supposed to be a team leader?

The best leaders don't pop off anytime they feel slighted. (See other examples of Solo's controversial behavior here and here.) Leadership doesn't work that way. It takes a heck of a lot more courage to rise above and accept criticism, to stay above the fray, than it does to hop on Twitter and reel off a few vicious (and only partially coherent) messages whenever you don't like something.

SportsNation: Solo vs. Chastain

Hope Solo went after Brandi Chastain on Twitter after Chastain criticized Team USA's defense. Did Solo go too far? Comment and vote!

Does Solo want the U.S. women's national team to be taken seriously or not? Because being in the spotlight -- appearing on "Dancing with the Stars" and showing up on magazine covers and doing all the things that Solo does to keep our attention -- means taking the bad with the good. It means steeling yourself against increased scrutiny and -- gasp -- criticism.

Consider the reaction from Chastain, who took the high road and told the media in London she's "here to do my job, which is to be an honest and objective analyst at the Olympics," or from former national team star Julie Foudy, who's covering the Games for espnW. I have $100 that says both Chastain and Foudy would love to pop off right back at Solo. But they won't. Because they have something Solo appears to lack: maturity.

Chastain, a member of the team that won the 1999 Women's World Cup, helped build the platform on which Solo now stands. The two were also teammates for four years, which means Solo should know better than most people all the ways in which Chastain has been an ambassador for women's soccer. Respecting those who came before and paved the way is a key part of leadership, too. And yet somehow Solo seems to believe that Chastain's generation of players is afraid that Solo's generation will eclipse its legacy.

No doubt, a big part of Solo's popularity is due to her in-your-face personality. She walks a fine line between refreshing and irresponsible. She seems to carry a chip on her shoulder, seeing enemies everywhere, an attitude that probably serves her well on the pitch, like kindling for fire. She is always motivated to prove the doubters wrong.

Most teams have a player or two who create drama where there is none. But rarely are those players team leaders. So let's not pretend that Solo's rant was a form of leadership. Her Tweets served only one person.

Hope Solo.

• Joined espnW in Jan. 2012
• Spent three seasons covering the 76ers for the Philadelphia Inquirer
• Played women's basketball at University of Colorado from 1999-2004

Source : Hope Solo exhibits lack of leadership - ESPN

Vollmer, Hansen, Grevers, relay staff carry drama to aquatics globe - Chicago Sun-Instances

BY RICK TELANDER Sun-Times Columnist July 29, 2012 10:58PM

Updated: July 30, 2012 8:20AM

LONDON — There was serious drama Sunday at the Aquatic Center, but it sure wasn’t what was expected.

First, U.S. swimmer Dana Vollmer flew so fast through the final lap of her 100-meter butterfly that she not only rocketed from third place to first, winning by almost a second over silver medalist Ying Lu of China, but she set a world record in the process.

‘‘It’s hard to even put into words how excited I am,’’ the lithe 6-1 veteran from the University of California said. She couldn’t stop smiling as she pondered her winning time of 55.98, the only sub- 56-second clocking for a woman ever. Not only that, Vollmer’s record was one of the few that have been set since those ridiculous, and now-banned, rubber bodysuits began to turn the sport into a silly techno war.

Yet another surprise? As the pool announcer with the smooth-as-Tom Jones voice said, ‘‘A world record with her very first race in the UK!’’

Pip-pip, then. And blimey!

Another surprise came when U.S. team captain and 90-year-old man Brendan Hansen won a bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke. In two weeks, Hansen will actually turn just 31, but the affable fellow has had enough Olympic bad luck and retirement parties to suit any old mope.

‘‘It was a blessing,’’ Hansen said about simply making it back to the finals after quitting for three years after the 2008 Beijing Games. ‘‘It’s the shiniest bronze medal I’ve ever gotten.’’

Then we had suburban Chicago’s finest backstroker ever, Matt Grevers, roaring his way to the top spot heading into the 100-meter back final on Monday.

His 52.66 semi time put him within striking distance of Aaron Piersol’s four-year-old Olympic record of 52.54 and three-year-old world record of 51.94.

The 6-7 man with the size 17 shoes, paddle hands and sweetest demeanor on the team already has swum a 52.08, the second-fastest time ever. He just needs to crank one out during this Olympics to make his mark in history.

He’s confident but very wary.

‘‘I know some of those guys have a lot in the tank,’’ he said. ‘‘Camille Lacourt [the second-place qualifier from France] has not been giving his all. I consider him the favorite.  Just because I’m in the lead doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.’’

The Lake Forest High School and Northwestern grad thought more about possibilities.

‘‘That world record, it’s in my sights,’’ Grevers said. ‘‘Everything has to be perfect. But if everything goes perfectly, I think I have the capability to get that.

‘‘Aaron’s in town, just flew in today, and he’s been my idol for so long — he’s the greatest guy ever. So it would be really cool to get his record. He’s behind it, too. So it would just be a beautiful thing.’’

Not so beautiful was that fourth bit of drama — the U.S. men’s 400-meter free relay team.

Everyone in the sold-out, rocking venue was primed for a wild showdown between the U.S. team and its archrivals, the Australians, seemingly the best 400 team in the world this year. The race could’ve been a repeat of the Beijing Olympics’ relay when U.S. anchor Jason Lezak touched out feared French finisher Alain Bernard in one of the greatest swimming comebacks ever.

The U.S. team consisted of Nathan Adrian leading off, Michael Phelps second, Cullen Jones third and Ryan Lochte finishing up. With names such as Phelps and Lochte, how could things go wrong? The Aussies had hotshots with such nicknames as ‘‘The Missile’’ and ‘‘The Rocket’’ and ‘‘Nuclear Armageddon” (kidding about the last one). And, well, this was going to be some show.

It all came down to that last leg, too, with Lochte taking off before anybody. But it wasn’t Australian finisher James Roberts who detonated; it was Frenchman Yannick Agnel. The young sprinter nearly set the water on fire with a scorching 46.74 split, gaining a full second on Lochte and carrying the French team to the gold medal. The Russians finished third. And the cocky boys from Down Under came in fourth.

Grevers could’ve been chosen to swim on the relay-final team. He had swum in the morning prelims, and his time of 47.54 would turn out to be better than any of his U.S. mates in the final except for Phelps’ 47.15.

If Grevers had been picked, would it have made a difference, especially since the gold-starved Phelps is rapidly fading from superstardom?

‘‘It would’ve been a 20-minute turnaround [from his backstroke final],’’ said Grevers, who was informed by U.S. coaches in the afternoon that he was off the relay. ‘‘No hard feelings. You gotta gamble now.’’

Even if you crap out. On Monday, Grevers hopes to roll nothing but the perfect number.

Source : Vollmer, Hansen, Grevers, relay staff carry drama to aquatics globe - Chicago Sun-Instances