The elite tennis player Maria Sharapova got over a great opponent and a score deficit to overcome a big loss in the first round of the U.S. Open.
Maria Sharapova was the 2006 champion at the Flushing Meadows edition, she played very consistent and overwealming after the first set with scores of 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 achieving the victory against the Australian Jarmila Groth ranked 60th.
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Jarmila Groth hit fourteen double faults including the final point of the 2nd set. Groth was very aggressive and took risks that sometimes paid off and sometimes didn’t. Jarmila hit twenty four winners to nineteen for Maria Sharapova, and concluded with 48 mistakes against Sharapova’s 17 errors.
Maria Sharapova has never been eliminated in the first round in any of the seven U.S Open she has played. In the other hand she hasn’t been able to pass from the third round after winning the championship in 2006.
Player Profile
Name: Maria Sharapova
Country: Russia
Residence: Bradenton, Florida, USA
Date of birth: April 19, 1987
Age: 23
Place of birth: Nyagan, Soviet Union
Height: 1.88 m
Turned pro: April 19, 2001
Plays: Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money: US$13,621,022
Career record: 356 – 85 (81.0%)
Career titles: 22 WTA
Highest ranking: No. 1 (August 22, 2005)
Current ranking : No. 17 (August 30, 2010)
The elite tennis player Maria Sharapova got over a great opponent and a score deficit to overcome a big loss in the first round of the U.S. Open.
Maria Sharapova was the 2006 champion at the Flushing Meadows edition, she played very consistent and overwealming after the first set with scores of 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 achieving the victory against the Australian Jarmila Groth ranked 60th.
Get up to $500 Free by clicking here. College Football starts in just one week!
Jarmila Groth hit fourteen double faults including the final point of the 2nd set. Groth was very aggressive and took risks that sometimes paid off and sometimes didn’t. Jarmila hit twenty four winners to nineteen for Maria Sharapova, and concluded with 48 mistakes against Sharapova’s 17 errors.
Maria Sharapova has never been eliminated in the first round in any of the seven U.S Open she has played. In the other hand she hasn’t been able to pass from the third round after winning the championship in 2006.
Player Profile
Name: Maria Sharapova
Country: Russia
Residence: Bradenton, Florida, USA
Date of birth: April 19, 1987
Age: 23
Place of birth: Nyagan, Soviet Union
Height: 1.88 m
Turned pro: April 19, 2001
Plays: Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money: US$13,621,022
Career record: 356 – 85 (81.0%)
Career titles: 22 WTA
Highest ranking: No. 1 (August 22, 2005)
Current ranking : No. 17 (August 30, 2010)
Before I get into the review, I wanted to say something: Remember that feeling you use to have when Raw was coming on, or no matter what game was on Monday Night Football, you had to flick to see what would happen next?
I do too. Despite my criticism about Vince Russo's writing and the damage he had upon the business, Vince Russo did two things: (1) He put hard work into his writing, and (2) he could make a show interesting no matter how silly or unrealistic the show was.
Despite Vince Russo's imperfections as a wrestling booker, I would take his writing in 1998-1999 over this Raw any day of the week. Vince Russo's writing was at least entertaining, unlike this show.
I am not a weekly viewer of Raw, but the Raws I do see aren't this bad. I was starting to get into Raw when I caught it one week.
The show was surrounded around Cena and Nexus, and the show was well booked. Raw started taping their shows one week in advance, so I started reading spoilers.
Therefore, this was the first Raw I've seen in about a month. I was looking forward to this Raw because it was the 900th edition and you would think there would be some special surprises on the show.
The show was actually also in my hometown and I actually debated on going but changed my mind due to the price for a ticket and how far the TB Garden is from my house.
Thus I ended up not going, but I watched it on TV since Monday Night Football wasn't on nor was the Redsox. The show started off with a promo with Bret Hart and Kane in the ring.
The promo was fine; Kane's mannerisms seemed a bit out of his character, and Bret Hart was, well, Bret Hart, but they were able to get the point across. As the promo was going along, the lights went out and Undertaker appeared, so Kane bailed, and Undertaker coughed to sell his vegetable state storyline.
The random GM announced Undertaker vs. Bret Hart tonight! Undertaker and Bret Hart had a great match at One Night Only and a pretty good one at Summerslam.... twelve years ago, but I knew they wouldn't have them wrestling for long.
We come back and the first match is under way. It's Kofi Kingston/ Michael Mcgullicutty vs. Daniel Bryan/Kaval vs. Miz/Alex Riley.
The match was fine and got its point across - that being Miz stealing another win against Daniel Bryan. It was also a good moment to see Bryan Danielson and Low Ki teaming up on Raw because it was something I thought I would've never seen, and I think both wrestlers would probably agree with me.
Low Ki got to show off his stuff, and I thought he looked sharp. I haven't seen NXT, so I don't know how he's doing over there, but we can only hope that he ends up doing okay after NXT.
I think if he went to Smackdown, he could do some wonders over there with some of their talent and because Smackdown has more midcard wrestling on its show. Who wouldn't want to see Low Ki vs. Christian or Low Ki vs. Mysterio for ten-minutes?
For Daniel Bryan, I think he has a bright future in WWE. Never in a million years did I think he would be main eventing Summerslam in the WWE never mind in his first year. So all you whiners and complainers who think Danielson isn't being utilized right, I think you're looking for a reason to complain.
If that's not the case, then you must be a blind mark who thinks because Danielson is a great wrestler he should be main eventing Wrestlemania. I doubt that will ever happen, but I do know what is happening and that being Danielson is in the more compelling, well booked feud right now in the WWE.
The following match was Melina/Eve vs. Laycool. The match was less than a minute so I cannot comment on it. I don't know whether Laycool are great heels or just really annoying, but since they don't get that much heat, I'm leaning towards annoying.
Drew McIntrye/Cody Rhodes vs. Morrison and R-Truth was for the number one contendership for the tag team championships. Michael Cole was heeling it up by mocking R-Truth's entrance.
At least I'm not the only one who finds R-Truth annoying and awful, but on a serious note - what happened to John Morrison?
I mean, at one time I considered him the future. Now, he's floating just above water and is close to drowning.
I knew Morrison needed work; I wasn't that guy who thought he was the next Shawn Michaels, but he does have a good look that works both face and heel, he's flashy and unique, he was good on the mic as a heel and could talk, and all he needed to do was learn some fundamentals of wrestling aka some psychology and storytelling both in and outside the ring, and after the WWE road agents, which are top-notch agents if you ask me, helped him with that, he was ready for to be a star.
Until then, they were booking good matches where he could hide his flaws, but now they are booking him as a cookie-cutter midcarder. I think it's a poor decision to drop the ball on Morrison's potential, but the boat hasn't sunk yet.
The match was less than a minute and ended in a no-contest. I don't know why they did it that way, but my guess would be both teams get the title shot.
This brings us to the worst segment of the night - Bret Hart vs. Undertaker. The match doesn't happen because Wade Barrett does a run-in.
I don't think anyone lost any sleep for not being able to see the match, but I guess if you take Raw really seriously, then you've might've lost sleep about the post match booking because it was awful. The lights flickering on and off was silly and absurd.
I love how once it's dark, you can magically lose your grasp on someone's throat going for a chokeslam. I never thought the lights going out was a good booking decision at all.
I always thought it was silly and flat-out stupid. Kane and Undertaker are top candidates for worst feud of the year without the worst part happening yet - the matches.
If anything reminded me of Raw in the past, it was Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne because the way they booked it with Alberto Del Reio coming out in the middle of the match. It reminded me of when Raw use to have backstage interviews when wrestling was going on, which was a distraction to the viewers who wanted to see the match.
The match was average stuff by both men, but I am liking Alberto Del Reio. I think he needs a bit more work, but his gimmick reminds me of JBL and his facial expressions and mannerisms are impressive.
It seems he needs some work on the mic because he doesn't sound like an a-hole, which is what his character is portraying. I saw his Rey Mysterio match and thought it was a quality debut and he looked good.
I hope Mark Henry was a one time thing because going from Rey Mysterio to Mark Henry is a huge downgrade. For Evan Bourne, though, what happened with his push?
CM Punk came out and cut a great promo that was well put together. He talked about how Raw had a lot of bad moments, and he said he had two words for us, Katie Vick.
He went on showing "bad" moments on Raw, and then the last one he showed was Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin's entrance music hit, but it was a set-up by Punk, which was on par with HBK selling Bret Hart's music.
CM Punk handled himself well in this promo and showed that he will become a big time player in WWE once they call him up for the duty again. Punk's momentum was off the charts on this promo, and I knew if he didn't leave after that Stone Cold Steve Austin tease, the promo was going to go past its apex.
It did just that once Big Show came out and started joking around. He then did a bad impression of Hulk Hogan for no apparent reason.
He proceeded to do a Borat impression, and then he chopped Punk in the chest. Joey and Punk bailed, but Luke didn't.
Big Show beat him up and just like that the segment was ruined and Punk lost his heat.
Sheamus came out and Edge came out. They went back and forth and said their usual insults.
The main event was Sheamus/John Cena/ Randy Orton/Chris Jericho/Edge vs. Nexus. The match did its job in selling the point of what it wanted to get across. Nothing stood out, but it was good to see Wade Barrett as well as Nexus get a victory, a clean one at that.
Overall, I think the show speaks for itself. There was no good build heading towards Night of Champions, there were no surprises on the show, even though they hyped it up as being a historical night, and it lacked wrestling, which isn't a bad thing always, but since the show did nothing in building up Night of Champions or the next Raw, the entire show was two hours of filler if you ask me.
The only thing historical about the show was that they told us every second it was historical, and they showed us all the shows they've out beaten on TV, so WWE could gloat in its own ego once more. At one point, I was getting sick of hearing it, especially since they did nothing to back up what they saying.
Monday Night Raw shouldn't be considered a TV show series neither should Monday Night Football. You cannot compare either one to a show like Seinfeld.
If Jerry Seinfeld was getting stale, they couldn't bring it Larry David to just become the figurehead of the show. It doesn't work that way, so I think it's an unfair comparison that WWE loves to showboat about, despite how irrelevant it is in today's society.
Before I get into the review, I wanted to say something: Remember that feeling you use to have when Raw was coming on, or no matter what game was on Monday Night Football, you had to flick to see what would happen next?
I do too. Despite my criticism about Vince Russo's writing and the damage he had upon the business, Vince Russo did two things: (1) He put hard work into his writing, and (2) he could make a show interesting no matter how silly or unrealistic the show was.
Despite Vince Russo's imperfections as a wrestling booker, I would take his writing in 1998-1999 over this Raw any day of the week. Vince Russo's writing was at least entertaining, unlike this show.
I am not a weekly viewer of Raw, but the Raws I do see aren't this bad. I was starting to get into Raw when I caught it one week.
The show was surrounded around Cena and Nexus, and the show was well booked. Raw started taping their shows one week in advance, so I started reading spoilers.
Therefore, this was the first Raw I've seen in about a month. I was looking forward to this Raw because it was the 900th edition and you would think there would be some special surprises on the show.
The show was actually also in my hometown and I actually debated on going but changed my mind due to the price for a ticket and how far the TB Garden is from my house.
Thus I ended up not going, but I watched it on TV since Monday Night Football wasn't on nor was the Redsox. The show started off with a promo with Bret Hart and Kane in the ring.
The promo was fine; Kane's mannerisms seemed a bit out of his character, and Bret Hart was, well, Bret Hart, but they were able to get the point across. As the promo was going along, the lights went out and Undertaker appeared, so Kane bailed, and Undertaker coughed to sell his vegetable state storyline.
The random GM announced Undertaker vs. Bret Hart tonight! Undertaker and Bret Hart had a great match at One Night Only and a pretty good one at Summerslam.... twelve years ago, but I knew they wouldn't have them wrestling for long.
We come back and the first match is under way. It's Kofi Kingston/ Michael Mcgullicutty vs. Daniel Bryan/Kaval vs. Miz/Alex Riley.
The match was fine and got its point across - that being Miz stealing another win against Daniel Bryan. It was also a good moment to see Bryan Danielson and Low Ki teaming up on Raw because it was something I thought I would've never seen, and I think both wrestlers would probably agree with me.
Low Ki got to show off his stuff, and I thought he looked sharp. I haven't seen NXT, so I don't know how he's doing over there, but we can only hope that he ends up doing okay after NXT.
I think if he went to Smackdown, he could do some wonders over there with some of their talent and because Smackdown has more midcard wrestling on its show. Who wouldn't want to see Low Ki vs. Christian or Low Ki vs. Mysterio for ten-minutes?
For Daniel Bryan, I think he has a bright future in WWE. Never in a million years did I think he would be main eventing Summerslam in the WWE never mind in his first year. So all you whiners and complainers who think Danielson isn't being utilized right, I think you're looking for a reason to complain.
If that's not the case, then you must be a blind mark who thinks because Danielson is a great wrestler he should be main eventing Wrestlemania. I doubt that will ever happen, but I do know what is happening and that being Danielson is in the more compelling, well booked feud right now in the WWE.
The following match was Melina/Eve vs. Laycool. The match was less than a minute so I cannot comment on it. I don't know whether Laycool are great heels or just really annoying, but since they don't get that much heat, I'm leaning towards annoying.
Drew McIntrye/Cody Rhodes vs. Morrison and R-Truth was for the number one contendership for the tag team championships. Michael Cole was heeling it up by mocking R-Truth's entrance.
At least I'm not the only one who finds R-Truth annoying and awful, but on a serious note - what happened to John Morrison?
I mean, at one time I considered him the future. Now, he's floating just above water and is close to drowning.
I knew Morrison needed work; I wasn't that guy who thought he was the next Shawn Michaels, but he does have a good look that works both face and heel, he's flashy and unique, he was good on the mic as a heel and could talk, and all he needed to do was learn some fundamentals of wrestling aka some psychology and storytelling both in and outside the ring, and after the WWE road agents, which are top-notch agents if you ask me, helped him with that, he was ready for to be a star.
Until then, they were booking good matches where he could hide his flaws, but now they are booking him as a cookie-cutter midcarder. I think it's a poor decision to drop the ball on Morrison's potential, but the boat hasn't sunk yet.
The match was less than a minute and ended in a no-contest. I don't know why they did it that way, but my guess would be both teams get the title shot.
This brings us to the worst segment of the night - Bret Hart vs. Undertaker. The match doesn't happen because Wade Barrett does a run-in.
I don't think anyone lost any sleep for not being able to see the match, but I guess if you take Raw really seriously, then you've might've lost sleep about the post match booking because it was awful. The lights flickering on and off was silly and absurd.
I love how once it's dark, you can magically lose your grasp on someone's throat going for a chokeslam. I never thought the lights going out was a good booking decision at all.
I always thought it was silly and flat-out stupid. Kane and Undertaker are top candidates for worst feud of the year without the worst part happening yet - the matches.
If anything reminded me of Raw in the past, it was Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne because the way they booked it with Alberto Del Reio coming out in the middle of the match. It reminded me of when Raw use to have backstage interviews when wrestling was going on, which was a distraction to the viewers who wanted to see the match.
The match was average stuff by both men, but I am liking Alberto Del Reio. I think he needs a bit more work, but his gimmick reminds me of JBL and his facial expressions and mannerisms are impressive.
It seems he needs some work on the mic because he doesn't sound like an a-hole, which is what his character is portraying. I saw his Rey Mysterio match and thought it was a quality debut and he looked good.
I hope Mark Henry was a one time thing because going from Rey Mysterio to Mark Henry is a huge downgrade. For Evan Bourne, though, what happened with his push?
CM Punk came out and cut a great promo that was well put together. He talked about how Raw had a lot of bad moments, and he said he had two words for us, Katie Vick.
He went on showing "bad" moments on Raw, and then the last one he showed was Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin's entrance music hit, but it was a set-up by Punk, which was on par with HBK selling Bret Hart's music.
CM Punk handled himself well in this promo and showed that he will become a big time player in WWE once they call him up for the duty again. Punk's momentum was off the charts on this promo, and I knew if he didn't leave after that Stone Cold Steve Austin tease, the promo was going to go past its apex.
It did just that once Big Show came out and started joking around. He then did a bad impression of Hulk Hogan for no apparent reason.
He proceeded to do a Borat impression, and then he chopped Punk in the chest. Joey and Punk bailed, but Luke didn't.
Big Show beat him up and just like that the segment was ruined and Punk lost his heat.
Sheamus came out and Edge came out. They went back and forth and said their usual insults.
The main event was Sheamus/John Cena/ Randy Orton/Chris Jericho/Edge vs. Nexus. The match did its job in selling the point of what it wanted to get across. Nothing stood out, but it was good to see Wade Barrett as well as Nexus get a victory, a clean one at that.
Overall, I think the show speaks for itself. There was no good build heading towards Night of Champions, there were no surprises on the show, even though they hyped it up as being a historical night, and it lacked wrestling, which isn't a bad thing always, but since the show did nothing in building up Night of Champions or the next Raw, the entire show was two hours of filler if you ask me.
The only thing historical about the show was that they told us every second it was historical, and they showed us all the shows they've out beaten on TV, so WWE could gloat in its own ego once more. At one point, I was getting sick of hearing it, especially since they did nothing to back up what they saying.
Monday Night Raw shouldn't be considered a TV show series neither should Monday Night Football. You cannot compare either one to a show like Seinfeld.
If Jerry Seinfeld was getting stale, they couldn't bring it Larry David to just become the figurehead of the show. It doesn't work that way, so I think it's an unfair comparison that WWE loves to showboat about, despite how irrelevant it is in today's society.
ATLANTA -- Lynn Turner, who was convicted in 2007 of killing her husband and boyfriend with antifreeze, has died in prison.
Officials said Turner, 42, died in Metro State Prison in Atlanta on Monday.
A release from corrections officials said Turner was found in her cell at 6:55 a.m. Monday and that prison medical staff and EMS crews were unable to revive her.
The cause of death is under investigation by the GBI Medical Examiner's office.
The trial found that Turner murdered her husband, Cobb County police officer Maurice Turner in 1995, and in 2001, killed her boyfriend, Forsyth County firefighter Randy Thompson -- both by poisoning with antifreeze.
She was serving a life sentence for Thompson's murder.
ATLANTA -- Lynn Turner, who was convicted in 2007 of killing her husband and boyfriend with antifreeze, has died in prison.
Officials said Turner, 42, died in Metro State Prison in Atlanta on Monday.
A release from corrections officials said Turner was found in her cell at 6:55 a.m. Monday and that prison medical staff and EMS crews were unable to revive her.
The cause of death is under investigation by the GBI Medical Examiner's office.
The trial found that Turner murdered her husband, Cobb County police officer Maurice Turner in 1995, and in 2001, killed her boyfriend, Forsyth County firefighter Randy Thompson -- both by poisoning with antifreeze.
She was serving a life sentence for Thompson's murder.
Fox's Glee and ABC's Modern Family brought popular mainstream series back to the Emmys Sunday night at the 62d annual prime-time prize party at L.A.'s Nokia Theatre. Between them, they snagged five Emmys, and Modern Family was named best comedy series.
AMC's Mad Men won its third consecutive Emmy as television's best drama series.
Counting the so-called Creative Arts Emmys handed out Aug. 21, Family took six Emmys and Glee, four.
Still, there was no denying HBO, which received 24 Emmys overall. HBO's Temple Grandin gobbled up five awards, including best made-for-TV movie. David Strathairn and Julia Ormond were named best supporting actor and actress in a movie or mini, and Claire Danes received the Emmy for lead actress.
She played Grandin, a livestock expert who has autism - a Ph.D. who travels constantly to bring dignity and understanding to those with the condition. Grandin herself stood up and waved to the rest of the audience as Danes and Strathairn accepted their Emmys. Then she hugged executive producer Emily Gerson Saines onstage when the film won the best-movie prize and got her mother to stand up in the audience.
Mick Jackson, the movie's director, also got an Emmy.
In the network sweepstakes, ABC was second with 18. Fox had 11, CBS had 10, and NBC had eight.
For the first time, the Emmy show was divided into five segments - comedy, reality, drama, variety, and movies and miniseries - with clips from each genre summarizing the past TV season's highlights. The structure allowed lots of the big Emmys to come out much earlier in the evening than usual and was one factor making the show itself unusually entertaining.
Comedy came first. Jim Parsons, geek of the week from CBS's The Big Bang Theory, and Edie Falco (Showtime's Nurse Jackie) won as best lead actor and actress in a comedy series. They were the only two to break the perfecta of Glee and Modern Family.
Family executive producers Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd won for best comedy writing, and Eric Stonestreet, who plays the show's outgoing gay father, won for supporting actor in a comedy series.
Glee's Jane Lynch was probably the surest winner among all the nominees. "Outlandish," she said, accepting the Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy series. Glee executive producer Ryan Murphy (best comedy director) said he created the show to stress the importance of arts education: "I would like to dedicate this to all my teachers who taught me how to sing and finger paint."
Kyra Sedgwick , a completely illogical choice in a strong category, was named best actress in a drama for TNT's The Closer. On the other hand, Bryan Cranston won his third straight well-deserved Emmy as best lead actor in a drama for his work as chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-dealer Walter White in AMC's Breaking Bad. It is a character and a performance for the ages.
Aaron Paul, as deserving as Cranston or any actor who has ever won an Emmy, surprisingly took the statuette as best supporting actor in a drama, playing White's low-wattage young accomplice.
Archie Panjabi, who plays the mysterious and hard-driving private eye in CBS's The Good Wife, was quite a shock herself, besting a field of even worthier winners, as best supporting actress in a drama.
HBO's The Pacific was named best miniseries. Producer Tom Hanks accepted the award. Al Pacino was named best lead actor in a movie or mini for his portrayal of Dr. Jack Kevorkian in HBO's You Don't Know Jack. Kevorkian, also in the audience, waved to one and all.
Matthew Weiner and Erin Levy won as best writers in a drama series for AMC's Mad Men. Dexter's Steve Shill took the Emmy for best drama director for his work on the Showtime series.
The Emmy show opened as fun and exciting as it ever has, with a taped package featuring host Jimmy Fallon rounding up some of the kids from Glee and setting out to form a show choir.
By the time they were through and the tape had morphed into live performance, stars from all across television, including Mad Men's Jon Hamm, Lost's Jorge Garcia, and 30 Rock's Tina Fey had helped Fallon channel Bruce Springsteen singing "Born to Run."
Even Project Runway's Tim Gunn (styling) and American Idol's Randy Jackson (guitar) got in on the action.
Taped packages throughout the show kept the entertainment rolling. The highlight: actors and actresses from Modern Family fighting over who would get to do the smoochies with George Clooney.
He won the special Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his work producing charity TV shows supporting, among others, victims of the Haiti earthquake and the Indonesian tsunami.
Of course, Betty White was everywhere, as Hamm's dancing teacher in the opening, acknowledged as best guest actress in a comedy for hosting Saturday Night Live and doing promos for her coming TV appearance, in Community, and feature film, You Again.
Fallon was an energetic host, mimicking rock stars, singing his own little ditties, telling jokes, although his efforts to include comments from the public via Twitter fell flat.
"NBC asked the host of a late night show in New York to come to Los Angeles to host a different show," he said after the opening. "What could possibly go wrong?"
And the camera turned to Conan O'Brien, bumped from the big network after Jay Leno's prime-time show bombed. O'Brien's defunct late-night show was up for best comedy, musical or variety program, but Jon Stewart's Daily Show won for the eighth year in a row.
Shock of shocks: The Amazing Race did not win its eighth straight Emmy as best reality competition show. Bravo's Top Chef won the prize.
Much of the pre-Emmy talk centered on Glee, Modern Family, and The Good Wife, freshman broadcast series that were successes with wide audiences, compared with the niche cable series, such as Mad Men or FX's Damages, that have been dominating the awards in recent years.
Among them, Glee led in nominations with 19, but picked up only two Emmys (for sound mixing and for Neil Patrick Harris as guest actor in a comedy) at the Creative Arts Awards Aug. 21. Family had 14 nominations but cashed in on three Creative Arts Emmys (casting, picture editing, and another for sound mixing).
With nine noms, The Good Wife was shut out at the earlier ceremony, where The Pacific, as HBO miniseries usually do, led the pack in the early going with seven Emmys among its 24 total nominations. (John Adams, which won a record 13 statuettes in 2008, had only 23 nominations.)
Decked out in the usual glorious garb, the troops started to arrive at the Nokia Theatre near downtown L.A. about two hours before the show began at 5 p.m. (8 p.m. EDT).
"I feel like a peacock," said Mad Men's January Jones, who looked more like a mermaid in a sea-blue dress complete with a train, and figured she'd be ahead even if she didn't win the best dramatic actress Emmy. "As little as I need to walk in this dress will be fine," she said.
Most of the gals also sported major baubles, on loan from jewelers looking for some on-air plugs. Danes said her ring was worth a cool $2 million.
Fox's Glee and ABC's Modern Family brought popular mainstream series back to the Emmys Sunday night at the 62d annual prime-time prize party at L.A.'s Nokia Theatre. Between them, they snagged five Emmys, and Modern Family was named best comedy series.
AMC's Mad Men won its third consecutive Emmy as television's best drama series.
Counting the so-called Creative Arts Emmys handed out Aug. 21, Family took six Emmys and Glee, four.
Still, there was no denying HBO, which received 24 Emmys overall. HBO's Temple Grandin gobbled up five awards, including best made-for-TV movie. David Strathairn and Julia Ormond were named best supporting actor and actress in a movie or mini, and Claire Danes received the Emmy for lead actress.
She played Grandin, a livestock expert who has autism - a Ph.D. who travels constantly to bring dignity and understanding to those with the condition. Grandin herself stood up and waved to the rest of the audience as Danes and Strathairn accepted their Emmys. Then she hugged executive producer Emily Gerson Saines onstage when the film won the best-movie prize and got her mother to stand up in the audience.
Mick Jackson, the movie's director, also got an Emmy.
In the network sweepstakes, ABC was second with 18. Fox had 11, CBS had 10, and NBC had eight.
For the first time, the Emmy show was divided into five segments - comedy, reality, drama, variety, and movies and miniseries - with clips from each genre summarizing the past TV season's highlights. The structure allowed lots of the big Emmys to come out much earlier in the evening than usual and was one factor making the show itself unusually entertaining.
Comedy came first. Jim Parsons, geek of the week from CBS's The Big Bang Theory, and Edie Falco (Showtime's Nurse Jackie) won as best lead actor and actress in a comedy series. They were the only two to break the perfecta of Glee and Modern Family.
Family executive producers Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd won for best comedy writing, and Eric Stonestreet, who plays the show's outgoing gay father, won for supporting actor in a comedy series.
Glee's Jane Lynch was probably the surest winner among all the nominees. "Outlandish," she said, accepting the Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy series. Glee executive producer Ryan Murphy (best comedy director) said he created the show to stress the importance of arts education: "I would like to dedicate this to all my teachers who taught me how to sing and finger paint."
Kyra Sedgwick , a completely illogical choice in a strong category, was named best actress in a drama for TNT's The Closer. On the other hand, Bryan Cranston won his third straight well-deserved Emmy as best lead actor in a drama for his work as chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-dealer Walter White in AMC's Breaking Bad. It is a character and a performance for the ages.
Aaron Paul, as deserving as Cranston or any actor who has ever won an Emmy, surprisingly took the statuette as best supporting actor in a drama, playing White's low-wattage young accomplice.
Archie Panjabi, who plays the mysterious and hard-driving private eye in CBS's The Good Wife, was quite a shock herself, besting a field of even worthier winners, as best supporting actress in a drama.
HBO's The Pacific was named best miniseries. Producer Tom Hanks accepted the award. Al Pacino was named best lead actor in a movie or mini for his portrayal of Dr. Jack Kevorkian in HBO's You Don't Know Jack. Kevorkian, also in the audience, waved to one and all.
Matthew Weiner and Erin Levy won as best writers in a drama series for AMC's Mad Men. Dexter's Steve Shill took the Emmy for best drama director for his work on the Showtime series.
The Emmy show opened as fun and exciting as it ever has, with a taped package featuring host Jimmy Fallon rounding up some of the kids from Glee and setting out to form a show choir.
By the time they were through and the tape had morphed into live performance, stars from all across television, including Mad Men's Jon Hamm, Lost's Jorge Garcia, and 30 Rock's Tina Fey had helped Fallon channel Bruce Springsteen singing "Born to Run."
Even Project Runway's Tim Gunn (styling) and American Idol's Randy Jackson (guitar) got in on the action.
Taped packages throughout the show kept the entertainment rolling. The highlight: actors and actresses from Modern Family fighting over who would get to do the smoochies with George Clooney.
He won the special Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his work producing charity TV shows supporting, among others, victims of the Haiti earthquake and the Indonesian tsunami.
Of course, Betty White was everywhere, as Hamm's dancing teacher in the opening, acknowledged as best guest actress in a comedy for hosting Saturday Night Live and doing promos for her coming TV appearance, in Community, and feature film, You Again.
Fallon was an energetic host, mimicking rock stars, singing his own little ditties, telling jokes, although his efforts to include comments from the public via Twitter fell flat.
"NBC asked the host of a late night show in New York to come to Los Angeles to host a different show," he said after the opening. "What could possibly go wrong?"
And the camera turned to Conan O'Brien, bumped from the big network after Jay Leno's prime-time show bombed. O'Brien's defunct late-night show was up for best comedy, musical or variety program, but Jon Stewart's Daily Show won for the eighth year in a row.
Shock of shocks: The Amazing Race did not win its eighth straight Emmy as best reality competition show. Bravo's Top Chef won the prize.
Much of the pre-Emmy talk centered on Glee, Modern Family, and The Good Wife, freshman broadcast series that were successes with wide audiences, compared with the niche cable series, such as Mad Men or FX's Damages, that have been dominating the awards in recent years.
Among them, Glee led in nominations with 19, but picked up only two Emmys (for sound mixing and for Neil Patrick Harris as guest actor in a comedy) at the Creative Arts Awards Aug. 21. Family had 14 nominations but cashed in on three Creative Arts Emmys (casting, picture editing, and another for sound mixing).
With nine noms, The Good Wife was shut out at the earlier ceremony, where The Pacific, as HBO miniseries usually do, led the pack in the early going with seven Emmys among its 24 total nominations. (John Adams, which won a record 13 statuettes in 2008, had only 23 nominations.)
Decked out in the usual glorious garb, the troops started to arrive at the Nokia Theatre near downtown L.A. about two hours before the show began at 5 p.m. (8 p.m. EDT).
"I feel like a peacock," said Mad Men's January Jones, who looked more like a mermaid in a sea-blue dress complete with a train, and figured she'd be ahead even if she didn't win the best dramatic actress Emmy. "As little as I need to walk in this dress will be fine," she said.
Most of the gals also sported major baubles, on loan from jewelers looking for some on-air plugs. Danes said her ring was worth a cool $2 million.
Andrew Koenig played the character “Boner” in the TV series “Growing Pains”. He was becoming very famous because of his role and was being offered many acting assignments from different producers but he turned down all of them in February 2010 and went missing on the 14th of February, 2010. He sent his father a letter on the 16th and then the family members of Koenig started searching for him.
On the 28th of February, 2010 Koenig was found dead hanging from a tree. It was reported that he hanged himself and committed suicide. His body was found in a park in Vancouver. He hung himself in a very deep part of the park and the location clearly suggested that he didn’t want to be found.
It was a very tough time for his family especially his parents. Andrew Koenig was 41 years old and he led a great acting career just like his father who played the character of Chekov in the original Star Trek. Andrew’s father held an emotional press conference to talk about him and the reason he took his own life.
The reason for Andrew’s suicide is the fact that he was very depressed for a long time and his symptoms were getting greater by the day. Andrew’s father also told that no one should ever ignore signs of depression unless it could get too late to save the person. The case of Andrew Koenig is a few months old but people are just getting to know about it.
Andrew Koenig played the character “Boner” in the TV series “Growing Pains”. He was becoming very famous because of his role and was being offered many acting assignments from different producers but he turned down all of them in February 2010 and went missing on the 14th of February, 2010. He sent his father a letter on the 16th and then the family members of Koenig started searching for him.
On the 28th of February, 2010 Koenig was found dead hanging from a tree. It was reported that he hanged himself and committed suicide. His body was found in a park in Vancouver. He hung himself in a very deep part of the park and the location clearly suggested that he didn’t want to be found.
It was a very tough time for his family especially his parents. Andrew Koenig was 41 years old and he led a great acting career just like his father who played the character of Chekov in the original Star Trek. Andrew’s father held an emotional press conference to talk about him and the reason he took his own life.
The reason for Andrew’s suicide is the fact that he was very depressed for a long time and his symptoms were getting greater by the day. Andrew’s father also told that no one should ever ignore signs of depression unless it could get too late to save the person. The case of Andrew Koenig is a few months old but people are just getting to know about it.
Marcus Davis was a professional boxer in Boston when he saw the first Ultimate Fighting Championship event. It piqued his curiosity. But he spent a decade making the same journey that James Toney is trying to make in a few months.
A few days before his UFC 118 fight with Nate Diaz, Davis spoke to Fighting Stances about it:
When I saw the first UFC, I didn't think it was real. I thought it was fixed. I opened up the Yellow Pages and started looking for the name Gracie. I started calling all these places, and they're like, $200 an hour. Then I found one place that said Rickson Gracie. I didn't even know who Rickson was. I didn't know he was the best of the best.
So I called, and he said, "I'll do a private for $100 for an hour." So I went down, and I got terrified. I felt like I was in the ocean with sharks and I couldn't swim.
After that, I said, "This is real stuff."
I didn't follow up on it. I was a professional boxer, I was under contract, I wasn't even supposed to be down there doing that.
When I got done boxing, I started playing with the idea, "Hey, these guys in MMA, their hands are so horrible, I'm going to jump in."
My first amateur fights I had, I knocked everybody out. I never had to worry about hitting the ground. I turned pro, knocked out the first couple of guys I fought, still was just a boxer.
(Then I fought) Thiago Alves. I'd never been kicked in the leg. We fought a vicious fight -- I wound up getting six staples in my head and both my eyes sewed up.
After that, I wanted to learn how to check a leg kick. I lost a split decision, I went in the back room and screaming hard, I sat down, pulled on my pants, went to get up and couldn't get up. My legs were just blistered.
Davis is known as "The Irish Hand Grenade," and he counts fighting in Dublin as the highlight of his career to date. But after several trips overseas, mostly to fight European fighters, he's thrilled to be the hometown guy for a change.
"Normally, I'm in some foreign country to me, fighting in some kid's backyard," Davis says. "That adds more pressure. Walking around trying to find food you can eat when you're trying to make weight, that's a lot of pressure, a lot of stress."
Marcus Davis was a professional boxer in Boston when he saw the first Ultimate Fighting Championship event. It piqued his curiosity. But he spent a decade making the same journey that James Toney is trying to make in a few months.
A few days before his UFC 118 fight with Nate Diaz, Davis spoke to Fighting Stances about it:
When I saw the first UFC, I didn't think it was real. I thought it was fixed. I opened up the Yellow Pages and started looking for the name Gracie. I started calling all these places, and they're like, $200 an hour. Then I found one place that said Rickson Gracie. I didn't even know who Rickson was. I didn't know he was the best of the best.
So I called, and he said, "I'll do a private for $100 for an hour." So I went down, and I got terrified. I felt like I was in the ocean with sharks and I couldn't swim.
After that, I said, "This is real stuff."
I didn't follow up on it. I was a professional boxer, I was under contract, I wasn't even supposed to be down there doing that.
When I got done boxing, I started playing with the idea, "Hey, these guys in MMA, their hands are so horrible, I'm going to jump in."
My first amateur fights I had, I knocked everybody out. I never had to worry about hitting the ground. I turned pro, knocked out the first couple of guys I fought, still was just a boxer.
(Then I fought) Thiago Alves. I'd never been kicked in the leg. We fought a vicious fight -- I wound up getting six staples in my head and both my eyes sewed up.
After that, I wanted to learn how to check a leg kick. I lost a split decision, I went in the back room and screaming hard, I sat down, pulled on my pants, went to get up and couldn't get up. My legs were just blistered.
Davis is known as "The Irish Hand Grenade," and he counts fighting in Dublin as the highlight of his career to date. But after several trips overseas, mostly to fight European fighters, he's thrilled to be the hometown guy for a change.
"Normally, I'm in some foreign country to me, fighting in some kid's backyard," Davis says. "That adds more pressure. Walking around trying to find food you can eat when you're trying to make weight, that's a lot of pressure, a lot of stress."
Nicloe John falls to her death while slipping off a sky-scraping Manhattan apartment in New York City. Nicloe John was the daughter of the Eric John, the U.S. ambassador to Thailand. Nicole John was 17-year-old. Nicole John’s death occurred early this morning and it comes out to be a result of an accident.Nicole John is reported to plunging more than 20 stories before she crushed to death. “Nicole John fell from the top floor of the 25-story Herald Towers,” police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Sources added that Nicole John’s body landed on a third-floor shelf. Meanwhile a camera has been found next to Nicole John’s dead body. It is being investigated whether she was trying taking photos before slipping down to death or there is something else to her death. It is also being reported that the gorgeous and lively Nicole John fell to death as a result of drinking. Meanwhile the building engineer has reportedly stated that Nicole John had been drinking with a young group and that he had witnessed them coming in. The party has likely taken place at the apartment of the 25 year old Ilan Nassimi. The group has reportedly been returning from a nightclub before the event took place.According to the police the residence of Ilan Nassimi was apparently cleaned up by the time investigation team turned in. Meanwhile medical tests by the Medical examiner are in the pipeline.Nicole John had received her education from the International School in Bangkok. Nicole John was said to be holding a fake Brazilian ID that showed her age as 23 or 24
Nicloe John falls to her death while slipping off a sky-scraping Manhattan apartment in New York City. Nicloe John was the daughter of the Eric John, the U.S. ambassador to Thailand. Nicole John was 17-year-old. Nicole John’s death occurred early this morning and it comes out to be a result of an accident.Nicole John is reported to plunging more than 20 stories before she crushed to death. “Nicole John fell from the top floor of the 25-story Herald Towers,” police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Sources added that Nicole John’s body landed on a third-floor shelf. Meanwhile a camera has been found next to Nicole John’s dead body. It is being investigated whether she was trying taking photos before slipping down to death or there is something else to her death. It is also being reported that the gorgeous and lively Nicole John fell to death as a result of drinking. Meanwhile the building engineer has reportedly stated that Nicole John had been drinking with a young group and that he had witnessed them coming in. The party has likely taken place at the apartment of the 25 year old Ilan Nassimi. The group has reportedly been returning from a nightclub before the event took place.According to the police the residence of Ilan Nassimi was apparently cleaned up by the time investigation team turned in. Meanwhile medical tests by the Medical examiner are in the pipeline.Nicole John had received her education from the International School in Bangkok. Nicole John was said to be holding a fake Brazilian ID that showed her age as 23 or 24
Lilo fans can breathe a sigh of relief, the actress is fine. Well, all things considered. According to the Prison Planet and Infowars.com websites, she is being poisoned, along with 300 million other Americans. The trend is a publicity stunt to direct people to a video about the dangers of Bisphenol A, sodium fluoride and other dangers in prescription drugs (Lindsay is on Adderall, which is why her name is used).
The website even instructs its readers to “grab the search term ‘Lindsay Lohan Poisoned’ and push it up to the top of Google’s search trends chart.” It seems to be working.
Lilo fans can breathe a sigh of relief, the actress is fine. Well, all things considered. According to the Prison Planet and Infowars.com websites, she is being poisoned, along with 300 million other Americans. The trend is a publicity stunt to direct people to a video about the dangers of Bisphenol A, sodium fluoride and other dangers in prescription drugs (Lindsay is on Adderall, which is why her name is used).
The website even instructs its readers to “grab the search term ‘Lindsay Lohan Poisoned’ and push it up to the top of Google’s search trends chart.” It seems to be working.
Former Chairman of the Republican National Committee Ken Mehlman reportedly says he is gay; police in Moscow detain activists at a U2 concert…
Activists Detained at U2 Concert: Police in Moscow said they briefly detained five Greenpeace and Amnesty International activists who were gathering signatures at U2’s first-ever concert in Russia. Police spokeswoman Zhanna Ozhimina told the Associated Press that the activists were detained because they didn’t have the necessary authorization. After a few hours, they were released. The activists were handing out leaflets asking people at the concert to sign petitions calling for authorities to bring to justice the people responsible for the murders of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and rights activist Natalya Estemirova.
Former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman Comes Out: Former Chairman of the Republican National Committee Ken Mehlman has reportedly announced to his friends and family that he is gay. In an interview with The Atlantic, the 2004 campaign manager for George W. Bush says he struggled with his identity as a gay man before coming to terms with his sexual identity. “It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life. Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I’ve told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they’ve been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that’s made me a happier and better person. It’s something I wish I had done years ago,” Mehlman said. Mehlman began coming out a year ago and went public to beat out any possible leaks and to become an advocate for gay marriage.
Former Chairman of the Republican National Committee Ken Mehlman reportedly says he is gay; police in Moscow detain activists at a U2 concert…
Activists Detained at U2 Concert: Police in Moscow said they briefly detained five Greenpeace and Amnesty International activists who were gathering signatures at U2’s first-ever concert in Russia. Police spokeswoman Zhanna Ozhimina told the Associated Press that the activists were detained because they didn’t have the necessary authorization. After a few hours, they were released. The activists were handing out leaflets asking people at the concert to sign petitions calling for authorities to bring to justice the people responsible for the murders of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and rights activist Natalya Estemirova.
Former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman Comes Out: Former Chairman of the Republican National Committee Ken Mehlman has reportedly announced to his friends and family that he is gay. In an interview with The Atlantic, the 2004 campaign manager for George W. Bush says he struggled with his identity as a gay man before coming to terms with his sexual identity. “It’s taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life. Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I’ve told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they’ve been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that’s made me a happier and better person. It’s something I wish I had done years ago,” Mehlman said. Mehlman began coming out a year ago and went public to beat out any possible leaks and to become an advocate for gay marriage.
The Washington Redskins have made some drastic improvements during the NFL offseason as they were able to bring in a franchise quarterback in six-time Pro Bowler Donovan McNabb and major upgrade at head coach in two-time Super Bowl champion Mike Shanahan.
Even though the Redskins will have their work cut out for them this season, especially within the NFC East division (Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles), the team should be much better moving forward with the possibility of having a potent offense with Donovan McNabb under center.
Unfortunately, the team has already had to deal with a fairly big setback as McNabb has suffered a sprained ankle and will have to miss the team’s next preseason game against the New York Jets.
As of right now, the perennial Pro Bowler’s playing status for the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys on September 12th seems to be alright as he is still a go for the time being, but it is uncertain how serious this injury might be.
Hopefully, head coach Mike Shanahan will keep his starting quarterback off the field for the last preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals as well as they should give McNabb some much needed time to continue the healing process for his injured ankle.
In the meantime, Rex Grossman will be taking the majority of the snaps for the Washington Redskins moving forward and despite his reputation for being a second rate quarterback in this league, the former Chicago Bears gunslinger has played really well in the preseason and has become a viable backup for Donovan McNabb. With Grossman in, NFL sports betting is always somewhat interesting.
Even though this team will be much improved this season, they have one of the toughest schedules in the NFL and could be headed towards a rough season of disappointment.
The Washington Redskins have made some drastic improvements during the NFL offseason as they were able to bring in a franchise quarterback in six-time Pro Bowler Donovan McNabb and major upgrade at head coach in two-time Super Bowl champion Mike Shanahan.
Even though the Redskins will have their work cut out for them this season, especially within the NFC East division (Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles), the team should be much better moving forward with the possibility of having a potent offense with Donovan McNabb under center.
Unfortunately, the team has already had to deal with a fairly big setback as McNabb has suffered a sprained ankle and will have to miss the team’s next preseason game against the New York Jets.
As of right now, the perennial Pro Bowler’s playing status for the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys on September 12th seems to be alright as he is still a go for the time being, but it is uncertain how serious this injury might be.
Hopefully, head coach Mike Shanahan will keep his starting quarterback off the field for the last preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals as well as they should give McNabb some much needed time to continue the healing process for his injured ankle.
In the meantime, Rex Grossman will be taking the majority of the snaps for the Washington Redskins moving forward and despite his reputation for being a second rate quarterback in this league, the former Chicago Bears gunslinger has played really well in the preseason and has become a viable backup for Donovan McNabb. With Grossman in, NFL sports betting is always somewhat interesting.
Even though this team will be much improved this season, they have one of the toughest schedules in the NFL and could be headed towards a rough season of disappointment.
BY STEVE BOUSQUET AND MARC CAPUTO
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
Rick Scott pulled off his one-man political revolution Tuesday night, narrowly defeating Attorney General Bill McCollum in the Republican primary for governor.
With most precincts counted, it became clear that Scott had overcome the might of the Republican establishment, the special interests who dominate the Capitol and a longtime politician determined to tar his character.
Scott's win bears witness to his personal wealth -- he spent at least $50 million of it on the campaign -- as well as the thirst for political change in the Republican Party of Florida, which has been rocked by scandal and whose leaders worked to stop him cold.
``This is a man who took on the entire establishment, and what he had was the people,'' said Arlene DiBenigno, Scott's political director. ``We didn't have a traditional campaign. We had a campaign of people who were tired of the traditional establishment. They are tired of the same old thing.''
The race was in doubt as late as 11 p.m., in large part because McCollum was beating Scott by a 2-1 margin in Miami-Dade -- the biggest Republican county in the state. But even that advantage wasn't enough, and with 90% of the statewide vote reported, the Associated Press projected that Scott had enough votes to win.
In what looked like a protest vote against Scott and McCollum, little-known third-party candidate Mike McCalister was receiving one of every 10 votes -- far more than any poll had anticipated.
Scott, a 57-year-old Naples resident, burst on the scene in April with the first of many advertising blitzes, and cut a distinctive figure on TV with his bald head and piercing blue eyes. But he refused to debate McCollum on live statewide TV, dismissed the ritual of editorial board interviews, and repeatedly refused to make public a deposition he gave in a civil case six days before announcing his campaign.
Scott also deftly and firmly planted a foothold on McCollum's right by aggressively supporting the Arizona law getting tough on illegal immigrants, and he relentlessly hammered McCollum as a ``desperate career politician,'' a message that resonated at the polls Tuesday.
With the state party chairman often by McCollum's side, the longtime politician leveraged his relationships with the incoming House and Senate leaders, who dumped millions into a smear campaign that revolved around a record $1.7 billion Medicare fraud fine ultimately paid out by the Columbia/HCA hospital chain that Scott founded.
In the end, though, Scott's campaign said he was winning because he successfully branded himself as the ``jobs'' candidate -- the man whose campaign had the slogan ``Let's Get to Work.'' They say that message will resonate in the general election just as it did Tuesday night in the primary.
Scott will face Democrat Alex Sink and independent Lawton ``Bud'' Chiles in November. Sink easily defeated little-known challenger Brian Moore in the Democratic primary.
Scott is the opponent Democrats want in November. The race for the governor's mansion has major national implications, with both parties eager to claim power heading into 2012, when all congressional and legislative district lines are redrawn and the next presidential election is held.
But Scott's victory is a shock to the state's political system, and threatens to tear apart the fabric of the Republican Party already reeling from the indictment of former party chairman Jim Greer and defection of a once-immensely popular governor, Charlie Crist.
BY STEVE BOUSQUET AND MARC CAPUTO
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
Rick Scott pulled off his one-man political revolution Tuesday night, narrowly defeating Attorney General Bill McCollum in the Republican primary for governor.
With most precincts counted, it became clear that Scott had overcome the might of the Republican establishment, the special interests who dominate the Capitol and a longtime politician determined to tar his character.
Scott's win bears witness to his personal wealth -- he spent at least $50 million of it on the campaign -- as well as the thirst for political change in the Republican Party of Florida, which has been rocked by scandal and whose leaders worked to stop him cold.
``This is a man who took on the entire establishment, and what he had was the people,'' said Arlene DiBenigno, Scott's political director. ``We didn't have a traditional campaign. We had a campaign of people who were tired of the traditional establishment. They are tired of the same old thing.''
The race was in doubt as late as 11 p.m., in large part because McCollum was beating Scott by a 2-1 margin in Miami-Dade -- the biggest Republican county in the state. But even that advantage wasn't enough, and with 90% of the statewide vote reported, the Associated Press projected that Scott had enough votes to win.
In what looked like a protest vote against Scott and McCollum, little-known third-party candidate Mike McCalister was receiving one of every 10 votes -- far more than any poll had anticipated.
Scott, a 57-year-old Naples resident, burst on the scene in April with the first of many advertising blitzes, and cut a distinctive figure on TV with his bald head and piercing blue eyes. But he refused to debate McCollum on live statewide TV, dismissed the ritual of editorial board interviews, and repeatedly refused to make public a deposition he gave in a civil case six days before announcing his campaign.
Scott also deftly and firmly planted a foothold on McCollum's right by aggressively supporting the Arizona law getting tough on illegal immigrants, and he relentlessly hammered McCollum as a ``desperate career politician,'' a message that resonated at the polls Tuesday.
With the state party chairman often by McCollum's side, the longtime politician leveraged his relationships with the incoming House and Senate leaders, who dumped millions into a smear campaign that revolved around a record $1.7 billion Medicare fraud fine ultimately paid out by the Columbia/HCA hospital chain that Scott founded.
In the end, though, Scott's campaign said he was winning because he successfully branded himself as the ``jobs'' candidate -- the man whose campaign had the slogan ``Let's Get to Work.'' They say that message will resonate in the general election just as it did Tuesday night in the primary.
Scott will face Democrat Alex Sink and independent Lawton ``Bud'' Chiles in November. Sink easily defeated little-known challenger Brian Moore in the Democratic primary.
Scott is the opponent Democrats want in November. The race for the governor's mansion has major national implications, with both parties eager to claim power heading into 2012, when all congressional and legislative district lines are redrawn and the next presidential election is held.
But Scott's victory is a shock to the state's political system, and threatens to tear apart the fabric of the Republican Party already reeling from the indictment of former party chairman Jim Greer and defection of a once-immensely popular governor, Charlie Crist.
Miss Mexico is new Miss Universe
Miss Mexico, 22-year-old Jimena Navarrete, was crowned Miss Universe Monday night after beating out 82 competitors at the Las Vegas pageant.
Navarrete claimed the title after donning a flowing red gown and telling an audience that it's important to teach kids family values. Earlier, she strutted across the stage in a violet bikini.
First runner-up was Miss Jamaica, Yendi Phillipps, while second runner-up was Miss Australia, Jesinta Campbell.
Speidi continues
to spin a web
The union of Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag is splintering in gloriously tawdry Technicolor, but could it all be a reality TV ruse? Their divorce seems to be on track. They're exchanging vicious Twitter messages because he is reportedly shopping indiscreet tapes of Montag to Vivid Entertainment.
However, gossip site TMZ.com says paparazzi shot video of them together Sunday at a resort in Costa Rica. Pratt told TMZ that he was there to turn over two dogs to Montag but that she wanted nothing to do with him. The footage suggests otherwise, showing the two frantically separating so they would not seem in cahoots.
Togetherness
• True Blood co-stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer got married Saturday night in Malibu, Calif., "surrounded by their family and friends," according to a publicist's statement.
• Kate Winslet enjoyed her first public outing with new beau Louis Dowler, a model, on Saturday, walking around London's Soho and Mayfair districts. She and director Sam Mendes split five months ago.
Miss Mexico is new Miss Universe
Miss Mexico, 22-year-old Jimena Navarrete, was crowned Miss Universe Monday night after beating out 82 competitors at the Las Vegas pageant.
Navarrete claimed the title after donning a flowing red gown and telling an audience that it's important to teach kids family values. Earlier, she strutted across the stage in a violet bikini.
First runner-up was Miss Jamaica, Yendi Phillipps, while second runner-up was Miss Australia, Jesinta Campbell.
Speidi continues
to spin a web
The union of Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag is splintering in gloriously tawdry Technicolor, but could it all be a reality TV ruse? Their divorce seems to be on track. They're exchanging vicious Twitter messages because he is reportedly shopping indiscreet tapes of Montag to Vivid Entertainment.
However, gossip site TMZ.com says paparazzi shot video of them together Sunday at a resort in Costa Rica. Pratt told TMZ that he was there to turn over two dogs to Montag but that she wanted nothing to do with him. The footage suggests otherwise, showing the two frantically separating so they would not seem in cahoots.
Togetherness
• True Blood co-stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer got married Saturday night in Malibu, Calif., "surrounded by their family and friends," according to a publicist's statement.
• Kate Winslet enjoyed her first public outing with new beau Louis Dowler, a model, on Saturday, walking around London's Soho and Mayfair districts. She and director Sam Mendes split five months ago.
New is coming in fast and furious from Motown today. The Tigers have indeed promoted OF Casper Wells from Toledo as expected and in order to clear a roster spot, they have designated for assignment the contract of RHP Enrique Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was mentioned in my previous post as a possibility to be moved out and in my opinion, this was a natural choice. Gonzalez was working as a starter in Toledo before being recalled earlier this year to serve as a long reliever for the Tigers. He’s been good at times, but has had trouble with command. He’s also nothing more than organizational depth as far as the Tigers are concerned.
With the big club no longer contending for the post-season, Gonzalez was simply blocking other younger arms from getting much-needed big league innings. I expect he’ll go unclaimed and with the end of Toledo’s season near, the Tigers will likely just release him.
The bigger news is that an unknown team has claimed DH Johnny Damon, who was put on waivers last week by the Tigers. Detroit has 48 hours to work out a trade with the claiming team. If no deal is reached, Detroit can opt to pull Damon back and retain his services for the remainder of the year, or they could simply let him go and allow the claiming team to take Damon, along with the balance of his contract.
Jon Heyman, for one, believes the Tigers will let Damon go if they cannot work out a trade. Out of habit, I generally disagree with Heyman but this time is different. The Tigers have nothing left to play for and Wells, for one, could use the at bats. That said, the Tigers also have a responsibility to their fans to put a quality product on the field.
Wells can get his at bats simply by taking up the ones that have been given to Don Kelly lately. I know Kelly has been hot, but again, he’s not a long-term solution for the Tigers. If Damon is retained, the Tigers have a better lineup, no question about that. But with or without Damon, the Tigers are going to finish in third place.
Let’s just hope Detroit can pull a prospect or two in exchange for Damon. Salary dumps aren’t very much fun to write about.
***UPDATE: According to multiple reports, the Boston Red Sox are the team awarded the claim of Damon. Boston has a need in the outfield that Damon could certainly fill, but there’s a complication. Damon has a no-trade clause in his contract that includes the Red Sox, so he has the power to nix a deal to them.
In fact, not only does Damon have veto power over a trade to the Red Sox, he can also block a straight waiver claim to them, so if Damon elects not to go to Boston, the Tigers will have to keep him. This still doesn’t seem like a terrible idea to me anyway. If nothing else, the next 48 hours should be interesting. Stay tuned…
New is coming in fast and furious from Motown today. The Tigers have indeed promoted OF Casper Wells from Toledo as expected and in order to clear a roster spot, they have designated for assignment the contract of RHP Enrique Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was mentioned in my previous post as a possibility to be moved out and in my opinion, this was a natural choice. Gonzalez was working as a starter in Toledo before being recalled earlier this year to serve as a long reliever for the Tigers. He’s been good at times, but has had trouble with command. He’s also nothing more than organizational depth as far as the Tigers are concerned.
With the big club no longer contending for the post-season, Gonzalez was simply blocking other younger arms from getting much-needed big league innings. I expect he’ll go unclaimed and with the end of Toledo’s season near, the Tigers will likely just release him.
The bigger news is that an unknown team has claimed DH Johnny Damon, who was put on waivers last week by the Tigers. Detroit has 48 hours to work out a trade with the claiming team. If no deal is reached, Detroit can opt to pull Damon back and retain his services for the remainder of the year, or they could simply let him go and allow the claiming team to take Damon, along with the balance of his contract.
Jon Heyman, for one, believes the Tigers will let Damon go if they cannot work out a trade. Out of habit, I generally disagree with Heyman but this time is different. The Tigers have nothing left to play for and Wells, for one, could use the at bats. That said, the Tigers also have a responsibility to their fans to put a quality product on the field.
Wells can get his at bats simply by taking up the ones that have been given to Don Kelly lately. I know Kelly has been hot, but again, he’s not a long-term solution for the Tigers. If Damon is retained, the Tigers have a better lineup, no question about that. But with or without Damon, the Tigers are going to finish in third place.
Let’s just hope Detroit can pull a prospect or two in exchange for Damon. Salary dumps aren’t very much fun to write about.
***UPDATE: According to multiple reports, the Boston Red Sox are the team awarded the claim of Damon. Boston has a need in the outfield that Damon could certainly fill, but there’s a complication. Damon has a no-trade clause in his contract that includes the Red Sox, so he has the power to nix a deal to them.
In fact, not only does Damon have veto power over a trade to the Red Sox, he can also block a straight waiver claim to them, so if Damon elects not to go to Boston, the Tigers will have to keep him. This still doesn’t seem like a terrible idea to me anyway. If nothing else, the next 48 hours should be interesting. Stay tuned…
There have been several reality shows about the public relations industry, but Command PR owner Jonathan Cheban says none has shown the best parts of the business.
"We're not just sitting there, wearing all black and looking depressed," Cheban tells The News. "We're a lot more exciting. We're out there working it. We go to the Hamptons, we're in Miami, we're on planes and yachts, and the girls always look gorgeous and fashionable."
"The Spin Crowd," premiering tomorrow night at 10:30 on E! features Cheban, his right-hand man Simon Huck and the rest of Command PR (aka "the girls") as they navigate the world of celebrity.
The series will follow them as they juggle star-studded projects, demanding clients and never-ending to-do lists.
"I thought it was time to give people what they're really interested in," says Cheban. "Everyone reads magazines and newspapers and blogs and they think items just appear there. They don't. It takes a whole industry to create that content."
"The Spin Crowd" is executive-produced by Kim Kardashian, a longtime friend and sometimes a client of Cheban.
"I had a few reservations about doing reality, but Kim was so unbelievable and supportive, she put all my concerns to rest," says Huck.
In the first season, viewers will see Command put together a charity event for Kelly Osbourne, help Mario Lopez promote a self-tanner and deal with plenty of interoffice drama.
"Jonathan's black or white. There is zero sugarcoating," Huck says. "I think the girls who work for us have come to love his brutal honesty, but it's very difficult in the beginning stages."
Command used to be based in New York, but Cheban and Huck eventually realized most of their work was taking them out west. That's when they made the cross-country move.
"Everything closes down so early in L.A. At 10 o'clock in New York, I'd just be getting ready to go to Nobu!" says Cheban. "But all the talent is out here, and the show really captures the glamour of Hollywood."
"The Spin Crowd" originally aired in February as a half-hour special entitled "SPINdustry." Since then, Cheban says, Command has received thousands of résumés from eager publicists hoping to score a job at the company.
"It's a cutthroat business and you have to make sure the people you hire aren't just star-f-ers," Cheban says. "This job isn't just a party."
