Want your
own Fotopage?
|
|
lan's FotoPage
By: lan lan
[Recommend this Fotopage] |
[Share this Fotopage]
| [Track this Fotopage]
|
|
[Archive]
|
|
|
|
| Monday, 22-Aug-2011 07:51 |
Email | Share |  | Bookmark |
|
Wing walker falls to his death at Selfridge air show From The D
|
|
Harrison Township— A wing walker from Ann Arbor and son of a legendary aerial stuntman plunged 200 feet and died at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base air show Sunday afternoon.
Todd Green was attempting an airplane-to-helicopter transfer stunt when he fell about 1:30 p.m., Selfridge officials said. He was taken to Mount Clemens Regional Hospital, where he was declared dead, said hospital spokeswoman Diane Kisch.
Green, son of Eddie "The Grip" Green, who is in the aerial hall of fame, was attempting to stand on the wing of a Stearman biplane and grab onto the skid, or leg, of a helicopter flying above the plane, Selfridge officials said. Witnesses and officials confirmed he tried twice to grab onto the helicopter skid before he fell on this third attempt.
Green had successfully performed the feat Saturday after five attempts, officials said.
"I thought it was part of the stunt," said Jeremy Mitchell, 35, of New Baltimore, a spectator who saw Green fall. "Even when the announcer said it wasn't a part of the show, it still felt surreal. It wasn't until the ambulance came that it set in."
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel was at the air show when the accident happened but didn't see it and didn't hear the crowd scream. But he saw the crowd's reaction after.
"It was very somber," he said. "It's a pretty sad situation."
The airplane-to-helicopter transfer stunt is a technical feat that requires experience and skill, said Kyle Franklin, a fellow aerial stuntman and friend of Green's. According to Franklin, Green was one of few people who could perform the maneuver.
"Todd was extremely good at what he did and logged many hours doing stunts," Franklin said. "He was one of the best in the business when it came down to doing that. He's very proud of his legacy and his family's legacy."
His wife declined to comment about the accident when reached Sunday evening.
Before the stunt, an air show announcer said high winds would make the performance difficult, spectators said. National Weather Service officials said winds in the area were blowing west about 15 mph. The weather service said 15 mph winds aren't considered high; Franklin wouldn't comment on the wind speed, saying he would await any evidence that wind played a role in the accident.
Selfridge officials would not comment about what caused Green's death. They said the accident is under investigation.
It was the third air show death over the weekend. At the Bournemouth Air Festival in England, a pilot died Saturday when his jet crashed into the ground during an aerobatics show. In Kansas City, Mo., a stunt pilot died Saturday at Wheeler Downtown Airport after he failed to pull out of a dive and his small plane hit the ground in a fiery crash.
It's uncommon to see so many air show accidents happen at one time, said Franklin, who has worked with Green.
"Typically, air show accidents are not as common as you would think. We're professionally trained and we know what we're doing," Franklin said.
"For the outside person looking in, we get those comments a lot that you guys are nuts or crazy. But everybody has their different things; some people jump out of airplanes, some people walk on them and some people like going 200 mph."
Franklin, 31, has known Green since he was a child and said Green's inspiration likely came from his father, who is in the International Council of Air Shows Foundation Hall of Fame.
Green had more than 25 years of aerial acrobatics experience, according to his website, stuntworksairshows.com. A Michigan native, he lived with his wife, Dawn; his son Tyler; and her son Derrick.
In his spare time, Green enjoyed playing Texas hold'em poker with his family, snowmobiling and riding his motorcycle, the website said.
According to the International Council of Air Shows, an organization that monitors air show accidents in North America, Green's death marks the fourth air show death in North America in 2011, including Saturday's crash in Kansas City. Since 2002, there have been 26 air show deaths, said ICAS President John Cudahy.
In the past 18 years, Selfridge Air National Guard Base has had three major crashes, none of which involved air show accidents.
In April 1993, an F-16 returned to Selfridge 15 seconds after takeoff because of engine problems.
The pilot ejected before the plane crashed. The pilot was injured and the plane was lost.
A privately owned T-33 crashed in June 1994 at Selfridge while performing during an air show.
The pilot was killed.
A civilian pilot died when his helicopter crashed at Selfridge in July 2004.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which governs airspace and tracks aviation related accidents, could not provide crash statistics Sunday.
U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, who was in the air show crowd when Green fell, said she didn't register the fall at first.
"It takes a moment to get your mind around what just happened," she said. "I know he was a big part of this show, a lot of people came just to see him."
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tuesday, 26-Apr-2011 06:46 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
The Red Wings vs. Coyotes; Swept to the Second Round
|
|
The concept of this year's Red Wings sweeping the Coyotes goes unmeasured when compared to their championship teams of years past. This is only the first round matchup of the playoffs to end in a sweep.
The top-seeded Canucks in the West and the second seed Flyers in the East are going to seventh games to decide their series. Both these series are quite remarkable as Vancouver had a 3-0 advantage on Chicago, whereas Philly and Buffalo had five of the six games decided by one goal. Therefore it is safe to say the Wings got lucky in their matchup with the Coyotes.
The Wings were not perfect in their execution of this sweep. Perfection would have featured shut-outs in at least some of the games. Detroit's Achilles' heel was their power play performance. The Wings only scored four of their 18 total goals on the power play, whereas Phoenix scored six of their nine goals on the power play.
Also Detroit only scored four power play goals with 19 power plays, which works out to 21 percent. Phoenix scored six goals on 21 possible power play situations, which is slightly better at 29 percent.
However for Detroit to have 21 players in the penalty box in only four games is no laughing matter. The discipline will have to improve to prevent penalties, and the line matchups for both on the power play and killing the opposing power play will have to pick it up. Having Zetterberg and Franzen back will help the team improve their chances in both of these situations.
The fact that 13 different players from the Red Wings scored goals in the sweep means that Detroit has not had their sorta-traditional style of going flat in a playoff round. Even in the 2001-2002 season in which they had Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and Chris Chelios on the roster, they still needed six games to take out the Canucks in the first round—a first-round series in which Detroit lost the first two games at home when they were the President's Trophy winner for the regular season.
This year's first-round series instead was a clinic in depth as it wasn't up to Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen to do all the scoring. No one needed to carry games on their back. This still didn't stop Datsyuk from demonstrating some of his trademark stick-handling skills.
The Wings' first-round series was also the only playoff series this year not to have an OT game, so the players didn't have log an excessive amount of minutes. The FoxSports Detroit broadcast team of Mickey Redmond and Ken Daniels mentioned that 2011 Norris Trophy finalist Nicklas Lidstrom was being used whenever Shane Doan's line came on the ice, and the rest of the ice team was spread among the rest of the Wings' "D."
This was a fortunate strategy in that the rest of the "D" did not lose too much ground with the Coyotes' rush. Only on the power play did their defensive pairings did falter.
In watching some of the other series games, the announcers did mention some players doing double shifts, which the Wings also didn't need to do. Such a fact is also fortunate, as the Wings were without Zetterberg, and Franzen was limited after getting drilled into the boards by Doan.
It is safe to say the Wings will be rested. However, the concern will be how well rested. If they come to their next series too calm, the other team might take advantage.
The debut of Zetterberg in the playoffs in this next round for the Wings will be their X-factor. Not just in scoring but also on face-offs and his leadership. Having both him and Datsyuk on the ice makes the Wings even more formidable.
This team may not be Babcock's best going into the playoffs. He had other teams with better records and stats but fell short. However, this team might have some of the best chemistry of the Wings teams he has coached.
There is no goalie controversy for one, as in the 2008 playoffs with Dominic Hasek imploding against Nashville to be relieved by Chris Osgood. As mentioned before, the power play does need some work, though, if they want to go farther in these playoffs. But anyone they face will be dealing with a Red Wings team that has all lines making the net lamp go red.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, 23-Apr-2011 02:16 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Tebow sees the silver lining in the lockout
|
|
Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, in a lengthy radio interview with 790 the Zone in Atlanta, addressed the impact of the lockout on preparations for his second NFL season — and possibly his first as a full-time starter.
And Tebow finds something positive in an otherwise negative situation.
“Well I look at it two ways,” Tebow said, “I would love to be there going through OTAs with the coaches, with everyone; but also I look at in positive ways. I know there’s a lot of great players, but I also know there’s a lot of players out there that are loving this right now and they’re not going to work everyday extremely hungry, and they’re resting on their laurels a little bit and saying, ‘Hey, this is a vacation for me.’ I love that because everyday I’m looking to get better. So I believe that’s an opportunity for me to get an edge on a lot of players and I’m going to take that. Whether that’s true or not, that’s in my head and that’s all that matters.”
Still, Tebow would benefit from being able to apply that work ethic under the watchful eye of the coaching staff, especially since there’s a new head coach.
But we like his attitude. Whether he ever becomes a great NFL player remains to be seen, but if it never happens it won’t be due to a lack of effort or desire.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Thursday, 21-Apr-2011 06:45 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Ghent’s Jennings a hockey champion
|
|
Grace Jennings, of Ghent, and the Mid Fairfield Connecticut Stars girls hockey team won the Tier One National Championship by defeating the Assabet Valley Girls, of New Hampshire, 3-2 in overtime during a tournament in early April.
Jennings plays defense for the 14-and-under team. She had an assist in the championship win and ended the tournament plus-6, meaning she was on defense for six offensive goals. The team did not allow a score while she was on the ice.
The Stars topped the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite in the first round by a 5-1 score and fell to Assabet in the second, 3-2 in a shootout. Following the loss, Mid Fairfield went on a run, beating Honeybaked 5-0, the NJ Colonials 5-3 and the Buffalo Bisons 5-4 in double overtime before enacting some revenge on Assabet in the final.
This is the first season Jennings played for the Stars. Last season she was a member of Northern Lights in Connecticut and prior to that she competed in boys’ leagues.
“There aren’t many girls teams close by,” said Jennings’ mother, Katherine, who added that her daughter travels two hours each way for practice at least two times a week in addition to once on weekends for games.
With a limit on the number of competing girls teams, the Jenningses find themselves traveling often — and a visit to Detroit, the location of the National tournament, is not uncommon. The furthest they have traveled is to Wisconsin.
The hockey season runs from September to April and 50 games are squeezed into the eight-month stretch.
Jennings has been home schooled from kindergarten through eighth grade and plans on attending Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn. starting in September as she begins her high school career. Hotchkiss, according to its website, is a boarding school “designed to prepare students for the most demanding colleges and universities.”
According to Katherine, Grace would like to continue her hockey career in college and is in the early stages of looking at potential suitors.
“We are all enjoying the hockey while it’s available,” she said. “There are a few colleges that offer girls teams, but after that there isn’t really a future in it. There’s no professional league or anything like that.”
With the hockey season drawn to a close Grace returns to her other passion — dressage, which is form of competitive horse training.
Grace is a working dressage student for two-time former Olympian Lendon Gray and won the USDF Region 8 Dressage Seat Medals in September of 2009. She also came in sixth in the National Dressage Seat Medal Championships in July 2010 in Chicago, IL.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Wednesday, 20-Apr-2011 06:14 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
NBA - Celtics beat Knicks; Mavs, Magic also win
|
|
Orlando's Dwight Howard, who scored 46 points in a Game One loss to the Hawks, poured in 33 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as the Magic beat Atlanta 88-82 to even their series at 1-1.
In Dallas, the Mavericks got 21 points off the bench from Peja Stojakovic to compliment 33 from Dirk Nowitzki as the home team held off the Portland Trail Blazers 101-89 to take a 2-0 series lead with Game Three set for Thursday in Portland.
With New York's Chauncey Billups out due to a sore knee and Amare Stoudemire sitting out the second half because of back spasms, Anthony stepped up and matched a career play-off high with 42 points and pulled down 17 rebounds.
However, Anthony's outstanding individual effort was not enough as the Celtics hung on for a 96-93 win.
After back-to-back heart-breaking losses, the Knicks head home to the 'Big Apple' for Games Three and Four on Friday and Sunday, needing at least one win to avoid being swept from the first round.
The Knicks clawed their way back to a 93-92 lead with 19 seconds to play before Kevin Garnett dropped the go-ahead basket with 13 seconds left on the clock. He followed that up with a big defensive play at the other end of the court, diving on a loose ball with just four seconds left.
Rajon Rondo paced the Celtics with 30 points.
"We have so many weapons," Rondo said. "Kevin wanted the ball and I told him to be ready and he came through for us on both ends of the floor."
Orlando avoided falling behind 2-0 in their series with the help of a 10-1 run to close the third quarter that gave the Magic a 65-54 cushion.
Jameer Nelson had 13 points for the Magic while Hedo Turkoglu had 10.
Jamal Crawford had 25 points coming off the bench to lead the Hawks and Josh Smith had 17.
Portland were looking to return home with the series tied 1-1, but Nowitzki led the Mavs to a 28-17 fourth-quarter advantage to fend off the visitors.
Stojakovic, who was released by the Toronto Raptors before the Mavericks signed him in January, drained five three-pointers and was a point short of his season-high.
LaMarcus Aldridge paced the Blazers with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Wednesday, 20-Apr-2011 06:05 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Shurna declares for NBA draft, may skip senior season
|
|
John Shurna spent a week in the summer of 2010 playing with the NBA's best as part of USA Basketball's Select Team.
In 2011, the junior forward from Glen Ellyn, Ill., is trying to see whether it's his time to join them on a more permanent basis.
Shurna declared early for the NBA draft Tuesday morning, signaling that he might forego his senior year of eligibility. However, he declined to hire an agent, which means he has until May 8 to withdraw his name and return to Northwestern.
Shurna declined to comment to The Daily, but coach Bill Carmody said in a press release he backed Shurna's decision.
"This is an exciting opportunity for John, and I fully support his decision," Carmody said. "It's a chance for him to pursue his dream and we look forward to helping him gather information throughout the process."
The Cats would have a hard time replacing Shurna, who has led the team in scoring two straight seasons, averaging 16.6 points per game and 4.9 rebounds last season.
The announcement comes as somewhat of a surprise: Although Shurna has been NU's best player, he isn't a lock to make it on basketball's biggest stage.
"It's tough to tell what type of prospect he is," said Jonathan Givony, director of scouting for Draftexpress.com. "He would be someone that we would look at as a specialist prospect. On certain teams he could probably sit, other teams he wouldn't."
Givony speculates that Shurna is using the opportunity to test the waters and receive feedback on what aspects of his game need improvement. Underclassmen must declare for the draft to participate in workouts with NBA teams, where they can hear how coaches feel about their games. Shurna has nothing to lose by seeing whether NBA teams are interested, Givony said.
"Guys who haven't tested say, ‘What the hell, why not throw my name in, get some thoughts on my draft stock, what do teams like, what don't they like.'" Givony said. "That's why kids like Shurna have been looking at that."
With the prospect of an NBA lockout looming, many top prospects such as North Carolina's Harrison Barnes, Baylor's Perry Jones III, and Ohio State's Jared Sullinger decided to return for another year in college, leaving the draft relatively weak — and opening up spots late in the order for players like Shurna.
However, there's disagreement about how much of a chance Shurna has at the next level. Draftexpress.com has Shurna ranked 26th of all players in the 2011 class, which would put him as a borderline second-round selection in the 60-pick draft. However, ESPN's Chad Ford has him ranked 127th in the same class.
The disagreement comes after a difficult-to-interpret junior season for Shurna. Although he dominated early, averaging 23.3 points per game over NU's first 10 contests, an ankle injury in NU's 92-61 win over Mount St. Mary's and a concussion in an 81-70 loss to Minnesota seemed to affect his offensive ability, leading to less-than-stellar performances in Big Ten play.
"(It's) just such a huge fluctuation," Givony said. "There's so many variables involved.That's why he's getting feedback from NBA teams to give him guidance and direction."
Even before the injuries, Shurna was a borderline prospect. His 43 percent 3-point field-goal percentage certainly allows Shurna the possibility of being a 3-point specialist for an NBA team, but Givony cited questions about his defense. At 6-foot-8, Shurna frequently played the power forward spot for the Cats, but he would be undersized against NBA power forwards. On the other hand, if he played small forward, he'd be slower than many of the players he would be matched up against.
If Shurna makes it, he will be the first NBA player to be drafted from NU since Evan Eschmeyer's selection in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tuesday, 19-Apr-2011 02:24 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
The NBA usually finds success in what its players do, but that's
|
|
The Boston Celtics will look to build off of their dramatic last second victory on Sunday when they welcome the New York Knicks back into the Garden on Tuesday night for Game 2 of their conference quarterfinals match-up; tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 ET on TNT.
The current Knicks-Celtics spread has Kevin Garnett and his teammates installed as 7-point home favorites with the betting total set at 193; NY’s Chauncey Billups is listed as doubtful for this game so be sure to check all injury reports before placing your wagers. Visit the betED NBA odds page for updated lines for this game as well as the other two contests set to go on Tuesday night’s NBA playoff betting slate.
The Knicks came oh so close to tallying their first win over the defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics this season, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Still, Coach D’Antoni’s squad has plenty to be satisfied with as they took Boston to the limit and only lost the game due to Ray Allen’s late game heroics. Though the Celtics have won each of the five-games played between these division rivals, the Knicks hold the 3-2 pointspread advantage.
New York has been nothing short of money away from the Big Apple all season long as Amar’e Stoudemire and company currently carry a 27-14-1 ATS record with them into Game 2.
The Celtics four All Stars showed up in a big way on Sunday night as the quadrant of Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett combined to score 67 of the team’s 87 overall points (77%) with the other 20 points coming from Jermaine O’Neal (12 points), Glen Davis, Jeff Green and Delonte West. That said, Boston will have a serious problem on its hands if its continues to shoot less than 44 percent from the field against a NY defense that allowed opponents to convert at a 47.2 percent clip (#26) in the regular season.
Dating back to their early April pounding at the United Center versus the Chicago Bulls, Boston has covered only twice in its L/6 games played; they’re 34-8 SU but just 20-20-2 ATS as a host.
New York has been simply outstanding when in the underdog role to date amassing a 27-11 mark against the closing pointspread; it’s 5-3 ATS when installed a road underdog in the 6.5-9 point range. As for Boston, it sits 10-games under .500 as a favorite (28-38 ATS) to date, but is 4-1 ATS its L/5 home games as well as the L/5 times it played off an ATS defeat. Game 1 was a low scoring anomaly as it was only the third time in these division rivals L/10 Beantown meetings that cashed ‘under’ tickets.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tuesday, 8-Mar-2011 01:50 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Barcelona v Arsenal: Alan Smith's three key clashes
|
|
Telegraph Sport picks out the three key clashes that are likely to decide who wins the Champions League last-16 second leg between Barcelona and Arsenal.
The centre-half enjoyed his best game for Arsenal in the first leg. He was bright, sharp and invariably got tight on his opponent, be it David Villa, Pedro or Messi, who all interchanged positions across the front line.
But there were times as well when Koscielny got caught too high up the pitch because the back four had tried to squeeze when there wasn’t any pressure on the ball. That contributed towards Barcelona carving out several great chances, the kind you’d fancy them to convert second time around.
Koscielny must therefore ensure the back line makes the right decisions in terms of when to push up and when to drop off. A little quicker than his partner, Johan Djourou, the Frenchman must also be ready to track Messi’s runs when the little Argentine starts looking in behind.
That requires constant communication with his fellow defenders, plenty of courage and no little luck. To come out on top, Koscielny must get everything right.
Much depends on the make up of Arsenal’s three-man central midfield as to the particular demands on the team’s youngest player. Because without Alex Song, that department must adjust and make sure it’s organised when Xavi starts dictating the tempo with Andrés Iniesta.
Arsène Wenger, however, will have no qualms about Wilshere, having seen the teenager rise to the challenge in magnificent fashion in the first leg. So, just like at the Emirates, Wilshere must try to get tight on Xavi whenever he can and prevent Barca’s chief orchestrator from bossing the game.
Equally, it’s important that Wilshere pushes Xavi the other way by carrying the ball forward and committing opponents. When he does this, and when he starts linking up smoothly with Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, Arsenal become a real handful. It could be enough to ask serious questions of Barca’s makeshift defence.
Marouane Chamakh v Eric Abidal
A huge call, this: whether to plump for Nicklas Bendtner in Robin van Persie’s likely absence or go for a striker just starting to emerge from his winter hibernation. After a good start to his career in England, the physical demands soon caught up with Chamakh. He hit the proverbial wall and, suffering with injury and fatigue, dropped out of contention.
He is back now, though, and does offer something different from Bendtner. Quicker and more mobile, the Moroccan will hang on shoulders more to threaten in behind. In addition, he won’t wander out to the flanks so much, preferring to concentrate his efforts through that central channel. As a result, he’ll normally be available when teammates look to swing in a cross, a potentially profitable tactic with the home side missing Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué.
Chamakh is an excellent header of the ball. More than that, he has a nose for finding space. All told, that might trouble Abidal, who is moving inside from left-back.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[Archive]
|
|
 |
|
