Saturday, January 26, 2013

Owl Picture -- Bird Wallpaper -- National Geographic Photo of the Day

Owl Picture -- Bird Wallpaper -- National Geographic Photo of the Day

Friday, January 25, 2013

Golf's Two Woods:Tiger Woods and Chris Wood On Top

Men with sylvan surnames topped the leader boards of their respective tournaments Friday and Saturday as professional golf was fully underway in the warmer areas of the planet.Full slates of name players were in the early stages of their quest for glory at either ends of the globe.
At Torrey Pines Golf Course along the Pacific Ocean in San Diego,California,Tiger Woods shot an eleven under par 65 at the Farmers Insurance Open.Fellow American Billy Horschel was in second place with his nine under par 69.Canada's Brad Fritsch held third at -8 with several others.
Woods has won seven times at Torrey Pines and wants to bring the US Open back to the public golf course.
The course is named after the torrey pine tree(Pinus torreyana).It is one of only two sites in the world where the endangered species grows naturally.The other site is Santa Rosa Island off the coast of Santa Barbara,California.The broad,open-crowned trees have an IUCN status of VU,or Vulnerable.There are about 3,000 of them left in the wild.
Across the globe,the European Tour's Commercial Bank Qatar Masters was led by England's Chris Wood with his third round 15 under par 64 at the Doha Golf Course.Second place was shared by fellow Englishman Simon Khan,Sweden's Alexander Noren and Michael Campbell of New Zealand at twelve under par.
Chris Wood has three career second place finishes on the European Tour.
Parts of the Mid-Atlantic region were coated with a light amount of powder snow on Friday,delighting the local ski resorts.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Bulls Brush By Celtics;Williams Moves On at Melbourne

The Chicago Bulls narrowly beat the Boston Celtics Friday night before a crowd of 18,624 at TD Garden in Boston.Chicago had a six point lead at the end of the third period,but Boston sharpened their game and took a one point lead with 4:25 left in the fourth.
The Bulls' Kirk Hinrich tied the game with a jump shot at 0.2 seconds left,sending the game into overtime.Marco Belinelli was the hero of the night with his two-pointer at 2 seconds left in OT as the Bulls won by a hair 100-99.The win brings the Bulls up to 23-15,and the Celtics dropped to 20-19 on the season.
Leaders of the game were Carlos Boozer for the Bulls with 19 points,20 rebounds and 4 assists;and Rajon Rondo for the Celtics with his season-high 30 points,plus 2 rebounds and 7 assists.Joakim Noah added 14 points,13 rebounds and 4 assists for the Bulls,as well as 2 steals;and Kevin Garnett notched 16 points,7 rebounds and 1 assist for the Celtics.
At the Australian Open in Melbourne,America's Serena Williams survived a slight scare in the second set when Ayumi Morita of Japan got her down 3-0.Williams charged back to take the match 6-1,6-3.She moves on to the round of 16 to face Russia's Maria Kirilenko.Defending Australian Open champion and world number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus said she is focusing on the present,although of course she is aware of Serena Williams and other players.She is only worrying about what she herself is doing.
An arctic outbreak will hit the Mid-Atlantic region next week,dropping high temperatures by 20 degrees or more,with lows in the single digits F for some areas.

Friday, January 11, 2013

NBA Special:Knicks Drubbed By Bulls Before London Trip

At Madison Square Garden on Friday night,the New York Knicks lost for the third straight time in games with the Chicago Bulls this season,108-101.The Bulls were led by Luol Deng and his season high 33 points.
 Carmelo Anthony's impressive second half and 39 points couldn't save the injury-riddled Knicks,who staged a fourth period rally that was stopped by a Marcus Bellinelli deflection.Anthony was greeted with cheers of "MVP" by the fans at MSG.
The Knicks are missing Raymond Felton,Marcus Canby and Rasheed Wallace,as evidenced by their falling to a 23-13 record with Friday's loss;the Bulls moved up to a 20-14 record.
The Knicks will take on the Detroit Pistons on Thursday,January 17 in the third NBA game in history to be played in the UK.The game,a Pistons hoe game,will take place at O2 Arena,London.Presented by Adidas, it will be broadcast by Sky Sports.The sold-out event will be available live in 3D and on mobile,online and tablet via Sky Go.
Following the Thursday game,NBA games will be televised by Sky Sports for the rest of the regular season on Sunday nights,with double headers on most weekends;then live NBA Playoff games,the entire Eastern Conference Finals;and every game of the NBA Finals in June.
A warm front moved into the US east coast Friday with rain and fog,but will be short-lived as cold air and possibly snow returns to the picture for next week.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Bulls Hamper Heat;Aggies Blast Sooners

The Chicago Bulls cuffed the Miami Heat 96-89 Friday night at American Airlines Arena in Miami.Carlos Boozer led the victors with 27 points,12 rebounds and  a late game steal.It was the Heat's lowest point total in a home game this season.
Miami's LeBron James notched his 31st straight game with 20+ points,leading all players with 30 points ,but was also unable to capitalise on a rare Clear Path to the Basket foul against him when he missed a free throw.Joakim Noah added 12 points for the Bulls,and Miami's Dwayne Wade scored 22.
Chicago raised its record to 18-13 with the win,while Miami dropped to 22-9.
At the AT and T Cotton Bowl in Dallas,the Texas A and M Aggies blasted the Oklahoma State Sooners 41-13.The Sooners were no match for freshman Johnny Football Manziel,the Aggies quarterback and 2012 Heisman Trophy winner,who rushed for a record-breaking 227 yards and 2 touchdowns,and receiver Ryan Swope,who became an Aggies all-time leader with his 103 yardage on the night.Manziel threw for 287 yards,while Sooners quarterback Landry Jones passed for 278 yards.
A zonal flow locked the jet stream north of the border this week,holding back colder temperatures,and it will be several more days before a likely pattern change makes early winter more seasonal for much of the US with frigid Canadian air.