In the Zone:Carmelo Anthony;Music;More North Wind

It was a career night for Carmelo Anthony and a welcome break from losing as the New York Knicks creamed the Charlotte Bobcats 125-96 Friday Night at Madison Square Garden.Anthony broke the Knicks' five game losing streak and their old scoring record with his 62 points.Bernard King held the old record of 60,which he scored on Christmas Day 1984.King said he was absolutely delighted it was Anthony who broke his longtime record.
It was also a scoring record for the present day Madison Square Garden,which opened in 1968.Kobe Bryant held the old record of 61 points;while Wilt Chamberlain scored 73 points at the old Garden in November 1962 for the San Francisco Warriors,who have since moved to Oakland.*
Other Knicks contributed to the win,including J.R. Smith with his 14 points and Tyson Chandler with 6 rebounds,but they consciously focused the game on Anthony when they realised a record was in the making.Before the game,they had showed him a motivational video by his personal hero,boxing legend Muhammad Ali.It was a night of fun for the Knicks,bringing their season record to 16-27.They held onto third place in the Atlantic Division.
Al Jefferson led the Bobcats with 25 points and 9 rebounds.*
The barnbuster winter of 2014 brought glazed roads to East Texas and Louisiana Friday,freezing bridges and overpasses in unaccustomed Houston and San Antonio,and causing road wrecks.The dipping jet stream will continue sending frigid Canadian air down into much of the country in the new week,making natural gas prices uncomfortably high.This blog has shortened morning walks in the stubborn wind.*
This week's videos of "Lucky Star" and "The Last Time" balance Madonna and The Rolling Stones in their young tracks,the masculine with the feminine.She is the slinkiest singer in that take,let me tell you.The Stones were building their early success in the British Isles,founding what was to come worldwide.

London Olympics Notebook

The opening ceremony at the London Olympics went off smoothly Friday evening.Yahoo labeled the Queen's reaction to British athletes walking by "embarrassing,"however.They thought she had a bored expression. Sir Paul McCartney performed at the end of the program,singing Beatles songs "The End" and "Hey Jude."His voice was flexible at 70 years of age.
An impressive simulation of the Industrial Revolution featured smoke stacks belching acrid smoke.
There wasn't a famous torchbearer to light the cauldron at Olympic Stadium.Instead,a group of 16 young athletes,future Olympians,carried torches to a ring of copper leaves.They lit the leaves,which were then mechanically raised to form the Olympic cauldron.
Former Olympian Muhammad Ali,the boxer,was there to touch the Olympic flag,still able to stand despite his Parkinson's disease.He had lit the cauldron at the 1996 games in Atlanta,shaking from the illness even then.
The games begin in earnest today,Saturday.The soccer tournament actually began on Thursday,before the opening ceremony.The U.S. women's team beat France 4-2.The U.S. men's soccer team failed to qualify for the London games.
Update:Saturday saw continued good weather for the London Olympics.In the cycling road race,Kazakhstan's Alexander Vinokourov won the gold as he wrested the lead from Colombia's Rigoberto Uran near the end of the race,which passed Buckingham Palace.Vinokourov,38,became quite emotional,with many tears for his victory as he embraced his friends.He wasn't the favorite,having retired from the sport at one point.
The Russian women defeated China in beach volleyball.
The U.S. women's soccer team silenced Colombia 3-0 in Glasgow,Scotland.They qualified for the quarter finals,but have a match with North Korea first to finish up group play.
In tennis,American Serena Williams bested Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 6-3,6-1 to advance to the second round.The match was held at Wimbledon,with U.S. first lady Michelle Obama attending and applauding Williams.