plus 3, Hornets rally fails at Mavs, 108-100 - Baton Rouge Advocate

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• Hornets rally fails at Mavs, 108-100 - Baton Rouge Advocate
• Writing on Deadline 2010 - NHL.com
• Incumbents face multiple challenges in campaign for Hillsborough ... - St. Petersburg Times
• Add base stealing to Utley's skills - Philadelphia Daily News

Hornets rally fails at Mavs, 108-100 - Baton Rouge Advocate Posted: 01 Mar 2010 06:39 AM PST   DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki scored 36 points, Caron Butler had 19 in his return to the Dallas lineup and the Mavericks held on for a 108-100 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday night to extend their NBA-high winning streak to seven games. The Hornets had cut what had been a 25-point deficit to 101-97 after Darren Collison's 3-pointer with 2:44 left capped the rookie's stretch of eight consecutive points. But New Orleans didn't get any closer and Collison, who had a season-high 35 points, had consecutive turnovers in the final minute that Dallas turned into baskets. Nowitzki hit a 9-foot turnaround jumper after Collison's first turnover. LAKERS 95, NUGGETS 89: In Los Angeles, Lamar Odom scored nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, Pau Gasol had 15 points and 14 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame an 11-point third-quarter deficit to beat Denver. Kobe Bryant was just 3-for-17 from the field, finishing with 14 points and 12 assists. The two-time scoring champion was 1-for-9 during the first three quarters — the only field goal coming on a layup with 5:37 left in the opening period. Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for Denver before fouling out with 2:13 to play and the Nuggets down by four. The loss was their first in three meetings this season with the defending NBA champions. SPURS 113, SUNS 110: Richard Jefferson scored 20 points in his best game since losing his starting job, and the host San Antonio Spurs beat Phoenix to end the Suns' five-game winning streak. Amare Stoudemire had a season-high 41 points and 12 rebounds for Phoenix, but Jefferson and the Spurs hung on late to hand the Suns only their second loss since the All-Star break. Tim Duncan had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs. WIZARDS 89, NETS 85: Andray Blatche scored a career-high 36 points and had 15 rebounds, and Randy Foye hit two jumpers in the final 44 seconds to lead the Washington Wizards to a comeback victory over the New Jersey Nets in East Rutherford, N.J. Al Thorton added 20 points, and Foye finished with 16 as Washington rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit. Yi Jianlian had 20 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, but missed two crucial free throws in the final 1:19. Devin Harris had 18 points and 14 assists, however he was just 1-for-8 in the final quarter. Brook Lopez had 16 points and 10 rebounds. MAGIC 96, HEAT 80: Rashard Lewis had 22 points, and Vince Carter added 17 to help the host Orlando Magic overcame Dwight Howard's sub-par game in a victory over the Miami Heat. Howard, who had 20 straight double-doubles, was in foul trouble most of the game and finished with seven points and five rebounds in 24 minutes. J.J. Redick added 15 points for the Magic, who beat Miami for the first time in three games. Dwyane Wade, who returned to the Heat lineup after missing four games because of a strained calf, led Miami with 21 points. Jermaine O'Neal added 16 points for the Heat, who have lost four in a row. HAWKS 106, BUCKS 102, OT: Joe Johnson scored nine of his 24 points in overtime, Josh Smith had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and the host Atlanta Hawks ended Milwaukee's winning streak at six. The Bucks lost for the first time since trading for John Salmons, who finished with a season-high 32 points, including a straightaway 3-pointer that cut it to 103-102 with 9.7 seconds left in the extra period. Jerry Stackhouse finished with 20 points in a reserve role for the Bucks. THUNDER 119, RAPTORS 99: Kevin Durant scored 29 points, Nenad Krstic had a rare 3-pointer and added 16 points and the host Oklahoma City Thunder beat Toronto. Jeff Green had 20 points and matched his career high with four steals, Russell Westbrook added 14 points, 10 assists and four steals, and rookie Serge Ibaka had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder. Andrea Bargnani and Sonny Weems each had 14 points to lead Toronto. KINGS 97, CLIPPERS 92: Tyreke Evans scored 22 points to help the host Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers. Carl Landry scored 18 points, and Spencer Hawes had 16 points and nine rebounds for Sacramento. Omri Casspi added 12 points for the Kings, who committed just nine turnovers. Chris Kaman had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers. Drew Gooden added 17 points, and Eric Gordon, Rasual Butler and Baron Davis each had 13. Wolves suspend Jefferson MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves have suspended center Al Jefferson for the next two games without pay after his arrest on suspicion of DWI. The Minnesota State Patrol says a trooper stopped the 25-year-old Jefferson on Interstate 394 early Sunday for speeding and changing lanes without signaling.   Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Writing on Deadline 2010 - NHL.com Posted: 01 Mar 2010 06:39 AM PST

Incumbents face multiple challenges in campaign for Hillsborough ... - St. Petersburg Times Posted: 01 Mar 2010 06:32 AM PST By Tom Marshall, Times Staff Writer In Print: Monday, March 1, 2010 TAMPA — Election season won't be here for months, but candidates are already lining up to challenge incumbents for three seats on the Hillsborough County School Board. Four candidates have filed papers for the District 6 countywide seat currently held by April Griffin, while incumbents Candy Olson and Jennifer Faliero face opponents in single-member Districts 2 and 4, respectively. Voting won't start until the Aug. 24 primary and the general election on Nov. 4 for those who qualify by paying a fee or collecting signatures, but the campaigning has already begun. District 6 April Griffin says her first term on the board shows she can hold district staff accountable. She said the county needs a board member with her knowledge and experience to oversee the district's $100 million teacher effectiveness grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "I think I'm definitely the person to do that, because I've never been a person to hesitate to ask the questions, either privately or publicly," Griffin said. Griffin, 40, said she was proud of the role she played in averting teacher layoffs and reducing administrative costs. She plans to continue advocating for students who aren't getting services such as health care for which they qualify. "We've got to maintain that career and technical pathway for kids," she added. "I don't believe we need a country full of college educated people." Challenger Terry Kemple said the board has done an inadequate job of explaining what it does and its spending. "The perception of a lot of people is the School Board is a status quo body," he said. "Just a rubber stamp." A Brandon resident and president of the Christian-oriented Community Issues Council, the 63-year-old Kemple led a 2008 effort to ban gay marriage in Florida. He said he's running to make the school district more transparent, and to focus on basics such as graduation rates and spending. He said board members seem to approve even major items like the $100 million Gates grant without much public discussion. To the average citizen, it's not clear whether the district is gambling or following proven reforms, he said. Scott David Barrish, a 33-year-old private security officer from Riverview, is also focused on financial accountability. He said administrative salaries in some departments are inflated, and the district should spend more on instruction than it does on facilities. Barrish earned a bachelor's degree in social work from the University of South Florida in 2007, and serves on the county's Children's Services Advisory Board. He said he has a strong grasp of child development issues and a "passion for education," and also hopes to apply his expertise in security issues to prevent bullying and assault incidents at schools. "There should be no reason why they can't secure their campuses," he said. John T. Mattox, 60, taught science in the Hillsborough County schools for more than three decades before his 2008 retirement. Now he wants to get involved in the district at a policymaking level. He said he's not opposed to reforms connected to the Gates Foundation or the federal Race to the Top competition, but he's troubled by changes he's seen in classrooms. Students are learning less about their society and ways to apply what they're learning, he said. "I have some problems with the way they're trying to redefine teaching," Mattox said. "I don't want to see teachers just handing out worksheets, to give credit for that." Mitchell Smithey, 36, works as a classroom aide at Lutz Elementary School, where his wife teaches kindergarten. They have two children. He said the district is pushing teachers too hard with divisive Gates reforms like peer review and merit pay, which might push the district beyond its financial means. If elected, Smithey said he would promote stronger career and technical tracks for students. "We're going to prepare them for a career they're interested in and they enjoy doing," he said. "You don't have to have a college degree to have a comfortable living." District 2 Incumbent Candy Olson hasn't formally launched her re-election campaign for the seat she's held since 1994. But she left little doubt that she will enter the race. "I would like to be part of this effort we began many years ago, and I would like to see it come to fruition," she said, referring to goals like boosting teacher skills and readying students for college-level work. Olson, 62, said she was proud of the district's successes in raising student achievement and finding money through the Gates grant for new efforts like peer mentoring. She said she'd do her best to monitor spending and represent her constituents' interests, both in public settings and behind the scenes. "If you want to be effective, you have to worry less about how you look and more about how it gets done in the best way," Olson said. District 2 takes in an area of southern Hillsborough from South Tampa to Ruskin. Her opponent, 18-year-old Emmet Gonzalo Negrete, was until recently one of the students under her charge. He graduated last spring from Robinson High School, and is currently studying political science at the University of South Florida. Negrete acknowledged that he needs to learn a lot about the district. He didn't know the size of its budget, but said he had already found ways to save up to $5 million. And he said Olson hadn't done an effective job of reaching out to constituents across the district. "Students are sort of being held back by the system," Negrete said, criticizing the state and federal reforms that force administrators to "massage" student data. "The students don't actually have to make any improvements. It's not really helping them." District 4 Incumbent Jennifer Faliero hopes to win a third term representing eastern Hillsborough County. With the district launching a seven-year cycle of Gates reforms, she said it's no time to be breaking in new leaders. "It requires someone who understands government accounting, how the electoral process works, understands government funding, understands advocacy," said Faliero, 46. As a parent of teenagers, she said she's particularly focused on the need for high school reform. And she's prepared to weather the storms that may come with tougher scrutiny of teachers. "Until the evaluation tools are done, until you start seeing some of those bad teachers terminated, people are going to be naysayers," Faliero said. But she'll face a challenge from Stacy R. White, a pharmacist and clinical assistant professor at the University of Florida. White, a 37-year-old parent from Valrico, said he hoped to make the board more accessible to voters. He said the controversy over placing cell phone towers at schools was badly handled, and he was concerned about how quickly the board committed itself to the Gates reforms. "I feel like we went into that with a lot of unanswered questions," White said. "I would have insisted that we had more questions answered before we moved forward. There was a definite lack of transparency there." Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3400. Filing for office The qualifying deadline is June 18 to pay a fee of 4 percent of the $40,932 salary or submit papers for write-in candidate status, and May 17 to submit the signatures of 1 percent of the district's registered voters. For more information, visit www.votehillsborough.org. fast facts Filing for office The qualifying deadline is June 18 to pay a fee of 4 percent of the $40,932 salary or submit papers for write-in candidate status, and May 17 to submit the signatures of 1 percent of the district's registered voters. For more information, visit www.votehillsborough.org. [Last modified: Feb 28, 2010 11:18 PM] Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Add base stealing to Utley's skills - Philadelphia Daily News Posted: 01 Mar 2010 06:18 AM PST "There's no doubt that Chase is a special player," Werth said, "He's a superstar, he's a perennial All-Star, but he doesn't lack in any dimension. He is as good a hitter as he is a fielder as he is a baserunner, as he is a teammate. He has all aspects." From the power he displayed in the postseason to his refined offseason training regimen, there are plenty of reasons why many in the Phillies organization are giddy about Utley's prospects for the 2010 season. But just as impressive as his home-run potential is the way he has developed into one of the top baserunners in the National League. Unlike teammate Jimmy Rollins, Utley has never stolen 40 bases in a season, has never manufactured a true steal of home, and has never possessed the fastest 60-yard time in the clubhouse. But he has "taken" 96 more bases than the average MLB player over the last 5 years, which, according to respected researcher John Dewan, is the highest total in the National League during that stretch (the Indians' Grady Sizemore is the only player who took more, with 104). "He knows the situation," first-base coach Davey Lopes said. "He goes first-to-third, he goes second-to-home, he reads the ball well, all that kind of stuff . . . That's good baserunning. The ability to see things and react quickly to them, more so than maybe someone else, or wait until the ball is on a downward flight or hits the ground before they run." Utley's dash from second to home on Werth's single in the World Series was nothing new - he did the same on 13 of 15 opportunities in the regular season. In fact, he took "extra" bases on 68 percent of his opportunities, the second-best percentage in the majors. He went first-to-third on a single 19 times, which led the majors. On 10 occasions, he went first-to-home on a double - think Howard's NLDS-clinching hit - which tied him with Emilio Bonifacio for the most in the majors. "He's got tremendous instincts for the game," manager Charlie Manuel said. "He picks up a lot of things. He watches the game. Any edge he can get, a pitcher's move or something the pitcher is doing, or the way the infield is moving, believe me, he's got it." Those instincts help explain why a player without blazing speed will enter the 2010 season having stolen 25 consecutive bases without being caught. Though Utley is limited by his spot in the order - steal second and the opponent might choose to walk Howard, as A.J. Burnett did in Game 5 - he still managed to steal a career-high 23 bases last season. Considering that he started last season 5 months after hip surgery, and finished with a bruised foot that sidelined him for at least two games, Utley has the potential to join Rollins and Bobby Abreu as the only players in franchise history to finish a year with at least 30 steals and 30 home runs. "I believe he's probably stronger and healthier now than he was last year," Lopes said. "If he wants to push himself to the point, with that mentality he had last year, he could probably steal 30." And he might be able to do it in just 30 attempts. Including his 23-for-23 mark last season, Utley has converted 46 of 49 stolen-base attempts since 2007, for a major league-best 93.9 percent success rate. "I think the one thing is that when he runs, I know he is going to be safe," Werth said. "He picks his spots real well. Just overall, he is a good baserunner. He's not out there just running to run. He doesn't make mistakes on the basepaths. He doesn't get a bad read. You just never see him make a mistake." Another such player is Werth, who stole 20 bases last season and has converted 47 of 52 attempts since joining the Phillies in 2007. Along with Utley and the Mets' Carlos Beltran, Werth is one of only three major leaguers with at least 40 steals who has converted more than 90 percent of his attempts over the last two seasons. Factor in Rollins, whose 87.5 percent conversion rate ranks in the top 10 during that span, and centerfielder Shane Victorino, and the Phillies have four players who have the potential to steal at least 30 bases. Since 1913, only five clubs have achived that feat: the 1976 A's (six), 1985 Cardinals (five), and the 1999 Padres, 1983 Cardinals and the 1979 Astros (four each). Last year, the Phillies became the first team since the 2002 Marlins to boast four players with at least 20 steals, as well as the first team since the 1988 Mets to have three players with at least 20 steals and 20 home runs. But as the third inning in Game 5 demonstrated, steals are just one measure of baserunning. Over the last 5 years, the Phillies have taken the second-most extra bases in the National League, according to Dewan's research. While their percentage of extra bases taken last year - 39 - ranked in the middle of the pack, they finished with just 44 outs-on-base, the fewest in the NL. "I think it's something that the more you play, the better you become at it," Utley said. "You understand certain situations. It's an important part of the game, and I think we do a good job at it, but I think we can do a better job in the future." Which, for a team that already ranks among the best in the majors, is an intriguing possibility. For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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