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"My childhood was destructive," says Jal, 28. "It stresses me when I share my story, but it's a responsibility now. A lot of Sudanese have the same story, and they are quiet. If I testify, I might prevent another kid from losing his childhood."
Jal is testifying on three fronts. His major-label debut, WARchild, chronicles Jal's journey in a blunt rap diary. He's the focus of the upcoming War Child documentary, winner of the Cadillac Award at New York's Tribeca Film Festival. And an autobiography, Warchild: A Boy Soldier's Story, is due in early 2009 from St. Martin's Press.
Soaking up the sun in the backyard of his publicist's hilltop home, the lanky, dreadlocked Jal could be any rising rapper, except that his vivid tales of brutality are all too real. The title track and Forced to Sin offer harrowing details of his war-torn youth, including his temptation "to eat the rotten flesh of my comrade" when fellow child soldiers resorted to cannibalism after escaping the rebel army.
"I don't take modern hip-hop as real," says Jal, whose tune 50 Cent appeals to the rap icon for a ceasefire on violent lyrics that glamorize thug life. "It's entertaining, it's fake, like James Bond. If you really kill, you don't want to talk about it."
Jal's ordeal began at age 7, when his father sent him, along with thousands of children, to the Ethiopian bush to train with the Sudan People's Liberation Army, in combat with government forces since 1983. Jal did not resist."A seed was planted in me," he says. "I lived in war. Our village got burned, and I thought the world was ending with these loud bombs and houses burning and people screaming. My grandmother and uncle were beaten almost to death. When I saw my mom beaten and my auntie raped, a feeling of hatred was developing inside me."
On the treacherous walk to the training ground, several children fell prey to wild animals or drowned crossing rivers. Boot-camp conditions weren't much better.
"I was beaten until I was dizzy," Jal says. "I remember thinking, 'If I finish this training, I'm going to kill the trainer.' We were made hard. But I was happy to join. My desire was to kill as many Arabs as possible."
After a year of training and five years of fighting, an exhausted Jal and about 400 "lost boys" deserted the army, fleeing across Sudan's parched landscape with a meager supply of maize.
"When the food got finished, we depended on snails, snakes and rats," he says. "Soldiers too weak to hunt were forced to eat bodies."
Most succumbed to enemy attacks, disease, starvation and suicide. Only 16 survived.
Jal was spotted dragging a machine gun through the dirt at a refugee camp by British aid worker Emma McCune, who found the 13-year-old's tale heartrending and smuggled him to Nairobi.
"I thought, 'OK, this is an opportunity to be a better soldier. I'll learn to fly, steal a plane from the air force in this white woman's country, come back and kill these Arabs,' " Jal says. "That's being a kid. Luckily, things changed."
Jal's attitude shifted as a normal routine reduced flashbacks of his life in the killing fields. When he drew graphic scenes of dismembered villagers, McCune introduced him to cartoons, "so I started drawing hippos."
McCune's death in a car crash six months after rescuing Jal was a devastating setback.
"My life was crushed," says Jal, who was aided by McCune's friends. "So I started going to church and singing in the choir. Love let me heal. Letting go of my hatred for Muslims helped the most. And music was therapy."
Jal began dabbling in rap, and one of his home demo tapes got regional airplay, leading to a record deal. In 2005, single Gua ("peace" in his native Nuer) won global attention and an invitation for Jal to perform at the Live 8 benefits. "That was the beginning of the end of poverty in my life," says Jal, who relocated to London to pursue music full time. "I started supporting myself."
He began performing widely, and his music appeared on benefit albums War Child: Help! A Day in the Life and Instant Karma, as well as in the film Blood Diamond and TV's ER.
A spokesman for Make Poverty History, Jal hopes someday to build a school in McCune's name to rehabilitate child soldiers. He sees little hope for ending the genocide in Darfur until multiple nations pressure Sudan's leaders.
"Wars are made by rich people to kill poor people," he says. "The wealthiest Sudanese don't know what war is. Their children are safe in school." He grins. "But I don't want the wealthy to hate me, because I'm going to join them soon."
Jal cracks jokes to cope. He has never seen a psychiatrist and still struggles with nightmares.
"The killing and stealing I did in war, I can justify with what happened in my home," he says. "I don't feel guilty, but I'm haunted. I used to say, 'Why didn't I die?' Now I know I'm here to tell my story."
See also:The plan by the California Department of Food and Agriculture is to release mass quantities of infertile moths, interfering with the insects' ability to reproduce.
Environmental groups that had rallied against a proposal to aerial spray the Monterey and Santa Cruz coastal region this summer, praised the change.
"We at Earthjustice are glad that the CDFA has acknowledged that its plan to aerially spray Bay Area cities with pesticides to eradicate the apple moth was a terrible idea from the start - it wasn't safe, it wouldn't work, and it wasn't necessary," Managing Attorney Deborah Reames said in a statement.
"Sterile moths are a very good idea for long-term management of a pest like the light brown apple moth," added Pesticide Action Network North America in a website posting.
State Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura said officials started looking into alternative forms of pest control when the light brown apple moth was identified in California in March 2007, but had not anticipated that the so-called Sterile Insect Technique, or SIT, would be ready so quickly.
"SIT has been successful for more than 30 years in California and around the globe against a variety of insects - most famously the medfly," Kawamura said in a statement.
"Scientists had expected to need five to seven years to adapt SIT to the apple moth, but their work has progressed much more rapidly than expected," he said. "We now plan to begin limited releases of the sterile moths in 2009, with a full-scale program up and running in 2011."
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in a letter of support to Kawamura, said that "creating the most sustainable tools to halt these pests is imperative. That will continue to be my direction in addressing all invasive pests that threaten California."
The light brown apple moth is a native of Australia, and is found also in New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Hawaii. Detection of the moth in California?s San Francisco Bay Area last year was the first on the mainland, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Its name notwithstanding, the moth larva feeds on a wide variety of plants, including - most ominously for California agriculture - peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, grapes, cherries and citrus, as well as apples and pears. It can also damage landscape trees; among them, state signature species such as cypresses, redwoods and oaks.
The use of Sterile Insect Technology involves subjecting male insects to ionizing radiation, which renders them infertile while still enabling them to "function in the field," successfully mating with wild females, according to a report on the subject by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Source
Tapping a respected executive with two decades of experience and a stellar reputation as a brand builder, Juicy Couture announced the appointment of Edgar O. Huber as president of the company.| William L. McComb, chief executive officer of Liz Claiborne Inc, the parent company of Juicy Couture, said, "Edgar is a great fit for both Juicy Couture and the corporation at-large. We are particularly impressed with his leadership of Kiehl's, spanning both wholesale and retail, growing a small business into a very large global one. His talents and experience beautifully complement those of the Juicy team. He has focused on building brands during his entire career, and we are confident that he is the best person to help the Juicy brand reach its full potential." The search was conducted by Spencer Stuart. | ||
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Enlarge Photo Singer Jennifer Lopez is seen performing on ABC's "Good Morning America" television show in New... Sat, Mar 1 07:50 AM
Movie and recording star Jennifer Lopez and her husband, salsa singer Marc Anthony, have named their newborn twins Max and Emme, her manager told People magazine's Web site on Friday.
The brother and sister -- the first children born to the 38-year-old actress -- were delivered about 10 minutes apart last Friday at a Long Island hospital.
Emme, weighing (2.6 kg), arrived first at about 12 minutes past midnight, and Max was born at 12:23 a.m., tipping the scales at 2.7 kg even, Lopez's manager, Simon Fields, confirmed to People.com.
Lopez and Anthony, who has a daughter and two sons from two previous relationships, married in 2004. It is her third marriage. The couple starred together last year in "El Cantante," a film about salsa legend Hector Lavoe.
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Enlarge Photo Actress Drew Barrymore listens during a news conference where she was named Ambassador against Hunger... Tue, Mar 4 03:44 AM
U.S. actress Drew Barrymore donated $1 million of her own money on Monday to the World Food Programme (WFP) that the U.N. agency said would be used to feed thousands of schoolchildren in Kenya.
Barrymore, 33, a WFP ambassador against hunger, announced her pledge on The Oprah Winfrey Show to kick off the agency's $3 billion "Fill the Cup" campaign that aims to feed 59 million hungry school children in developing countries for a year.
WFP hopes the United States will be able to donate enough money to feed 10 million of those children.
"I have seen with my own eyes what a difference a simple cup of nutritious porridge can make in a child's life," said the "Charlie's Angels" star, who has traveled to Kenya twice in the past two years for WFP.
"It helps them learn, stay healthy and sets them on track for a bright future. I urge everyone -- everywhere -- to help WFP 'Fill the Cup' for hungry children, and make hunger history," she said in a statement released by the agency.
Barrymore, who gained fame as a child star in the film "ET: The Extra-Terrestrial," is the eighth-highest-paid actress in Hollywood, according to The Hollywood Reporter, earning more than $10 million a movie.
Josette Sheeran, WFP's executive director, said $50 "fills a child's cup for a year" and called on people to donate through the Web site www.wfp.org.
The organization said last year it provided more than 20 million school children with a daily cup of porridge, rice or beans and also gave many girls a monthly ration to take home to their families. It said up to 70 percent of its food used for school meals is bought from farmers in developing cpountries.
Source
Tue, Mar 4 04:47 PMTexas-based Tim Love is known for his sophisticated interpretations of U.S. western cuisine while preserving its bold flavors and multi-cultural origins.
Meat and wild game, the focal point of Love's cooking, are often paired with global touches such as Swedish lingonberries and Spanish Manchego cheese.
In 2003, the self-taught chef and a crew traveled in a trail drive from Fort Worth to New York City after the James Beard House invited him to cook a celebration dinner in honor of the late chef and food writer's 100th birthday. During the trip Love, bought ingredients from local markets, which he used for the dinner.
Love, who often sports a cowboy hat, owns three restaurants in Fort Worth including his flagship, The Lonesome Dove Western Bistro.
Love, 36, spoke to Reuters about his cooking and why Australians like Texans.
Q: What makes your cuisine "urban Western"?
A: "I was born and raised in Denton, Texas, so in Texas you are around a lot of different cultures all the time. There is a lot of hunting capabilities in Texas so that style of cooking encompasses a lot of wild animals and cultures that make up the West. You have the Germans, Italians, French traders and Chinese railroad workers and all these influences using native ingredients. I've taken all those cultures and urbanized it."
Q: What part of the world inspires you now?
A: "Now I use things from Australia and New Zealand because to me, when I visited there, it had the same thing Texas had going for it back to in the days of wide open spaces. I consider it's the New West. I have visited there a few times. I have a friend in Perth. I visited the wine areas. They really embrace Texans. They are really proud of where they are from, just like Texans."
Q: Any tips for cooking games?
A: "Game meats in themselves are not that gamey if it's prepared correctly. The thing that makes it gamier is the fat content. Game meat tends to be leaner so you add fat to the meat by like using lardon and other pork products. You need the fat in there to flavor the meat. You also want to use really bold flavors and really pungent herbs like garlic, chilies, rosemary and thyme."
Q: What is your favorite game to work with?
A: "Rabbit is the best white meat in the world. When prepared properly and you put it next to chicken, there is no comparison. It has a creamy quality to it. It's a little less lean than chicken. As far as bird goes, I love working with pheasants. As far as four-legged animal, I love working with red deer. As far as wild fish, I love barramundi."
Q: What do you cook for yourself?
A: "I like to cook whole anything but I end up feeding like a million people when I do it. You get so many different flavors and textures when you finished with just out one cooking process."
RECIPE
SPICY LAMB CHILI (Serves 6)
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb. lean ground American lamb
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons chili powder
1 bay leaf
1 (14-1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
3 cups canned kidney beans
Salt and pepper
Dry Jack cheese, for garnish
Chopped onion, for garnish
1. In a large heavy-bottom stock pot, heat olive oil and cook onions and ground lamb over medium heat.
2. When onions are soft and meat browned, add garlic and season with red pepper flakes, oregano, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, chili powder and bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and beans and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. To serve: Ladle into bowls and garnish with toppings.
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Enlarge Photo Anna Nicole Smith walks into the media tent during an appearance backstage in this file... Wed, Mar 5 04:16 AM
A judge on Tuesday ruled that the baby daughter of deceased model Anna Nicole Smith is the sole heir to her estate, meaning 18-month-old Dannielynn could inherit a multimillion-dollar fortune.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff's ruling also established a trust for Dannielynn that would be administered by Smith's companion, Howard K. Stern, and Dannielynn's father, Larry Birkhead.
Smith, a former Playboy model and television actress, died in February last year of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, roughly five months after Dannielynn was born. Smith's son, Daniel, died only three days after Dannielynn's birth. He was 20.
Daniel had been Anna Nicole Smith's heir according to a will that was written well before his death, but the actress/model never changed the will. Stern, who is executor of Smith's estate, had petitioned the Los Angeles court in October to name Dannielynn as the sole heir.
"We and Mr. Stern always believed that Anna Nicole never intended to disinherit her daughter," Stern's lawyer, Bruce Ross, said after the hearing. "I'm pleased to say this chapter in the saga is closed."
At the time of her death, Smith was embroiled in a legal battle over the will of billionaire oil tycoon Howard Marshall.
She married Marshall when she was 26 years old and he was 89. He died 14 months later with a fortune estimated at $1.6 billion, triggering a battle between Smith and Marshall's family over his estate that still has not been resolved.
If that dispute is settled and Anna Nicole Smith's estate receives a large payout, the money would belong to Dannielynn.
The birth of Dannielynn and deaths of Daniel and Anna Nicole Smith were the subjects of a huge media frenzy last year due to the actress/model's celebrity.
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Hats are "a great way to show individuality," but they're hard to wear, Magnaghi says. "People are intimidated (by them). When someone wears one, they're making a statement" — sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly.
By Ed Jones, AFP/Getty Images Fetching fedoras
The fedora has edged out the newsboy cap as today’s menswear- inspired hat of choice. “It’s the ultimate boyfriend accessory,” says Magnaghi — or ex-boyfriend. The brimmed toppers started popping up a year or two ago among the indie crowd (think of Pete Doherty and his former paramour, Kate Moss). The narrower-brimmed trilby, as modeled by Sienna Miller at the Edinburgh premiere of The Edge of Love, is particularly popular. “It’s really flattering,” says Magnaghi. Pairing one with a cocktail dress for a formal event, Ã la Miller, “plays on the whole masculine- feminine look.” Take a shift, “slap on a fedora, and it automatically adds a cool factor to the outfit.” And in the case of hit-and-miss fashion maverick Miller, “it looks casual. She makes it look easy and effortless. It doesn’t look like she’s trying too hard.”
Source
TORONTO, (Reuters) -- Food prices, fuel costs and economic fears are growing, but that doesn't mean you can't eat healthfully while on a recession diet.
Feeding yourself and your family on a budget can still include nutritious lean protein, fruits and vegetables in your diet every day, said Holly Scherer, a registered dietician at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor. It just requires an open mind and a bit of extra time.
"With a little bit of planning, you can watch how much you're spending and still eat a healthy diet," Scherer said.
The food inflation rate is currently double the overall rate at 4.2 percent annually, according to the Department of Labor, and the USDA estimates the rate will be between 3 and 4 percent this year, the highest since the early 1990s. Labor Department figures show milk, dried beans, peas and lentils up 17 percent, cheese up 15 percent, rice and pasta up 13 percent, bread up 12 percent, and eggs up 25 percent, all over the last year. And rising prices at the pump mean that transportation costs are eating a larger chunk out of people's incomes. Many families are now looking for ways to make their food budgets go further, or to increase it by cutting spending somewhere else.
All of that may leave some people worried that they will have to begin relying on fast food and less-healthy options for their meals, but there are a lot of ways to cut a grocery budget without giving up fresh foods, Scherer said.
Eating in season is one key way to cut your food bill. Farmer's markets can offer savings on produce because you're buying locally and directly from the farmer. But watch prices there, Scherer said. The savings can be significant, but some items, such as organic produce, may actually cost more. "You may pay more if you're not careful about what you're choosing," she said.
Local co-operatives where you trade money or labour in order to reap the benefits of a larger community garden or local farm are another option for fresh fruits and vegetables, Scherer said. And if you're so inclined, you can save money by planting your own produce and herbs. A plant that costs just a few dollars can provide a large amount of produce, she said.
When fresh options are too expensive or unavailable, consider frozen and canned fruits and vegetables. Look for frozen and canned vegetables without added ingredients like sauces and salt, and fruits that are not frozen or canned in sugar -- check for sugar or high fructose corn syrup in the ingredients, and avoid them, Scherer said. Some fruits will be canned in a light syrup, which is their own juices and is a better choice. Also, produce to be frozen and canned is selected at the peak of its freshness. "They can be just as nutritious if you follow those guidelines, and very economical," she said.
Protein is another area where grocery costs can become quite high -- and therefore, where cuts can be made. For a lot of people, protein means meat, and plenty of it. The United States Department of Agriculture recommends four ounces of meat per person per day, but per capita meat consumption is consistently a half-pound daily. So one option is to simply eat less meat with our meals. "A lot of us do eat more meat than we really need, with large portions," Scherer said. Though the price of eggs has increased, they are still a cheaper source of protein than meat. Beans are another option for adding protein to meals at a low cost.
But eating more economically doesn't have to mean eliminating meat, it just means making smarter choices, Scherer said. Less expensive cuts are often less tender, which makes them good choices for meals like stews and casseroles. Watching for sales allows you to purchase preferred cuts at a discount and freeze them for later use.
Buying chicken breasts with the bone and skin on and filleting and skinning them yourself will also save money because the price per pound is lower. The National Institutes of Health recommends buying whole chickens and cutting them up yourself; the carcass can then be used to make soup stock. Avoiding pre-cooked or pre-seasoned meat can also mean consuming fewer preservatives, additives and sodium, Scherer added.
This is true across the board of convenience items, she pointed out -- though time is also valuable, any time some of the work has been done for you, the cost will be higher.
"Any time the item is more prepared for you, whether it's in meats, fruits and vegetables, non-perishable items -- you're going to pay more for that," Scherer said. "In actuality, it's only a few minutes of your time that's added to food preparation in order to do that yourself."
See also:
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Next week California will try to wrest cell phones from the hands of drivers, telling everyone from movie starlets and dot-com millionaires to surfers and soccer moms that conversations behind the wheel must be on a headset.
Several U.S. states and some two dozen countries around the world already have restrictions on mobile phones while driving but now such a law has come to California -- where the car is king and much of life is spent on the famously snarled freeways.
Californians interviewed by Reuters mostly supported the law requiring hands-free phones in cars and outlawing cell phones entirely for drivers under 18, which takes effect on Tuesday -- though they were puzzled by a loophole that allows seemingly more dangerous text messaging.
Others cast a jaundiced eye on lawmakers, who they blame for failing to build more freeways or public transportation in the face of increasingly gridlocked roads in the nation's most populous state and say hands-free conversations are no safer.
"I can't believe that (Californians) will put up with all these nanny, nit-picking laws," KFI-AM radio talk-show host John Kobylt told Reuters.
"It's stupid because we've gone over about seven different studies and each one of them says it's the conversation that distracts you, not holding the phone," he said.
TEXT MESSAGING OK?
Besides, he said, many Californians are forced to use their cars as offices while stuck on the freeway.
State Sen. Joe Simitian, who authored the bill, disputes those studies and says keeping both hands on the wheel is always safer. He expects his law to save hundreds of lives.
"There are more and more people out there on the highway and the CHP (California Highway Patrol) has collected data every year showing that cell phones are the number one cause of distracted drivers," Simitian said.
Fines for a first offense are $20 plus fees and $50 plus fees for subsequent convictions.
The Democratic lawmaker is working on a follow-up bill to outlaw text messaging in the car, which he says wasn't an issue when he began working on the first one in 2001.
Connecticut, New Jersey and New York already prohibit drivers from talking on hand-held cell phones, along with some two dozen countries around the world. In New Jersey, police have issued 35,000 tickets for using a hand-held phone or texting while driving since the law went into effect March 1.
But the random sampling of Californians interviewed by Reuters expressed ambivalence.
"On the one hand I don't want people crashing into each other, but I'm not going to go get an ear thing," 38-year-old bank employee Jason Fischer said in Los Angeles. "I'll give it up and then one day I'll make a call and get a ticket. I don't want a headset. I'm too lazy to get a headset."
Rachel Kucsulain, 36, said she rides her bike to her job as an administrative assistant in Los Angeles and wants cell phones taken out of the hands of drivers.
"I've almost been hit multiple times. I think it's totally a threat," Kucsulain said. "Two blocks from here someone (on a cell phone) turned on me as I was crossing a crosswalk. They were only inches away from me. It's just distracting."
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| Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr wants to continue to play in New York, but has no new deal on the table. (Getty Images) |
But no one involved in those headline-making deals has won anything. Still, the law of supply and demand has always ruled, and it will be no different when the 2008 class hits the market Tuesday.
A dozen unrestricted free agents to watch next week:
Marian Hossa: He's an elite offensive player who increased his value with the best postseason of his career. But Hossa also priced himself out of the Pittsburgh Penguins' budget in the playoffs, and perhaps those of a few other teams as well. Hossa should be worth about $7.5 million a year but has hinted he might take less to hook up with a perennial contender. How much less and on what kind of term is unknown. The Penguins have several players to re-sign this year and next, so their room is limited, and in Detroit, another team that is thought to be interested, it's unlikely the Red Wings will give him more than the $6.7 million Pavel Datsyuk makes. Look for Hossa to land with either Montreal, the Rangers or Boston.
Brian Campbell: When the Sharks picked up Campbell at the trade deadline, they looked like they pulled off the deal of the day, getting a puck-moving defenseman who made them nearly unbeatable with him in the lineup. Campbell was brilliant down the stretch and seemed to be headed for a major payday, but his star lost some shine in the playoffs, and that could keep him from getting to the top salary tier for defenseman. His continuing struggles in the postseason raised questions about how effective he could really be in the more physical Western Conference. The Sharks seem to want him back, but the deal would have to be too good to pass up, because Campbell has personal reasons for being on the East Coast.
Brian Rolston: Rolston has been quiet about whether he wants to remain in Minnesota, but his agent isn't returning Wild phone calls about a contract extension, which tells you something. Maybe that's because Rolston could end up being one of the prize signings of the summer. He's usually good for around 30 goals, a nice addition to any offense. Rolston is also one of the league's most versatile forwards, able to play either wing or center, kill penalties and man the point on power plays. He has a booming shot, and, at age 35, is thought to be thinking reasonably -- about $4 million per season -- in terms of his contract expectations.
Mats Sundin: He's going to the Hall of Fame, sooner rather than later if he actually calls it quits now. That's the big question for the Maple Leafs captain, who had a strong individual season for hapless Toronto and proved he still can be an impact player. Sundin, 37, has seen his negotiating rights offered conditionally to Montreal and the New York Rangers in advance of the market opening but is leaning toward waiting for the official bidding begins before making any decision. If he decides against retiring, several other teams will get in on the action. Toronto might still be in the mix as well, although his recent history with the club makes a reconciliation unlikely.
Ryan Malone: The Pittsburgh native got a lot of exposure during the playoffs, and for good reason. His hard-nosed (and often broken-nosed) play came to symbolize the gritty determination of the young Penguins while raising Malone's profile even more than his breakout 27-goal season did. What that means is Malone is going to get someone to overpay for him on the open market. The Penguins want him back, but they won't be able to match offers that will likely go beyond doubling his salary. And that actually makes Malone a gamble. He's a good player who brings intangible qualities, but he won't be on a line with Evgeni Malkin anywhere else.
Jose Theodore: The former Hart and Vezina winner seemed to resurrect his career with a great second half in Colorado, but whether he convinced anyone that he is really back will become clear pretty quickly. There are not many goalies available, so that could work to his advantage. Theodore's time with the Avs was spotty, even though he was among the top earners in his position. Colorado expected him to take a significant cut from his $6.5 million salary, but Theodore and his aggressive agent, Don Meehan, seem to think it won't have to be that steep some place else.
Jaromir Jagr: The aging Rangers captain says he would like to continue his career in New York. But the team has not been in a hurry to get a new deal worked out, and a lucrative offer to play for the new Russian-driven league in Europe lurks in the background. Money is obviously an issue for Jagr. He was the highest-paid player in the league not that long ago and showed how effective he can still be during a great, if limited, playoff run this season. He's probably looking for about $5 million a season for a couple of years, The Rangers seem to be headed in a different direction, but at that price, Jagr's presence could be attractive to some teams -- maybe even old buddy Mario Lemieux's Penguins, especially if they have to replace Hossa's output.
Wade Redden: The Senators realized they erred in choosing Redden over Zdeno Chara after the lockout but felt he still contributed enough to be kept at the right price. However Redden didn't want to slice his salary in half, and now will find if other teams think he or the Senators had the right fix on his true value. He's only 31 and still can move the puck, but he has made a lot of mistakes at bad times over the past two seasons. He's probably a better fit as a No. 3 defenseman than a No. 1 but is looking to be paid like a top guy and has enough of a reputation that he probably will.
Ray Emery: This one is worth watching. Only a few months after taking the Senators to the Stanley Cup Finals, Emery became a lightning rod for controversy in Ottawa. He was largely blamed for everything that went wrong, including the midseason firing of a coach, and was bought out as promised as soon as the rules allowed it. But Emery is a talented if idiosyncratic goaltender and is the ideal candidate for a new start. The Senators are paying him $1.5 million for the next four years, so he won't be that expensive either.
Sean Avery: You either love him or hate him, and in most places, it seems to be the latter. But Avery has become a really big fan favorite at Madison Square Garden and an intangible factor for the Rangers considering the serious gap in their success rate with and without him in the lineup. Avery is the most notorious agitator in the NHL, but he can play the game and has a good skill set. The issue is the value of that. Avery wants about $1 million more per season than the Rangers want to give him, and he might be hard pressed to find anyone who will pay more. Worth noting is that Avery might be best suited for New York, where his play seems inspired from becoming a fixture on the city's gossip and nightlife circuit.
Mark Streit: Streit kind of hit the lottery in his contract year, when he was one of the league's lowest paid players with the Montreal Canadiens. He had a career season with the Northeast Division champions and was widely lauded for his work quarterbacking the league's best power play. That was a big concern before last season in Montreal because of Sheldon Souray's free-agent departure. But Streit broke out offensively and filled the void on the point despite being one of the league's lowest paid players at $600,000. He could get five or six times that next week.
Brooks Orpik: Orpik made his mark with four heavy hits during one incredible Stanley Cup Finals shift for the Penguins, underlining his reputation as one of the most physical young defensemen in the league. But he had already opened a lot of his eyes in the playoffs and could have several teams lining up for him if he gets to the market. Orpik will be 28 when the season begins, and his overall defensive play has improved noticeably in the last couple of seasons under Michel Therrien Orpik was rumored to have some issues with the coach during the playoffs, but he hasn't ruled out staying with the Penguins either.
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Famously boorish Sapp should still be a Hall of Fame lockSo Warren Sapp is having a retirement party Saturday night in Tampa. Wonder who the life of that shindig will be?
If you've ever encountered Sapp, you know it's always about the big guy. Put him in any room and that Sapp voice -- and signature laugh -- will rise above all, much like it always did when he was playing the game as a dominant defensive tackle for Tampa Bay and Oakland.
In my dealings with Sapp, which were limited, I found him to be loud, obnoxious, rude, nasty, controversial, combative and downright mean at times. The stories about his boorish behavior dealing with the public are even worse. They say asking him for an autograph at times was like poking a stick into a pen of rattlesnakes.
He treated the media like crap. And that's being kind.
But before you think I'm kicking a man on his way out the door, there's another reason for pointing out all of this.
Warren Sapp should be a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, his attitude and actions might hold him back some from getting there.
That shouldn't happen. But you can bet when the Hall voters gather in the room to discuss his candidacy in five years, Sapp's negative approach to dealing with the media will come up. They will point out how difficult he was as an interview subject, how he was rude to questioners, how he berated those asking questions he didn't like.
None of that should matter. I was one of Sapp's biggest critics in terms of the way he handled himself. He was rude to me on several occasions. Big deal. Didn't bother me none. Those more sensitive will see it another way.
The vision I have of Sapp is of him sitting at his locker after a game, just a towel covering his privates, his ample belly hanging over it, a cup on the ground in front of him to catch the drip from the wad of chew in his mouth, and him holding court.
One by one, especially after a loss, the media would approach him to ask a question. If Sapp didn't like it, the response was one of these two:
• Who you?
• Next question.
At times, when he was in a good mood, Sapp was engaging, fun and analytical. That wasn't often.
What was common was his dominating play on the field. For much of his career, he was a disruptive a force inside in that Tampa-2 defense. Teams doubled him with regularity and he often beat them. His quickness was amazing for a man who weighed 325 pounds at certain points in his career.
In 2000, he had 16½ sacks, showing off his ability to get push inside. He had three other seasons with 10 or more sacks, finishing with 96½ in his career.
It's too bad all the other stuff overshadows his greatness.
That's what bad actions can do to a player. In addition to his angry relationship with the media and fans, Sapp had the high-profile "dirty" hit on Green Bay Packers tackle Chad Clifton. That led to a postgame confrontation with then-Packers coach Mike Sherman in which Sapp essentially challenged Sherman to a fight.
Sapp also dropped former teammate Chidi Ahanotu during a locker room disagreement. Nice teammate. During an interview in 2004, Ahanotu described his time playing with Sapp as "six years in hell."
He also said he wasn't the only player who disdained Sapp.
"I think everyone raised their hand on that one," Ahanotu said.
Even so, Sapp should still get a bust in Canton. Those voters who might think about holding his ways against him should realize it's the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's not the Life Hall of Fame. If it were that, we'd go back in and take a lot of players out.
One does have to wonder how much of a lock Sapp would be if he played with the class of former teammate Derrick Brooks. As it is, if we rated Warren Sapp on how he treated people in his career, he'd be a scrub. As a football player, he was one of the best.
Here's hoping his retirement party Saturday night will signal a new start. Being nice really isn't so bad, Warren. Plus, you might need it now.
Source
Ponson's gem helps Yankees earn two-ballpark split with MetsNEW YORK (AP) -- Two ballparks, two blowouts. Call it even.
Sidney Ponson pitched a gem in his return to the New York Yankees, silencing Carlos Delgado and the rest of the New York Mets for a 9-0 victory Friday night and a split of their two-stadium doubleheader.Delgado dominated the day game at Yankee Stadium. He set a Mets record with nine RBIs and hit a grand slam for one of his two homers in a 15-6 win that lasted 3 hours, 54 minutes."You have to be able to respond," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.His team did just that.After both squads got police escorts for their rush-hour bus trips to Shea Stadium, Bobby Abreu went 4-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs as the Yankees enjoyed a rout of their own.Ponson outpitched Pedro Martinez with six shutout innings, and the Bronx Bombers broke loose in Queens for their first win in four Subway Series games this season."It was a big start for us tonight," Girardi said. "He gave us everything we needed."Robinson Cano homered and drove in three runs for the Yankees, who have won 10 of 14 overall. Derek Jeter extended his season-high hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI double off the center-field fence.With a history of off-the-field trouble, Ponson pitched well for Texas this season but was cut for being a disruption to the team.Missing three injured starters, the Yankees signed him to a minor league deal last week and he made one four-inning start at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before drawing a big assignment against the crosstown rival Mets.Ponson (5-1) certainly delivered after the Mets apparently used up all their big hits in the opener. The beefy right-hander, who pitched briefly for the Yankees in 2006, pumped his fist after wriggling out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the second.He loaded the bases in the third, too, then escaped again when Ramon Castro grounded sharply into an inning-ending double play."It's a fresh start," Ponson said. "I'm more comfortable here."The Yankees soon got to Martinez (2-2), who allowed six runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings while dropping his second consecutive start."I'm just not doing my job and that's something to worry about. It's time for me for getting better, not getting worse. I've got to make some adjustments," Martinez said. "The health is there. It's not physically, it's got to be mechanically."Ponson pitched around five hits and four walks, one intentional. Kyle Farnsworth, Jose Veras and Kei Igawa completed the eight-hitter.After the Yankees left a season-worst 14 runners on base in the opener, the Mets stranded eight in the first three innings of the nightcap.Still, Girardi wouldn't commit to another start for Ponson."We haven't had a chance to talk about it," he said. "I'm actually going to go home to sleep and then I'll make some decisions."This was the third time the teams played a two-stadium doubleheader. The Yankees swept the other two (July 2000 and June 2003).Game notes
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