L.A. D-Fenders get the stage all to themselves for a while

The NBA won't resume until Christmas, so players in the Development League have a chance to show their skills to basketball-hungry fans,Moncler outlet as well as scouts.
The players walk down the hallway to practice and see the pictures of Kobe Bryant,Moncler spaccio Pau Gasol and the rest of the Lakers.

They step onto the practice court and see the retired jerseys of Magic Johnson, Jerry West, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Lakers' other Hall of Famers. They also see championship banners hanging on the walls and the Lakers' championship trophies in an upstairs office window.

The setting has left many Los Angeles D-Fenders in awe and somewhat overwhelmed — despite the fact they are pro basketball players and,Sito moncler at the moment, the only active pro hoops team in town while the new NBA labor deal awaits a ratification vote by players and owners. The NBA probably will begin its season on Christmas Day.

The D-Fenders, part of the NBA's Development League,Moncler giubbotti are owned by the Buss family and are playing their home games this season on the Lakers' practice court at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo.

For D-Fender guard Franklin Session, the atmosphere is even more surreal because he went to Jordan High.

"Sometimes I see myself staring at the walls and not even focused on what I need to focus on. It's so crazy," Session said. The 6-foot-2 guard played for Cal State Los Angeles last season, averaging 13.1 points a game. "I'm from Watts, so … for me to even be on this floor is like outstanding. I couldn't picture this in a million years."

Because of the NBA lockout, no player selected in the June NBA draft or anyone who played in the NBA last season was eligible to be on a D-League roster to start the season. As a result, the D-Fenders are a ragtag team of hopefuls, all trying to play their way into the NBA or attract interest from an overseas team.

The D-Fenders (2-1) won their home opener Monday over the Reno Bighorns.

To draw fans to the 24 D-Fenders home games, the Buss family is offering various Lakers incentives, including a chance to buy two tickets to a Lakers game every month and get a first crack at Lakers individual playoff tickets. A courtside D-Fenders season ticket costs $1,800. The El Segundo facility holds 365 seats and the game Monday was a sellout.

Plenty of NBA scouts are expected to attend the D-Fenders games.

It will give the players a chance to shine, as it will D-Fenders Coach Eric Musselman, 47, formerly a head coach in the NBA for three seasons with the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings.

"We've talked over and over how this is an advantage for them that they've never had before in the D-League like they will now," Musselman said. "They're going to be on the biggest stage that they've ever been on."

D-Fenders guard Jamaal Tinsley has been on the big stage before.

He played seven seasons with the Indiana Pacers and 38 games during the 2009-10 season with the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 9.8 points and 6.6 assists during his career. Last season Tinsley kept working out, waiting for a call from an NBA team that never came.

"That's my goal, is to get back to the NBA," Tinsley said. "Right now, I'm an L.A. D-Fender and I thank them for giving me this opportunity. I'm here to win games for the D-Fenders and hopefully win a championship. If I get called up, I get called up."

Call-ups do happen. Last season 20 D-Leaguers played for NBA teams.

And it means a big pay jump. Salaries for D-League players range from $13,000 to $25,500, compared with the NBA minimum pay of about $473,000 for a full season.

Tinsley, at 33, is the oldest player on the D-Fenders, and Session, at 22, is the youngest. Others include Brandon Costner, a 6-9, 230-pound forward/center, who played in the D-League last season for Utah, and 6-6 guard Elijah Millsap, younger brother of Utah Jazz power forward Paul Millsap.

Musselman said those attending the games will see a D-Fenders team with players who give maximum effort because "they are fighting for survival."

"We want to try and be the best team in the D-League," he said. "And we also want to have more call-ups than any team."

Digital Living Room Discussion Hits Home at Streaming Media West

LOS ANGELES — As consumers increasingly have more options with which to engage their content of choice, the concept of the “digital living room,” Belstaff Jacket or the “connected living room,” is becoming the norm, panelists at the Streaming Media West conference said Nov. 8.
Paul Sweeting, principal with Concurrent Media Strategies, highlighted three distinct ways the digital living room is being addressed: a device-centric view, wherein a particular Internet-connected device is the hub of the living room; a content-centric view, wherein users take content they normally would consume in the living room (movies, TV shows, video games)Belstaff Blouson and migrate it onto other types of screens, aside from the television; and a service-centric view, which sees the main challenge as bringing new types of interactive services into the living room.
“The question has always surrounded long-form Internet-delivered videos and how do you get free TV,” said Jason Spivak, SVP of worldwide digital distribution with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. “… Clearly now with the game consoles, connected televisions, connected Blu-ray players, that’s been solved.”
Russ Schafer, senior director with Yahoo Connected TV, Belstaff　said the platform is in 10 million homes, after launching 36 months ago, and is projected to be in 16 million homes by early 2012.
“We added support in January … that enabled tablets to connect as well,” he said. “So no matter what device a consumer chooses, they can experience the content and actually push content back and forth within the device. For us, it’s whatever happens to be the next technology that emerges device-wise, we want to enable that as well.”
Chris Young, CEO of Digital Broadcasting Group, on the other hand, offered insight from the perspective of a content provider.
“We’re very much screen agnostic,” he said. “So we’re providing content that can be consumed by consumers however they want Belstaff Outlet. If it’s on a tablet, on a connected TV, on the Internet, it’s our responsibility to deliver across that.”
DBG produced a show “The Confession,” which aired in March on Hulu, starring Kiefer Sutherland as a New York hit man and John Hurt as a priest. The program, Young said, introduced a new trend.
“The idea there was to prove that the digital living room had arrived and that broadcast-quality programming with ‘A’ production value, ‘A’ talent could originate online, and reverse its way back to TV,” Young said. “That’s what we’ve done.”
Jeff Shultz, SVP of business development with Clicker.com, said ultimately the success of the digital living room lies in “robust” business models.
“We can figure out the perfect device, and we can figure out the means of getting content into the living room, and engaging with it in different ways and discovering content that was previously unavailable, but only robust business models — which exist today in the form of multichannel programming offerings — are getting mainstream content to consumers,” he said.
“Technology has gotten to the point now where I think we’re really close to delivering on the compelling digital living room experience, but there has to be a business model to support the delivery of content,” Shultz added.
 

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Learn about this special offer which allows you to upgrade to Air New Zealand's Skycouch™ at special prices.  Available on the Los Angeles to Auckland route for travel 1 Apr - 8 Jun 2012 and the Los Angeles to London route for travel 07 Nov - 30 Nov 2011.

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Air New Zealand offers this price for purchase on this website. If you prefer to speak with a specialist, please call our contact center at 800-262-1234. Higher airfares will apply to bookings made over the telephone.

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Zachary Quinto getting in Spock shape for ‘Star Trek’ sequel

It’s been a busy week for a certain young Vulcan. Zachary Quinto’s first effort as a producer, the Wall Street thriller “Margin Call,” in which he also stars, hits theaters on Friday. On the eve of the film’s New York premiere, Quinto acknowledged publicly that he’s gay for the first time. In our interview in Thursday’s newspaper, Quinto talks about the meaning of this moment to him, on a personal and professional level.

Quinto’s “Margin Call” role shares a lot in common with Spock — he plays a brainy young investment bank analyst. In November, Quinto said he’ll turn to a very different kind of challenge — readying for a major Spock action scene in J.J. Abrams’ long-awaited “Star Trek” sequel, which starts production in January.

“There’s a big sequence for me that I have to prepare for in this movie physically so I’m training, working on getting in some serious shape, building my cardio endurance, preparing to run a lot,” Quinto said.

While Leonard Nimoy’s Spock was more about mental fitness than physical stunts, Quinto said the new “Trek” franchise already has broken out of that mold: “One of the climactic scenes for me in the first movie was when I go against that grain and lose my cool and beat up Kirk. So I think they’re trying to change that up a little bit and not have him be just intellectual but also have another side.”

As an actor, Quinto is best known for his two genre roles — Spock and as the villainous Sylar from NBC “Heroes” — but that’s not by design, he said.

“I never would have anticipated sci fi factoring so prominently in my career,” Quinto said. “It was not a genre I spent a lot of my own time immersed in. Comic books was not really my bag. I’m grateful for it. I come from a theater background. That’s how I learned to act. There’s something very theatrical about the world of ‘Heroes,’ of ‘Star Trek,’ so it was an easy fit for me. It was comfortable, more on the basis of technique than content…. But to be so closely associated with one of the most iconic characters in the history of sci fi, I have to work a little harder against that expectation.”

Oil & Natural Gas Share Sale Likely in November

NEW DELHI - The follow-on share sale of India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. will likely take place in November, the additional secretary in the department of disinvestment said Wednesday.
However, the government's Steel Authority Of India share sale may not take place this fiscal year, Sidhartha Pradhan said.

The government aims to raise 400 billion rupees through the sale of stakes in state-run companies this fiscal year through March, but it has been able to raise only about 11.45 billion rupees so far amid weak market conditions.

Jim Harbaugh gets under another coach's skin

The Green Bay Packers separated themselves from the top of the NFL, emerging from the weekend at 6-0 and the league's only undefeated team.
The Indianapolis Colts separated themselves in the other direction, dropping to a league-worst 0-6. St. Louis is 0-5 and Miami, which plays at the New York Jets on Monday, is 0-4.

And then there's the separation that had millions of viewers rewinding their DVRs — the quarrelsome quarantine of coaches Jim Schwartz of Detroit and Jim Harbaugh of San Francisco.

Yes, the game of the day led to the postgame of the season, as an irate Schwartz — who had just watched his Lions lose for the first time — lost his cool and went after a leaping-and-hollering Harbaugh, whose postgame celebration made Jim Valvano look reserved. It was reminiscent of a tense midfield meeting with then-USC coach Pete Carroll when Harbaugh was at Stanford.

This time, the excitable Harbaugh, in his first season as an NFL head coach, bounded over to Schwartz after the 49ers' 25-19 victory at Ford Field, and in one abrupt motion vigorously shook the hand of the Lions' coach while pushing past him to continue celebrating.

It was "kind of a slap-grab handshake," Harbaugh said later.

"I was really revved up," he said. "That wasn't me. Just shook his hand too hard. That's on me."

Schwartz looked stunned for a moment, then turned and chased down Harbaugh, using his forearm to shove the 49ers coach in the shoulder. Angry shouts were exchanged. Players stepped between the coaches, the cluster grew — some players even putting their helmets back on as if preparing to rumble — until cooler heads prevailed and the teams made their way to their locker rooms.

"I went to congratulate Coach Harbaugh and got shoved out of the way," Schwartz said. "Didn't expect an obscenity at that point, so it was a surprise to me at the end of the game."

Schwartz didn't specify who swore at him, but it seemed clear he was accusing Harbaugh.

"You win a game like that and you're excited," Schwartz said. "But there's a protocol that goes with this league."

As for their play this season, the 49ers are definitely going against type. They're 3-0 on the road for the first time since 1992 and already have a 2½-game lead in the NFC West.

What's more, Alex Smith is making the big plays when he needs to. On fourth down with less than two minutes to play, Smith threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Delanie Walker to give San Francisco the go-ahead score.

The 49ers left it up to their defense to slam the door, something that unit does very well.

Said Harbaugh of the victory, which came despite 15 penalties by San Francisco: "It fires me up a lot. If that offends you or anybody else, then so be it."

Hazardous work

The Harbaugh-Schwartz skirmish wasn't the only strange coaching occurrence of the day. New Orleans Coach Sean Payton, standing on the sideline at Tampa Bay, couldn't jump out of the way fast enough to avoid Saints tight end Jimmy Graham, who fell on the coach as he was knocked backward out of bounds.

Payton suffered a torn knee ligament and fractured tibia, or shinbone, in his left leg. He was helped off the field and wound up calling the rest of the game from the bench, with his leg elevated. The Saints wound up losing, as the Buccaneers pulled even with them in the NFC South.

Oakland Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell suffered a broken collarbone Sunday and is probably done for the season. Kyle Boller replaced him and finished the game, which means former Ohio State star Terrelle Pryor will almost certainly move into the No. 2 spot behind him.
After Sunday's game, Pryor told reporters he's trying to get up to speed as fast as possible but stepping into that role will be a challenge.

Pryor was suspended for the first five games of the season and was on the sideline for the first time Sunday to watch the victory over Cleveland. The Raiders play host to Kansas City on Sunday.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, Pryor told reporters after the game that he has practiced only two days and would be able to step into a backup role "with a minimum amount of plays."

Pryor said the "classroom and being on the field is two completely different things. So some of this stuff is a little longer, the plays and stuff like that. I'm just trying to get a grip on calling the plays fully."

Although he emphasized his confidence "is never a problem," Pryor couldn't say whether he will take any reps in practice right away.

"I don't know," he said. "I'm just waking up tomorrow to watch some film and start a new week."

Another possibility: The Raiders could re-sign former Buffalo starting quarterback Trent Edwards, who was with the team in training camp.

Trick for six

Raiders punter Shane Lechler, who holds on kicks, caught the Browns off guard on a fake field goal, dumping a pass to Kevin Boss for a 35-yard touchdown.

According to NBC, Lechler is the first punter to throw a touchdown pass since Washington's Hunter Smith in 2009.

Oakland's other special-teams touchdown came when Jacoby Ford returned a kickoff 101 yards.

Streak breakers

Even though they can't put many hometown fans in the stands, the Cincinnati Bengals have to be feeling good as they head into their week off. They have a promising rookie quarterback in Andy Dalton, and, as of Week 6, the No. 1-ranked defense.

Sunday, they extended their winning streak to three games — their first such run in two years — and ended a seven-game losing streak against Indianapolis, which has never lost to the Bengals with Peyton Manning at quarterback.

A week ago, Cincinnati won at Jacksonville for the first time in eight tries. And a week before that, the Bengals beat Buffalo, ending a 10-game losing streak to the Bills (who had been unbeaten).

Middle finger-backer

Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk threw someone down, then threw something up. After sacking the Rams' Sam Bradford in the second quarter Sunday, Hawk raised his middle finger and directed it toward the Green Bay sideline. There was no mistaking the gesture, which was caught by TV cameras.

Hawk apologized afterward, calling it a "running joke" among the Packers.

"It was a joke, and I kind of got caught up in the emotion of the game," he said. "I definitely apologize if any kids or anyone else saw it. I have a daughter myself, so I wouldn't want her doing that. I got excited and I got caught up in the game. It was just, I guess, a bad joke. I definitely won't do it again."

That promise might not save him from being fined by the NFL.

Banks turn to demolition of foreclosed properties to ease housing-market pressures

Cleveland — The sight of excavators tearing down vacant buildings has become common in this foreclosure-ravaged city, where the housing crisis hit early and hard. But the story behind the recent wave of demolitions is novel — and cities around the country are taking notice.

A handful of the nation’s largest banks have begun giving away scores of properties that are abandoned or otherwise at risk of languishing indefinitely and further dragging down already depressed neighborhoods.
The banks have even been footing the bill for the demolitions — as much as $7,500 a pop. Four years into the housing crisis, the ongoing expense of upkeep and taxes, along with costly code violations and the price of marketing the properties, has saddled banks with a heavy burden. It often has become cheaper to knock down decaying homes no one wants.

The demolitions in some cases have paved the way for community gardens, church additions and parking lots. Even when the result is an empty lot, it can be one less pockmark. While some widespread demolitions could risk hollowing out the urban core of struggling cities such as Cleveland, advocates say that the homes being targeted are already unsalvageable and that the bulldozers are merely “burying the dead.”

T he task of plowing under the homes rests with the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corp., which grew out of a 2009 state law aimed at creating “land banks” with the power and money to acquire unwanted properties and put them to better use — or at least put them out of their misery.

The efforts have led other states to pursue similar laws to deal with their own foreclosure epidemics. New York passed a comparable measure this summer. Similar legislation is in the works in Georgia, Philadelphia and elsewhere.

Cleveland has found progress in the sliver of common ground between the land bank’s mission and the interest of financial firms, including some that helped fuel the housing crisis through risky loans and later botched paperwork in carrying out foreclosures across the country.

This collaboration was uncomfortable at first, said Gus Frangos, the Cuyahoga land bank’s president and one of the people behind the state law.

“Two years ago, when we started . . . it was difficult,” he said. “Everybody was guarded.”

After countless meetings, however, land bank officials and banking representatives shed their initial wariness of one another. Frangos made a simple pitch: We’re not here to point fingers. We’ll take your worst properties, the ones not worth keeping. Pony up for the demolition, and you’ll still come out ahead. Just don’t walk away from them.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo announced plans this summer to donate more than 100 properties to the land bank. J.P. Morgan Chase also has made regular donations, and several other banks have given sporadically. Fannie Mae, the massive mortgage finance company seized by the federal government three years ago, began donating properties early on and now hands over about 30 properties a month, Frangos said.